2009 Great Lakes Day Registration

Washington, DC -  February 24 and 25, 2009

As part of the annual Great Lakes Day in Washington, DC, the Healing Our Waters® – Great Lakes Coalition (HOW) brings coalition members and allies from the Great Lakes states to Washington to discuss the importance of restoring and protecting the Great Lakes with elected officials on Capitol Hill. Please join us in Washington to continue to elevate the importance of Great Lakes restoration in the halls of Congress.

Scholarship applications due February 1st so CLICK HERE TO REGISTER NOW.

For a preliminary Great Lakes Day 2009 Agenda, click here

Please begin booking your travel arrangements ASAP. You should plan to arrive early the morning of February 24 and depart in the late afternoon or evening of February 25. Scholarship recipients will receive up to $225 in travel reimbursements. HOW Coalition leaders from each of the Great Lakes states will request meetings with elected officials on behalf of Great Lakes Day participants from each state. However, if you have any special needs or relationships that we should be aware of, please contact Tanya Cabala, Great Lakes Day Coordinator, at tcabala@charter.net.

The HOW Coalition has reserved a block of rooms for Great Lakes Day participants at the Madison Hotel, 1177 15th Street NW, Washington, DC 20005. Call the hotel at 1-800-424-8577 to reserve a room under the HOW Coalition block. Because the Coalition is paying for the hotel stay, Great Lakes Day attendees are asked to share their hotel room with a roommate. We can provide assistance in pairing up roommates, if needed.

For additional questions please contact Tanya Cabala, Great Lakes Coordinator at tcabala@charter.net or 231-981-0016.

Register now!

Timing is Everything

This past year was a banner year for the Great Lakes. We watched as momentum for the Great Lakes Compact built from state house to state house as each passed the international agreement driving it through the US Congress and home to the President’s desk where it was adorned with his signature. We then hoped the wave of favor would push the US House version of the Great Lakes Legacy Act (that tripled the funding from $50 million to $150 million a year) into law, but we were hit with the financial crisis at the very same moment and it faltered and failed. Yet now, the same crisis that cut short our funding and threatened to ensure that the bottom of the Great Lakes would continue to languish in contaminated, toxic sediment, may actually be the phoenix that will pull the Legacy Act into quadruple funding and a speedy clean up.

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has written to the leadership of the House and Senate asking them to set aside $262 million in 2009 and an additional $240 million in 2010 to clean up the Areas of Concern in the Great Lakes region. We expect such an infusion of cash for ready-to-go projects would speed the clean up beyond what we had hoped for just months ago. When the House Members proposed $150 a year over five years totaling $750 million they expected to have all the AOC’s completely cleaned and delisted in 10 years. Under HOW’s proposal, the $500 million over two years would hurdle us toward the finish line and take us beyond our original hopes while helping our region’s economy.

Imagine being able to eat local fish with abandon again and drink and swim in our lakes and tributaries without fear. It can all be made possible by this US Congress at the same time that jobs are created, property values improved and quality of life enhanced. And to think, just weeks ago our House Members were reeling with disillusionment as they were begrudgingly promised only $50 million a year for just two years instead of five. Lets hope time is on our side.

Coalition Urges Obama, Congress to Create Jobs, Heal the Great Lakes in Recovery Package

For Immediate Release: December 11, 2008

Contact:
Jeff Skelding, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition (202) 797-6893
Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition (734) 887-7109
Minnesota: Darrell Gerber, Clean Water Action-Midwest office, (612) 802-5372
New York: Sean Mahar, Audubon New York, (518) 253-7000
Wisconsin: Melissa Malott, Clean Wisconsin, (608) 220-0167

Coalition Urges Obama, Congress to Create Jobs, Heal the Great Lakes in Recovery Package

ANN ARBOR, MICH. (December 11, 2008)—As Congress works to craft an economic recovery package for President-elect Barack Obama to sign within the first days of taking office, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is asking Congress and President-elect Obama to fund projects that both create jobs and restore the Great Lakes.

“There is an urgent need to both jump-start the economy and heal the Great Lakes,” said Jeff Skelding, national campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “We can accomplish both. We can put thousands of people to work, boost the regional economy and restore the Great Lakes if Congress seizes the opportunity now and funds these important priorities before the problems get worse and more costly.”

In a letter sent to House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), the coalition urged Congressional leaders to include in next year’s economic recovery package $10.63 billion to modernize waste-water infrastructure, clean-up toxic sediments, and restore wetlands and habitat in the region—an investment that would create at least 170,000 jobs. Read the letter at:

http://www.healthylakes.org/site_upload/upload/2008-12-10_StimulusLtr_FINAL.pdf

The coalition urged Congress to invest $10 billion to upgrade municipal wastewater infrastructure nationally through the Clean Water State Revolving Fund. By formula, about $3.7 billion would go to the Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin—creating roughly 170,000 jobs in the region. See chart below.

