Let"s talk about the Environment and how Government Regulations can help or harm us.

As a seventh generation Marylander, who is a decendant of Chesapeake Bay shipwrights and watermen, my love for the Chesapeake Bay and its tributaries is near and dear to my heart. I think we all can agree that everyone wants clean water, clean air and a thriving environment. The question is how do we nuture and protect our natural surroundings and keep our people fed, our energy needs met, and our economy booming?

Economic prosperity and environmental protection must advance together. Environmental regulations should be based on science, and not political agenda. We should ensure that environmental policy meets the needs of localities and that federal spending actually helps rather than harms the environment. The efficacy of environmental regulations needs to be evaluated.

Our Planet Earth and Climate Change

The recent cutbacks in U.S. pollution over the past 2 decades, pales in comparison to the increase in Chinese and Indian output of pollutants and "green house"gases. How do we expect an effort from just the U.S. to slow or reverse any damages? Furthermore, as the U.S. shuts down manufacturing due to either real or imagined environmental dangers, we force U.S. companies to use foreign products, which are produced without any regulations and thus harming the earth to a greater extent than simply loosening some regulations on U.S. companies.

The environment is comprised of a set of complex relationships, which result in equilibrium. While the media focuses on the loss of Artic Ocean Ice, the National Aeronautical Space Administration (NASA) reported in Oct 2013 that Antarctic Ocean Ice was at its highest level since measurements were first taken in 1979. This change represents the equilibrium of our planet at work. While global warming scientist make correlations between two or three variables, the earth is way more complex and can adjust in ways that are past our current understanding.

Stay tuned... more to follow