Challenge to Chesapeake Bay cleanup has national impact re EPA

[marions ghost]

http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/U/US_CHESAPEAKE_BAY_CLEANUP?SITE=VANOV&SECTION=BUSINESS&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Challenge to Chesapeake cleanup tests EPA power

By HOPE YEN
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) -- Maryland is joining three other jurisdictions in supporting the Obama administration's plan to clean up the Chesapeake Bay watershed, seeking to counter an election-year legal challenge by farmers and 21 attorneys general that could shape future U.S. environmental policy.

The case before the 3rd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia asks whether the Environmental Protection Agency went too far in negotiating a 2010 agreement that sets pollution limits in the nation's largest estuary.

The last of the legal briefs in the case were submitted late Monday. Maryland Attorney General Douglas Gansler argues that the cleanup is making progress and shouldn't be derailed by outside states with no interest in the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed. Signing onto his brief are Delaware and the District of Columbia; Virginia earlier had submitted a separate brief in support. That means four of the seven bay jurisdictions who consented to the EPA cleanup in 2010 are now defending the plan in court.

"This lawsuit attacks our efforts to restore the health of the Chesapeake Bay and strengthen its crucial economic value," Gansler said. "Maryland must preserve its partnership with an effective EPA to safeguard our environment and sustain the thousands of jobs supported by the bay."
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A report last year by the Chesapeake Bay Foundation found that Washington, D.C., and states within the Chesapeake watershed were making progress to reduce pollution but had more work to do to stay on track to reach pollution-reduction goals by 2025.

Besides West Virginia, the 20 states that oppose the Chesapeake plan include Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Most are led by Republican governors.
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Time to write again This sets a BAD precedent!

[marions ghost]

1. Underwater grasses are improving

These scientists have worked hard to measure the underwater grasses, which prove that some protection policies are working, and also addresses the effects of climate change.

The health of the bay is all about the health and quantity of the submerged grasses:

http://www.wm.edu/news/stories/2014/abundance-of-chesapeake-bays-underwater-grasses-increases123.php

"Underwater Bay grasses are critical to the Bay ecosystem. They provide habitat and nursery grounds for fish and blue crabs, serve as food for animals such as turtles and waterfowl, clear the water by reducing wave action, absorb excess nutrients, and reduce shoreline erosion. They are also an excellent measure of the Bay's overall condition because their health is closely linked to water quality."

2013 findings in perspective

Across the entire Chesapeake, bay-grass abundance has fluctuated between 38,958 acres (1984) and 89,659 acres (2002), averaging 65,468 acres. This is 32% of the 185,000-acre Bay restoration goal.

Bay grass abundance in the Tidal Fresh Salinity Zone (no salt) has ranged from a low of 6,900 acres (1995) to a high of 25,481 acres (2008) averaging 12,399 acres. In 2013, bay grass abundance in this zone measured 13,990, achieving 68 percent of the zone goal, an increase of 1,841 acres over 2012 coverage.

Bay grass abundance in the Oligohaline Salinity Zone (slightly salty) has ranged from a low of 653 acres (1984) to a high of 13,918 (2005) acres, averaging 6,680 acres. In 2013, bay grass abundance in this zone measured 5,590 acres, achieving 54 percent of the zone goal, an increase of 78 acres over 2012 coverage.

Bay grass abundance in the Mesohaline Salinity Zone (moderately salty) has ranged from a low of 15,636 acres (1984) to a high of 48,443 (2005), averaging 27,851 acres. In 2013, bay grass abundance in this zone measured 25,579 acres, achieving 21 percent of the zone goal, an increase of 5,958 acres over 2012 coverage.

Bay grass abundance in the Polyhaline Salinity Zone (very salty) has ranged from a low of 9,959 acres (2006) to a high of 24,015 (1993), averaging 17,887 acres. In 2013, bay grass abundance in this zone measured 14,768 acres, achieving 44 percent of the zone goal, an increase of 3,859 acres over 2012 coverage.

[pscot]

2. Sounds like a vast, right-wing conspiracy

[Nihil]

3. Good luck.

> Besides West Virginia, the 20 states that oppose the Chesapeake plan include
> Alabama, Alaska, Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana,
> Michigan, Missouri, Montana, Nebraska, North Dakota, Oklahoma, South Carolina,
> South Dakota, Texas, Utah and Wyoming. Most are led by Republican governors.

So, practically all of the "opposition" has no f*cking connection to Chesapeake Bay
and thus no standing to "support" the attack suit, just acting on behalf of the politics
of greed.

[marions ghost]

4. All about hurting the EPA

so they don't have to clean up their own act.

The wicked and selfish always think like that.