NO CHESSIE NO CRY*: Reviving The Chesapeake Bay Boosts Jobs

No Chessie No Cry* *Special acknowledgement to Bob Marley and his marvelous reggae tradition and his song "No Woman No Cry"

The Chesapeake Bay Watershed is a 64000 square mile community of life that includes almost every imaginable life-form including we humans.  We have always cared for Sweet Chessie, but we suddenly began to realize that in our eagerness to grow and prosper we were endangering, even killing off, part of our community. We need to take action to revive our precious bay. That action is to restore and preserve and in doing that we will enrich all aspects of the community. Unfortunately some political action groups, and other special interests strongly believe that this activity is harmful, especially with respect to a threat of extensive job-loss. That threat is imaginary and we will endeavor to show you that the opposite will occur as we all proceed to save Sweet Chessie’s life.

Lifesavers at work, testing water quality. Soggy, but vitally important. Unsung heroes, until now.

Jobs? What  Jobs? The word jobs has a wide range of meanings depending upon your social and economic status. For this discussion jobs refers to all types of employment opportunities that develop as we implement the restoration of the Chesapeake Bay Watershed. The leading jobs that come from saving Sweet Chessie center around construction specialties, engineering specialties, waste and storm water processing, and water quality assessment and monitoring specialties. Together these categories provide both blue-collar and professional employment opportunities.

Additionally, there will be extensive sci-tech specialties involved in devising ongoing improvements in the way we handle all pollutants endangering the bay. A key objective of this latter effort is to enhance regulatory measures by providing technological processes that directly alter the polluting effects of chemical and biological effluents that endanger the watershed. This is emphasized by the Environmental Protection Agency‘s new Path Forward  program which, “calls for a new emphasis on the application of EPA’s expertise in problem assessment to the development, creation, invention, and innovation of environmental solutions.” This activity can be expected to extend into both the private and academic research sectors adding extra strength to the growing environmentally focused worker population.

In all of this, whether the worker wears a blue collar or carries a powerful laptop at his side; all stand tall and on equal ground as they reach out to save Sweet Chessie.

Really? A Whole New World? For Chessie it is new because she is being reborn and regaining the surging life that enriches all that surrounds her. Actually as she arises she will extend her influence and charm worldwide. Her bursts of energy produces both new biological and economic strengths that send hope and prosperity beyond her new, pristine boundaries. Progressive environmental revival not only creates new jobs and new careers, it opens wide the doors of opportunity that have been slammed shut by a sickened and weakened Earth.

In saving Chessie we confirm the fact that humankind is not distinct from all life on Earth. We are vital members of the life community. We are the organizers, the caring protectors and grateful benefactors of not just Chessie’s charms but from our home planet, Earth. We once pondered wealth and its acquisition, now we are universally wealthy and joyfully bound by that wealth to preserve and enrich the entire world community.

None of the above will happen on its own. It demands constant and diligent efforts to sustain the environment, but as we will be learning, with each effort we grow stronger and enjoy greater, safer progress. Suddenly all life is important to us and in that realization we know a joy that leads us boldly forward into the future. We no longer conquer life, we share it and protect it – eternally.

IMAGE CREDIT:

Watershed Workers – Courtesy Alaska Association of Conservation Districts  http://tinyurl.com/8ye3sfv

SUGGESTED REFERENCES:

CBF Jobs Report http://www.cbf.org/document.doc?id=1023  Chesapeake Bay Foundation

Water Works: Rebuilding Infrastructure, Creating Jobs, Greening the Environment  http://www.greenforall.org/resources/water-works   –   Economic Policy Institute, American Rivers and Pacific Institute

Sudden Impact: An Assessment of Short-Term Economic Impacts of Water and Wastewater Construction Projects in The United States. http://www.nuca.com/files/public/CWC Sudden Impact Report FINAL.pdf  – Clean Water Council

Economic Impacts of Implementing Agricultural Best Management Practices to Achieve Goals Outlined in Virginia’s Tributary Strategy http://www.coopercenter.org/sites/default/files/publications/BMP paper FINAL.pdf – Weldon Cooper Center for Public Service – Univ. of Virginia – Terrance J. Rephann