Last night's meeting with Chesapeake Bay watermen and the state officials who regulate them was productive, informative, and very civil.

At least a half-dozen watermen actually got up and thanked the agency, and particularly state crab expert Lynn Fegley, for her concern, her diligence and the generally conciliatory way in which she has approached the subject that she more than once called "tough stuff."

When has that EVER happened before?

Yesterday's message from Fegley boiled down to this: Crab restrictions are coming. They have to come, to save this industry -- for us, the consumers, and for you, the watermen. We don't want to see you go out of business any more than you do. Let's work together and come up with something we both can live with.

It was a message I first heard her deliver in September, and she clearly meant it. Fegley has been around the state, presenting a menu of options to watermen in Smith Island, Dorchester County and other place.

When watermen told her they wouldn't survive if DNR shortened the season by two weeks, Fegley took that option off the table. Ditto the idea of having no female crab harvest for certain months, which would absolutely devastate some crabbers.

Remaining on the table is a bushel limit for trotliners and potters, a 10-day prohibition of peelers in April or May, and a maximum size (maybe 6.5 inches) for females.

Fegley seemed to be leaning toward the max. size for females, if only because, as she said, it's the only thing we haven't tried. But she seems to be truly open to a lot of different ideas.

Restrictions are also coming for the recreational crabbers, which will help the department keep track of them. We don't know how many there are, Fegley said, and we really need to know that.

DNR will be putting the proposal they presented on their web site by the end of the day Monday. I will link to it here once it's available.

Posted by Rona Kobell at 3:21 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I finally saw MPT's weary shoreline and wanted to add my thoughts to those of Tim Wheeler, whose keen perceptions graced this blog earlier (he got an advanced copy of the show-I watched it along with the rest of the television public the other night.)

Overall, it was pretty good. I liked how the reporter focused on riverkeepers - both visually and because they're the front lines on a lot of this stuff. Bob Gallagher, Ed Kelly and Fred Tutman are extremely knowledgeable and came off well on camera; Drew Koslow would have also been good, as would have Ed Merrifield in the Potomac. But everyone needs editors...

It was also good to have affected homeowners make their cases that it's not fair that their neighbors get to build a pool and they don't, suggesting that who gets a variance is quite arbitrary. That is also timely given Wheeler's article in today's paper about the opposition to even relatively modest proposals to tighten the law.

Now, for the critique:

I agree with Wheeler that the special didn't do enough to explain how, exactly, development in the shoreline hurts the bay. How it promotes erosion, deposits more sediment into the water, fills in sensitive wetlands, takes away key habitat for shorebirds, nesting turtles and even shallow grasses for crabs. I know it's complicated, but without that piece, it makes the "why can't I build my patio?" question harder to answer.

Also, it's worth reminding people that there always were homes on the water, way before the Critical Area Law, but what people are doing now is tearing them down and building ever bigger ones. 

I also wish MPT hadn't spent so much of the documentary on the case of Dobbins Island, which the Magothy River Association is trying to preserve. The reporter said the county is going to let the new owner build a private home there, despite the critical area law.

But the reason for that is because there always was a home on the island, and the man who bought it did so with the understanding that he could build a new one (the old one was destroyed by fire in the 1950s.) The piece also didn't mention that the new owner is going to take on the responsibility of protecting the island from erosion, at a cost to him of about $1 million. That will make the island a lot safer, and should help the water quality.

Finally, he did not mention that the island's previous owners, Jim and Edward Wilson, tried very hard to get a nonprofit environmental group, the state and the federal parks service interested in buying the island in 2002, and no one was interested. The island, which has long been a de facto public park, was always considered too much of a liability.

I'm not saying the Dobbins guy should be able to do whatever he wants; that's clearly sensitive land. I'm just saying there are much better examples of major violations of the Critical Area Law. Environment Maryland pointed to six in a recent report.

 But I'm glad MPT did the special; the more awareness of these issues, the better.

Posted by Rona Kobell at 1:56 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

I'm intrigued by the Suicide Bridge Restaurant in Hurlock.

So named because locals have, from time to time, chosen the nearby bridge as a good place to expire, the restaurant is known for traditional seafood. I couldn't find a review in our archives, but Rob Kasper, on his eating tour throughout the state, stopped there.

What's there? Is it worth a trip? Do people stop on the way to Ocean City or make a separate journey out of it? Do you find it's doable in a daytrip or do you stay overnight? And if you do, is there a quaint inn or something for laying your head down? Is there anything in the immediate area to see or do, besides the not-so-close Blackwater and other Dorchester County attractions?

