Baltimore County has became the latest local government to complete a “carbon footprint” inventory, setting a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 10 percent over the next four years.
The county joined the state of Maryland, Howard County, Baltimore City and Annapolis to commission an assessment of greenhouse gas emissions generated by government operations. Released Friday, the report estimates that county government emitted 142,700 metric tons of environmentally unfriendly gas, a fraction of the 11.5 million tons emitted by the county at large.
“It’s not prudent to simply rest on our laurels,” said County Executive Jim Smith. “Now that we have a realistic, research-based greenhouse gas inventory, it’s time for action, and our first goal will be to get our own house in order.”
Officials said the data will be altered once public schools — the county’s largest real estate owner — are added. The inventory was conducted by Pat Brady, a graduate student in the environmental science program at Towson University.
Other Maryland jurisdictions are evaluating and finding ways to reduce their carbon footprint. The state emits 78.8 million metric tons of carbon dioxide each year, according to the U.S. Department of Energy. Earlier this year, the City of Annapolis identified its carbon footprint as 492,1000 tons of carbon dioxide, prompting Mayor Mary Ellen Moyer to set a 15 percent reduction goal.
Baltimore City also completed a greenhouse gas inventory, and Mayor Sheila Dixon has said, so far, the city has been able to reduce 15,000 tons of carbon emissions in part by converting methane to electricity to power a wastewater treatment plant. The savings are as much as $2.4 million annually, she said.
An inventory in Howard County, which recently purchased diesel-electric hybrid buses to curtail tailpipe emissions, is also under way, officials said.
But experts said remedies don’t have to be as complex as converting methane into electricity, or purchasing expensive buses. It can be as simple as turning off a light, said David Carroll, Baltimore County’s director of sustainability.
“We’re not reinventing the wheel here,” Carroll said. “There are many, many things the county can do.”
