Environmental Address
MARYLAND ENVIRONMENT Thank you joining me here today in this beautiful setting. Thanks to Bill Struever his vision and creativity – and for letting us use this great site. And thank you Terry Harris for your leadership, and for your advice for many years. We’ve been working on these issues together for a long time. Being here beside our Harbor reminds us of the central role that our waterways – especially the Chesapeake Bay – play in the life of our state. The full office buildings right over there remind us that Smart Growth and Brownfields redevelopment are not only possible, they’re profitable with effective policies and planning. From here, you can also see some of the progress… the redevelopment… that is – after many years – lifting Baltimore’s economy. Today, I would like to talk about a subject that matters a great deal to me, and to all of us – Maryland’s environment. Our state seal has emblazoned on it, since revolutionary times, the ploughman and the fisherman. It is a good symbol of harmony and abundance… of mutual respect and interdependence of the fisherman and the farmer, of the land and the water. Of nature and man. Our natural resources are one of our great competitive strengths. We often speak about our moral obligation to be good stewards. But our responsibility to care for our environment goes beyond that… it also represents an opportunity we cannot let pass. Our State, with its growing population and one of the world’s great estuaries running through our center, faces tremendous challenges. But we also have tremendous opportunities: opportunities that emanate from our life science and research institutions. Opportunities that flow from the very existence of the Bay for those who derive their living from it, as well as those who choose to live near its natural beauty. And shared opportunities that will follow upon our ability to make critical connections. What are these connections? They are the connections that should exist between Maryland’s growth and Maryland’s farmlands, woodlands and wetlands. They are the connections that should exist between creating new jobs and rebuilding our older communities. They are the connections that should exist between our public health, the strength of family life, and the effectiveness of a well-planned and modern system of transportation. And they are the connections that we must make between Maryland’s growth economy and Maryland’s poor. Connecting all of these things is, of course, our environment and our shared love of this place… our shared belief that we must do all that we can, moving forward together, to secure certain freedoms or rights for the next generation. In a day and age when we hear so much about a divided country – urban vs. suburban, red state vs. blue state, haves vs. have nots – there is clear unity that our land, our water and our air are things we all share. And there is a collective understanding that we are all responsible for these things. And in that shared responsibility, I see a unique opportunity for progress on many fronts that will benefit us, our children and our children’s children. An Environmental Bill of Rights for Maryland’s families, if you will, includes the right to:
There are, of course, countless policy choices and hundreds of thousands of individual actions that will mark our progress. But I wanted to share with you – in broader and perhaps deeper terms – some thoughts about the principles upon which our progress must be based… and why it’s so important for our state, our country and for the next generation. In Maryland, we have the ability to move forward to safeguard these rights – in an open and transparent manner – united by our belief in three core principles:
ACTION IN BALTIMORE In Baltimore, we have chosen to make environmental progress. We have kept these principles in mind in guiding Baltimore’s turnaround. We’ve faced many challenges. But we didn’t leave the hard work to others. We took responsibility, and, together, we’re creating opportunity. We are setting goals, and we are working to achieve them. And Baltimore’s comeback – and our redevelopment where infrastructure already exists – has been an environmental benefit to our state. As the state has benefited environmentally from our redevelopment, our people have benefited from connections to jobs and better neighborhoods. We’re Safeguarding Public Health Baltimore is a taking responsibility for reducing childhood lead poisoning. We’ve reduced the number of children who suffer from lead poisoning by two-thirds, and abated more than 1,000 lead contaminated homes. We have created an Office of Energy Conservation to ensure that city buildings are energy efficient, reducing energy use and costs, and funding $7 million in conservation upgrades through energy savings. Now, we’re using the same strategies to lower our school system’s costs. We’re increasing our use of cleaner energy sources – using CNG (compressed natural gas) and hybrid vehicles, and purchasing wind energy. And through CitiStat, our performance management system, we’re making government more accountable, transparent and effective – driving progress on lead poisoning reduction and redevelopment. We’re Protecting and Restoring the Chesapeake Bay The people of Baltimore are investing more than $900 million Our city is improving parks and creating new greenways – like the Gwynns Falls Trail and the Jones Falls Trail – to protect our watersheds, and connect to neighborhoods. We implemented an Adopt-A-Waterway partnership, working with private companies to clean up storm water runoff – and clean the Harbor and the Bay. And we’re Working To Restore Maryland’s Leadership In Smart Growth Smart Growth does not mean no growth. It means growth that is well planned, growth that improves, not harms our quality of life. Growth that brings job opportunities and affordable housing opportunities for all income levels back to our cities and older communities throughout the state. Baltimore is driving the growth side of Smart Growth efforts, with innovations like:
