NEWS ROUNDUP: DDT IS GOOD FOR YOU AND THE BIG BANG NEVER HAPPENED and more good stuff

News Roundup
DDT IS GOOD FOR YOU AND THE BIG BANG NEVER HAPPENED
CP has had occasion to meet with and read about State Senator Andrew Harris, an articulate, intelligent, yet woefully conservative lawmaker who also happens to be an anesthesiologist. And he’s in the news again for arguing against a bill introduced by Sen. Brian E. Frosh, D-Montgomery, to set aside each May 27 as Rachel Carson Day in Maryland. The pioneering author of the influential book “Silent Spring” spent most of her life in Maryland and was born on May 27, a spring day, CP should add. Many credit the US Fish and Wildlife Service employee’s book for ushering in the modern environmental movement with its warnings about pesticides and DDT in particular.

According to The Capital, Harris said the banning of DDT had negative consequences and “is a valuable public health tool against malaria, and without it, millions of people have died worldwide.” Uhh yeah…but with it things were pretty bad too Senator. Not only that, while we banned it here for good reason, it is used elsewhere for bad reasons, and we may still end up eating food from those places where it is used. If CP recalls correctly, banning DDT has also helped bring about a resurgence in the once severely threatened populations of Osprey and Bald Eagles.

Harris said, "It's convenient for us in the United States, that does not have a problem with malaria ... to preach to the rest of the world.” CP would like to ask this Senator, who has a bust of Jesus Christ in his Senate office, whether or not he thinks it’s right for the US and the Catholic Church to preach to the rest of the world when it comes to uhh, let’ see, abortion? Family planning? Global warming???

His Earth is Flat view is about as weird as Sen. Janet Greenip (R-Anne Arundel) and Sen. Nancy Jacobs (R-Cecil) who declined to vote when Sen. Paul G. Pinsky (D-Prince George's) introduced John C. Mather, co-winner of the 2006 Nobel Prize in Physics to receive a resolution from the Senate. Mather won the prize for his work at Greenbelt’s Goddard Space Center in in providing the first tangible evidence to prove that the big bang started the universe. CP does not have a problems being a descendant of apes, but having those who are lesser primates sit in the Maryland Senate is something else.

New Head at Chesapeake Bay Program
New Chesapeake Bay Program Director Jeffrey L. Lape has a big, big job ahead to drive the lumbering, bureaucratic and often maligned Chesapeake Bay Program. CP served as the assistant to the former Director for 2.5 years in the 1990's and used to believe it was a worthy and productive organization with a valuable mission. CP now believes it may not even have a valuable mission. Lape has to play bureaucrat, scientist, manager, interpreter, politician and cheerleader to this massive aggregation of agencies, committees, sub committees, workgroups and Neptune knows what else!

According to The Capital, Lape says he passes a stream in his yard in Montgomery County and hasn't been shy about investigating problems in his stream and reporting potential polluters to authorities.

"I feel like the job comes home with us," he said.

Hmm. Well, that’s great that he has reported potential polluters, but CP is in complete agreement that the job does indeed come home with Lape if he drives to and from Annapolis and Montgomery County each day. That’s the problem! Millions of people in our watershed moving around in cars way too much and consuming and polluting way too much. If you’re not part of the problem, you’re part of the solution. Good luck to you Mr. Lape. And CP hopes that in addition to the hours you'll spend sitting in traffic, that you'll also enjoy sitting in meetings…lots and lots of them…and wading through reports, lots and lots of them. CP often asked why the 20 million dollars per year for the Bay Program would not have been better spent if it just shut down and bought forests, wetlands and farms. Needless to say, that was swallowed by the porcine bureaucrats like a poison truffle.


Ferry? Monorail? And still no Commuter bus from Kent Island and Annapolis to Baltimore?
CP has posted about the proposal bubbling up in Annapolis to create a Bay ferry system. CP readers know that while CP is interested in the idea, CP would much rather see a solid bus system first. And after penning the term “ferry tale” to describe this idea, CP is pleased to see that in today’s front page of the Capital it has picked up, er borrowed its term. Read on…
“First came the ferry tales. Now, solutions to Bay Bridge traffic are looking a lot more like Disney World. Grasping at perhaps one of the last straws possible to relieve congestion on the bridge, Del. Michael D. Smigiel, R-Cecil, is proposing that the Maryland Department of Transportation examine the feasibility of creating a monorail to run from Annapolis to Kent Island.”

