Bel Air FIVE MOST WANTED: $100 Reward!

Posted on July 26, 2021 by Harford County Climate Action

The Bel Air FIVE Project seeks to engage the whole town of Bel Air in planting native plants, especially the host and pollinator plants for the 4 butterflies and a moth we’re targeting! To encourage engagement in this project, we are now offering a $100 Cash Reward to the first person to photograph each of the 4 Bel Air Five butterflies or the Bel Air Five moth. Photos must be taken by you and in Bel Air, i.e. within town limits OR at an address including “Bel Air.” Once you’ve taken your photo, call (443) 243-3363 to report the sighting!

You can also encourage the Bel Air Five insects to come to your yard by visiting the Bel Air Garden Mart at the Armory on Friday, May 17 from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. You can purchase Bel Air Five Host Plants at the Garden Mart.

Download the iNaturalist app so you can identify the butterflies and caterpillars that come to your garden or porch. Insects and plants identified upload automatically to the Maryland Biodiversity Project, so we can see the impact of our efforts.

Thank-you for caring about wildlife! These are the Bel Air Five and their Host Plants:

Unicorn Caterpillar Moth
Great Spangled Fritillary
Spicebush Swallowtail
Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly
Monarch Butterfly
Unicorn Caterpillar Moth. Host plants: New Jersey Tea Plant or Hawthorn Trees
Great Spangled Fritillary. Host plants: Arrow-leaved Violet, Common Blue Violet
Spicebush Swallowtail. Host plant: Spicebush
Silvery Checkerspot Butterfly. Host plant: Ten-Petal Sunflower
Monarch Butterfly. Host plants: Milkweed or Butterfly Weed.


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Great News!!

Posted on January 13, 2024 by Harford County Climate Action

As per Liz Lee with “Our Children’s Trust:”

“As we head into 2024 to secure children’s constitutional rights to a safe climate, I wanted to share good news! U.S. District Court Judge Ann Aiken ruled in favor of the 21 youth plaintiffs in Juliana v. United States clearing the way to trial! On Friday, December 29, 2023, the judge issued an order and opinion denying the U.S. Department of Justice’s (DOJ) motions to dismiss the second amended complaint. “

A similar decision on behalf of the children of Montana was also reached recently. The decision was positive because Montana has a constitutional right to a healthy environment. 

The Maryland Constitutional Amendment for Environmental Human Rights would guarantee that every person has the “fundamental and inalienable right to healthful environment” including the right to clean air, water, land, a stable climate, and the preservation, protection, and enhancement of ecological, scenic, and historic values of the environment. Harford County Climate Action supports this amendment.

The Bad News is that our legislators have not yet voted to put this amendment on the ballot. Ask your representatives if they would support a bill to do so! 

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Rockfield Pollinator Garden in Bel Air: Now on the Grow Wild Harford Pollinator Gardens Trail

Posted on August 27, 2023 by Aravinda

Nestled along the walking path behind Rockfield Manor along side the woods is a small garden buzzing with life essential to our planet. Yes, if you guessed pollinators, you are right!

Visit the garden anytime from dawn to dusk, all year round. You will see a beautiful array of host plants for the pollinators native to our region. We are now part of the Grow Wild Harford Pollinator Gardens Trail. See more at growwildharford.org

We were thrilled to see Lady Bugs eating the aphids that tend to enjoy Milkweed a little too much! And we were even more thrilled to see Monarch Caterpillars and a Chrysalis on our plants!

Aphids, ladybugs and chrysalis making their home in the Rockfield Pollinator Garden in Bel Air, Maryland
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2022 Inflation Reduction Act

Posted on October 20, 2022 by Harford County Climate Action

Attached is a presentation on the 2022 IRA. Find out how you can save on energy efficiency upgrades!

climate-aspects-of-the-2022-inflation-reduction-actDownload
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Doug Tallamy: Nature’s Best Hope

Posted on May 11, 2022 by Aravinda

Can we reverse the trend of species extinction right from our own back (and front) yards? Doug Tallamy says YES and Harford County Climate Action in partnership with the Town of Bel Air aims to begin with 5 species – 4 butterflies and a moth – that depend on host plants that people can grow around their homes.

