By Timothy B. Wheeler , tim.wheeler@baltsun.com|May 21, 2009
More than 60 environmental groups from the six states whose rivers drain into the Chesapeake Bay have formed a coalition to press for stronger federal government efforts to clean up their local waterways, it was announced yesterday.
"Clean, healthy water is vital to the health of every one of the nearly 17 million people that live in this region," Jan Jarrett, executive director of Citizens for Pennsylvania's Future, said in a statement announcing the formation of the Choose Clean Water Campaign.
"For years, the Clean Water Act has offered the promise of cleaning up our waters," Jarrett said. "We need to move from promises to results for the more than 900 rivers, streams, and creeks that flow into the Chesapeake Bay."
The announcement comes a week after President Barack Obama signed an executive order calling for a greater federal role in the struggling 26-year-old bay restoration effort. Hilary Harp Falk, the new coalition's director, called the presidential order a "unique opportunity" to assure that local communities get the legal authority and resources to clean up and protect their waterways so they're safe for fishing and swimming, as federal law requires.
The group includes national groups such as American Rivers, Ducks Unlimited and the Natural Resources Defense Council, as well as regional and local organizations such as the Chesapeake Bay Foundation and 1000 Friends of Maryland. It plans to focus on reducing all sources of pollution degrading the Chesapeake, but it also intends to press for changes in federal transportation policy to reduce environmental harm from highway construction, and for national legislation to address climate change.
"By coordinating our experiences, our expertise and our members, we will be able to speak with a clear, strong voice to make the tough choices that will give us clean water," said Tony Caligiuri, regional executive director at the National Wildlife Federation.