Please God, make it stop!!!! Every so often somebody comes around with some brilliant and visionary scheme to study or develop some type of waay cool futuristic transit system without actually knowing a darn thing about transportation, except that you turn the key and drive, and suddenly there’s a whole lot of interest in yet a new and revolutionary idea. Well, first off, CP will say again, can we please get some cheap and easily developed buses first? Let’s get real with a real bus transit system and then start talking about the next big thing. But we can’t even get a commuter bus from Kent Island to Annapolis and Baltimore!!! Puuuhlllleeeeze!!
By the way, monorails are not exactly new or revolutionary. CP has been on the system in Seattle which some have been trying to expand for years with limited success, and of course at Disney World and Disney Land, and of the new system in Indianapolis (CP was just there too!) and Las Vegas, which is privately funded by…guess who?
Okay, perhaps we should study a monorail, but maybe, just maybe we should stop sprawling all over the place which makes all these transit expansions so necessary. But a monorail???

Some Republican Senators Still Cool to Global Warming-And What is a Ton of Gas?

At the Senate Committee on Education, Health & Environmental Affairs Committee hearing on the Global Warming Solutions Act, CP had an interesting conversation with the paid-spinner/lobbyist for the Maryland Chamber of Commerce, an organization that has consistently had its head in the sand when it comes to environmental protection. Here we are faced with the greatest global crisis in history and along comes little Maryland to take this one small step, and by the way, it won't even be until 2012 when its full force comes into effect, and we find the pro-business folks whining yet again about how business is unfairly going to suffer. It's sort of like Southern plantation owners complaining that paying slaves would hurt their profit line. Okay, that's a bit "out-there" but for the entire industrial era, business has gained because of government policies and subsidies and the ability to wantonly pass costs directly on to the "environment" which is to say the public domain of air, water and even land. Then it becomes the public that has to pay to clean it up and suffer the consequences and everyone whines about it costing more, whereas all we are doing is paying real costs for the first time!

Although the exchange with the lawyer-lobbyist was pleasant and respectful, Eastern Shore Republican Richard Colburn and Baltimore/Harford Republican Andrew Harris peppered the panel of expert scientists with leading and skeptical questions. Hey guys-get with the program. Global warming is here. It's real. It's a threat. Quit beating around the bush. Colburn,a profoundly conservative veteran Senator who never seems to "get" any issue unless it completely fits his red-blooded litmus test, asked one scientist why he described Hurricane Isabel as a "wakeup call." "We've had hurricanes before, haven't we?" asked the man who represents low-lying and severely threatened Eastern Shore counties.

Harris, a conservative yet vastly more articulate and brighter light than the lumbering, knuckle-dragging Colburn, never the less, started picking apart data that he thought indicated global warming is a naturally occuring event, only slightly accelerated by human activity. He then spent about ten minutes going back and forth about whether expected sea level rise was just a matter of inches. Good grief!

Stuart Jordan, a distinguished astrophysicist, pointedly picked apart each and every objection made by Harris and Colburn. However, as is often the case when a bunch of busy people take all day to come to Annapolis to address a few Senators for a few minutes, neither Harris or Colburn paid any attention, and thumbed through papers and glanced at their laptops as Jordan and others explained the science.

Republican Janet Greenip asked a reasonable question about the definition and meaning of a ton of gases. Senator Paul Pinksy, the firebrand Democrat who introduced the bill to his fellow committee members, suggested that one of the scientists soon to speak would answer her question. When her questions was addressed and answered by the next panel, Greenip was out of the room. Colburn was busy having his second soda delivered to him by an aide. No doubt, he would be making some more gas over that one. And what exactly is a ton of gas? Come to listen to some of these people and you will get a good idea.

Below is the testimony provided by Capital Punishment, who could not stick around after the 1 pm hearing actually started at 1:45 and was still dragging on by late afternoon.


