Political gridlock pollutes bay
Maryland's recent approval of $50 million in Chesapeake Bay cleanup funds comes at a crucial time, advocates say. The state is stepping up and shouldering its responsibilities at a time when the federal government is paralyzed by political gridlock.
A lobbying effort in D.C. to get $500 million in federal funds -- parallel to the campaign in Annapolis to get state assistance for the bay -- appears to have flipped off the rails into the swamp.
For months, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and others have been trying to persuade Congress to revise the federal Farm Bill. They want the normal cash subsidies handed out to farmers every year to include more financial rewards for environmental good behavior. For example, more money to entice farmers to plant buffer strips of trees along streams, forming a natural filter to prevent fertilizer from running into the bay. But recently the foundation conceded that nothing will happen this year. Their lobbyists say political gridlock is holding up meaningful revisions to the Farm Bill. And of course next year is an election year, so it may not be the best time for serious legislative debate. Efforts in the past to win large amounts of federal cash to clean the bay have also run aground.
The Bay Foundation issued this statement, expressing frustration:
(WASHINGTON, D.C.) -- For the last two weeks, the Senate has been mired in gridlock preventing consideration of the Farm Bill. (On Nov. 16) the Senate failed to move the process forward, and it is now possible that the bill will not be considered this year. Following today’s vote, Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) Federal Affairs Director Doug Siglin issued the following statement.
"The Farm Bill currently on the Senate floor would provide an unprecedented amount of conservation funding critical to the health of local farms and water quality in rivers, streams, and the Chesapeake Bay. This bill provides farmers the tools they need to reduce runoff and remain profitable. Allowing this gridlock to continue and failing to pass a new Farm Bill jeopardizes up to $500 million in new conservation funding for the region. Our waterways and the Chesapeake Bay are a national treasure, and CBF is calling on the region’s Senate delegation to work together to move the Farm Bill forward."
I report on the environment and Chesapeake Bay. A native of West Virginia, I have focused mainly on Maryland's environment since moving here in 1983. Along the way, I've crewed aboard a skipjack in the bay, canoed under city streets up the Jones Fall from the Inner Harbor, and gone deep underground in a western Maryland coal mine. Recently, I have been covering the growth and development transforming the landscape. I love seafood, rambles in the country and good stories. I hope to share some here.
Comments
Taxdollars given to farmersis waisted money. Farmers like here in Brandonville Schuylkill County Pa. use the money to make sure the wells, rivers, lakes and streams are polluited from overfertilizing so they can receive conservation dollars to destroy live throughout the country. Agriculture and there lobbiest are breaking the bank and sending our children to special education. Cancer meaning farmers planting tumors in our air, water and the food we eat is causing sky high health care cost . Political corruption across the country has to be stopped. Environmental groups that fight to pay farms that pollute have to be dismantled. Enough is enough of lies and its time to put political junkies in jail and bring back the water quality that we once had. Agriculture will not be treated with white gloves no more but farmers like here in Pa. will not be above the law.
Posted by: Dennis from polluted Pennsylvania | November 25, 2007 12:17 PM