We’re a national leader in the redevelopment of Brownfield sites. Working with environmental groups and developers, we helped craft the State laws that makes redevelopment projects like Tide Point possible. With projects like Montgomery Park, the Can Company, Canton Crossing and Camden Crossing, Baltimore is proving that it is possible to redevelop Brownfields and protect the environment and public health. We’re also pushing for a functional regional public transportation system – including the completion of a rail system that will finally allow passengers to travel from east to west. And we’re planning our future growth based on public transit. MARYLAND IS SLIPPING But while the people of Baltimore are moving forward, sadly, our state seems to be taking another course. At a time when the federal government under President Bush has dramatically decreased enforcement of public health laws – with civil actions against polluters down by 75% – Maryland must protect Maryland. We cannot accept our state’s poor ranking of 35th in air quality. Years of efforts to improve the Bay’s health have not yet yielded the results we want. According to the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, scientists predict this summer could be one of the worst on record for water quality. Just as other states were starting to copy Maryland’s leadership in reducing sprawl, the Ehrlich Administration changed direction. We’ve dramatically cut purchases of sensitive land under Program Open Space. Public transportation is no longer a priority. And our State government even tried to sell off parks and forests for short-term gain. We need to ask ourselves, what is it that we truly want to accomplish? And is what our state is doing now going to get us there? If we want to clean our air to protect public health and end childhood respiratory problems, do we accomplish that by working to kill bills that clean up dirty power plants? If we believe that people have a right to clean drinking water, do we reach that goal by failing to act as MTBE and other pollutants endanger our water supply? It seems to me that the Ehrlich Administration is not moving us forward when they’re cutting our investment to protect children from lead paint poisoning. Or when they’re vetoing key environmental bills – protecting corporate irresponsibility over public health. I think Maryland can do better. On the Bay, the Ehrlich Administration trots out the Flush Tax at every opportunity – which will help. But are we moving forward or slipping back by refusing to stand up with other states to the Bush efforts to allow mercury pollution? Are we moving forward or slipping back when we try to declare that some of our rivers are so polluted that we should just give up trying to clean them? They call it “limited use.” I call it surrendering to legacy pollution. This year, the Susquehanna River – that feeds into our Bay – was named the #1 most endangered river in America. Maryland can do better. Masquerading as Smart Growth we hear about the “Priority Places” program, which basically says: “If we were doing anything on Smart Growth – which we’re not – this is where we’d be doing it.” No resources for communities, no incentives for businesses. Are we heading in the direction that we all want – a better environment for the next generation – when we cut our investment in protecting open space by 75%, with nearly $200 million shifted to other uses? Are we serving the next generation or the next election with a secret plan to sell off state land and parks – thousands of acres affecting almost every county? I don’t think anyone thought that’s what they were voting for. And I know Maryland expects better. PRINCIPLES FOR PROGRESS Just a few weeks ago, I read these words in National Geographic magazine: “The [Chesapeake] Bay scene is changing, and there’s an air of finality to it now. The bay today has become the ecological equivalent of a morbidly obese person, force-fed nitrogen and phosphorus.” The impending death of our greatest natural asset… This is not the legacy any of us would choose to leave to our children. We need to look in the mirror. We’re all in this together. We’re all responsible.
Protecting our environment should not be a partisan issue. We’ve had a long tradition of bipartisan environmental leadership in this state. For as we strengthen our environment… as we clean up the Chesapeake Bay… we strengthen Maryland’s competitive edge. Maryland can be both green and growing. And we all need to take responsibility for making the choices that will get us there. The EPA says that, on average, the redevelopment of one acre saves four acres of undeveloped land. Redevelopment to preserve open space protects the Bay. It limits sprawl. And it protects health by reducing environmental hazards, like lead point paint and soil contamination. So we should move forward. Imagine the progress we would make in redeveloping older communities and reducing sprawl if the state tied institutional growth to economic development and Smart Growth. In Baltimore, we are building on the strengths of Johns Hopkins, the University of Maryland, the University of Baltimore, Morgan State University, Coppin State College and the new NIH center. Imagine the good it would do if we offered municipalities and counties the opportunity to use tax-incremental financing to encourage redevelopment in older communities where public infrastructure already exists. It’s been a tremendous help in Baltimore. Imagine how we’d benefit if we streamlined Brownfields and redevelopment processes to reuse land that remains polluted and benefits no one – rather than encouraging more sprawl. How many more Tide Points are there to be rebuilt. And imagine the redevelopment that would occur if we increased, rather than cut, our historic tax credits. Some politicians are good at telling you that historic tax credits cost too much. But what they neglect to calculate is the hundreds of millions of dollars it costs for us to catch up to sprawl – with roads and infrastructure. An honest accounting of costs must be part of the transparency people should expect. And our state is in the best position to produce that accounting. To protect and improve Maryland’s quality of life, we face tough choices… we face hard work. But it is not the false choice of either growth or a healthy environment. In the coming months, I will be calling on environmental stakeholders to come together in an Environmental Summit, to discuss how Maryland can do better. Once Maryland led on the environment, and we will again. And right now, I’m calling on anyone who hears or reads this speech to share your view of how these issues personally affect you. Whether you are a conservation professional, or a high school student, or a family with specific environmental concerns, please email me your stories at environment@martinomalley.com. We need to learn from your experience. With all of this input, we will develop a detailed plan for improving Maryland’s environment. But our core principles must be clear:
We also must build the connections that improve our environment and benefit our people. Making cities and older communities more livable. Bringing jobs and opportunities to all Marylanders – including our neighbors who are poor and disconnected. Safeguarding and enriching this state we cherish. We must protect Maryland’s environment. We don’t get a second chance. Our time to act is now. |
 
 
Announcement Day A brief video documentary of O’Malley’s Announcement Day.
|