Good afternoon. My name is Paul Foer. I am a Maryland native and a resident of Annapolis since 1981. Please pass this bill. We may look back one day and see this as the single most important piece of legislation considered in the General Assembly in this century. Is this hyperbole? Not if the predictions of the drastic and dramatic upheavals which are possible due to global warming are anywhere near accurate. This is not about a tweaking of the tax code, a piece of special interest legislation or some kind of bond issue or regulatory matter. If the predictions are anywhere near accurate, then this bill does not go anywhere near what we really need to do. But it is an important step.

Our collective future as state and global citizens will not be secured through market forces or technical solutions, but through nothing less than serious planning and overwhelming changes in how we live, organize and manage our societies. I suspect this is why so many have been so ruthlessly vocal in their denial of and opposition to what is now widely known to be a fact. Our coastal state, intersected by our lovely Bay is seriously threatened. Allstate Insurance, now known as perhaps the most misnamed company in the insurance business, has run its actuarial numbers and sees a more flood-prone and stormy future, perhaps before most of us have thought about it. Maybe we will all be in good hands with Allstate running our state government.

Maryland is a small state, but a highly developed, densely populated, wealthy state with a highly educated populace. We are looked to as a leader in environmental protection. We can send a strong message by acting now.

Global warming is a real threat here and now. This bill should not be the final say in the matter. We must redirect vast financial, technical and managerial resources to combat and prepare for the worst. Since the beginning of the industrial revolution, we have accelerated the destruction of our planet’s fragile, living systems. We have gotten rich and comfortable at the expense of the planet. We have borrowed against the future by depleting our natural resource asset base. We have passed on the byproducts and waste directly into the environment by fouling our air, land and water.

We must act now. Future generations will judge us by our resolve to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. Please vote for this legislation and please make this your top priority as a lawmaker and a citizen. Thank you.

Two Big Environmental Victories This Year?

THE NEXT BIG THING!!

How would you like to win two climate bills this year? Now that the Clean Cars bill is about to become law.......

THE GLOBAL WARMING SOLUTIONS ACT and the EMERGENCY CONFERENCE CALL...
The Global Warming Solutions Act (GWSA) is what we have been waiting for -- a comprehensive state initiative to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions. In short, the Act will commit us to reduce our carbon dioxide emissions to 1990 levels by 2020, a 16% total reduction from todays emissions across all sectors! That is HUGE. So far we have been chipping away at power plants, cars and light bulbs; well this Solution Act will include everything and will put us on track to keep our emissions below what climate scientists consider to be acceptable emissions levels. We need to pass this bill in 2007, we need to capitalize on all the hard work we put into the Clean Cars Act, WE NEED YOU.

Join Chesapeake CLimate Action Network--CCAN, and special guest Del. Kumar Barve, Sen. Paul Pinsky, Mike Tidwell and climate activists for an emergency conference call this Thursday (7:00pm) or Saturday(noon). This conference call is designed so we can quickly get all of you up to speed on the nuisances of the the Solution Act and how we can get you active in this new fight to save the climate! Help Maryland make history in the fight against global warming -- be part of The Solution! We have 6 more weeks of session so let's make the best of the little time we have!

For your convenience, there will be two calls to pick from:

Call #1: Thursday night Feb. 22, 7:30 pm. Call-in number: 1-888-537-8139, code 82531915

Call #2: Saturday Feb. 24, noon. Call in number: 1-888-537-8139, code 82531915


Please RSVP to: Claire@chesapeakeclimate.org

Thanks for all the work that you put into passing the Clean Cars Bill, now we just need another 6 weeks of your time to capitalize on the momentum behind global warming and pass the Global Warming Solutions Act.


To find out more about the bill visit www.chesapeakeclimate.org

Smoke gets in your....general assembly's eyes

Supporters of a smoke-free Maryland will gather on Lawyers' Mall in front of the Maryland State House from 7:00 to 8:00 pm, Monday, February 19th. Our presence will encourage the Maryland General Assembly to pass legislation that will insure smoke-free workplaces for bartenders, restaurant staff and entertainers. The Heart Association, Lung Association, PIRG and Smoke Free Maryland are counting on your support. We are working on cleaning up our cars, now let's keep cleaning our air.

