FEATURES
Tim Wheeler | April 9, 2012
With an O'Malley administration bill seeking to boost offshore wind development effectively dead, the General Assembly approved another bill to promote projects that would produce energy from poultry manure and wood. SB237 , which would provide incentives to place giant wind turbines off Ocean City, has yet to come to a vote in the Senate Finance Committee. Environmental groups, many of whom had made the measure a top priority, threw in the towel late in the day, issuing a press release expressing their disappointment with the General Assembly's failure to pass the measure for a second straight year.
FEATURES
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun | March 19, 2012
With a catch in her throat, Kristin Hudson talks in a video posted online about her young daughter asking if "they" will take away her daddy's farm. The video, featured on SaveFarmFamilies.org rallied farmers and others across the country to the side of an Eastern Shore farm couple fighting an environmental group's lawsuit alleging that the farm polluted a Chesapeake Bay tributary. The Web-based organization has raised more than $200,000 to date from Perdue Farms, agricultural groups and other farmers to help Alan and Kristin Hudson pay legal bills in the 2-year-old case, according to one of the group's leaders.
FEATURES
By Timothy B. Wheeler, The Baltimore Sun | November 21, 2011
State officials are plowing ahead with new rules on how and when farmers can fertilize their fields, despite last-minute objections from environmentalists that the proposed limits have been weakened in an apparent bid to mollify agricultural interests. The state Department of Agriculture plans to publish proposed changes to its "nutrient management" regulations on Dec. 2 in the Maryland Register, spokeswoman Julianne Oberg said in an email. State officials have said the new rules, which deal with the spreading of animal manure and sewage sludge on farm fields, are intended to reduce polluted runoff from farms as part of Maryland's effort to restore the Chesapeake Bay. Among the proposed changes are a ban on putting down any fertilizer in winter and tighter limits in the fall, requiring farmers to store their animals' waste until spring or find other uses for it. The changes were generally welcomed by environmental groups when first announced three weeks ago. Some activists, notably former state Sen. Gerald Winegrad of Annapolis, thought they were still far too weak, but others saw them as a good first step toward tackling agricultural pollution.
SPORTS
By Candus Thomson, The Baltimore Sun | June 5, 2011
COOK'S BEACH, N.J. — The small bird sitting along this sandy spit of land is starving and dinner offerings are slim. Having flown 5,000 miles from South America and with 5,000 to go to its Arctic breeding ground, the red knot needs to fatten up along Delaware Bay or die. For tens of thousands of birds over the last decade, death has been inevitable. The red knot population, scientists believe, may be down to its last 25,000. Two weeks ago, bird experts and environmentalists called on the federal government to accelerate the review process for placing the red knot on the endangered species list.
NEWS
May 18, 2011
Having spent a substantial portion of my career in the solid waste management field, I have followed with interest the debate regarding waste-to-energy facilities as renewable energy sources. I find it disconcerting that some environmental groups continue trying to aggressively discredit WTE incineration as a viable option. I am not a fan of solid waste management strategies based on a goal of "zero waste" generation. Such strategies sound good but are unrealistic. Effective waste management strategies need to be comprehensive, incorporating components for reuse, recycling, reduction, processing and disposal.
NEWS
May 9, 2011
Lawsuits brought by government and private parties to address damage done to the environment became a necessary fact of life in this country long ago. In a perfect world, perhaps nobody would pollute — or at least those who did would immediately and appropriately be corrected by a government agency. But the real world sometimes requires court orders. It is in that context that Maryland Attorney General Douglas F. Gansler's recent decision to file notice of intent to sue Chesapeake Energy Corp.