Promote the Great Lakes Restoration Presidential Candidate Letter Campaign

Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives is proud to host a letter campaign to encourage the Presidential candidates to support the Great Lakes Restoration Strategy. Please consider including the campaign on your Web site, in emails, in newsletters, on your blog or any other way you can get the word out.

To make this easier we offer a few ideas.

1) You can link to the survey hosted on the Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives Web site:

http://www.healthylakes.org/presidential-candidate-petition/

2) You can place the petition to appear under your Web site design with the following code:

<iframe src="https://online.nwf.org/site/Advocacy?id=524&pagename=homepage" width="710" height="1100" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" name="Great Lakes Presidential Candidate Petition">View the petition outside of an iframe <A href="https://online.nwf.org/site/Advocacy?id=524&pagename=homepage" target=_blank>here</a></iframe>

3) You can place a badge like the one displayed here on your site that links to the petition hosted on the Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives Web site with the code listed below the image.

<a href="http://www.healthylakes.org/presidential-candidate-petition/"><img src= "http://www.healthylakes.org/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2008/05/great_lakes_restoration_presidential_candidate_peition_banner_3.jpg" border ="0" alt="Great Lakes Restoration Presidential Candidate Petition" title="Great Lakes Restoration Presidential Candidate Petition" name="Great Lakes Presidential Candidate Petition"></a>

Your assistance in driving action by the candidates is appreciated. Together we will make a difference.

The Day after Tomorrow: The Great Lakes in Crisis

Close your eyes and think of the worst disaster movie you’ve ever seen, OK, do you have it set in your mind’s eye? The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is releasing a report that shows the expected impacts of global warming on the Great Lakes – nearly 95 percent of this nation’s fresh surface water – are much more devastating than anything you could have imagined.

Great Lakes Restoration and the Threat of Global Warming makes it clear that the Great Lakes are poised to reach an irrevocable crisis if immediate action isn’t taken by our nation. I know, I know, we’ve been saying for years that we are approaching the point of no return, but we are really teetering on the verge of our last chance.

At the same time that freshwater resources become more scarce around the world, climate change will lower water levels of these majestic fresh water seas–increasing the pressure from states outside the region to divert Great Lakes water to them. Climate change also promises to boost non-native invasive species populations that are notorious for crowding out local fish and plant life. The wetlands will shrink and dry and cease to filter pollution as well as steal away the homes of fish and wildlife that once lived there. The low water levels will expose residents to toxic sediments that have been known to cause cancer and otherwise impair human health. The odor and taste of drinking water promises to get worse. More storms will mean more sewage overflow from our notoriously antiquated sewer systems and that will mean more beach closings. If this scenario isn’t starting to scare you, how about the effect it will have on our region’s economy? The shipping industry will suffer, our food, our water quality and our way of life will all be affected. (Don’t forget that if the nation were to invest in the Great Lakes restoration plan the region and the nation would gain a 2-to-1 return on the investment – but it has to happen now, before climate change intensifies the problems plaguing the Lakes.)

We have made small advances toward fulfilling the restoration plan, the US House passed a ballast bill that will help fight invasive species, the US Senate introduced a bill that would triple the funding for cleaning up toxic pollution and five of our region’s eight states have approved the Great Lakes Compact that can ultimately prevent our waters from diversion.

It isn’t too late to fix this problem and curb the affects of global warming on the lakes, but Congress and the next President have to act quickly. Just last summer, former Vice President Al Gore said, “The next President is critical to solving Global Warming,” on the Today Show and since then all three presidential candidates have promised to restore the Great Lakes and confront global warming.

Now is the time for action – the US Congress must fully fund and implement the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy. There is no time to wait and each day raises the price tag that much more. Oh, and while you are at it – make sure to approve a reduction in greenhouse gas emissions to further protect your investment in our nation’s fresh water. Think of it as fresh water owner’s disaster insurance.

New Report: Congress Must Deal with Global Warming—Great Lakes Impact

ANN ARBOR, MI (May 28, 2008)—The Great Lakes can lessen the impact of global warming or become global warming’s victim—it all depends on Congress, according to a new report from the Healing Our Waters®-Great Lakes Coalition. The authors urged Congress to enact a comprehensive plan to restore the health of the Great Lakes.

“Climate change is already affecting the Great Lakes, and no matter what we do now, the those impacts will increase in the future,” said Donald Scavia, Ph.D., report co-author and professor of Natural Resources and Environment at the University of Michigan. “But we can counter those impacts by restoring the Great Lakes to make them more resilient. At the same time, we need strong national efforts to cut greenhouse gas pollution so that the impacts don’t become so severe that they overwhelm the Great Lakes.”

