Legum’s New Line

The American Lung Association has published a new report on the state of Maryland’s air. The news isn’t good. Here’s the chart for high ozone days in the state:

During orange days, the air is unhealthy for sensitive populations, such as asthmatics or diabetics. (In Maryland there are about about 400,000 people with asthma and almost 300,000 diabetics.) During the red days the air is unhealthy for everyone. This is more than an environmental problem, it’s an economic problem. When people get sick, health care costs go up which ends up costing everyone money through taxes and insurance premiums.

Clearing the air in Maryland does not only involve reducing pollution in the state but supporting federal efforts to reduce air pollution nationwide. Much of the air pollution in Maryland comes in from nearby industrial states.

You can go to the American Lung Association website and check out the air quality in your zip code.

You can read more on the report at the Baltimore Sun’s Bay & Environment blog.

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Yesterday, Gov. Martin O’Malley and U.S. Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack agreed to increase payments to farmers that plant trees rather than crops along streams or construct fences to keep livestock away from water. These measures help reduce that amount of fertilizer and pesticides that washes into the Bay.

The Baltimore Sun has the details:

The funds are meant to enhance participation in a 12-year-old federal-state conservation program that has enticed Maryland farmers to set aside 74,000 acres of cropland and pasture for environmental purposes. Officials hope the added incentives will increase the set-aside to 100,000 acres. Under the program, about 8 million trees have been planted statewide along streams. Of the federal funds, $165 million is to go toward paying farmers rent for leaving cropland fallow for as much as 15 years. Another $33 million is earmarked to help farmers pay for conservation practices such as fencing and watering troughs for livestock to keep them out of streams.

This is no doubt a positive development as agriculture remains the #1 source of nutrient pollution in the Bay. But it’s also a continuation of the voluntary, incentives based approach to controlling agriculture pollution that has been employed for decades with little success. It’s the kind of thing, unfortunately, that has made it seem like we are doing a lot to improve the Bay, even as things get worse.

At some point we will have to do more or the health of the Bay will continue to deteriorate.

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If you missed Tuesday’s PBS special “Poisoned Waters,” an arresting documentary on the state of the Chesapeake Bay, don’t fret. The entire program is now available online.

You can watch it here.

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Essential viewing tonight for anyone concerned about the health of the Chesapeake Bay. PBS is running a documentary, “Poisoned Waters,” that details the Bay’s perilous condition and outlines the types of changes needed to restore it. Watch the preview:

More details from the press release:

Through interviews with scientists, environmental activists, corporate executives and average citizens impacted by the burgeoning pollution problem, Smith reveals startling new evidence that today’s growing environmental threat comes not from the giant industrial polluters of old, but from chemicals in consumers’ face creams, deodorants, prescription medicines and household cleaners that find their way into sewers, storm drains, and eventually into America’s waterways and drinking water.

“The environment has slipped off our radar screen because it’s not a hot crisis like the financial meltdown, war or terrorism,” Smith says. “But pollution is a ticking time bomb. It’s a chronic cancer that is slowly eating away the natural resources that are vital to our very lives.”

In Poisoned Waters, Smith speaks with researchers from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), who report finding genetically mutated marine life in the Potomac River. In addition to finding frogs with six legs and other mutations, the researchers have found male amphibians with ovaries and female frogs with male genitalia. Scientists tell FRONTLINE that the mutations are likely caused by exposure to “endocrine disruptors,” chemical compounds that mimic the body’s natural hormones.

You can learn more about the Bay (and the mutant fish) tonight on PBS from 9PM to 11PM.

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The 25-year, multi-billion dollar effort to save the Chesapeake Bay failed. But one of the best things the Bay has going for it now is strong new leadership at the federal level. Our New EPA administrator, Lisa Jackson, just announced her support for a new federal law to protect the nation’s wetlands, including those along the Chesapeake. The Baltimore Sun has the details:

After decades of ambiguity and controversy, Environmental Protection Agency Administrator Lisa Jackson thinks it may be time for Congress to review and strengthen federal wetlands protections.

Speaking last week in Washington at a preview of a documentary about pollution in the Chesapeake Bay and Puget Sound, Jackson said because of Supreme Court decisions “there is murkiness” now about whether the EPA or states have any say over filling or draining many wetlands, which filter out pollution naturally.

“I do believe we need a legislative fix to clarify the jurisdiction issue,” she said. The nation is losing wetlands “at an alarming rate” to development, which next to agricultural pollution is one of the biggest threats to the nation’s waters, including the Chesapeake, she added.

It’s going to take new, bold action at the individual, local, state and federal level to turn the health of the Bay around.

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Today, I went down to the City Dock in Annapolis to check out the local “tea party,” one of many anti-Obama protests occurring around the nation today.