State Funding under Clean Water SRF formula - Jobs created

• Illinois $451 million - 21,197
• Indiana $240 million - 11,280
• Michigan $429 million - 20,163
• Minnesota $183 million - 8,601
• New York $1.1 billion - 51,700
• Ohio $562 million - 26,414
• Pennsylvania $395 million - 18,565
• Wisconsin $270 million - 12,690

Job estimate comes from National Association of Clean Water Agencies.

The coalition also urged Congress to include $500 million over two years as part of the Great Lakes Legacy Act to remove toxic sediments from Great Lakes harbors and tributaries to protect the health of people and wildlife. The coalition’s recommendation stems from a ready-to-go project list submitted by the Great Lakes Commission.

For the full list of projects by state, visit:
http://www.healthylakes.org/site_upload/upload/LegacyActProjects_2009-2010.pdf

Lastly, the coalition recommended including $130 million for ready-to-go habitat and wetland restoration projects.

“Confronting these serious threats will help heal the lakes and contribute to a healthy regional economy,” said Skelding. “An investment in the Great Lakes will pay big dividends in the form of creating jobs, protecting public health, and restoring a resource that millions of people depend on for their drinking water and way of life. Action on this scale would be a huge step forward in the effort to restore the Great Lakes.”

The push for Great Lakes restoration funding in the federal economic recovery package comes as national conservation groups lobby for water, energy and infrastructure projects that both create jobs and restore and protect the environment.

Last year, the Brookings Institution found that investing $26 billion to restore the Great Lakes would lead to between $80 billion and $100 billion in economic return for the region, including immediate short-term benefits of between $30 billion and $50 billion.

More than 23 billion gallons of sewage enter the Great Lakes annually, closing beaches and threatening the health of people and wildlife. Toxic contamination in and around the Great Lakes is responsible for drinking water restrictions, beach closings and fish consumption advisories.

“We can meet the challenge of jumpstarting our economy and improving the health of the Great Lakes,” said Skelding. “We look forward to working with Congress and the Obama Administration in putting forward solutions to restore the lakes, rejuvenate our economy and provide a better quality of life for millions of people in the Midwest and across America.”

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

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

The High Road

Over the weekend, Obama’s people received a proposal from a coaliton of our nation’s environmental and conservation groups, including many of the oranizations that belong to the Healing Our Waters Coalition, that outlines quick ways to create sustainable jobs in clean energy and green infrastructure. This morning (Dec. 11), the same groups delivered their economic recovery plan to the US Congress. The proposal that would create up to 3.6 million jobs that could put people to work within six to nine months of enactment while reducing pollution and restoring the Great Lakes. At the center of this strategy is an argument that economic recovery hinges on abandoning 19th century technology and investing instead in green methods that save money and create more jobs.

“Green jobs deliver more bang for the buck than dirty jobs,” said Anna Aurilio of Environment America. “The reason we are insisting on keeping it clean is not just because it is good for the environment, but actually, dollar for dollar you get more jobs.” Barack Obama recently promised to create 2.5 million jobs. He also proposed spending $5 billion over five years on Great Lakes restoration efforts with the intention of securing the lakes for future generations, but that was before the financial calamity and now, by spending more in the region he can put people to work on that very restoration that will keep our region competitive for years to come.

The bottom line is that people are out of work, manufacturing jobs are on the way out, at the same time years of underinvestment in our cities, our infrastructure and our communities is starting to cost us dearly. When you add the stress of global warming to this mix it quickly becomes a perfect storm. There is an opportunity at this moment in time to help everyone, our citizens, our cities, our lakes and combat global warming too. Leading economists from every direction are coming together and arguing that an economic stimulus package will need to spend about $600 billion. Bracken Hendricks, a senior fellow at the Center for American Progress who recently testified before the US Senate Energy and Natural Resources Committee on a green stimulus told E&E News, “if we don’t make those investments wisely, if we aren’t strategic about where the economy needs to go long term, even as we’re trying to stimulate short term activity, that we’ll waste the opportunity or worse, make investments that are counterproductive. So the energy component of the stimulus is a very important tool…”

Hendricks also said in the OnPoint interview that he felt the leadership of the Congress and the new Administration are both interested in making clean energy a centerpiece of a series economic package that can move forward quickly. “I have every reason to believe that we’re going to see a big package with a very clear component focused on clean energy and advancing renewable technology and efficiency as a centerpiece of American competititeness.” Add to that, our belief that Obama is dedicated to improving and restoring the Great Lakes and our region’s economy and we have real hope for the future.

Hang Ten, Dude

Surfers are fighting for the right to do their thing on Lake Michigan. Chicago does not allow surfing at the Chicago Park District because of concerns that it is too dangerous. But a group of surfers called the Surfrider Foundation are trying to sway public opinion in their favor. Storms in the Winter can bring delicious waves that attract surfers from across the nation and Chicago is the only Great Lakes City that bans the sport. If the surfers are successful in getting the city to lift the ban then some are arguing this may make Chicago more attractive to the Olympic Committee. It could also help bring even more recreational revenue to the area.

Just one more reason why the Great Lakes are an assett to the entire nation – who needs Hawaii or California when you can ride fresh water waves driven by Lake Effect weather?

Do You Hear What I Hear?