It's also Environmental Lobby Day! Meet at Legislative Services about 3:30 pm. Clean Cars, Global Warming and Stormwater remain high on the agenda.

Honk if you love…..honking?

Beep! Beep! Honk! Honk! Noise invades our lives and our communities all the time. Annapolis Alderwoman Julie Stankivic, upset by taxicabs laying on their horns to alert fares of their arrival, is exploring possible legal, administrative or even legislative remedies to stop them (Capital Punishment is still thinking of a pun or wordy witticism to write coyly about this mundane topic. Honky? Horny? ….Lay it on to us with your suggestions…)

Our popular state capital boasts a huge fleet of as many as 200 or perhaps more licensed cabs and whether anyone realizes it, they are a big business and an integral part of our transportation and economic development network. Sometimes cab owners and operators can be their own worst enemies and they have never been able to get beyond their inner turmoil, petty bickering and squabbling to unite as the economic powerhouse they are. So, they muddle on, subject to the whims of the City Council and our Department of Transportation which is responsible for inspecting and licensing the vehicles and operators. The quality of the vehicles and their drivers range from excellent and first rate to last stop before the junkyard-or jail.

I have always wondered why cabs need to honk two, three or four times. Perhaps with radio and cell phones, they don’t need to honk at all. Stankivic tells Capital Punishment the fine for such honking in New York City is a whopping $500! I remarked that it costs $500 to flush a toilet or blow one’s nose in Gotham and hoped such a steep fine would not be on the table in our own little borough. This honking has upset the feisty first-term Alderman a few times too many and she has taken up the case with City Attorney Shaem Spencer and Annapolis DOT Director Danielle Matland. Admittedly, it’s not the most exciting story on the radar screen, but where it goes may tell us a few things about Stankivic’s ability to be effective and wrestle it out with an equally determined city department head while both attempt to deal with (or not?) an important yet immature industry that is vital to our community.

Capital Punishment firmly believes this is yet another example of why the City needs something along the lines of a Hacker’s Board or Taxi Commission. The Department of Transportation, with one full time staff person dealing with the burgeoning taxicab situation, is a regulatory agency with little oversight, much the same as with Annapolis Transit. The Transportation Board is a paper tiger that occasionally meets and does little else. A civilian review panel overseeing taxicabs and meeting with regularity and regular authority would be able to review complaints, suspend licenses and carry out other business with a higher degree of uniformity and fairness than with the current system, which is mainly subject to the whims of the DOT.

Speaker's Party for the Party

Speaker Mike Busch's recent party in The State Capitol (that's Capitol) pulled together District 30 supporters. Governor Martin O'Malley (I think he's younger than I am...many say he looks and acts "Presidential") addressed the crowd and Delegate Virginia Claggett and Senator John Astle joined in. Busch reminded the crowd that George Washington (he pronounces it "Warshinton") danced in that same room after he resigned his commission as Commander in Chief of the Continental Army (A momentuous and significant event in history-read "Washington Bowed" by former Governor McKeldin). According to Busch, neither Governor S, Governor G or Governor E had attended this party in year's past.

I was most pleased to see freshman Republican Delegate Ron George welcomed, recognized by and warmly applauded by what appeared to be a nearly 99% Democratic and 1% Green audience. As a friend of and former employee of Ron's, I can say with some assuredness that there are already signs that he is going to be a fair-minded and possibly even bi-partisan Delegate, but don't expect him to vote in favor of strengthening abortion rights. We know that he has strong conservative views and a strong Catholic faith, but I don't think this is going to make him anything like extremists Don Dwyer or the man George replaced, the bombastic, divisive and mean-spirited Herb McMillan (and there are negatives too, although I always appreciated his fiscally conservative watchdog role). However, Ron barely won his election and he will likely keep this narrowest of victories in mind as the lone Republican in Mike Busch's district. Ron has even met with local Greens. I doubt that Dwyer's similarly narrow victory will temper his extremist and outrageous views one bit (remember Katy, bolt the door???....).

