Editor note: Mr. Foster has made the following correct to this opinion piece:
I wish to apologize to Congressman Andy Harris and to my readers in the Spy. I have just learned that my information regarding his vote on the Goodlatte Amendment was wrong and, in fact, Congressman Andy Harris actually voted against the Goodlatte Amendment.
While Congressman Harris and I may disagree on other issues, I want to commend him for his vote against the Goodlatte amendment for precisely the reasons that I listed in my article. I am also pleased to note that he does know where we live and understands that we really do need the assistance from the EPA in protecting us from upstream pollution originating in neighboring states.
Furthermore, while I am personally embarrassed that I failed to double check my sources regarding this vote, perhaps it does offer a reminder to all of us to carefully verify our sources before passing judgment.
Sincerely,
J. David Foster
Every fifth grader in Maryland’s 1st District knows that we all live (on the Right side of Maryland) near the Chesapeake Bay and downstream from the Susquehanna River that flows from New York through Pennsylvania into the Chesapeake. Unfortunately, Congressman Harris seems to have forgotten that his constituents all live downstream from two neighboring states and that the quality of the Bay and our own vital waterways are heavily dependent on the pollution control efforts made by our upstream neighbors.
How do we know that Congressman Harris has forgotten you? Because earlier this month he voted in lockstep to support of an amendment authored by Congressman Goodlatte to prevent the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) from protecting you from water pollution generated upstream in New York and Pennsylvania. Now we may never know precisely why the Congressman from Virginia’s 6th District authored this amendment. However, if you look at the map above and compare Virginia’s 6th District with Maryland’s 1st, you can be sure that Congressman Goodlatte understands geography and knows precisely where his constituents live. Simply speaking, Goodlatte’s constituents, living in the mountains near West Virginia, may not need the EPA to protect them from out of state upstream water pollution but those of us living in the tidewater in Congressman Andy’s 1st district do.
Over the past several years Maryland farmers, factory owners and municipalities have all made serious efforts to control pollution and protect our waterways but much of that effort will be undone unless the people of New York and Pennsylvania also do their part. Furthermore, we have to ask ourselves whether all Marylanders will continue to work just as hard once they see that their efforts can be compromised through the negligence of state and local governments upstream.
Now look again at the map below to see where Congressman Goodlatte’ constituents in Virginia’s 6th District have their homes. Not only do none of them live anywhere near the shores of the Chesapeake but they all live in the Blue Ridge Mountains, up stream from any other state and other sources of water pollution. Obviously, Congressman Goodlatte understands geography and even understands that water, and pollution, flows down hill and most importantly, he understands how to take care of his constituents.
Ironically, just when Governor Hogan has decided to reexamine the Conowingo Dam to try and remove some of the sediment behind it, Congressman Harris has chosen to “pull the plug” on regulations that would hold New York and Pennsylvania accountable for reducing the sediment that flows into the Susquehanna River.
This is not a question of Republicans vs. Democrats or Conservatives vs. Liberals. I know that there are great people on both sides of the aisle who care about the environment and who want to protect our water. This is a question of whether Congressman Harris has studied the map and whether he knows where you, his constituents, live?
David Foster is a retired policy analyst with the Environmental Protection Agency and former Riverkeeper on the Chester River
Dennis Leventhal says
It would be nice if we had a Congressman who actually LIVED on the Eastern Shore, then perhaps we’d have a representative who CARED about the people who live on the Eastern Shore.
Keith Thompson says
Technically, thanks to the drawing of the legislative map by the MD General Assembly, the First District really doesn’t represent the interests of the Eastern Shore. Yes it covers the Shore, but it also covers a politically conservative area of the Western Shore that is more heavily populated than the Eastern Shore. The First District was drawn to consolidate Maryland’s conservative areas into one district to limit their representation in Congress. The sad truth is that Andy Harris does a pretty good job of representing the prime constituency of the First District around his conservative base in the Baltimore suburbs and his landslide victories prove it. It’s the political power brokers in the General Assembly that drew up the district boundaries that don’t care about the Eastern Shore.
David Foster says
I wish to apologize to Congressman Andy Harris and to my readers in the Spy. I have just learned that my information regarding his vote on the Goodlatte Amendment was wrong and, in fact, Congressman Andy Harris actually voted against the Goodlatte Amendment.
While Congressman Harris and I may disagree on other issues, I want to commend him for his vote against the Goodlatte amendment for precisely the reasons that I listed in my article. I am also pleased to note that he does know where we live and understands that we really do need the assistance from the EPA in protecting us from upstream pollution originating in neighboring states.
Furthermore, while I am personally embarrassed that I failed to double check my sources regarding this vote, perhaps it does offer a reminder to all of us to carefully verify our sources before passing judgment.
Sincerely,
J. David Foster
Gustavo Mangini says
Federal policy on marijuana is neither arbitrary nor set in stone. Proper procedures exist for changing the way that marijuana is regulated in the United States, but a ballot initiative in the federal district is not one of them. If the city were allowed to proceed, it would create legal chaos. Marijuana use is far from benign, and the effect the drug has on users can ripple through a lifetime and touch both their families and society at large.