“Great Lakes Restoration & the Threat of Global Warming” synthesizes current climate change science and presents the likely impacts warming temperatures will have on the lakes, including lower lake levels, more sewage overflows, and increased pressure to divert Great Lakes water. The report describes the following likely impacts:

• Daily high temperatures in the region will increase 5.4 to 10.8 degrees relative to what was typical from 1961-1990, with wintertime temperatures increasing even more than summer temperatures.
  
• Increased evaporation from warming lakes—particularly in winter—is expected to result in less ice cover, contributing to lower water levels and increases in lake-effect snow.
  
• Lake levels could drop during the next century by approximately 1 foot on Lake Superior, 3 feet on Lakes Michigan and Huron, 2.7 feet on Lake Erie, and 1.7 feet on Lake Ontario.
  
• Water quality will likely worsen as more intense storm events will send polluted urban and agricultural runoff to our waterways, leading to drinking water impacts, beach closings, and higher costs to water suppliers.
  
• Biological dead zones will increase, jeopardizing fish and other aquatic life.
  
• Great Lakes forests and grasslands will change as plants adapted to the area confront increasingly unsuitable habitat. The ranges of some plants and animals will shift northward, while other creatures will vanish.

“It is important to protect the Great Lakes, and the national parks around the lakes, from the effects of global warming,” said Tom Kiernan, president of National Parks Conservation Association and co-chair of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “Restoration strategies that increase the Great Lakes’ ability to withstand the stress of global warming should complement aggressive greenhouse gas emissions reduction and preserve this natural resource for our children and grandchildren.”

The report comes as the U.S. Senate prepares to discuss global warming legislation next week. The report recommends several federal policy solutions, including:

• Restoring the Great Lakes through full funding and implementation of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy, a comprehensive plan put forward by more than 1,500 citizens and backed by the region’s mayors, governors and Congressional delegation;

• Protecting the Great Lakes from water diversions by passing the Great Lakes Water Resources Compact, a regional agreement to ban diversions outside the region and promoting conservation within the region;
• Reducing greenhouse gas emissions to limit the magnitude of change to our climate and ecosystems; and,
• Generating ecosystem restoration funding through federal global warming legislation.

The report highlights successful federal programs at the heart of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy and explains how the programs can bolster the ability of the lakes to limit the damage from a warming climate.

“We have solutions to confront global warming and protect the Great Lakes,” said Jeff Skelding, national campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “It is paramount that Congress act now, because the longer we wait, the problems will get worse and the solutions more costly.”

The report comes during a presidential election year in which all three White House aspirants – Senators Hillary Clinton, John McCain, and Barack Obama – have acknowledged the urgent need to confront global warming, restore the Great Lakes and ban water diversions outside the region.

Said Andy Buchsbaum, regional executive director and co-chair of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition: “To those seeking the White House, we ask: ‘Will you use your leadership as president to confront global warming, outlaw diversion of Great Lakes water and fund the restoration of the largest freshwater resource in North America?’”

Economists have pegged the comprehensive restoration of the Great Lakes as an economic driver that will add more than $50 billion to the regional economy at a 2-to-1 return on investment.

Recognizing the lakes as drivers of economic prosperity and future growth, the region’s state legislatures are acting to protect the lakes by passing a compact to ban diversion of Great Lakes water out of the region and to promote water conservation measures within the region. The compact must eventually be ratified by the U.S. Congress.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition consists of more than 100 zoos, aquariums, museums, and hunting, fishing, and environmental organizations representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

• Read the full report.
• View a presentation on Great Lakes global warming impacts.

Contact:
Jeff Skelding, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, (202) 797-6893, jskelding@nwf.org
Don Scavia, University of Michigan, (734) 615-4860, scavia@umich.edu
Andy Buchsbaum, National Wildlife Federation, (734) 887-7100, buchsbaum@nwf.org
Jordan Lubetkin, National Wildlife Federation, (734) 887-7109; lubetkin@nwf.org
Nora Ferrell, Valerie Denney Communications, (312) 408-2580, nora@vdcom.com

They Asked For It and They Got It!

Visibly frustrated Members of Congress held a hearing today to discuss ways to improve the Great Lakes Legacy Act. They are frustrated because of the snail-like pace of progress being made cleaning up the remaining toxic sediments lining the Great Lakes and her tributaries after decades of industrialization and farming.

