On the recordFebruary 18, 2011
The Chesapeake Bay is a natural and national treasure. It is the largest estuary in the United States of America. The health of the Chesapeake Bay is under constant assault from all sources of pollution: urban runoff, farm runoff, storm water runoff. We have been working for years and years, in fact decades, to try and clean up the bay, and it has been like running in place because, every time we take action, more pollution flows into the bay. That's why, under the Obama administration, they've taken important action to try and finally get ahead of the curve and restore the health of the bay. Will Baker, who is the President of the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, described the approach of the Obama administration as something that may well represent the bay's best and last chance for restoration. As Mr. Moran pointed out, if we don't do that, the watermen, the sports fishermen, and the tourist industry will be badly hurt.