I hope to go sometime in my travels. In the meantime, send me your experiences as a COMMENT and I'll make a Local Travel post of out them. Unfortunately, I have no plans to go anywhere next week except to Annapolis and Catonsville, and I don't think either of them fit in the Local Travel category (though maybe they could if I become desperate ... they are at least in the watershed).

Posted by Rona Kobell at 1:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)
                    

The Maryland House Environmental and Economic affairs committees will hold a hearing at 1 p.m. today on a bill that would require a 90 percent reduction in global warming pollution from all businesses by 2050.

In a story in this morning's paper, I wrote about how a Western Maryland paper mill is one of several smokestack industries -- including a steel mill and coal-burning power plants -- that worry the bill will put them out of business, essentially by prohibiting the burning of coal.

Gov. Martin O'Malley's administration, which supports the Global Warming Solutions Act, may come out with a proposed amendment today designed to ease the fears of business. The amendment may allow the state's environmental agency to re-evaluate the greenhouse gas reduction goals every few years to make sure they're practical for business and won't drive away jobs.

Meanwhile, a coalition of environmental groups, including the Maryland League of Conservation Voters, is holding a press conference at 11:30 this morning in Annapolis to tell the other side of the story. They hope that the law will encourage thousands of new "green collar" jobs, such as in energy-efficient architecture and building insulation. 

The argument of these other business owners is that Maryland should adapt its economy for a healthy, low-pollution future, instead of clinging to coal-burning technologies of the 19th century.  The state's few remaining smokestack industries -- Maryland has only one paper mill, and one steel mill -- are already losing jobs because of intense competition from China and other foreign competitors. (Which don't have limits on carbon dioxide pollution) 

In Maryland, several unions have come out against the Global Warming Solutions Act, fearing loss of jobs in heavy industry. But nationally, other union leaders have taken a different stance toward climate change.

John J. Sweeney, president of the AFL-CIO, told a climate change conference in New York on Feb. 14 that governments need to act to try to stop global warming. "We hear again and again that we must choose between having a stable climate and having a strong global economy. This is a false choice," Sweeney said. "The global economy cannot prosper unless we secure a stable climate and sustainable sources of energy. Global warming means global Depression, food and water shortages and drowned cities.

"I have stood in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward and seen that future. How serious is the economic threat from global warming? The British government’s Stern Report in 2006 concluded that unless human behavior changes, global warming will lead to a reduction of global economic activity on the level of 10 to 20 percent by 2100. That’s economic damage on the scale of the Great Depression. One can only imagine the social and political problems bestowed upon our children and grandchildren."

1) Emcee: Keith Losoya, Chesapeake Sustainable Business Alliance)

2) Delegate Kumar Barve

3) Malcom Woolf, Maryland Energy Administration

4) Lily Donge, Calvert Investments

5) Jeff Eckel, Hannon Armstrong (an energy efficiency company)

6) Mike Riley, Ceratech Inc. (manufacturing)

Others attending the press conference:

1) Arthur Rogers, Managing Partner, Green Capital Consulting, LLC

2) Brad Rogers, Baltimore Green Construction

3) Mark Hottel, Harvey Hottel

4) Rex Wright, Johnson Controls

5) Stan Sersen, Green Building Institute

6) L.A. Davis, High Energy Bill Solutions

8) Bob Logston, Home Energy Loss Professionals

9) Rob Brennan, Brennan + Company Architects

10) Gary Skulnik, Clean Currents LLC

11) Baltimore Regional Green Buidling Council, Joe Mahady

12) Doris Iklé, CMC Energy Services, Inc.

13) George Chmael, Ecologix

14) Kurt Karsten, Talbot Energy

15) Peter Van Buren, Terra Logos Green HomeServices

Posted by Tom Pelton at 9:40 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The Virginia Marine Resources Commission yesterday imposed several restrictions on commercial crabbing to help the struggling population in the Chesapeake Bay. Among them:

Requiring watermen to have two openings in their pots, called cull rings, to let our small crabs-- most of which are female in VA waters.

Increasing the minimum size limit on peeler crabs, those soft crabs that fetch the highest prices at market.

Capping the winter dredge fishery at the 55 watermen who already do it now.

The Virginian-Pilot's Scott Harper has all the details in this report.

VMRC is not done yet.

Also on the table for discussion in April is cutting the number of crab pots by between 10 and 30 percent, or even as much as 50 percent. Harper reports they are also considering getting rid of recreational fishing licenses and extending the time in which sanctuaries that protect the crabs in the bay's mainstem are off limits.

Regulators are also considering getting rid of the winter dredge fishery altogether -- a practice by which watermen use a clamp-like dredge to remove female crabs that are burrowing in the bay's bottom during the cold months. They're easy marks, because they're not moving. That accounts for about 8 percent of Virginia's annual crab catch.