Although I supported and voted for former Councilwoman Barbara Samorajczyk as I did for the entire team 30 Dems, when we thought she had won the open Delegate's seat at first, I stopped in to see Ron the day after the election and congratulate him for a well-run and hard-fought campaign. I had acted too soon. A few days later I congratulated him for his victory. Barbara, not unlike her nemesis Janet Owens, has seemed to drop out of sight, despite a few unsuccessful attempts on my part to contact her and also thank her for a hard fought campaign.

Barbara was invited but did not attend. Janet is not a District 30 resident.

Ferry Tales….take two….this ship has not left the dock

Today’s Baltimore Sun (Arundel section) reports on the ongoing discussions to reinstate some form of commuter ferry service between the Eastern Shore and Baltimore and Annapolis. I continue to argue that while it’s always fine to discuss and learn, we have so many undecided, unmet and unfulfilled transportation needs throughout our state that are so much more pressing. These other options will have vastly more potential impact, so it is ludicrous to keep yakking on about a ferry service (Your editor, who spoke with the Sun reporter at length, and suggested many additional sources, is briefly quoted)

As a merchant marine officer, and long-time boat captain in these parts, as well as being the former transportation marketing specialist for Annapolis, not only do I know a little bit about this issue, but I could stand to profit if such a service were revived. Yet I am against it for a variety of reasons, with the main one being what I said above. There are other priorities already creating a great sucking sound! For example, the Purple Line, and the need to reinstate express commuter service from the Eastern Shore through Annapolis and on to Baltimore. I don’t think this service will be economically viable, it will have little impact on traffic and will be difficult to market because of its cost and the physical limitations imposed by geography, demographics, economics and finally--where will all the commuters park at each end in Kent Island and Annapolis? How many people will take it from one place to another?

Transit works where it is marketed and where driving and or parking is costly, difficult or severely limited. Do we have this in place for a ferry transit? I don’t think so.

Now there is nothing wrong with thinking ahead, but to truly do that, we have to think way ahead, and to think about how many other things will change such as costs of fuel, commuting times, growing population etc. But let’s not fool ourselves into thinking this ferry will be some great thing. It’s impact will always be minimal. It may go fast while crossing the Bay, but it will have to slow way down to a crawl for much of the Severn River as it approaches or leaves Annapolis. A trip will probably cost $10 or more each way. Unlike ridesharing and vanpooling which spreads costs among a group, this will cost you the same whether you board with twenty or board alone. And when you arrive in Annapolis, where will you go--and how will you get there? Will you need a car? A bus? How many jobs are there that will support commuters?

Ferry proponents will argue all these questions can be answered with further study. I say phooey on that! We need commuter buses, ridesharing and enhanced transit around our state. We need smart growth and infill and a reordering of transportation and land use priorities. We don’t need more dust gatherers. This ferry is a tweaking, a drop in the bucket.

My wife commutes to Baltimore from Annapolis and cannot take an express bus because Ehrlich killed that service. The same is true for friends on Kent Island and here in Annapols too. My wife cannot find a carpool partner because the so-called ridesharing services as well as the larger employers in Baltimore are of no help. She could take a combination of city bus or state bus and the light rail but this is terribly slow and inconvenient with only limited service. Our city bus service is mismanaged, resources are squandered and federal funding is insecure. The MTA is a poor excuse for a bus system. Light rail is underutilized because it is under marketed. If it is not working well, how will a ferry work? Raising our fuel taxes to shore up our dwindling transportation fund, lowering our speed limits and applying revenue to build up much needed transit is what must happen. Anything else is window--er porthole dressing.

Delegate McConkey on Why We Should Kill More People

In the past few weeks I’ve testified before the AA School Board, Annapolis City Council, attended the Environmental Summit, the Green Party Lobby Day, the Bike-Pedestrian Forum/Lobby Day, the NAACP Press Conference and visited the offices of various elected officials to lobby on behalf of bills and issues. Nothing has been as eye-opening and plain old weird as the meeting with Anne Arundel County Delegate Tony McConkey with a small group of Green Party activists. McConkey is a second-term Republican and realtor who has had a few issues of his own that have made headlines, and not always for the best reasons, but I’ll let other media deal with them.

