Poll Shows Virginians Want a Clean Bay

Monday, November 01, 2010

Virginians want a plan for a clean Chesapeake Bay, according to a poll of 500 Virginia voters.

“The survey dramatically confirms that clean water is very important to Virginians and to Virginia’s economy,” said Ann Jennings, Virginia Executive Director for the Chesapeake Bay Foundation, which commissioned the survey. “And voters clearly want Virginia’s leaders to develop a strong Bay cleanup plan that ensures clean water, a healthy Bay, and a strong economy for all Virginians.”

The survey comes on the heels of Governor Bob McDonnell’s state cleanup plan for the Bay released last month, which hasn’t cut the mustard with the Environmental Protection Agency or the Chesapeake Bay Foundation. If the state fails to come up with a plan that the EPA feels will achieve pollution reduction guidelines in a timely manner, the federal organization will step in and create one. The EPA is now soliciting comments on its new pollution limits for the Bay, and each Bay state is soliciting comments on individual cleanup plans.

Some groups in Virginia, including the Hampton Roads Planning District Commission, argue that cleaning up the Bay to the extent the EPA suggests in its newest guidelines will be too expensive. The HRPDC estimates the proposed new ‘pollution diet’ would cost the Triangle a combined $85 million each year. Read Thursday’s WYDaily story on the HRPDC cost estimates for details.

According to the survey, 80 percent of respondents agreed with the statement, “we can protect the water quality in rivers, creeks and the Chesapeake Bay and have a strong economy with good jobs for Virginians, without having to choose one over the other.”

Of those polled, 92 percent believe the Bay is “important for Virginia’s economy.” The survey also found that 64 percent of Republicans surveyed, 62 percent of independents and 70 percent of Democrats believe the Bay is important to the economy.

Two-thirds of respondents said they are “extremely concerned” or “very concerned” about the issue of reducing pollution in the Bay.

By a nearly two-to-one margin, those polled say they’d prefer the state to establish its own plan to reduce pollution in its waterways rather than the EPA doing so. Respondents perceive a state plan as more flexible, more cost effective and better for Virginia that the EPA setting federal government mandates.

The survey also found that 79 percent of people strongly agree that “Ensuring Virginia has clean water is an important role of state government, and the Governor and state leaders need to work together to help meet this basic need of all Virginians.”

Lori Weigel, a Public Opinion Strategies partner who conducted last week’s survey, concluded, “There is a general consensus [among Virginians] that having clean water is a basic need and therefore important for state government. Therefore, voters would advise the state to ‘come up with a better plan’ for the Bay.”

The margin of error for the survey was plus or minus 4.38 percent. Interviews were distributed proportionally throughout the state and are representative of active voters, according to the survey company. For more information about the poll, visit the Chesapeake Bay Foundation website.

Comments  

 

+5 #5 Guest 2010-11-01 10:20

Farmers have been pretty much exempt from Chesbay regs and will continue to be. There are plenty of best management practices out there that many farmers are following on a voluntary basis. No till ag comes immediately to mind. Most farmers did not trust it, but after a few realistic demonstration seasons, many are on board and saving money in the process.

The other day I was on the upper James, and saw cattle standing in the water. A best practice would keep livestock about 100 feet back from the river. There is still a lot of low hanging fruit in the ag and forestry worlds to be gathered. Let the harvest begin

Quoting Burger:

the clean bay act that the Obama administration is pushing will tax Virginians into poverty. No one wants a clean bay more than me, but not at our, and our farmers expense. Obama will push our farmers out of business. Then most of our food will come from over seas, just like our oil.

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-6 #4 Guest 2010-11-01 08:09

the clean bay act that the Obama administration is pushing will tax Virginians into poverty. No one wants a clean bay more than me, but not at our, and our farmers expense. Obama will push our farmers out of business. Then most of our food will come from over seas, just like our oil.

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+6 #3 Guest 2010-11-01 07:42

The EPA needs to strong-arm this important initiative. There is no way McDonnell is going to do anything meaningful about it. His administration hates the environment and people who care about it.

It's too bad it's come to this. If people had paid for proper run-off management along the way, we wouldn't need the super-expensive retro-active corrections that are going to be required.

But if we don't do it, the great Chesapeake will sadly become the USA's biggest cesspool - gray, dead and putrid. We've already taken it most of the way there.

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+10 #2 Guest 2010-11-01 07:23

Actions speak louder than words. Thus I would surmise that Virginians do not much care about the Bay. Wishing and doing are two entirely different things. We can put all the medallions we want on the the storm drains, join hands and sing John Denver songs, restrict garden sheds in the RPA, but it will not do anything. The hard reality is that nothing will change until major changes in lifestyles occur. These changes will not be easy or pleasant.

Judging by all the nice artificially green lawns around the country, people have other priorities than to worry about run off.

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+7 #1 Lolovivi 2010-11-01 07:06

Do they want it bad enough to pay for it? Say a .25 to 1% tax on things that contribute to pollution in the bay - things like laundry and dish soaps? Fertilizers? Insecticides?

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