Conservation Blog
Climate Crisis
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What is the Utility RELIEF Act and Where Is It Now?
The Utility RELIEF Act is a broad energy and environmental bill focused on lowering electricity costs for Maryland ratepayers. It is an omnibus bill, incorporating aspects from at least 15 different energy and environmental bills that did not pass on their own this session. Originally, the bill’s data center provisions were fairly weak. However, after working with members of the Senate Committee on Education, Energy, and the Environment, several of Nature Forward and Marylanders… Read more
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The Potomac Interceptor Sewage Spill: Water Infrastructure Wake-Up Call
In January 2026, one of the largest sewage spills in U.S. history occurred along the Potomac River, exposing vulnerabilities in aging wastewater infrastructure and raising urgent concerns about environmental health, economic impacts, and public accountability across Washington, DC, Maryland, and Virginia. The collapse of the Potomac Interceptor sewer line not only polluted a critical regional… Read more
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Data Center Bills for MDGA2026
Sine Die Updates: You can read our full press release on the end of session here! Crossover Updates Before Crossover, Governor Wes Moore and General Assembly leadership introduced the Utility RELIEF Bill, which is an omnibus bill that includes many of the energy and data center bills that we have been working on. Even if… Read more
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2026 Maryland General Assembly Legislative Priorities
Updates: Bill Outcome Next Steps CHERISH (HB1287) Dead – read more here Work with MDE and coalition members to ensure that CHERISH finds a middle ground for next session CHERISH (HB1268) Dead – read more here Work with MDE and coalition members to ensure that CHERISH finds a middle ground for next session Bottle Bill… Read more
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Data Centers are said to create jobs, but people need to know: what kind and how many?
Guest post by Nature Forward volunteer Sheila Igoe…if you’d like to research, write, and edit educational materials like this, reach out! Photo via The Cyber Express Among the many controversies surrounding data center construction is the question of jobs–how many and what kind will be created during construction and operational periods? Empirical evidence shows that… Read more
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Data Centers and Water Use
The rapid expansion of server-based data management and storage, especially with the expansion of artificial intelligence (AI) has spurred a major data center building boom. This growth has driven a concomitant demand for the land, electricity, and water needed for these new data centers. Read more