All of this is happening because the numbers don't lie. The great shellfish factory that was the Chesapeake Bay is sputtering. Watermen are still catching million of pounds of crabs, but significantly fewer than they were catching a few years ago. No one wants to see the crabs go the way of the oysters -- essentially becoming a species that has collapsed.

Last year's harvest, the two recent winter dredge surveys, the decline in water quality and major loss in bay grasses due in part to heat -- all are signs that our signature, iconic crustacean is in trouble. Despite how unpopular these changes are with watermen, regulators know they cannot just ignore the problem or put it off for another year.

Watermen complained that they are taking the brunt of the hit for a problem that is not their fault -- the degradation of water quality in the bay and the loss of key habitat for the crabs. VMRC officials acknowledged that was largely true, but still, the watermen had to make these sacrifices if there was to be a crabbing season at all.

Maryland will not be far behind in introducing its restrictions. It was waiting to see what Virginia would do, and in particular, it wants to see if VA is going to enforce a maximum size limit on females. If they do, Maryland likely will follow suit.

Virginia is also favoring a fishery where watermen will have specific times when they can go fishing, and they can sell their days on the water to someone else. I've heard Md. officials aren't crazy about this approach, because it doesn't really limit the effort. But in Maryland, many ideas are on the table.

MD officials will be meeting tomorrow to further discuss their plans. Click here to see the options MD officials are considering. It's a pretty interesting presentation.

Posted by Rona Kobell at 10:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

Know someone you'd consider a great environmentalist? There may be an award lunch in his or her future. This note comes to us from the Maryland Department of the Environment:

Nominations are now being accepted for the 2008 Tawes Award for A Clean Environment - named in honor of the late J. Millard Tawes, Maryland Governor (1959-1967) and first secretary of the Department of Natural Resources. The awards are co-sponsored by MDE and the Maryland Petroleum Council.

The award is to nominate any individual, civic, community, or non-profit entity that has demonstrated outstanding efforts to enhance Maryland's environment over a period of time or with a single project. Through the years, award recipients have ranged from boy scouts, emergency response personnel and environmental activists to elementary and secondary schools, beautification and ecology groups. Entries are divided into categories - youth (individual or organizations with members under 21), and adult (individual or organization).

The James B. Coulter Award recognizes a government employee who goes above and beyond his/her duties in efforts to improve Maryland's environment. Activities or projects may include, but are not limited to recycling, ecology, animal habitat, community and stream clean up and conservation.

Winners, runners-up and their guests will be honored at an awards luncheon will be in May at the Tawes Garden in Annapolis. A panel of judges chooses the Tawes Award winners and runners-up.

Last year's winners included Jeffery A. Grills co-director of Frederick County Public School's Earth and Space Science Laboratory, and Edward Sinnes, an active Boy Scout who participated in restoration and creation of natural habitats and environmental improvements at the Waldorf Izaak Walton League property. The Maryland Department of the Environment (MDE) Jacksonville Release Project Team was honored with the second annual James B. Coulter Award.

For more information or a nomination form contact the Maryland Petroleum Council office at (410) 269-1850 or MDE's Office of Communications at (410) 537-3003. E-mail requests may be sent to: maryland@api.org. Deadline for submissions is April 10, 2008.

Posted by Rona Kobell at 3:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

I know several people in Kent County that aren't going to like this post, but you've been found out. Now everyone will know Kent County is the best place to live in rural America.

Progressive Farmer tells us so. Right here in their Best Places to Live edition. Here's what they say:

By all reasoning, Kent County should be covered with homes, strip malls and "farmettes." But it's not. Not anywhere close.

Instead, Kent County is a rare holdout in the sprawl and development in this country that clearly is out of control. Kent County maintains a culture of farming, wildlife, and small towns and villages that are relatively untouched.

Some of the northern Eastern Shore county's amenities include Eastern Neck Wildlife Refuge, Betterton Beach, Crumpton Antiques market and of course Chestertown, perhaps one of the prettiest towns in America. All have been talked about on this blog, so it's probably clear that, while I haven't visited every rural place in the cuuntry, I would not disagree with the magazine. Also, they have great sandwiches at the gas station in Still Pond, and excellent chicken at the Crumpton market. Good canoeing (so i hear) near Kennedyville, and that Kennedyville Inn is supposed to have great food.

Another amenity: it's not on the way to Ocean City or Rehoboth Beach, so if you live there, you might suffer traffic along 213, but you won't be trapped in your home on a Saturday in June, as you would be on Kent Island.