The Green Party folks, about a dozen in all, were making the rounds and a handful of us descended upon McConkey. At first he gave us a variety of reasons as to why he did not favor the Clean Car bill, and he basically seemed to repeat the objections offered by the car dealer’s lobby. We went on to a few other issues and then got to the repeal of the death penalty. McConkey went a little weird on us, questioning why this was an issue of concern to Greens. We must have pushed a button because the lawmaker asked why we though it was wrong to put people to death for committing heinous crimes. He then rhetorically asked, “Why are you people against executing heinous criminals but you think it’s okay to murder babies”? We were a bit dumfounded.

“Wait a minute” I told the delegate. “That’s a pretty serious leap of faith to make such an accusation.” I went on to explain that I was personally on the fence about the death penalty, but how could he make such blanket accusation to our group? We could have shot back and asked why is it wrong to murder babies but not have state sponsored executions?--but we held our breath.

McConkey went on to say, and I am not making this up, “I think we need to kill more people.” Yup-he said it and it did not sink until we regrouped and met later at a local watering hole to figure out what he meant. Apparently, McConkey was saying that the death penalty, because it is so rarely applied, and is subject to years and years of appeals, is really not a deterrent to crime. If we actually applied it more often (i.e. killed more people), it would become a deterrent to crime, and therefore, would not need to be used, because the incidents of crimes calling for such punishment would go down. Okay--maybe, at least it has some semblance of logic. But then it got even weirder again.

He said that there are offenders who don’t mind and may even like getting a prison sentence because they get a warm bed and meals without having to work. I’m not a criminologist, but I don’t think this argument would hold up.

I don’t like many of the arguments either for or against abortion, or how one side makes you anti-choice if you disagree and the other makes you anti-life if you disagree. I think the bottom line is that our society as well as the individuals within it are responsible for breeding too many babies and for breeding too many criminals. I believe ultimately that individuals have to take responsibility and be held accountable for either making an unwanted baby or committing a violent crime. Maybe that makes me a liberal and a conservative. I don’t want to be labeled either anti-choice or anti-life.

Our society has to take better care of all of our citizens, and especially our youth. Death penalty advocates and so-called pro-lifers ignore the culpability of the greater society. Liberals and others often fail to place blame on the hands of the individuals who ultimately decide to use or not use birth control or who decide to kill or not kill. When I see narrow-minded and ideological lawmakers such as Delegate McConkey, it makes me wonder if the politician-class will ever adequately address such vexing social problems. I almost forgot to mention that the well-informed lawmaker told us that more people are killed in Baltimore than are killed in Baghdad. Perhaps this was his way of slamming the new Democratic Governor and praising the Republican President? When I reminded him that well over a hundred had just been blown up in one Baghdad bombing, he seemed nonplussed.

I will give him credit for one thing. When asked about the Greens interest in holding instant-runoff elections, he came right out and said he would support it.

Head to the Higher Ground

For years, our Baltimore Sun buried articles about global climate change, which prompted this author to take them to task in letters to the editor. The Sun has switched course and on February 3, published “A warmer Md. will be wetter-Threat from climate change takes form of land submersion, severe storm damage” which predicts pretty serious consequences for Chesapeake Bay and the lands around it, which in addition to being subjected to predicted sea-level rise, also appear to be settling lower in to the Earth’s crust.

Meanwhile, we know that Allstate Insurance (as in not-exactly-all-of-the-State) is pulling back coverage for low-lying areas, and local, state and federal officials are hearing the warning signs, and on the local level, Mayor Moyer and County Executive Leopold are taking this seriously. Hallelujah-even Bush mentioned global climate change in his State of the Union speech! The next question is what are you-as in you and me, going to do to change our habits and lessen our emissions? We can begin by eating lower on the food chain, decreasing our energy consumption and by driving less. It will all add up to improved health, for ourselves, our community and our planet.
And in times such as these, it always helps to quote Dylan: “You better start swimmin’ or you’ll sink like a stone, for the times they are a changin' ”