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I guess you can say it's for a perceived lack of political "Will"...
You may have read Dr. Howard Ernst's books "Chesapeake Bay Blues" or his more recent "Fight for The Bay" in which he makes an impassioned plea for legislative, regulatory, and enforcement reform to achieve real progress in restoring our beloved estuary. In "Fight for the Bay: Why A Dark Green Environmental Awakening is Needed to Save the Chesapeake Bay", Ernst critiques both the multi-governmental Chesapeake Bay Program for its consensual, voluntary approach as well as that of the non-profit Chesapeake Bay Foundation for what he claims has been its reluctance to engage in political and legislative action needed to protect the Bay. In the below letter which is being made public exclusively and for the first time through Annapolis Capital Punishment, Ernst calls for the Bay Foundation's long-serving President William Baker to resign for failing to seize the current opportunity due to the political and legislative climate at the federal level to make real environmental progress. Baker is an icon or a figurehead for the Bay and is almost synonymous with the powerful environmental organization he has led for decades.
Capital Punishment provided the letter to Baker in advance of publication and requested a response to publish it concurrently with Ernst's letter. Baker politely declined to provide a response. As publisher of Capital Punishment and a longtime advocate for the Bay, I wish to express my appreciation to Professor Ernst not only for this opportunity to publish this letter, but also for bringing the challenges of a true "dark green" environmental approach to restoring and saving the Bay to a wide public audience. Ernst has become one of the most outspoken and leading advocates for the Bay and the credibility brought by his two popular books make this letter all the more powerful in the Bay region for those of us who are concerned about the future of our Bay.
To Read Ernst's letter, please continue... The views expressed in this letter are solely those of the author and do not represent the view of his employer, or any other organization nor do they necessarily represent those of this blog or its publisher:
Letter to the Citizens of the Bay Watershed,
Under the direction of Will Baker, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation (CBF) has grown into the largest environmental interest group dedicated to restoring the Chesapeake Bay, and one of the largest regional environmental groups in the country. The Foundation has been in existence for over forty years and currently raises more than $20 million annually, which translates into $385,000 per week, $77,000 per day, or $9,600 per working hour (roughly $1,000 in the time it will take you to read this letter). It claims over 200,000 members and a professional staff of more than 160 fulltime employees. The organization’s “save the bay” bumper stickers, which have been produced since 1967, are now ubiquitous throughout the Bay states. From an organizational perspective, Will Baker has done an amazing job growing his group.
But Baker’s organizational success did not come without a price. Despite the group’s organizational prowess and the fact that it markets itself as a watchdog group, the Chesapeake Bay Foundation distances itself from politics. Under Baker’s direction, the group refuses to endorse Bay-friendly candidates, does not advertise the voting records of elected officials, has no political action committee, and has never donated any money to Bay-friendly candidates. The closest that Baker’s group has come to engaging in electoral politics was to launch a mock campaign in 2008 to elect the 17th century explorer Captain John Smith as president. CBF’s fictional campaign included a sophisticated campaign website, campaign literature, youtube.com campaign ads, press releases, a Captain Smith impersonator, and campaign brochures, but as for real candidates, Will Baker’s organization has never supported pro-Bay candidates. Baker bemoans the region’s lack of political will for Bay policy, but has done little to foster authentic political will.
Under the direction of Baker, the group maintains a 501c3 (non-profit) tax status that prohibits it from participating in electoral politics and limits its ability to engage in basic lobbying activities. While some well-respected environmental groups, like Sierra Club and the League of Conservation Voters, avoid the political limits by adopting a multi-layered tax status that enables them to fully engage the political process, Will Baker has refused to pursue this option. It is not that environmental groups, like Baker’s, are legally prohibited from participating in electoral politics; the reality is that Baker has knowingly chosen a tax distinction that serves his group’s organizational interests but that undermines the group’s advocacy mission. In exchange for sitting out the political game, groups like Baker’s are exempt from federal income taxes, contributions to such groups are tax deductible to the donor, and the groups are eligible for various Bay restoration grants.
