This is encouraging stuff. The test comes December 12 in Chicago, when the federal government will announce a final restoration plan, and next year, when Congress begins taking up the plan. But the momentum is there.
Activists step up pressure for Great Lakes cleanup funding
September 8, 2005, 7:05 PM
GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (AP) -- Tight budgets and competition for scarce dollars are no reason to shortchange a wide-ranging cleanup program for the Great Lakes, activists said Thursday.
Representatives of environmentalist groups, government agencies, industry and American Indian tribes opened a two-day strategy session on how to win approval of a restoration plan for the troubled waters.
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and other officeholders responded with encouraging words but said much depends on ordinary citizens making clear at the ballot box that the lakes are a top priority.
"I urge you, wherever you are from, to elect people ... who will follow your instructions," Granholm told the group of about 240 from across the Great Lakes region. "Because if you have people in your legislatures that don't care about it, it is not going to happen."
The conference was sponsored by a coalition formed by philanthropist and conservation activist Peter Wege, which developed a Great Lakes restoration blueprint last year.
An interagency government task force appointed by President Bush released a draft of another cleanup package in July. A final version of that plan, expected to carry a $20 billion price tag, is expected by December.
The various proposals identify common problems: invasive species wreaking havoc with the lakes' food web, contaminated sediments from long-ago toxic discharges, sewer overflows, and runoff from farms and urban parking lots.
The problems have been festering for years. But conference organizers said prospects for serious action were improving as more people learn about the lakes' dire situation. Bush's appointment of the task force and introduction of bills in Congress to fund Great Lakes cleanup are among the hopeful signs, they said.
"The stars are just beginning to align," said Tom Kiernan, co-chairman of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.
A Senate bill seeks $6 billion for the lakes over a decade; separate House measures propose $4 billion in five years.
Supporters said lawmakers in Congress and the states should recognize Great Lakes cleanup as an economic stimulus that would create new businesses and jobs.
"There's going to be a clear return on it. There's going to be a clear financial gain," said Andy Buchsbaum, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Natural Resource Center.
But supporters acknowledged that despite the numerous studies and hearings devoted to the issue in recent years, many people -- including residents of the Great Lakes region -- don't understand the ecosystem's dire condition.
State Sen. Patricia Birkholz, chairwoman of the Natural Resources and Environmental Affairs Committee, said most of her colleagues in the Michigan Legislature were focused on issues other than Great Lakes restoration.
"In fact, I've been surprised that there are some who don't know anything about it," said the Republican from Allegan County's Saugatuck Township. She is planning hearings this fall on groundwater withdrawal legislation.
Even those who support a Great Lakes rescue disagree on what needs to be done.
Granholm urged support for her Water Legacy Act to regulate large-scale water withdrawals, which remains stalled in the Legislature. Birkholz doesn't support it, saying it would impose excessive rules on business and industry.
George Kuper, president of the Council of Great Lakes Industries, said the cleanup plans are too vague and need a clear set of priorities.
"We don't know where the money's going to come from," Kuper said. "That makes us nervous."
Posted by Dave at September 8, 2005 08:53 PM