Contact: Mike Tidwell at 240.460.5838

ANNAPOLIS, MD – Global warming activists today jumped into the frigid Chesapeake Bay to call attention to MD Governor Bob Ehrlich’s failure to take steps to limit global warming pollution in the state. The first annual “Keep Winter Cold” Bay jump attracted some 15 plungers to the icy waters of the Chesapeake Bay at Sandy Point State Park in Annapolis. The not-quite-as-brave showed their support by waving signs that read “Ehrlich: Global Warming Hurts MD.”

The plunge comes less than a month after Governor Ehrlich announced a controversial plan to address power plant pollution that completely ignores carbon dioxide, the main global warming gas. The “Clean Power Rule” is a proposed regulation that would mildly limit the emissions of mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides from coal-fired power plants in Maryland. It does nothing to limit carbon dioxide.

 

“We are pleased that the Governor has recognized what Maryland residents have been saying for years and is finally joining us in fighting to reduce childhood asthma and mercury levels in the Bay, but his solution is inadequate,” said Mike Tidwell, Executive Director of the Chesapeake Climate Action Network. “His recipe is missing the key ingredient: carbon dioxide.”

 

The effects of global warming are already painfully present in Maryland. Sea levels are rising on the Chesapeake Bay, threatening the livelihoods of families that have depended on the Bay for centuries. Health officials are worried about the spread of infectious diseases, farmers are struggling and the maple syrup industry has been virtually destroyed.

 

A strong bill that limits all four of the most dangerous pollutants has been on the table for several years. The so-called “Healthy Air Act”, supported by environmental groups, businesses, citizens, doctors and professors, is a stronger alternative to the proposed Clean Power Rule. It represents a positive first step in curbing the effects of global warming in Maryland by joining nine other Northeastern states in the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). The Governor opposed the bill last year.

 

This event was organized by the Chesapeake Climate Action Network (CCAN). CCAN is the first grassroots, nonprofit organization dedicated exclusively to fighting global warming in Maryland, Virginia, and Washington, D.C. Its mission is to educate and mobilize citizens of the region in a way that fosters a rapid societal switch to clean energy and energy-efficient products, joining similar efforts worldwide to slow and perhaps halt the dangerous trend of global warming.