But there is one downside, and it's probably keeping many from crossing that lovely Chester River bridge. It's not cheap to live in Kent County. Just ask any of the county's teachers, or firefighters. You'll find many of them living across the line, near Centreville.

Kent Countians would probably be happy to have your business, and they're extremely friendly, from the Chestertown Mayor right on down. But many of them will be just as happy when you go home... so by all means, visit, look at the dairy cows, walk by the water. And then make your plans to come back next year, maybe for a whole week!

Posted by Rona Kobell at 2:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

Gotta love the digital world. This link provides the most in-depth account yet of what happened on the seas that day ... including details of rough seas during the rescue and that two ships passed by the Tumbleweed.

Also, Capt. Cole gives an account of the rescue:

I left the Chesapeake with a crew of two and me. I rounded Cape henry at twenty miles. then I went to forty miles to avoid diamond shoals. I had two more days of good weather to clear the area. The weather suddenly changed. Waves went to thirty feet and the wind touched 100. The roller furling system broke loose at the deck. It was like a wrecking ball on a 58 foot cable. It cleared the foredeck hardware off . The mast was unsupported forward so it started bending. We got 5 sails up but they were all shredded.

Posted by Rona Kobell at 1:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)
                    

The buried streams article in today's Sun hit a nerve.

I've been getting calls and emails all morning from people who are aware of the problems caused by these buried waterways, which are discharging all kinds of filth and sewage into the Patapsco river, and later into the Chesapeake Bay. Here's a sampling:

"When I was a kid growing up in the 1940s we played in the stream that ran under EASTERN AVE past the chemical plant. The stream was covered up to make the parking lot for PEMCO by dumping thousands of tons of waste over the stream. I remember dropping one of the crystals into my goldfish tank and watching the fish die in a matter of minutes."

"I used to work for the Baltimore Harbor Watershed Association, and I know the frustrations that come with seeing the trash of other communities, come washing into your own.
I had spoken with representatives from Friends of Patterson Park, about restoring the stream that runs through the park, down Lakewood avenue, and to the outfall on boston street. This would require a lot of money, and a bridge be built on Boston street where the stream is exposed, but I think the benefits would be amazing. There is only one open running stream in Baltimore city I think, which runs beside 83 if I'm not mistaken. I know that daylighting the lakewood avenue stream would mean less parking for the area as well, but I feel that the residents on that street would be ok with it, because their basements would also stop flooding. Plus, their front stoops would open up to a beautiful waterway, instead of concrete."

"Over the past six months, contractors have taken down almost 80 trees between our neighborhood and the Bryn Mawr school all in the name of stream restoration.  Now we have two red fox families wandering around our neighborhood with their habitat destroyed as well as increased noise from Northern Parkway. 
   I should have contacted you earlier.  The bulldozers are gone but the stumps remain along with heartache over such a beautiful bit of nature in the city destroyed.  The only people who are happy are Bill Stack and Whiting Turner who received millions of dollars for the tree removal.  
   After reading Rona's article this morning and seeing the photos I am even more outraged that the city is focused on the wrong kind of restoration."

A guy also left me a message saying that neighbors in the Gwynns Falls area call the stream where we were "stinky creek." Jed Kirschbaum's amazing pictures do it justice, but you can't smell a picture. Let me just say that it was not good.

To get into the stream, we had to climb over a concrete barrier and walk along slimy, trash-coated rocks to waist-deep water. I lost my balance coming out of the water and leaned on a rock, promptly cutting my hand with glass from who knows where. Sujay told me not to worry -- his wife's a doctor, he said, and he cuts and scrapes himself all the time. Among the junk we found in there: a Huey Lewis CD, a motorcycle, a stroller, and enough plastic bags to make a circus tent. They did not come through the buried stream, but were clearly dumped there -- more evidence of how we value, or don't, the natural resources of this city.

The City Paper mined the topic of urban filth a few months ago in this excellent story by Van Smith. The cover story doesn't specifically mention buried streams, but it talks about the major odors and gushes of sewage that are coming through pipes and drains, and it sounds like Smith was in or near at least a few buried streams.

The Patapsco River ranked as Maryland's most polluted last year, and this problem is part of the reason why. It doesn't get as much attention as other bay issues, in part because it's out of sight and so far from the Chesapeake. But it's a major problem all the same.

You can learn more about it here. Kaushal and Elmore published some of their research in that journal. And for a map of the buried streams in the Baltimroe areas, click here.

Posted by Rona Kobell at 10:59 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

This is not exactly a Chesapeake Bay story, but I thought you'd find it amazing all the same.

