This Week's News from the Chesapeake Bay

This Week's News from the Chesapeake Bay

26 January 2015 NEWS Newly minted Maryland governor pulls stronger phosphorus regs at last moment With only hours left before they go to press, Gov. Hogan acts Hours after being sworn in as Maryland’s governor, Larry Hogan reportedly made good on one of his most contentious campaign promises: to repeal the phosphorus management tool, a new regulation that would limit the amount of chicken manure that farmers could spread on their fields. - Rona Kobell

Lack of clear goal, information hampers effort to control blue catfish Scientists concerned that some efforts could actually cause the population to expand. Efforts to rein in the region’s escalating blue catfish population through an expanded fishery and other measures could face numerous obstacles, the greatest of which is a lack of basic information about the voracious predators, a new report says. - Karl Blankenship Chesapeake Bay projects to get $19 million federal funding boost Though less than requested, the funding should help states meet their water quality goals Bay-focused organizations made a flurry of announcements last week as they learned how much federal funding is headed to the region — $19 million in total — from a new Farm Bill program for conservation projects that are key to meeting their states’ cleanup goals. - Whitney Pipkin BLOGS Tom Horton receives ‘Admiral of the Chesapeake’ award Bay Journal columnist Tom Horton was among more than a dozen Marylanders recognized as an “Admiral of the Chesapeake” by Gov. Marin O’Malley during his final days in office. - Karl Blankenship From black liquor to phosphorus to transparency, issues confront Assembly Maryland Lawmakers returned to Annapolis last week to meet as the General Assembly, with a full agenda and some different faces. Perhaps the most noticeable one will be Larry Hogan, the state’s new governor, and only the third Republican in the last 50 years to hold the office. His former boss, Robert Ehrlich, was the second, and before him, you had to go back to Spiro Agnew. - Rona Kobell OPINIONS Parasitic pipelines worm way through Earth Burrowing beneath the skin of the Earth all across the United States, new oil and gas pipelines are erupting in a rash of environmental destruction. More than 20,000 miles of new pipelines were built between 1998 and 2008, and tens of thousands more are under construction or proposed. Extreme energy extraction through hydraulic fracturing (fracking) for shale gas and oil demands extreme infrastructure support. Leaving soil-bleeding scars as they excavate ever forward, these pipelines are subsidized by taxpayer dollars but designed for corporate profits. - Chris Bolgiano FEATURES Winter Reading: May an unforgettable book like this never have to be written again “Toms River: A Story of Science and Salvation”  By Dan Fagin Bantam Books, New York. 2013. Every few years, a science or environmental book comes along that’s so well-written that it not only reaches a broad audience, but nabs nearly every major award on its way to becoming a classic. - Rona Kobell

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