It is important to note that Baker’s group does not even engage the political process to the extent that their non-profit tax status permits. Nonprofits like CBF are permitted to spend roughly 20 percent of their revenue on lobbying. Despite this and despite the fact that CBF claims to be spearheading “the biggest fight for clean water this nation has ever seen” the group continues to spend a tiny fraction of their resources on direct lobbying. According to Doug Siglin, the group’s head political operative, they are currently employing two full-time staffers to lobby the federal government. Remember this is a group that employs more than 160 full-time people and that sells itself as the Bay’s leading environmental group. They are leading “the biggest fight for clean water the nation has ever seen” with two people? This level of disconnect between their claims and their actual deeds is more than mismanagement, it approaches environmental fraud. The fact is that Will Baker uses the current “fight for clean water” as a fund-raising tool, but he refuses to make use of the tools that would enable his group to be effective in such a fight.
At the end of the day, Will Baker is not a bad person. The truth is that Baker is quite a nice guy and an effective fundraiser. The problem is the Bay does not need a nice guy at this moment. It needs a relentless advocate who understands the political process and who is willing to use every legal tool necessary to fully engage the political system. As the Bay’s environmental community sharpens its message and more aggressively pursues its advocacy, it is time to ask if Will Baker is the right person for the job. The Bay’s community will only get one once-in-a-lifetime chance to save the Bay, and this it is it. We cannot afford to squander this opportunity. It is with a heavy heart that I have concluded that the Bay cannot survive another year of weak-kneed political leadership from the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. It is time for a change at CBF.
Howard Ernst, PhD
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I had a chance to hear the good Dr speak a few weeks ago. He's not out of line here. There are many non-profits that have a c3 for education and a c4 for lobbying. I am not a member of CBF BECAUSE it is so old-school non-profit. Fundraising is the name of the game despite the significant need for major political action. CBF's silence on the politics of MD and the other bay partners is, indeed, deafening.
I'm all for education, but I hope for a day when we won't have to educate children about how to save the bay, it will just be clean.
As Tom Horton has said, if you love the bay, the best thing to do is move away.
Thanks Mike...of course, you, me, Tom Horton and Howard Ernst all still live here....and if we take that argument further, we should say, if we love the earth, we should all move away?? To where? But your point and that of Horton are both well taken. He was of course speaking tongue in cheek. We shall see how this debate continues..
This is great. I have long been disappointed with CBF for their huge sums of money with negligible effect public policy. We need strong leaders and CBF has not helped cultivate them. We need an environmental movement our leaders can not ignore as they have paid mere lip service for my entire lifetime.
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5 Comments:
I had a chance to hear the good Dr speak a few weeks ago. He's not out of line here. There are many non-profits that have a c3 for education and a c4 for lobbying. I am not a member of CBF BECAUSE it is so old-school non-profit. Fundraising is the name of the game despite the significant need for major political action. CBF's silence on the politics of MD and the other bay partners is, indeed, deafening.
I'm all for education, but I hope for a day when we won't have to educate children about how to save the bay, it will just be clean.
As Tom Horton has said, if you love the bay, the best thing to do is move away.
Thanks Mike...of course, you, me, Tom Horton and Howard Ernst all still live here....and if we take that argument further, we should say, if we love the earth, we should all move away?? To where? But your point and that of Horton are both well taken. He was of course speaking tongue in cheek. We shall see how this debate continues..
This is great. I have long been disappointed with CBF for their huge sums of money with negligible effect public policy. We need strong leaders and CBF has not helped cultivate them. We need an environmental movement our leaders can not ignore as they have paid mere lip service for my entire lifetime.
Thank you Howard Ernst.
Will
I'll second that. CBF has long been a huge waste of time and money. A self-perpetuating bureaucracy for the eviro-radical-chic.
Will Baker and Co. have had long, comfortable careers while accomplishing next to nothing.
Dan Walter Thank you. Please verify your identity in an email to me for future comments. thanks CP
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