I happened to be working the night shift on Friday when we got a call from Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines about an amazing rescue. Three men from Baltimore --  Gene Cole, Steven Bridges, and Nathaniel Pyle, were rescued by the Royal Caribbean Cruise Ship Explorer of the Seas.

The men were sailing from Baltimore to Key West and hit a storm about 150 miles off the coast of Cape Hatteras, N.C., in the Atlantic. The fierce gusts blew out all of their sails, and their radio antenna, so they couldn't call for help. Using a battery, they had a very weak signal and were able to call out ot the cruise ship, which was about 45 minutes away.

You can watch the video here.  It's dramatic. The men were stranded for 11 days, and they were without food and water for 3. They look pretty good here. Their boat, the Tumbleweed, looks pretty battered, though. The ship called the Coast Guard to report it as an abandoned vessel.

The ship gave them a room for the rest of the journey, plus food and entertainment (if they were up for it) and when they docked in Puerto Rico, RC gave them tickets to wherever they wanted to go. They chose their original destination, Key West. I guess they were going to get there one way or another.

I tried, without luck, to find these guys Friday night; I've since been in touch by email with some of their relatives, but still dont know much. Also a few passengers who watched the dramatic rescue wrote in to tell me about it. I think the three men are en route back north and hope they'll be in touch soon.

 I called many of the sailors I know in the area. None knew these three men, but all spoke of the treacherous seas in that part of the ocean.

So here's to Gene, Nate and Steve...welcome back to terra firma, wherever you are. I bet I know which cruise ship you'll book for your next vacation...

Posted by Rona Kobell at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (1)
                    

 GM'S BOB LUTZ

The blogosphere is ablaze.  General Motors vice chairman Bob Lutz recently was quoted by news services around the world as declaring global warming "a crock of s---."  Perhaps that shouldn't be too much of a surprise -- after all, this is the company that markets the Hummer H2.

But what's odd is that Lutz is now declaring his personal disbelief in global warming to be totally unrelated to his company's marketing of ever bigger and bigger vehicles (which he portrays as a move toward ever more sensitive greenness).

On a GM blog called "Fastlane," Lutz doesn't back down from his assertion that the entire scientific establishment is just flat wrong about climate change.  "An offhand comment I made recently about the concept of global warming seems to have a lot of people heated, and it’s spreading through the Internet like ragweed. But I think that the people making a big deal out of it are missing the real point. My beliefs are mine and I have a right to them," Lutz writes.

He says his personal opinions have nothing to do with his company's dedication to the environment.  "General Motors is dedicated to the removal of cars and trucks from the environmental equation, period....It’s the right thing to do, for us, for you and, yes, for the planet. My goal is to take the automotive industry out of the debate entirely. GM is working on just that... via E85, hybrids, hydrogen and fuel cells, and the electrification of the automobile."

You might notice his use of the words "environmental equation." He's not saying that his SUV's and trucks won't harm the environment -- he's just saying, they won't be part of the "equation" -- like maybe a lobbyist somewhere could just edit out the equals sign out of the sentence: "Hummer + green marketing = zero."

One reader to his blog couldn't understand why consumers would want to buy vehicles promoted as environmentally friendly from a company run by a guy who believes that global warming is not just a matter of debate -- but something to harshly ridicule. "Once again I have to wonder: Why would I want to buy a 'green' car from a man who thinks 'global warming is a crock.' Isn't that like buying a Corvette from a guy who hates fast cars, or buying a pickup truck from someone who thinks only rednecks should drive them?"

But many more folks on the GM website praise Bob Lutz up and down for taking on the environmentalists.  And this raises the question: How green could this company be, if so many GM folks think Bob is a hero for declaring global warming a fiction? "Bob, you rock!" was the typical praise he received on the GM blog. "The new GM is about free spirits, open thinkers and challenging the status quo. GM could not have evolved into the great corporation that it is today without 100 years of encouraging its people to be individuals."

Posted by Tom Pelton at 5:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)
                    

"Weary Shoreline," a documentary about the failure to enforce Maryland's Critical Area law, airs at 9 p.m. Wednesday night.  It's a troubling report for anyone who cares about Chesapeake Bay.  It shows how waterfront homeowners and builders are chewing away at the narrow strip of shore that acts as a buffer and filter for the pollution running off driveways, streets, lawns and roofs.  It also documents how little local officials have done about it.

As the viewer rides along on boats with riverkeepers, or flies with the camera over the bay, you're struck by just how built up the shoreline is, especially in Anne Arundel County.   You see the large house, complete with private lighthouse, that the owner of Little Island erected without first getting permits -- and has been allowed to keep.  You also see neighboring Dobbins Island, which another owner is trying to develop, even though the sliver of land is in the 1,000 foot strip regulated by the 1984 Critical Area law.

