The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science presented Governor Martin O’Malley with the Reginald V. Truitt Environmental Award for his environmental leadership in Maryland. He received the award Tuesday evening at a special ceremony with invited guests at the Institute of Marine and Environmental Technology at Baltimore’s Inner Harbor.
"From record farmland acres planted with cover crops to thousands of citizens growing oysters off their piers, to preserving hundreds of thousands of acres of open space, farm and forest lands, we've created common, publicly-available platforms and leveraged state resources to restore the streams and rivers we've inherited," said Governor Martin O’Malley. “I’m honored to accept this award on behalf of all Marylanders – it is through their tireless dedication and commitment that will continue to establish a healthier Chesapeake Bay, and create a more sustainable future for the next generation.”
The University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s Reginald V. Truitt Environmental Award honors a Marylander whose dedication has resulted in the better understanding and stewardship of Maryland’s environment. Past recipients of the award include Maryland State Senator C. Bernard Fowler, U.S. Senator Charles M. Mathias, Governor Harry R. Hughes, Governor Parris N. Glendening, and U.S. Senator Paul S. Sarbanes. Four of the five past recipients were in attendance. Governor O’Malleyi]s the sixth person to be honored with the Reginald V. Truitt Environmental Award.
“Governor O’Malley has listened to science in striving for Chesapeake Bay restoration and sustainable growth in Maryland. His leadership in responding to climate change through energy conservation and transformation has set a national standard,” said Dr. Donald Boesch, president of the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science. “We as citizens of Maryland have been fortunate to have a governor with such vision, intelligence and commitment to our environmental future.”
Governor Martin O’Malley has served the people of Maryland as Governor since 2007 and led the region in protecting our most precious natural resource, the Chesapeake Bay. During his Administration, Governor O’Malley has been the nation’s leading Governor on the environment. He has pushed for stronger environmental regulations and has led the restoration of our State’s most important natural resource, the Chesapeake Bay. Maryland is the only state that has consistently met its Two-Year Milestones, ensuring that short-term progress leads to long-term restoration of the Bay.
Under his leadership, Maryland has worked with its partners to adopt management strategies to rebuild the blue crab population, and has made significant progress in restoring the oyster population and expanding the aquaculture industry. He led the creation of BayStat, a data-driven performance management tool, to steadily reduce nitrogen and phosphorus polluting the Bay. He has also led the State’s efforts to adopt, and become an active member in, the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the nation’s first market-based regulatory program in the United States to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
During his Administration, Maryland has added more renewable energy to its grid than any time since the Conowingo Dam was built 80 years ago. In 2009, he led the State’s efforts to pass the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Plan that will reduce greenhouse gases 25 percent by the year 2020.
The award is named for Dr. Reginald V. Truitt who founded the Chesapeake Biological Laboratory at Solomons, Maryland, in 1925. His research foretold the need for wise management of fish, crab, and oyster resources of the Chesapeake Bay and formed the foundation for the University of Maryland Center for Environmental Science’s legacy of leadership, innovation, and education as one of the world’s premier institutions for coastal and watershed studies.
