WASHINGTON - In an executive order last year, President Bush set in motion a state-federal effort to rid the Great Lakes of invasive species, toxic pollutants, raw sewage and other environmental threats.
Now after the leak of an internal report that doused a $20 billion cleanup strategy, the administration faces a mini-tempest over the degree of Bush's commitment to saving the lakes.
Andy Buchsbaum, director of the National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes office, says administration officials are giving "mixed signals," ranging from "heartening" comments at meetings with environmentalists to the "alarming" internal memo.
Cameron Davis, executive director of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, said the lakes have "seen a multi-decade-long slide ... and we simply cannot continue to pass those problems on to our children."
Ben Grumbles, chief of the Environmental Protection Agency's water division, said the administration is committed to a cleanup, but under "realistic funding scenarios" and without duplicating programs. He declined to discuss figures.
http://www.startribune.com/stories/484/5666098.html
Posted by Dave at October 13, 2005 07:31 AM