Riverkeepers and other activists are the viewers' guides to the "death of a thousand cuts" that waterfront living is causing to the bay.  But the special also gives some property owners their say. In some cases, the damage seems marginal, as homeowners in long-established communities question why they can't clear vines and brush on their land or build a carport or pool near the water, since their neighbors already have done it. Where do you draw the line, they ask?

In other places, where the shore is still relatively untouched, the issue is clearer, and the stakes higher.  Dennis Whigham, a scientist with the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center in Edgewater, explains that studies have found it doesn't take much development to degrade the water and the plants and critters in it.  Disturb as little as 3 or 4 percent of the land draining into a particular creek or cove, he says, and you'll start to see declines.

If I have one criticism of the documentary, I wish it had spent more time walking viewers through the harm done by development.  The cumulative impact of many small individual insults is a hard concept for the general public to grasp.

Still, it's a valuable and timely report.  Gov. Martin O'Malley has asked the General Assembly to strengthen state oversight under the Critical Area law.  The governor's bill comes up for a hearing Thursday in the Senate Education, Health and Environmental Affairs Committee.

Among other things, it would tighten up on the "variances" that local officials often grant to property owners seeking approval - after the fact, in some cases - to build in the 100-foot strip closest to the water, which is supposed to be left untouched.  It would also expand that no-disturbance buffer zone from 100 feet to 300 feet, and subject builders to possible loss of their license if they knowingly violate the law.  

You can read more about the problems with the law, in this piece in The Sun that Rona Kobell and I did.  Or this story in The Washington Post.   Then tune in to MPT Wednesday night to see what the case is for reform.

Posted by Tim Wheeler at 10:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (6)
                    

Apologies for the late local travel story. I've been in DC most of the day taping a television show (more glamorous than it sounds) and just got back...

By popular demand (OK, one reader's suggestion), this week's destination is Greensboro, in the green Garden County of Caroline.

My last visit to Greensboro, which just off Route 404 not far from Denton, it was Christmas 2006. I was there to write about a lovely hotel, The Riverside, that was going out of business. The place was eerie - made beds, tip envelopes on the night stands, even coffee stirrers in the kitchen. But no one had slept there in nearly a year.

I hope someone bought it. Anyway, if you visit, see if you can walk around to the back of the hotel for a view of the Choptank, which hardly looks like the same river you see in Cambridge. Narrow and muddy, it's a prime nesting spot for all manner of birds, and there is a nice little walking path. For those Crumpton lovers who talked about their camp a little while ago, the back of the Riverside reminds me of where I went to camp in New England and the Ware (where?) River that ran alongside the road.

The main attraction in Greensboro is Harry's. Or, more specifically, Harry Wyre, the affable host who presides over exquisite food at the Goldsborough House downtown, a lovely historic home off the main street. I interviewed Harry a couple of years ago, but I never ate his food. (and there's no Elizabeth Large review in our archives.) He wasn't open yet, as it was early on a Sunday afternoon. No matter. I was entranced by the historic furnishings and the story that always goes with such a showplace.

Harry has a visiting French chefs program, where he brings in cooks from all over the countryside to stay at the house and cook. I checked the site and the next time there's a special is Easter, but you can contact Harry directly for more information.

I'm curious to try Harry's next time I'm in town. Maybe during French chef week?

Posted by Rona Kobell at 5:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)
                    

After a Maryland senate hearing on a global warming pollution control bill this week, a business advocacy group sent out a press release with a claim that cast doubt on global warming.

The organization, called Maryland Business for Responsive Government, said that "more than 19,000 American scientists" have signed an online petition saying that "there is no convincing scientific evidence" that human release of carbon dioxide will cause "disruption of the Earth's climate." The group directed reporters to www.oism.org.

That's a lot of scientists.  It certainly gives the impression that most -- or at least many -- experts don't think global warming is a serious problem.  But what the press release doesn't say is that this petition was circulated a decade ago, before many recent, highly authoritative reports showing that the scientific consensus is now overwhelmingly that industry is in fact causing global warming, and it's a big problem.

Nor does the press release reveal that this petition came from a fringe group called the Oregon Institute for Science and Medicine, which has been criticized by mainstream scientists.

“They are totally discounted by anyone serious," said Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. "And there are no signers who have any standing as experts on the global climate.”

What is the Oregon Group? Source Watch, an online information service provided by the nonprofit Center for Media and Democracy, describes the Oregon Group as "a small research institute that studies biochemistry, diagnostic medicine, nutrition, preventive medicine and the molecular biology of aging. It is headed by... an eccentric scientist who has a long history of controversial entanglements with figures on the fringe of accepted research.  OISM also markets a home-schooling kit for 'parents concerned about socialism in the public schools' and publishes books on how to survive nuclear war."