The Members greedily sought out impediments in the Legacy Act to cleaning up the 30 US Areas of Concern from panelists. What will it take to accelerate the process? Do you need more money? How about $150 million a year? That sounded good to Rep. John Hall (D-NY) who wasn’t shocked when told by the EPA that it could cost more than $1 billion to finish cleaning up the 70 sites within the 30 remaining AOC’s, “I compare it to the $12 billion a month [we are spending] in Iraq.”

“Setting the goal at $150 million is reasonable,” said Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich), “I’m not worried about increasing the authorization and I think it is important to increase it because we are poised in a number of areas to move forward with the clean up.”

How about reducing the matching funds that localities and states have to raise for each project from 35 to 25 – will that help asked Michigan’s Rep. Candice Miller? “The Great Lakes Commission is suggesting the match be dropped so we can accelerate more clean ups,” responded the GLC’s Chair and Michigan’s Lt. Governor John D. Cherry Jr.

What else is stopping up the works? HOW Co-Chair Cameron Davis ticked off several ways to improve the legislation so that all sites will be clean by 2020, such as expanding the authorization to provide more funding for more eligible projects, allowing funding for habitat restoration and eliminating the need for “exclusive federal agency project implementation” so that contractors can join in and speed up the work.

“The political will must be found and financial resources allocated to dredge and remove contaminated sediments,” Davis insisted.

The bottom line is that after years of producing goods and being the economic engine of this nation, as well as the arsenal of democracy, the Great Lakes Region has inherited this problem, according to Cherry, who added: “What we all need to do – local, state and federal government is step up.”

If the tone of today’s hearing is any indication, it appears that we have some real advocates on the Hill who are willing to go to the limit to help get the Areas of Concern cleaned up. “We cannot shrink from our responsibilities,” exclaimed Chairwoman Eddie Bernice Johnson at the Subcommittee on Water Resources and the Environment.

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On a Roll to Save the Lakes

Somedays I step back and think about Thomas Jefferson who, recognizing the great beauty of the federal-state relationship, waxed prophetic about the states becoming laboratories of democracy. Today, the Great Lakes are poised to benefit tremendously by this ingenious system - following the lead of 13 states - US Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-OH)have introduced a bill that will put an end to the use of phosphates in household dish detergent that leach into the Lakes feeding dangerous algae and killing off fish, by 2010.

“Protecting and restoring the Great Lakes has been a top priority of mine throughout my political career,” Voinovich said. “This mandated nationwide change to a household product Americans use everyday will make a difference in the health of the nation’s most important natural resources from this day forward. By limiting phosphates that enter Lake Erie, we will reduce harmful algal blooms and the Dead Zone that emerges every summer in the lake, helping to protect the Great Lakes and its ecosystems for generations to come.”

Algae feeds on the extra phospherous that detergents dish out to the blooms that then become so fat and dense that they block light from getting to aquatic vegetation which effects the oxygen available, kills fish and creates dead zones. The legislation would force manufacturers to limit the amount of phospherous in their product to a negligable .5 percent.

The legislation, once passed, will make a national standard that will greatly effect the Great Lakes ecosystem. To date, Massachusetts, Maryland and Washington have bans and ten other states (including Levin’s Michigan and Voinovich’s Ohio) have legislation pending or approved. This is the third piece of legislation in the past two weeks that Levin and Voinovich have introduced that will benefit the Great Lakes. It seems they are on a roll toward restoration and we whole heartedly support their efforts. Thank you, Senators!

The Senate to Consider the Legacy Act

The Great Lakes Legacy Act reauthorization bill was introduced last week by US Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-OH) with seven of the Great Lakes Senators signing on as original co-sponsors. Now, it is time to corral the rest of the Great Lakes Senate Delegation to join as co-sponsors and show a united front to the US Congress on this issue.

The new law will provide more money - $150 million - and expects to have the 31 areas of concern cleaned up within the decade. The EPA will have more flexibility distributing the funds to contractors untying some of the red tape for state agencies. The new authorization also allows for some habitat restoration and will give limited money to pilot projects to inspire innovation.

“We must continue the progress we’ve made on cleaning up the contaminated sites in the lakes. This legislation builds on the existing Legacy program in several crucial ways and will help protect and restore this unique treasure for the benefit of citizens throughout the Midwest and across the nation,” Sen. Levin said in a statement.

