It would be easy to assume that Chesapeake Bay Foundation‘s Eastern Shore Director, Alan Girard, would be a messenger of doom now that Maryland has elected a Republican governor. Larry Hogan, committed to fighting burdensome environmental regulations, such as the state’s phosphorous management tool, has just been inaugurated. In fact, within hours of Governor Hogan’s decision to place a hold on implementing the PMT, the Foundation was the first conservation organization to publicly condemn the policy shift.
And yet Girard, someone that has spent most of his career working on Chesapeake Bay issues, insists in his interview with the Spy that he has never been more optimistic about the Bay’s future. While he clearly disagrees with Governor Hogan’s decision to pull back on critical regulation to protect the Chesapeake, he notes that more people are paying attention to the Bay’s health than any other time in the last twenty years.
Girard also talks candidly about the motives behind CBF’s commitment to a strong regulatory response to improve the Bay’s water quality. He also makes clear his organization’s interest in free-market solutions such as nutrient trading.
This video is approximately eleven minutes in length
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