None of the eight faculty members listed on the Oregon Institute's website are climate scientists.  Six are chemists, one is an electrical engineer and another is a professor of medicine.

After the publication of the “petition” in 1998, the prestigious Council of the National Academies of Sciences issued a statement saying that it was “concerned” that the petition was causing “confusion” because it was sent to scientists with a report printed to look like it came from the National Academies of Sciences.

“This petition does not reflect the conclusions of expert reports of the academy,” the National Academies wrote. “Greenhouse warming poses a potential threat sufficient to merit prompt responses.”

A reader emailed me to say that anyone -- even imposters -- could sign the Oregon petition claiming to be a scientist.  This included "a friend of mine who signed as 'Dr. Geri Halliwell' -- better known as Ginger Spice of the Spice Girls," wrote Charlie M.

A website run by climate scientists  calls the Oregon group the  “Oregon Institute of Science and Malarkey.”  This scientific group, called RealClimate, says the petition has been “highly criticized” because it’s full of “errors.”

The real consensus of scientists is not reflected by the Oregon Institute.  It is reflected by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, an international scientific organization with more than 2,500 scientists from 130 countries that recently won the Nobel Prize.

A year ago, the Intergovernmental Panel concluded it was more than 90 percent sure - having "very high confidence" - that global warming is being caused by human industry.

In November, the IPCC issued another report   that went even farther, saying: "Warming of the climate system is unequivocal, as is now evident from observations of increases in global
average air and ocean temperatures, widespread melting of snow and ice, and rising global average sea level.... There is very high confidence that the net effect of human activities since 1750 has been one of warming."

Dan Kirk-Davidoff, assistant professor of atmospheric and oceanic science at the University of Maryland College Park, said there is no question that the real scientific consensus is expressed by the IPCC report, and not the Oregon Institute.

“The IPCC has said in no uncertain terms that increasing carbon dioxide from humans is causing global warming,” Kirk-Davidoff said. “For political reasons, people will complain about the IPCC but it’s just crap….the people on the panel are the best and brightest.”

A survey of more than 900 peer-reviewed articles on climate change published between 1993 and 2003 found that not a single one challenged the fact that human industry is playing a role in global warming, according to research by Naomi Oreskes, a professor of history and science studies at the University of California, San Diego.

In his book, The Weather Makers, author Tim Flannery described a well-funded propaganda effort by industry lobbying groups to try to convince journalists and the public that scientists are still debating whether global warming is real.  That debate is over, but many in the public doesn't know it yet because of doubt manufactured by industries with billions at stake in avoiding regulation, Flannery writes.

"The industries who oppose action on climate change are little different from the asbestos and tobacco companies, who by constantly challenging and clouding the outcomes of research into the link between their products and cancer seek to buy themselves a few more decades of fat profits," Flannery writes.

Frank Luntz, an influential Republican communications strategist who helped craft Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America," wrote a memo in 2002 about how political leaders should inject the idea of scientific doubt into discussions of global warming.

Under the heading "Winning the Global Warming Debate," Luntz wrote, "Voters believe that there is no consensus about global warming in the scientific community. Should the public ever come to believe that the scientific issues are settled, their views about global warming will change accordingly."

Since then, more scientific evidence has poured in -- and now even President George Bush and Newt Gingrich acknowledge that global warming is a real problem.

So for anyone to claim these days that global warming is not a reality -- as some AM radio talk show hosts and business groups do -- is clearly outside the scientific and political mainstream. 

But that doesn't mean there isn't a legitimate debate about what -- if anything -- Maryland should do about climate change.  The Maryland Global Warming Solutions Act being considered by the state legislature could have a major impact on business. It calls for a 90 percent reduction in greenhouse gas emissions from all industries across the state by 2050. 

The nonpartisan Maryland Department of Legislative Services issued a report saying that "costs could increase significantly" for businesses because of the act.  But because the Maryland Department of the Environment hasn't yet proposed -- or even thought up -- what steps it will require businesses to take to cut their carbon dioxide emissions, nobody knows exactly what the cost increases for business will be.  "Any such increase cannot be reliably estimated at this time and could be partially or entirely offset by energy savings," the Department of Legislative Services wrote.

Posted by Tom Pelton at 5:34 PM | Permalink | Comments (21)
                    

 SPARROWS POINT STEEL MILL

Maryland Governor Martin O'Malley is making the case that limits on global warming pollution could cost businesses in the short term.  But in the long term, O'Malley argues that the cost of inaction is much greater -- the flooding of waterfront businesses and homes, and eventually, the extinction of humans.

