John Sarbanes: “I am extremely distressed at this continued run that the administration is taking at the funding for the Chesapeake Bay.”

It is important to be clear that EPA's proposed standards are reasonable, performance-based emissions standards and constitute neither a national electric vehicle mandate nor an internal combustion ban.

But these are dramatic changes that can bring us to a new place and, I think, have given many people a sense of hope instead of despair in the face of what we are seeing with a warming planet.

Congress gave EPA this role more than 50 years ago under the Clean Air Act and reaffirmed that responsibility in 2005 under the Energy Policy Act.

The health of the Chesapeake Bay and its watershed can only continue to improve through robust Federal, state, and local partnerships.