The US Conference of Mayors, a national organization, has urged Congress to consider a long list of ready-to-go projects in the new economic recovery package that is being developed. The Mayors said to Capitol Hill, that we need to fix our ailing sewer systems – to the tune of about $15 billion for waste water projects – to save and restore our vast seas, to save and restore our vast seas. Cities end up paying the lion’s share of upkeep and maintainance of the sewer systems. The Mayors have joined the state legislatures, Governors and HOW in recommending these projects to create jobs and generate an economic recovery. Will they listen to what we say? The sewers, the sewers fix them right away and the jobs they create will save our lakes today, save our lakes before it’s to late.

Lakes Make National News

This weekend, ABC News published a Christian Science Monitor story detailing what is happening in the Great Lakes. Writer George Tombs, covers the list of issues and describes how they are affecting the lives of those of us who live around and work on the Great Lakes in great detail.

Marching to the Same Drum Beat

Great Lakes Governor Ed Rendell held a historic meeting with most of the nation’s governors and President-elect Barack Obama in Philadelphia Tuesday to discuss an economic strategy for the nation. The Governors made several suggestions to rescue the economy while improving our aging infrastructure. Updating wastewater treatment systems and protecting drinking water were among the top three recommendations.

“These immediate solutions will drive economic recovery. Investments in ready-to-go infrastructure projects are a cost-effective creator of high-paying jobs,” National Governor’s Association Chair Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell stated in a joint press release issued by the NGA and the National Council of State Legislatures (NCSL). “These investments should include a broad array of infrastructure projects including airports, bridges, highways, transit systems, ports, rails, clean water, sewers and broadband. We should target high-priority projects so funds can be obligated and invested so that we will see the effects quickly,” he added.

It just so happens that HOW recently sent a letter to the leadership in the US Congress recommending that money be included in the economic recovery package to fully update and restore the Great Lakes region’s sewage system and improve drinking water and public health. An investment of $6.5 billion would go a long way toward fulfilling the restoration goals of our strategic plan. The region’s Mayors and Chambers of Commerce have also requested infrastructure dollars to fix the ailing waste water systems.

A day before this week’s high-powered meeting; the National Governors Association released a paper that recommends avenues for federal investments that would hopefully turn into an economic boon. At the meeting, Obama stressed the need to choose projects that could put people to work quickly. Drawing on the experience of the Japanese who during a severe economic downturn in the 1990s invested heavily in infrastructure projects only to find they took too long to implement. Obama will be looking for “ready-to-go” projects that can begin within 90 to 120 days.

The NGA outlined a number of “ready-go-go” infrastructure projects across the nation and requested $136 billion to pay for them – 70 percent of which would go toward transportation projects. As for ready-to-go wastewater infrastructure, NGA argues that there are more than $9 billion projects in this category and another $6 billion in ready-to-go drinking water infrastructure projects (NGA cites the Association of State and Interstate Water Pollution Control Agencies and the Council of Infrastructure Financing Authorities, as well as the Association of State Drinking Water Administrators, respectively).

Congress could easily increase funding for the state revolving loan funds and at the same time temporarily release states from the need to produce matching funds freeing up money to update the sewers and create jobs. In fact, both the House and Senate have proposed waiving the state’s obligation to match the funds for now. The revolving fund has been a “critical tool for updating the sewerage systems in the Great Lakes,” Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, chair of the Council of Great Lakes Governors told HOW last month. Full funding of the revolving fund would amount to $1.35 billion.

The money is more than needed, our antiquated sewer systems are crumbling and global warming brings the threat of more floods from severe weather which further undermines the combined sewer systems that our region invested in more than a century ago. It seemed like a good idea then, but as we have seen it is failing us and creating a danger to public health, our regional economy and the sustainability of 90 percent of the nation’s surface fresh water. A Sierra Club study of just 20 cities perched on the Great Lakes found that that handful of municipalities are dumping 24 billion gallons of raw sewage into the Lakes each year. Crisis is just around the corner.

We agree with NGA and NCSL and we would hope that of the $15.2 billion they requested for water infrastructure projects, the Great Lakes states would garner $6.5 billion. And guess what – most of these are “ready-to-go” yesterday, let alone within 90 to 120 days. Not only that, but for each billion spent, Obama could expect 47,000 jobs to be created and 282,000 is a solid start toward his pledge to create 2.5 million jobs over the next two years.

The economic benefits the Great Lakes region would see just from updating the sewers, overflows into a number of other economic arenas. “Great Lakes beaches generate jobs and billions in local revenue. Small businesses providing beach-related services generate hundreds of millions of dollars – and summer jobs – every year. Clean water is also critical to marinas and Great Lakes boating, which generated $16 billion in direct revenue in 2003. Closing a beach or marina because of a sewer overflow puts all this at risk,” states our appeal to Congress.

So, it appears the nation’s governors, the state legislatures, the region’s mayors and Chambers of Commerce, as well as our coalition are in agreement over the best ways to start down the road to economic recovery. Let’s keep the drum beat going for a significant investment in water infrastructure projects in the Great Lakes region while Congress and President-elect Obama plan their strategy.