In addition to Levin and Voinovich, the following Senators are original co-sponsors: Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.), Barack Obama (D-ILL.), Sherrod Brown (D-OH), Hillary Clinton (D-NY), Charles Schumer (D-NY), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.) and Norm Coleman (R-Minn.). Please thank those who did sign on early and encourage your Senator if s/he has yet to become a co-sponsor.

Coalition Supports Bill to Clean Up Great Lakes Toxic Hot Spots

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (May 8, 2008) – The U.S. Senate yesterday introduced a bill to clean up Great Lakes toxic hotspots responsible for drinking water restrictions, beach closings and declines in fish and wildlife populations.

“Cleaning up toxic pollution in the Great Lakes is essential to our public health, economy and way of life,” said Jeff Skelding, national campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “We urge the U.S. Congress to pass and fund this important, efficient and successful clean-up program.”

Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-Ohio) introduced the Legacy Act of 2008 (S. 2994), whose funds go toward clean-up of polluted Great Lakes harbors and tributaries. Designated Areas of Concern by the U.S. and Canadian governments, the contaminated sites pose threats to people and wildlife.

“We applaud Senators Levin and Voinovich for introducing the bill and look forward to working with Congress to get this bill signed into law,” said Skelding. “It’s time to roll up our sleeves and get to work cleaning up these sites before the problem gets worse and the solution costs more money.”

Co-sponsors of the bill include Sens. Sherrod Brown (D-Ohio), Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), Norm Coleman (Minn.), Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Barak Obama (D-Ill.), Charles Schumer (D-N.Y.), and Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.).  The Coalition is working to get all Great Lakes Senators to sign on in support of S. 2994.

The Great Lakes Legacy Act of 2008 reauthorizes the Great Lakes Legacy Act for five years and increases the authorization of funds from $54 million to $150 million per year.

Of the 31 contaminated sites in the United States or shared with Canada, only one site –Oswego River – has been de-listed since 1987. (A full list of U.S. Areas of Concern in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin is below.)

“The pace of clean-up has been inadequate. We can do better and need to do better,” said Skelding. “We know that healthy lakes go hand-in-hand with healthy communities and a healthy economy. The time to act is now.”

The Great Lakes region stands to gain between $12 billion and $19 billion in economic benefit from cleaning up the Areas of Concern, according to the Brookings Institution.

Updating and funding the Great Lakes Legacy Act is a major recommendation of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy, a historic plan put forward by more than 1,500 citizens, public officials, business representatives, scientists and conservationists.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition consists of more than 90 zoos, aquariums, museums, and hunting, fishing, and environmental organizations representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes.

For more information: http://www.healthylakes.org/

For Immediate Release:
May 8, 2008

Contact:
Jeff Skelding, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, (202) 797-6893, jskelding@nwf.org
Jordan Lubetkin, National Wildlife Federation, (734) 904-1589, lubetkin@nwf.org 

United States Areas of Concern include:

ILLINOIS
Waukegan Harbor, Illinois

INDIANA
Grand Calumet River, Indiana

MICHIGAN
Clinton River, Michigan
Deer Lake, Michigan
Detroit River, Michigan
Kalamazoo River, Michigan
Manistique River, Michigan
Muskegon Lake, Michigan
River Raisin, Michigan
Rouge River, Michigan
Saginaw River and Bay, Michigan
St. Clair River, Michigan
St. Marys River, Michigan
Torch Lake, Michigan
White Lake, Michigan

NEW YORK
Buffalo River, New York
EighteenMile Creek, New York
Niagara River, New York
Oswego River/Harbor, New York
Rochester Embayment, New York
St. Lawrence River at Massena, New York

OHIO
Ashtabula River, Ohio
Black River, Ohio
Cuyahoga River, Ohio
Maumee River, Ohio

PENNSYLVANIA
Presque Isle Bay, Pennsylvania

MINNESOTA/WISONSIN
St. Louis River and Bay, Minnesota and Wisconsin

WISCONSIN
Lower Green Bay and Fox River, Wisconsin
Menominee River, Wisconsin
Milwaukee Estuary, Wisconsin
Sheboygan River, Wisconsin
 

It is the Economy Stupid, All Over Again!

Democrats in the Great Lake State of Indiana came out for Hillary Clinton yesterday giving her a slight edge over Barack Obama in the state as the two compete to become the presidential candidate for the blue party. But it wasn’t the big gas tax debate that affected the votes of Indiana democrats – it was the economy, according to nine out of ten voters.

We, at HOW, have embraced the Brookings report that shows that by fully implementing the Great Lakes Collaboration Strategy, the economic engine in our region would be revved up once again - jobs would be created, business would be drawn to our fresh water shores and towns and cities would hum again with hard working, hard playing folks.