The message of the event was striking. The audience, which was quite large despite a heavy rain, was told that Obama was leading the country toward “dictatorship.” The government, we were told, was creating a crisis “100 times as grim as 9/11,” the people were being “brainwashed” into complacency by the media and soon “the face of big brother will be exposed and the slogans of a classless one party system are revealed to us.”

The answer to these problems, according to one speaker, is to kick Obama and the leaders of the Democratic party in Maryland out of office. In the audience, one man wore a shirt comparing Obama to Hitler. Watch a video compilation:

Many of the most prominent Republicans in Anne Arundel County participated in the event including Delegate Ron George, Delegate Don Dwyer, Alderman and mayoral candidate Dave Cordle and former Delegate Herb McMillen. Dwyer, dressed in colonial garb threw the “tea” into the Annapolis harbor. McMillen, current head of the Maryland Taxpayers Association, acted as the MC.

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Yesterday marked the end of the legislative session. Today, Gov. Martin O’Malley signed 150 pieces of legislation, most notably an emergency bill “giving the state eminent domain rights over the cherished Preakness Stakes horse race.” O’Malley also signed legislation that “would make people who had worked at least 20 hours per week eligible for unemployment benefits.”

The session was mostly a success for O’Malley and his agenda, with a couple notable exceptions. O’Malley failed to abolish the death penalty in Maryland, although new restrictions were enacted. Another O’Malley initative that would “give state regulators new tools to order new power plants” was killed in the House. O’Malley vowed to bring the bill back up next session.

Action on energy policy is needed quickly, since the status quo will lead to rolling blackouts in Maryland by 2011. Whether through O’Malley’s legislation or another avenue, the state desperately needs new, clean generation sources and transmission capacity.

Now that the legislative session has ended, the “Morning Line” feature will be on hiatus. I’ll spend more time here going in depth into issues impacting our state.

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As part of a nationwide protest of Barack Obama’s fiscal policies, the right-wing is organizing a “tea party” protest in Annapolis. At earlier “tea party” protests, signs were distributed reading: “Obama Bin Lyin’ IMPEACH NOW.” The Capital has the details:

The Annapolis Tax Day Tea Party is part of a nationwide, grass-roots protest movement against stimulus and bailout packages, organizers said…

Wednesday’s two-hour event at City Dock begins at noon, and protesters are encouraged to bring signs and participate in the symbolic tossing of “tea” crates into the harbor. Organizer Aaron Jones said the crates will be labeled with taxes the group does not support.

The entire event will be broadcast live by Talk Radio 680 WCBM, and radio personality Sean Casey will be the master of ceremonies. Several guest speakers are scheduled to appear, including Del. Don Dwyer and former Del. Herb McMillan.

Those involved with organizing the protests appear to be a distinct minority. According to a recent Pew Poll, 66% of Americans believe that “Barack Obama’s policies will improve economic conditions in the country.”

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Yesterday, Maryland, Virginia and the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers decided against importing Asian oysters into the Chesapeake Bay. It was thought that the heartier species of oysters might help revive the oyster population in Bay, which has declined to just 1% of its historic peak. The problem, according to the parties involved, was introducing the foreign species created “unacceptable ecological risks.”

The Washington Post has the details:

Yesterday’s decision followed a five-year study of the Asian oyster that cost federal and state authorities $17 million. The idea was to base the decision on science instead of politics.

It didn’t work.

The study could not solve the most important questions: If the Asian oyster were raised at controlled shellfish farms, what was the chance that it would escape and reproduce in the open water? And if it did, would it find a healthy niche in the ecosystem, as the smallmouth bass has in the Potomac River? Or would it become a threatening invasive species, a snakehead with a shell?

“The problem is, with all of this, that you don’t really know until you do the experiment,” said Roger Mann, a professor at the Virginia Institute of Marine Science. “Once you’ve done it, it’s too late.”

Ultimately, the episode shows that the only way the shellfish population is going to recover is if we take the steps necessary to improve the health of the Bay. Right now, there is simply too much nutrient pollution from agriculture, wastewater treatment plants, septic tanks, stormwater runoff and other sources to support a healthy echo systems.

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I wanted to let the readers of this blog to know that I’m planning to run for Maryland House of Delegates in District 30.

This blog will stay largely the same. It will continue to feature news and views on Maryland politics on a (almost) daily basis. But I’ll also occasionally update you on the status of the campaign.

I’m planning to run because of the big challenges we face in Maryland that I write frequently about on this blog – a failing effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay, a looming energy shortage and a struggling economy. I know we need new energy and a new perspective in Annapolis if we want to stop treading water and start making progress.

You can read some early coverage of my candidacy on Daily Kos, AmericaBlog and MyDD.

I hope you’ll consider making a donation to my campaign. You can contribute online through ActBlue.

And if you’d like to get involved directly, please contact me at judd@juddlegum.com.

That’s it for now. Back to your regularly scheduled programming.

[By Authority: Judd Legum for Maryland, Shane Nikolao, Treasurer]

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