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Maryland Department of the Environment

Governor O’malley Releases Statement Upon His Election As Chair Of Chesapeake Executive Council

MEDIA CONTACTS:

Nina Smith
Office: 410-974-2316

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

ANNAPOLIS, MD. (December 12, 2013) — Governor O’Malley released the following statement upon his election as chair of the Chesapeake Executive Council: 

“It is an honor to be elected chair of the Chesapeake Executive Council again, during what will be my last year as Governor of the great State of Maryland. We’ve made significant progress in restoring the Chesapeake Bay since I first had this privilege back in 2007. In addition, we’ve enjoyed strong federal leadership from President Obama and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

 In Maryland, we have made reductions from all pollution sources and we created BayStat to hold ourselves accountable on our restoration activities. Although we have achieved many milestones, we still have a long way to go.

 Our Bay jurisdictions are hard at work on a new Chesapeake Bay Agreement, to provide a long-term blueprint for restoration. My first order of business will be to get the new agreement signed, sealed and delivered to the 18 million residents who call this magnificent watershed home.

 We only have one planet. We need to do our best for future generations to continue improving water quality in our watershed. There is no either/or choice between our prosperity and our environment—we cannot create either a future where there are more jobs, or a future where there is a healthy environment – we must do both.  We will Reclaim the Bay.”

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