Protect The Bay, Stop Anti-Environment Extremism

A few days ago, Delegate Ron George co-sponsored a resolution in Maryland's General Assembly stating that climate change is a "conspiracy" and urging the Environmental Protection Agency to "immediately halt" all efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions.

Besides ignoring the overwhelming consensus among the world's climate scientists, George is advancing a position with disastrous consequences locally for the Chesapeake Bay:

-- Increased carbon dioxide concentrations can increase algae blooms, which are the source of large "dead zones" in the Chesapeake Bay. [Source]

-- Many of the most effective agricultural practices to sequester carbon -- such as forest buffers, no-till farming and cover crops -- are also essential to improving water quality in the Chesapeake Bay. [Source]

In a time of economic challenge, Maryland can't afford to allow the Chesapeake Bay to continue to degrade. The Bay is Maryland's most valuable economic resource: driving commerce, buttressing property values and attracting tourists.

We need to dispense with far-right ideology and focus on our shared goals in Maryland.