Issue Position: Environment

Issue Position

Chesapeake Bay

Jeff Ghrist has enjoyed a tremendous amount of time on the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries both catching fish and some days not catching fish. The Bay is a national treasure and folks come from all over come to visit places like Blackwater National Refuge and historic Annapolis, St. Michaels and Crisfield. For locals, though, the bay provides excellent views, entertainment and the world's best seafood. These are just a few reasons why we must do whatever we can to protect the Chesapeake Bay.

Jeff understands how fragile the ecosystem of the Bay is and the impacts urban sprawl, residential and agriculture pressures have on its biodiversity. One might wonder why this is a federal government issue. Why not rely on the State of Maryland to fix the problem?

The Chesapeake Bay watershed is 64,000 square miles and covers areas of six states. Approximately 17 million people live in the watershed. Because the watershed is so large it takes coordinated efforts by the federal government and six state governments to ensure that all stakeholders work together. This is the reason why the EPA has mandated the TMDL pollution diet on the five states in the bay's watershed.

A balance, however, must be struck with preserving property rights and ensuring that new regulations do not have a negative impact on our economy. Our laws and regulations must be scientifically based and have a meaningful impact on the Bay. We must shift the new paradigm of punishing people or holding people accountable for their impacts on the environment while using phony environmental data. While Jeff wholeheartedly supports pragmatic scientifically supported environmental law he will continue to fight the radical approach that Maryland has taken on environmental issues. We need to account for the costs and property rights of our residents when all laws and regulations are passed. We should not pass high cost laws and regulations that results in very little marginal benefits.

Jeff is very confident this balance can be struck. We do not have much of a choice if we want future generations to enjoy the bounty that the Chesapeake Bay offers. Jeff remembers as a child dipping soft crabs from the shallow waters in a cove near Claiborne, running trot lines with his brothers and casting to breaking rockfish. He wants to ensure that his children and eventually his grandchildren will have equally enjoyable memories.

As they say, we should leave our future generations with only our footprints not our trash. We have a responsibility to not give up on the bay.

Global Warming

Jeff is not as warm on the global warming issue. He is still trying to find credible evidence proving whether or not the human release of carbon dioxide is a significant factor relative to natural temperature variations in the atmosphere. There are many conflicting reports out there.

These are important considerations when developing policy.

There are well documented risks to global warming. However, there are also risks to global warming policies including mandates, quotas, regulations, restrictions, rations and offsets. Coal, oil, and natural gas provide the world with most of its energy. Some reports argue that it will be costly to reduce emissions from fossil fuels by enough to make even a modest reduction in the earth's future temperature. Some also say that if the U.S. fully implements the provisions of the Kyoto Treaty the cost might be hundreds of billions of dollars annually but might only reduce our global temperatures by just 0.07 degrees by 2050. If these numbers are true the costs of capping carbon dioxide are large but the benefits are small. These costs will be borne by consumers. Since we all use energy the poorest families will be hit the hardest.

The potential of further economic decline in an effort that might result in small marginal benefits is not worth the risk. Until there is more consistent reporting proving human cause, Jeff will not support cap and trade or any other restrictive carbon dioxide related regulations. He will also not support high cost alternative energy sources if they only deliver marginal results.

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