The Southern Environmental Law Center (SELC) announced its fourth annual list of the South’s most endangered places last week. The list included the Chesapeake Bay.
“For decades the Bay has suffered from pollution from all sides—air, land, and water. Unfortunately, industry interests and their political allies are doing all they can to impede a comprehensive rescue plan,” said SELC, the largest environmental advocacy organization dedicated to protecting the Southeast.
Who is trying to impede Bay restoration? For starters, the American Farm Bureau Federation and a host of national agricultural lobbying groups -- The Fertilizer Institute, National Pork Producers Council, the National Corn Growers Association, the National Chicken Council, the U.S. Poultry and Egg Association, and the National Turkey Federation -- are suing the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) over the federal-state cleanup initiative. Also suing to stop Bay cleanup is the “voice of the housing industry,” the National Home Builders Association.
But it’s not just the Bay under attack, SELC noted. “Many of the areas on SELC’s Top 10 list are endangered by pressure to undercut environmental protections and to lower the hurdles for potentially destructive projects, whether it’s fracking in the North Carolina Piedmont, uranium mining in Virginia, or deepwater drilling in the Gulf.”
“The truth is, environmental protection had nothing to do with the financial crisis or today’s weak economy,” Hawthorne said. “Doing away with effective laws and enforcement will accomplish nothing except sacrifice the natural treasures like those on our Top 10 list and other resources that make the South such a great place live, work, and raise our families. We owe it to ourselves—and to future generations—to make sure this doesn’t happen.”
Last week, scores of Virginians did just that in helping derail an effort in the Virginia General Assembly to undo important environmental protections in the Old Dominion. Citizens from across the state contacted their House of Delegate representatives to urge them to vote against two especially egregious pieces of legislation.
One, House Bill 67, sought to end all federal authority over non-navigable streams in Virginia and leave the protection of these important headwaters entirely to Virginia regulators. Supporters of the legislation apparently believe that if a stream lies wholly in Virginia and isn’t fed by a perennial stream, it’s non-navigable and should not receive the protection of the federal Clean Water Act and federal agencies.
But regardless of their navigability, small headwater creeks and wetlands are critically important as pollution filters, flood control, habitat for wildlife, and determining water quality downstream. Think of them as the roots of our larger rivers and the Chesapeake Bay. As the protection of these feeder streams goes, so goes the health of the Bay.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) and other conservation groups told legislators considering the measure that the bill was nothing less than an attempt to redefine non-navigable waters protected by the Clean Water Act and would cause great confusion among developers and others needing environmental permits. State regulators agreed the bill would likely produce jurisdictional and standards confusion.
Such arguments, and the many calls to legislators last week from Virginians concerned about reducing environmental protections, were heard. A legislative subcommittee failed to even make a motion on the bill Thursday.
Also up for consideration last week was a legislative resolution calling upon Virginia’s attorney general to examine the constitutionality of EPA’s Chesapeake Bay pollution limits (the Bay TMDL, or Total Maximum Daily Load) and to begin litigating against it if he deemed it appropriate.
Such a resolution, were it to be adopted by the Virginia legislature, would call into question Virginia’s commitment to continuing the significant progress that has been made to restore the Bay and its resources. It would certainly undermine the Commonwealth’s longstanding commitment to the region and its Bay partners, as well as diminish the governor’s, legislature’s, and localities’ bipartisan efforts to reduce pollution to Virginia waterways.
Ida Hall, a Northumberland County crabber, wrote her legislator to vote against the legislation.
“As a waterman, I have seen firsthand the impact pollution is having on the water quality of our Bay and its tributaries," she said. "There is a direct result between the water quality and the survival of our economically valuable marine resources, such as fish, crabs, oysters, and the habitat that supports and protects them. Virginia needs to remain strong in her commitment to restore our Bay and its resources from pollution.”
Again, legislators got the message from Virginians who want the state to move forward with Bay restoration, not challenge it in court. The resolution was tabled at the request of its patron.
The pollution harming the Bay and our rivers comes from many sources – from all of us, really. And we all must play our part, we all have a responsibility to do what we can to reduce pollution. Last week, many Virginians made their voices heard and said “no” to a rollback of environmental protections. To repeat SELC’s Marie Hawthorne, “We owe it to ourselves—and to future generations—to make sure this doesn’t happen.”
Do you agree? If so, make sure you’re paying attention and your voice is heard by the people who need to hear it.
Chuck Epes
Chesapeake Bay Foundation
Photos, top to bottom: first three, Krista Schlyer/iLCP; crabs, CBF; rally, Bill Portlock/CBF.
The political empowerment of aggressive and anti-environment corporations and special interest groups by the Supreme Court has muted the voices of we-the-people. We must fully exercise our voting rights and make sure we begin to put in office people who value us, our environment and a healthy Earth.
Additionally simple, personal acts of tender care for the environment can help. Pick up that trash, use potassium free detergents, swap out plastic bags for sturdy cloth shopping bags or paper ones. In a watershed area, beautify your yard with one or more rain gardens. Walk more; drive less or bike it when and where you can. All acts of love for Earth and especially for our Chesapeake Bay.
Posted by: Waddell Robey | 01/29/2012 at 05:28 AM