Second Annual Climate Forward Report Shows Gains, Gaps

Howard County has reduced community-wide greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions by 26 percent from 2005 baseline levels, according to an analysis of the latest emissions data released today in the County’s “HoCo Climate Forward: 2025 Annual Report.”

“Howard County is now more than a third of the way toward our 2030 goal of a 60 percent reduction in climate-warming emissions,” said Howard County Executive Calvin Ball. “Although we are making good progress to reduce our community’s carbon footprint, now is the time to redouble our efforts to reach our 60 percent GHG reduction target in five years and to become net zero by 2045. Doing so is vital to ensure that Howard County remains a thriving, resilient, sustainable, and prosperous community for all.”

The report shows a 15 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emission levels in Howard County from 2005 to 2019, a one percent annual reduction rate. Since 2019, during the last four years of available GHG data (2019-2023), the County nearly quadrupled its annual rate of emissions reduction to 3.7 percent. To meet the Climate Forward goal of a 60 percent GHG reduction by 2030, the County needs to accelerate the annual rate of GHG reductions to 4.8 percent.

With the release of “HoCo Climate Forward: 2025 Annual Report,” Howard County marks the second year of strategic climate action guided by the June 2023 “Howard County Climate Forward: Climate Action & Resiliency Plan.” Under the leadership of County Executive Calvin Ball and his Climate Subcabinet, the County has advanced energy efficiency and clean energy deployment, expanded EV infrastructure and curbside composting, strengthened watershed protection efforts, dramatically increased tree planting, and built partnerships to ensure that climate action is a community effort. These and related efforts are detailed in today’s Climate Forward annual report.

Climate Action Achievements

The Climate Forward annual report provides a snapshot of County government achievements and opportunities in the past year. Highlights include:

• Energy: Solar capacity in Howard County increased by 16 megawatts (MW) in FY25, an increase of 23 percent over the previous year. Howard County’s total solar capacity as of June 30, 2025, was 150 MW. County staff are working to accelerate solar adoption to reach Climate Forward goals of 437 MW of solar capacity by 2030.
• Nature-Based Climate Solutions: As of July 2025, there are more than 144 acres of registered pollinator habitat in Howard County, which far surpasses the County’s original 2025 goal of 75 acres. Howard County’s Savage Park became the first “green zone” in Maryland, achieving a certification for its transition to electric landscaping equipment. This will eliminate 570 pounds of toxic emissions annually, among other environmental, health, and safety benefits. The County supported biodiversity with a pilot project at the East Columbia Campus in which native landscaping was installed under the solar parking canopy to improve pollinator habitat and stormwater benefits.
• Transportation: The Regional Transit Agency (RTA) achieved a milestone of one million trips in a year, reaching this Climate Forward goal five years early. In another effort to increase mass transit adoption and availability, Howard County debuted HoCo RapidRide and provided more than 3,000 rides in this new micro-transit option. Toward the goal of increasing electric vehicle (EV) adoption, just over five percent of cars registered in Howard County were either fully electric or plug-in hybrid as of June 2025, ranking second in the state in community EV adoption. Howard County is striving to accelerate EV adoption toward meeting its 2030 Climate Forward goal of 26 percent.
• Waste: Howard County expanded its unique Green Bin curbside composting program to some 10,000 additional homes, running ahead of the pace it needs to attain 100 percent coverage by 2030. The program composted 425 tons of organic waste in 2024, avoiding 148 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent (the equivalent of planting and growing more than 2,400 trees).
• Emergency Preparedness: The County received a $24,000 grant from the Maryland Energy Administration’s Resilient Maryland Program to support resiliency hub planning – including research on solar and battery storage systems – for the North Laurel and Gary Arthur Community Centers.
• Water: In its third year, the County’s Community Stormwater Partnership grant program has funded more than 30 water quality improvement projects on nonprofit and homeowner association properties. This fosters a healthy watershed through projects like rain gardens, conservation landscapes, invasive plant removal, and community education.
• Infrastructure and Heat Resiliency: With funding support from the Chesapeake Bay Trust (CBT), Howard County planted 300 native street trees in targeted areas to provide increased shade and reduce “urban heat island” effects in underserved and heat-vulnerable communities. In 2025, the County will plant an additional 150 native street trees in heat vulnerable areas where older adults congregate, supported by a CBT “Green Streets, Green Towns, Green Jobs” grant.
• Ecosystem Services: The County partnered with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources to plant 46,800 seedlings across 107 acres within the County’s Green Infrastructure Network, which will advance progress toward the County’s ambitious goal of attaining 50% tree canopy coverage by 2030. To protect existing forest and tree canopy, the County trained over 140 volunteers in invasive species management who have helped save over 1,100 trees through the Tree Savers Program.

Partnerships for Progress

HoCo Climate Forward: 2025 Annual Report highlights the County’s burgeoning “whole-of-community” effort to mitigate the impacts of climate change, including new government partnerships with local and state institutions. Since October 2024, Howard County government entered into sustainability-focused cooperative agreements with the Maryland Department of Natural Resources, the Columbia Association, and education partners Howard County Public School System and Howard Community College. The County issued $2,611,973 in environmental grants in Fiscal Year 2025, supporting green job creation and a host of Climate Forward-aligned initiatives to protect the environment, support resiliency, and mitigate the effects of climate change.

“HoCo Climate Forward is a science-based plan to drive local climate action, which now must fill the void left by recent federal policy and funding reversals,” said Howard County’s Office of Community Sustainability Administrator Tim Lattimer. “By engaging new partners, bolstering existing partners, developing innovative solutions, and systematically tracking our progress during this second year of Climate Forward work, we are rising to the challenge and enlisting the broader community to join the effort.”

The online dashboard for the Howard County Climate Forward plan offers real-time tracking of progress toward the County’s climate goals. Residents, community groups, businesses, and the wider public can see what actions are most impactful to address the climate crisis and access related resources in the “What You Can Do” section of the dashboard.