After decades of effort, the voluntary, collaborative approach to restoring the health and vitality of the Chesapeake Bay— the largest estuary in the United States—has not worked and, in fact, is failing. A diverse group of 57 senior scientists and policymakers have joined forces to save the Bay. This is our plan.

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Author Archives: Fred Tutman

Gerald Winegrad: Bay cleanup is mired in a Chesapeake deadzone

Gerald Winegrad: Bay cleanup is mired in a Chesapeake deadzone

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The EPA Bay Program was prodded by Congress in 2006 to begin issuing detailed annual progress reports and assessments with excellent data and no-holds-bar reporting of both failures and successes. This has ended. The EPA assessment is part of the Green Washing engaged in by governors, legislators, and even some in the conservation community to declare success when there is none.… Continue Reading

Gerald Winegrad: Neglect fuels Chesapeake oyster collapse. It’s time to close the wild fishery

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https://www.capitalgazette.com/opinion/columns/ac-ce-column–20200103-dogxbqhp25dmvdfa3n4k2id3zy-story.html Capital Gazette | Jan 03, 2020 | 9:42 AM Environmentalist Gerald Winegrad plants oyster seed at his dock on Oyster Creek in Annapolis with students. Chesapeake oysters have collapsed to less than 1 percent of their historic populations. Harvests have plummeted to 136,954 bushels in Maryland. In the late 1800s, 20 million bushels were…… Continue Reading

BAY STATES HAVE MISSED THEIR FEDERALLY REQUIRED NITROGEN REDUCTION BY 50%

BAY STATES HAVE MISSED THEIR FEDERALLY REQUIRED NITROGEN REDUCTION BY 50%

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SENATOR WINEGRAD QUESTIONS CLAIMS OF VICTORY FOR “RECORD” BAY GRASS COVERAGE SIGNALIZING BAY RECOVERY SUCCESS AMIDST NEWS OF A SHOCKING 42% DECLINE IN ADULT FEMALE CRABS AND MORE RECENT NEWS OF A RADICAL DECLINE OF 50% IN MARYLAND UPPER BAY OYSTER POPULATIONS.  IN ADDITION, THE BAY STATES MISSED THEIR CRITICAL FEDERALLY REQUIRED NITROGEN REDUCTIONS BY…… Continue Reading

WATER POLLUTION TRADING: PAYING TO POLLUTE OUR WATERWAYS

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But the environmental justice implications of water pollution trading are among the most troubling aspects of this approach. Industrial polluters that buy credits are often located in poorer communities and communities of color. By allowing these polluters to avoid controlling their own discharges and continue to dump waste into local waterways by relying on credits, water pollution trading schemes threaten the drinking water and public health of these nearby, vulnerable communities. … Continue Reading

No More Bay Business As Usual

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(Posted by Fred Tutman.)

(This is fourth in an ongoing series of posts on What’s It Going to Take?: A look at how the environmental community can regain the initiative and build the political will necessary to clean up the Chesapeake Bay.)
Whats It Going to Take?

Who doesn’t want to see our Bay, rivers, or streams restored to health? So it raises the legitimate question of why something coveted by so many, continues to elude us? The irony is that virtually everybody wants clean water until they have to actually sacrifice or take proportional measures in order to get it. Sure, clean water is great as long we can win the next election, make the maximum profit on the next construction job, maintain the waterfront view, get jobs and economic development, and if nobody will get upset.
… Continue Reading