“We need to move into a much more sustainable future or else we cease to exist as a species,” O’Malley, a Democrat, said while surrounded by environmental activists during a press conference at the State House yesterday.  “People can talk about the increased cost of things. But what sort of increased costs will come from a four foot rise in sea level for businesses located at Sparrows Point (the steel mill) or in Annapolis or in downtown Baltimore?”

Business representatives and unions argued during a senate hearing that factories such as the ArcelorMittal steel plant in Sparrows Point could close if the state adopted proposed cuts in carbon dioxide pollution of 25 percent by 2020 and 90 percent by 2050.

Although six other states -- California, New Jersey, Oregon, Washington, Hawaii and Minnesota -- have limits on greenhouse gases similar to those being considered by Maryland, none of these states is next door.  So some business advocates worry that power companies, for example, will build future power plants in Pennsylvania instead of in Maryland, meaning fewer jobs here.

 These predictions of economic fallout were disputed by state Del. Kumar Barve, co-sponsor of the Global Warming Solutions Act. He said that the auto industry made similar predictions of ruin before fuel-efficiency laws were first passed in the 1970's, and the warnings turned out to false.

O'Malley's assertions about widespread death coming in the long-term from climate change were backed up by Dr. Cindy Parker of the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health. She told a senate committee yesterday that unchecked global warming would mean worsening air pollution, flooding and increases in diseases including asthma, she said.<

“As a public health physician, I believe that climate change poses the greatest risk to our health of anything this century,” Dr. Parker said. Action by Maryland and other states could prompt federal action, and if this convinces governments around the world to act, it "has the potential to save lots of lives, thousands and millions worldwide,” Dr. Parker said.

Mike Tidwell, an author and climate activist, said that businesses and homeowners are already facing higher costs because of climate change.  He noted that Allstate Corp. and other insurance companies are refusing to issue new insurance policies along the Atlantic Coast and in other areas at heightened risk from hurricanes.

O'Malley picked up this same line of argument -- saying that capping carbon dioxide is a matter of long-term cost avoidance for businesses. 

 “These are things that we must do, that we have to do, that we have a moral imperative to do in order to turn around the impending damage that is coming to all of us on this planet because of unchecked climate change," O'Malley said. "This bill recognizes that not only that global warming is a battle we all share. But for too long our aim in this fight has fallen too short. We are faced with the sad fact that our coastlines are eroding, that the planet is warming, and we have to do a better job of reducing the damage that human consumption and patterns in energy use are doing to our planet.”

Many business owners and Republicans aren't buying it. 

Bill Pitcher, a lobbyist for the NewPage paper mill in Western Maryland (formerly known as  the Westvaco plant). suggested that the limits could imperil the jobs of all of the factory's 950 employees.

“These kinds of reductions, given the existing technology, would be well neigh impossible,” said Pitcher.  "When this plant hiccups, everybody feels it in Western Maryland.... This is a global problem, let’s have a global solution.”

Robert E. Driscoll, CEO of the Mirant MidAtlantic power company, complained that the Global Warming Solutions Act puts too much power in the hands of the Maryland Department of the Environment, which would write regulations to require emissions cuts by industry.

“This bill will subject our industry to additional costs…requirements that cannot be met with technology today," said Driscoll. "So the only solution is to reduce generation at a time of rising demand for power.”

Outside the hearing yesterday, Driscoll said that demand for electricity is likely to keep going up, not down as environmental activists would like.  For example, he said, next year a change in federal regulations will require most people to buy new TV's -- and these new plasma screens require three or four times more electricity than the models today.  People also want electric cars, and these demand more power, he said.

“There is no technology to meet these limits," Driscoll said.  "For industries that burn fossil fuels, the only alternative is to shut down generation, at a time of rising demand.”

State Sen. Jim Rosapepe, a Democrat from Prince George's County, scolded industry for denying the facts about global warming for years, and trying to put off action instead of facing reality.  He said that, eventually, federal law will limit greenhouse gas pollution -- and if Maryland's industries adjust first, they will more likely survive.

"In reality, this is going to be dealt with at the national or international level," Rosapepe said. "But every year we put this off, aren’t we putting our industries at a competitive disadvantage?”

State Sen. Paul Pinsky, one of the sponsors of the Global Warming Solutions Act, said that businesses need to examine the costs of sea level rise that could hit five feet over the next century if polar ice melts at an accelerated rate.

“Imagine a five foot sea level rise, and Ocean City, the state’s center of tourism, gone," Pinsky said. "Eastern shore agriculture, the farming communities, the food" also flooded, he suggested. "Commercial areas like th