Come out to the monumental signing of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement on Monday, June 16th, at the Maryland State House in Annapolis! We’re waiting with bated breath to see if the agreement will include strategies and provisions for climate resilience. The Maryland Chapter sent in a whopping 700 comments in support of addressing climate change in the agreement. Will the states in the Chesapeake Bay watershed make the right choice by addressing one among the most important issue that affects the viability of our state’s most precious natural resource?
This agreement will determine the issue areas to be funded for Bay restoration, make provisions for reducing toxins and pollution, habitat restoration, and fisheries restoration. The Agreement will also instruct the seven Bay jurisdictions, the EPA, and the Chesapeake Bay Commission in proper restoration and protection of the Bay. It will be signed by the states and partners in the Chesapeake Bay watershed.
While re-issuing the agreement was important, the previous drafts of the Agreement have excluded climate change. “We believe that climate change needs to be prominently featured in the new Chesapeake Bay Watershed Agreement,” argued the chapters of the Maryland, Virginia, D.C., Pennsylvania, and Atlantic Chapters of the Sierra Club. “It is paramount to recognize then that the long-term viability of the Chesapeake Bay rests on our ability to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to adapt to current and projected climate impacts.”
Be sure to come out to this important signing! The public meeting will take place in the Governor’s Reception Room from 10am-12pm, with a press conference at 1:30pm. Though this event is open to the public, it is advised that those interested in attending should let the Council know their intention to attend by Monday, June 9th. Interested parties can do so by clicking on the link here: (http://www.chesapeakebay.net/about/ecmeeting/2014_executive_council_meeting).
See you for (hopefully) a day of victory and celebration on Monday, June 16th, in Annapolis!