Posted under Chesapeake Bay
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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