Bel Air FIVE Project welcomes 4 Butterflies and a Moth

On May 10 Harford County Climate Action had the pleasure of hosting Doug Tallamy in Bel Air, where he held an audience of 200 spellbound as he explained how important it was to allow habitats for birds, bees, worms, caterpillars and butterflies to survive and how effectively we could do it if only we gave up our destructive habits of maintaining lawns. Of course he put it much more diplomatically and urged people with lawns to convert half of their land into space for native plants and all the species that depend on them.

Harford County Climate Action hosts Doug Tallamy talk on “Nature’s Best Hope” in Bel Air
People line up to meet Doug Tallamy and get his books.
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Forested Wetlands not Warehouses, Ecosystems not E-Commerce Expansion, HarCo Citizens/Property Owners not Out-of-Town Developers

Posted on September 22, 2019 by Aravinda

Since January when a sign placed in the woods alerted nearby residents of a plan to convert 326 acres of forested wetlands to a warehouse business park, the community has been attending meetings, speaking at public hearings and opposing the plan.  In September 2109 they took to the streets outside the Harford County Administration building on Main Street in Bel Air.

Listen to the voices of the community uniting to protect the wetlands, the wildlife and the surrounding neighborhoods.

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Natural Climate Solutions

Posted on September 20, 2019 by Aravinda

There is a natural solution to the climate breakdown: protecting forests. Climate activist Greta Thunberg and writer/climate activist George Monbiot explain.

Nature Now, a short film narrated by teen climate activist Greta Thunberg and writer/climate activist George Monbiot to serve as a call to action to protect, restore and fund Natural Climate Solutions (NCS), was released on September 19, 2019 in advance of at the Global Youth Climate Strike at the United Nations. Continue reading →

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Harford County Climate Action – Partnering with Neighborhood Sun

Posted on August 22, 2019 by Harford County Climate Action

Harford County Climate Action is working with Neighborhood Sun to ensure that ALL Harford County residents have access to clean energy!  I have signed up, thereby guaranteeing that  my energy bills will remain below those charged by BG&E.  Neighborhood Sun is looking for more people to sign up in order to build local solar projects.  Please consider becoming a part of this innovative method of getting solar energy to renters and those who have a house but aren’t yet ready to put panels on it.   There are special incentives for low income households.  Please visit our special page on the Neighborhood Sun website by using the link below.  And thank-you so much for helping to save the planet!

Follow this link for information on what you would save by switching to electricity from Neighborhood Sun’s community solar projects.

https://ns.powermarket.io/promo/Harford%20County%20Climate%20Action.html

Join the green, sustainable, energy revolution with Harford County Climate Action and Neighborhood Sun

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Stop Abingdon Business Park

Posted on July 7, 2019 by Harford County Climate Action

Harford County Climate Action is a member of a coalition of parties opposed to the destruction of Abingdon Woods, i.e. to the “BTC III I-95 Logistics Center” plan.  We are partnering with Friends of Harford and neighborhood associations, such as Autumn Run, Medley Estates, and Philadephia Station to stop this terrible plan.  Why terrible?  Because it involves destroying wetlands at a time when we need wetlands.  Because it involves destroying 326 acres of mature forest at a time when we need forests to stop climate change, clean our air, and safeguard our mental and physical well-being.  Because there are already many vacant warehouses near Route 40.  Because the neighbors don’t want it!  Because traffic is already a problem!  Because the students at Old Post Road Elementary School don’t deserve to breath diesel emissions all day!

Abindgon Woods is located within the rectangle formed by Rt 7, Rt 24, I95, and Abingdon Rd.  If you live within this rectangle or in a bordering neighborhood, we would appreciate it if you would complete this survey which allows us to summarize all of the existing water problems in the area.  These problems are yet another reason why paving over forest and wetlands is not a good idea.  https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSeAcsuyKRFksn3x6koPVzn1hQE5vRzTJ_aU0z2gxXWO6gvM2Q/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1

Thank-you for your time!

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A Message from the Future

Posted on April 17, 2019 by Aravinda

In “A Message form the Future with Alexandria Ocaso-Cortez,” environmental journalist Naomi Klein writes,

We realized that the biggest obstacle to the kind of transformative change the Green New Deal envisions is overcoming the skepticism that humanity could ever pull off something at this scale and speed.

What if we actually pulled off a Green New Deal? What would the future look like? The Intercept presents a film narrated by Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez and illustrated by Molly Crabapple.

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