MDE Co-Hosts County Level CO2 Emissions Panel

MDE will co-host a panel (in-person and virtual) on June 1 that will highlight a new data tool for local governments to track CO2 emissions.

The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE), Department of Environmental Protection (DEP) for Montgomery County, RMI, and Crosswalk Labs are pleased to invite you to a workshop to learn about A New Tool for Examining City and County Level CO2 Emissions. The tool, which is under development by Crosswalk Labs, uses high-resolution data on CO2 emissions from across Maryland to empower city, county, and state leaders and residents to make more informed, more effective, and more efficient choices in reducing emissions and achieving the ambitious climate goals of the state and local governments.

The workshop will be held in a hybrid format from 9 am to noon ET on June 1st, 2022, at 2425 Reedie Drive, 4th floor, Wheaton, MD, and virtually via a Zoom invite that will be shared upon RSVP. 

Sample image from the tool

At the workshop, presenters will explore ways that new comprehensive data developed in the research context using federal funding can be used to estimate greenhouse gas emissions from each and every city, county, and region of Maryland over more than a decade, providing estimates on an hourly basis all the way down to individual road segments and buildings. MDE hopes this will be useful for communities across the state as they plan their greenhouse gas reduction efforts and in particular are hopeful that cities will use the data to find other communities within the state facing similar emissions profiles and trends for creating a peer-to-peer network. 

This workshop is modeled after a similar workshop held in LA earlier this Spring. RMI will facilitate the workshop with two goals in mind.

  • First, they are hoping to help everyone become familiar with the tools early in their development prior to their rollout later this summer. This will help gauge interest and explore which jurisdictions may want to be in line for the initial release of the data.
  • Second, RMI hopes to get feedback from local governments, community-based organizations, and others about what modifications or additions to the tool he would like to see to empower your decision-making.

Please RSVP before May 27 by emailing Susan Casey at susan.casey1@maryland.gov. In your email, please indicate if you plan to attend in person or virtually. Coffee, snacks, and lunch will be provided for in-person attendees.