(Failing To) Save The Bay?

We've known for a long time now that we were killing the Chesapeake, and that we'd have to take pretty serious, even drastic, actions if we wanted to save the Bay. But while government officials have talked a decent game for the past 20 or so years, deadlines have come and gone and goal posts have been moved and things have not gotten better, in short the Bay is still dying and it's our fault.

The single brightest spot in the very small list of recoveries made in the Chesapeake has been the resurgence of Rockfish in the Bay, and that took a total moratorium that lasted for years.

The WaPo Sunday Magazine cover story this week features stunning aerial photos of the Bay but the story that accompanies it lays out the sobering status of the Chesapeake. The Post also has a special online section up titled Failing the Chesapeake Bay with an ongoing series on the Bay's health and some interesting graphs, photos, and facts.

President Obama and the EPA along with the Governors of the Bay states recently made renewed promises to cleaning up the Bay and restoring the Chesapeake to some measure of its former grandeur. Only time will tell if they really mean it this time, in the end talk is always cheap, only actions, costly though they may be, will bring about the needed change.

The Chesapeake Bay Foundation's Bay Daily is probably the best place to keep up to date with the Bay. The Baltimore Sun's excellent Bay & Environment blog has sadly fallen victim to the most recent round of budget cuts at the Sun, which is a shame. The Bay needs all the help it can get, and solid local reporting remains a niche that we had come to rely on local papers to supply. Blogs are managing to step it up in this area but the going is slow.