We need Republican John McCain and the Democratic nominee to read this report and take it to heart. We need to know that whoever the next US President is, he or she will courageously move forward to save the Great Lakes and the economy of this region.

If You Aren’t Part of the Solution…

Tomorrow is the last day that the Great Lakes Senators can sign onto the Great Lakes Legacy Act as original co-sponsors. It is time for reauthorization of the law that is the best tool in our carpenter’s box to clean up the toxic legacy of the industrial age. US Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and George Voinovich (R-OH) are actively seeking co-sponsors and will introduce the bill this week.

Cosponsors send a strong signal to the guys with the money on the Hill, according to Joy Mulinex, the Great Lakes Task Force Director. “If only a couple of Members sign onto a bill that impacts such a large region, people may wonder why additional members are not on the bill and whether there is a reason,” she adds.

The reauthorization will provide more money - $150 million each year for five years –and it irons out some of the kinks that appeared over the past few years to make the program more efficient and successful.

This is a no brainer for Great Lakes Senators – there is no reason that they should not be co-sponsors and active stewards of this much needed legislation. Please contact your Senators immediately to let them know that you expect them to sign on. The Capitol Switchboard number is 202-224-3121.

“It absolutely helps to have constituents call into an office so that a Member knows that his constituents care! It’s good to know that a bill will have an impact back in a Member’s district,” Mulinex tells HOW.

The US House is still crafting its legislation but they intend to introduce it at a House Transportation Committee hearing on May 21.

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That Smelly Rat Isn’t In Denmark Anymore

Remember that “alarming” Center for Disease Control report that hit the news only because a watch dog group exposed that it had been suppressed from publication for more than half-a-year? Well, now that Congress has called for an inquiry the Canadian Press reports that the head of research at the CDC is claiming the report was not hidden from public view but held because of questions regarding the methodology. The CDC has also admitted to deleting (key?) data from the report.

Dr. Henry Falk oversees CDC research on environmental health hazards and he told the Canadian Press that critics found problems in the report that needed fixing including the use of data that could imply an unproven cause-and-effect relationship between toxins and illness in the area. The report makes flawed correlations between countywide health data and environmental measures drawn from areas larger or smaller than a county, according to Falk. Also, the latest version has omitted material deemed “irrelevant or misleading” such as countywide health statistics. Hmmm.

Interestingly, the authors of the 400-page study emphasized in writing that the study does not determine cause-and-effect but presses home the point that more research is crucial. Since 2004, the CDC’s senior scientists, the EPA, university scientists and state and federal government officials have reviewed various drafts of the study. Dr. Peter Orris, a professor at the University of Illinois School of Public Health, was one of the original experts tasked with critiquing the research, called for the release of the report in a December 2007 letter saying, “This report, which has taken years in production, was subjected to independent expert review by the IJC’s Health Professionals Task Force and other boards, over 20 EPA scientists, state agency scientists from New York and Minnesota, three academics (including myself), and multiple reviews within ATSDR. As such, this is perhaps the most extensively critiqued report, internally and externally, that I have heard of.”

Now the CDC is awaiting the review of the report by the Institute of Medicine. The CDC is also looking for feedback from the general public and then it will produce the final draft. This is HOW’s opportunity to weigh in on this mess and demand further scientific research into the higher levels of cancer, premature birth and dangerous health concerns in counties where AOC’s are located. The report is posted for comment at http://www.atsdr.cdc.gov/grtlakes.

The International Joint Commission originally requested the study in 2001 – it is now 2008 and we still have few answers but a real sense that there is significant reason for concern.

Oh, and the Canadian Press story failed to say anything about the fact that the director of the CDC’s division of toxicology and environmental medicine, Christopher De Rosa, who pushed for the report to be released was subsequently demoted. But this hasn’t escaped the US Congress, which continues to investigate the debacle. US Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.) chairs the House committee tasked with oversight of this issue and promised the panel would continue to make the CDC account for the handling of the report and the deletion of the county-level data.

“The revised draft begs the question of why the CDC is just now seeking public comment on a watered-down third draft of a report that was commissioned seven years ago,” Stupak told the Canadian Press. I’m with Stupak on this one. We need to demand thoughtful, well researched answers and we need to demand them now. The information could go a long-way toward informing the debate for the Great Lakes Legacy Act and getting the full amount of funding needed. As we all know, at the current rate of funding, our children’s children will still be cleaning up the sites 150 years from now.

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