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Symposium weighs simple question: Can commerce clean up the Chesapeake Bay? Date published: 12/10/2009
By RUSTY DENNEN It wasn't your typical gathering to find new ways to clean up the Chesapeake Bay. That's because about a third of the 125 people who turned out yesterday for a symposium hosted by the Rappahannock River Basin Commission represented businesses. Another tip-off was the title of the session at the University of Mary Washington's Stafford Campus: "Incentivizing Restoration Through a Bay Economy." The aim was to bring traditional adversaries--businesses and environmentalists--together to promote mutually beneficial goals. The basin commission, with help from Conserv, an ecological business consultant, is weighing whether to create the Rappahannock Exchange, a regional marketplace for bay-friendly products and services. David Carroll, senior adviser in environmental management and government affairs for Lafarge North America Inc., said large companies, which also happen to be major land holders, are looking for ways to do the right thing while also doing good business. "I'll be saying a lot about return on investment," he said. "That's how corporations think." Rep. Rob Wittman, a former member and chairman of the basin commission, said new approaches are needed that don't rely entirely on government--at a time when funding is scarce--are needed. "We have to figure out ways to do it and to involve citizens and business, and that these become community efforts. If not, we're going to fail," said Wittman, a Republican who represents Virginia's 1st District. He said the Chesapeake Bay Reauthorization bills wending their way through the House and Senate should include provisions for such efforts, along with "some economic models that can be leveraged in bay cleanup." The Rappahannock Exchange would connect consumers, businesses and landowners with bay-friendly products and services. For example, a hardware store selling paints containing fewer volatile organic compounds might display a Rappahannock Exchange logo to lure customers. VOCs contribute to water and air pollution. A customer at a local gas station might use an exchange credit card for the purchase, with the retailer paying a half-cent a gallon into a bay-cleanup fund.
Our republic was founded on free enterprise capitalism to bring market based solutions to our most pressing needs.
It's too bad that some in the environmental and conservation movement, believe that the way to "save the planet" is to destroy industry. I hope this is the beginning of a cooperative effort which spreads to other areas, and other efforts, and I praise Congressman Whittman for participating in this event.
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