Chesapeake Currents - Fall 2011
chesapeake currents
fall 2011 edition
Inside
- We Can't Live Without Clean Water
- Uranium Mining
- Virginia Endorsements
- Winning in Baltimore
- DC - Leading on Stormwater
- Delaware's Senator Takes on Diesel
we can’t live without clean water
It’s that simple. But sometimes, the people we elect seem to forget that. And they’ve been forgetting it a lot lately in Washington, DC and in too many of our state capitals.
Clean Water Action’s job – which we can only do in partnership with you,
our members — is to keep the pressure on the politicians in Washington,
and in their home districts across the country, telling them to protect
our water.
One
of the issues at stake in this year’s elections is Virginia’s ban on
uranium mining, in place since 1982, after uranium was discovered in an
area of the state used for cattle, hay and timber. In November 2008, the
Virginia Coal and Energy Commission voted to move forward on a
comprehensive review of uranium mining’s potential environmental
impacts. Earlier that year, a State House panel killed an attempt to
fund a related study. These efforts by the uranium industry and its
allies are widely viewed as an attempt to lift the ban. The Commission
is expected to issue its report at the end of 2011.
environmental candidate 
endorsements
Clean Water Action has taken a hard look at state legislative candidates
in Virginia’s 2011 elections. Profiled below are five top Clean Water
Action endorsements, based on the candidates’ records and positions.
These are the candidates who will be best qualified to lead in Richmond
on critical water and health protection issues. Clean Water Action’s
Virginia members can make a difference for our water this Tuesday
November 8 by supporting these candidates at the polls. All of these
elections will be close, and each vote will be important. Contact Clean
Water Action’s Chesapeake Regional Director Andrew Fellows to learn more about volunteer campaign opportunities with Clean Water Action.
You can download our endorsements here.
a new dynamic in baltimore
Clean Water Action of Maryland endorsed a group of pro-environment candidates for the Baltimore City primary election. These candidates fared well and will likely change the dynamic of the City Council on environmental issues. Clean Water Action won 8 out of 11 of its Primary Election races in Baltimore City. This included the City Council President Bernard ‘Jack’ Young, who was elected with 75 % of the vote, and new-comer Nick Mosby, who upset two-term incumbent Belinda Conaway.Nick Mosby pledged to “…fight to improve the quality of life for the hard-working citizens and children of this great city…and create policies that provide sustainable solutions to improve the environmental health of our communities.”
a national leader on stormwater?
On October 5, District of Columbia and Environmental Protection Agency representatives proclaimed the release of a new stormwater management permit that could significantly reduce the pollution flowing from storm drains into the creeks and rivers of the nation’s capital. The new permit calls for retaining the first 1.2 inches of rainfall on properties in the District. When enforced, this new standard will reduce the poison runoff that flows from streets, parking lots and other paved surfaces. The permit provides incentives for solutions and environmental design standards that help capture rain water, such as trees, rain gardens and other landscape that soaks in water.
Sen. Carper takes the lead on diesel emission reduction
Sen. Thomas Carper, Delaware’s senior U.S. Senator, is a lead sponsor of S. 972, the Clean Construction Act of 2011. The bill would require the use of existing technology to reduce diesel emissions from construction equipment. Diesel operations are not only the source of health-harming exhaust that seriously degrades air quality, but they also contribute significantly to global warming and the climate crisis.
Publication Date:
10/31/2011
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