Tuesday's elections may determine the success or failure of the Chesapeake Bay cleanup. Exaggeration? Not when you consider the Trump administration's determination to rollback environmental protections, and not when state and local governments are charting the course of future cleanup efforts.
Across the watershed, communities are working hard to implement the Chesapeake Clean Water Blueprint, reducing pollution from runoff, sewage, and agriculture. And we're seeing progress. Underwater grasses are booming, oysters are rebounding, and dead zones are shrinking. But while gains have been made, the recovery is fragile. The Bay and its rivers and streams still have a long way to go to be healthy.
Elections are so critical as few places are more influential to saving the Bay than the halls of our local, state, and federal governments. Without public officials who are willing to take decisive steps toward clean water, the health of the Bay and its rivers and streams will remain dangerously out of balance. We need elected officials who will take the necessary steps to ensure the Bay's progress continues.
While support for Bay restoration has strong bipartisan support, highlighted by the continued funding of the Chesapeake Bay Program, the Bay cleanup effort is still under attack by the Trump administration. Recent proposals by the EPA to rollback critical environmental protections in the Clean Air Act underscore the power our elected leaders possess to either advance clean water policies or to leave our waterways vulnerable to pollution.
Now is the time to double-down for clean water. Join us in encouraging our future decision makers in every elected office, big and small, to stand up for clean water. Get out and vote on November 6. Learn more about what policies matter to the Bay this election season and find helpful information on finding your polling place, elections, rules, and more.
The Chesapeake Bay Foundation is a 501(c)(3) not-profit organization which may not, and does not coordinate with, support, or oppose candidates for public office or political party.
This Week in the Watershed: Bottoms Up, Oyster Weather, Dead Zone Swings
- The size of the Bay's dead zone this year was the same as 2017 but fluctuated dramatically due to extreme weather changes. (Bay Journal)
- Tours on the historic skipjack of former CBF educator and Maryland waterman Ed Farley are a crash course on Bay history, ecology, and oysters. (Chesapeake Bay Magazine)
- A recent study suggests oceans are warming faster than originally thought as a result of global climate change. (New York Times)
- Newly released research from scientists at NOAA and the Maryland Department of Natural Resources found that warmer winters rather than overfishing have depleted Bay oyster populations in recent decades. (Baltimore Sun—MD)
- Claire Neubert, one of CBF's Clean Water Captains in Virginia, writes on how everyone can help restore the Bay's native oyster population. (Daily Press—VA)
What's Happening Around the Watershed?
November 6
- Piney Point, MD: As more local oyster farms are producing oysters, join us to indulge in some this beloved bivalve and learn more about this growing industry from a local oyster farmer. Learn more and register here!
November 10
- Baltimore, MD: Join CBF in caring for the next generation of Bay oysters by cleaning oyster cages in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Register here!
November 13
- Virginia Beach, VA: As more local oyster farms are producing oysters, join us to indulge in some this beloved bivalve and learn more about this growing industry from a local oyster farmer. Learn more and register here!
November 15
- Annapolis, MD: Join us for a very special evening as author Earl Swift joins us with two prominent lifetime Tangier residents and watermen, Cook Cannon and Ooker Eskridge, for a discussion moderated by CBF President Will Baker on Tangier's past, present, and tenuous future. Register here! Sold Out!
November 17
- Hopewell, VA: Join us for a fall tree planting at the newly restored Woodlawn Park. Register here!
- Baltimore, MD: Join CBF in caring for the next generation of Bay oysters by cleaning oyster cages in Baltimore's Inner Harbor. Register here!
November 27
- Everywhere: Mark your calendars for Giving Tuesday, a global movement dedicated to giving back. Stay tuned for details on how you can give to help save the Bay and its rivers and streams!
- Alexandria, VA: Join us for our most in-depth adult education program available to our members and the public. VoiCeS, which stands for Volunteers as Chesapeake Stewards, is a program to reach out to local volunteers and their communities to create a deeper understanding of the Bay and the efforts to restore it. The Northern Virginia VoiCeS class is an intensive multi-week course meeting on weekday evenings: Nov 27, 28, and Dec 4, 6, 11, and 12. Learn more and register here!
December 6
- Easton, MD: Join us for our Chesapeake Book Club, reading Tom Hortons' An Island Out of Time: A Memoir of Smith Island in the Chesapeake. Learn more and register here!
