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Short and Very Bittersweet

A grade of D that is what the American Society of Civil Engineers grades our nation’s sewers and drinking water systems. In a very short and to-the-point report, the respected association estimates that the crisis our nation’s infrastructure faces will cost $2.2 trillion to resolve.

“Crumbling infrastructure has a direct impact on our personal and economic health, and the nation’s infrastructure crisis is endangering our future prosperity,” ASCE President D. Wayne Klotz said at the release of the report card.

Of course, the connection between America’s aging infrastructure and quality of life and prosperity is not lost on the Great Lakes region where outdated sewers continually threaten public health and our way of life. More than 23 billion gallons of sewage overflow into the Great Lakes every year. Pennsylvania Governor Ed Rendell attended the reports release and said that his state’s steel industry is completely dependent upon this nation’s infrastructure.

By ASCE’s estimate, the price tag to fix the nation’s water system and stop sewage overflows will cost $526 billion. The US House of Representatives $825 billion economic stimulus legislation – that was approved last night – provides a mere $6 billion for waste water infrastructure improvements and $2 billion for drinking water infrastructure. Great Lakes Rep. Tim Bishop (D-NY) tried to amend the bill in committee by doubling the money for sewers to $12 billion. Although he had a number of supporters it ultimately failed because some in Congress are afraid the states can’t spend the money fast enough!

There is still hope that the Senate version could be amended to add more funds. As the legislation currently stands, we expect our region to get $2.18 billion to repair and update the wastewater treatment systems. These limited funds will create 75,000 jobs and with unemployment rates soaring to 11 percent in the Great Lakes state of Michigan, we need this kind of investment. “Investments in ready-to-go projects will create jobs, restore the Great Lakes and boost the economic prosperity in the region,” said Jeff Skelding, national campaign director for HOW. “Now is the time to act, before the problems get worse and the solutions more costly.”



Great Lakes Around the Web – January 21 – January 27, 2009

Here is a selection of news items and blog regarding the Great lakes in the last week. Did we miss something? Let us know via the comments.



Never Say Never

Could it be? Could it be that the new head of the EPA, Lisa Jackson will be a real leader? It has been so long since we have experienced leadership at any level of government in out efforts to restore the Great Lakes and it is difficult to believe that we may be on the verge of such guidance.

In her very first email to the Environmental Protection Agency staff, Jackson actually wrote that the Great Lakes are a treasure and that protection and restoration will be a priority for her. Unbelievable! She wrote: “The Agency will make robust use of our authority to restore threatened treasures such as the Great Lakes and the Chesapeake Bay, to address our neglected urban rivers, to strengthen drinking-water safety programs, and to reduce pollution from non-point and industrial dischargers.” Of course, we won’t believe it until we see it, but this is a promising start.



Is Obama Committed to Saving the Great Lakes?

The Detroit Free Press asked HOW’s Andy Buchsbaum to write an essay about his hopes and fears for the Barack Obama presidency. Andy used this opportunity to wax poetic about the importance of saving the Great Lakes for future generations of Americans. To read his essay, click here.

Here are some other interesting stories that ran over the weekend:
Spending Billions to Repair the Great Lakes would multiply in payoff
Pollution Law plans hailed



The Great Lakes Around the Web – January 12 – 20, 2009

Here is a selection of news items and blog regarding the Great lakes in the last week. Did we miss something? Let us know via the comments.



Restoration Means Recovery for the Midwest

House Democrats delivered the American Recovery and Reinvention Bill of 2009 to the American people in time for President-Elect Barack Obama’s swearing-in ceremony. The package provides significant money that will put people to work while restoring the Great Lakes.

In particular, they have proposed investing $6 billion in the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to fix the nation’s waste water treatment system. While we had hoped they would fund it at $10 billion for the nation, our region will still get $2.18 billion to fix our sewers and it will create 75,000 jobs.

“Investments in ready-to-go projects will create jobs, restore the Great Lakes and boost the economic prosperity in the region,” said Jeff Skelding, national campaign director for HOW. “Now is the time to act, before the problems get worse and the solutions more costly.”

The Senate still has to present their version of the bill and then the negotiations will begin in earnest.



Sources Say…

HOW’s own Cameron Davis is considered to be a strong contender for the assistant administrator position at the Office of Water. Davis, who is currently president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, appeared before Congress several times fighting for our restoration efforts. He was also a staff attorney for the EPA’s Office of Regional Counsel in Region V.



Now that is Leadership

The saying, “you know it when you see it” is true in the case of Michigan – a Great Lakes state that has shown real leadership to our region this week with the release of the Great Lakes Plan that calls for renewed Federal investment in restoration.

Lt. Governor John Cherry (D) spearheaded the effort working with the business community and advocacy groups such as Michigan United Conservation Clubs and Healing Our Waters Coalition. After more than 20 public meetings a plan emerged and the state’s leaders plan to take it to Washington.

“The MI-Great Lakes Plan is built from the ground-up based on the experiences, challenges and needs of communities across Michigan,” said Ken DeBeaussaert, director of the Michigan Office of the Great Lakes. They made sure that what went into the plan would create jobs in the short-term and improve water quality in the long-term.

The plan, issued by the Lt. Governor and Michigan’s Office of the Great Lakes, calls on the federal government to add $54 million to the Great Lakes Legacy Act to clean up Michigan’s toxic hot spots, $3.8 million a year for the Beach Act to prevent closures and protect, restore the funding level for the Clean Water State Revolving Fund to $1.35 billion.

“Michigan’s economic recovery and our future prosperity depend on protecting our waterways,” said Cherry. “We have a president-elect from the Great Lakes region who understands Great Lakes’ issues and has made specific budgetary commitments. That provides us with a tremendous opportunity to jumpstart our recovery by investing in Michigan’s blue water economy.”



Be Careful What You Wish For…

It didn’t take long for our Great Lakes Congressional Task Force to drop the gauntlet before President Elect-Barack Obama. Just days before the new President is to be sworn in, US Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.), George Voinovich (R-OH) and Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) introduced the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act, begging the question, did Obama really mean it when he signed the campaign pledge to usher in Great Lakes restoration during his tenure in the White House?

“With a partner in the White House who understands the great need to restore the Great Lakes ecosystem, I’m hopeful that we can make some real progress this year,” stated Levin.

Yesterday, the US Senators and House Member Rep. Ehlers introduced the $20 billion restoration package that emerged from the 2005 strategy sessions held by the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration. Obama is intimately familiar with the bill as a former cosponsor during his time as a Senator for Illinois. The bill has been introduced annually since its inception, but this year, there are some significant changes to the Senate version.

There is no longer any reference to ballast water management regulations because this was something that was holding the bill up. Then, because the Great Lakes Legacy Act was reauthorized for two – instead of five years – last fall, the Senate version extends the authorization through 2015 and triples the funding to $150 million a year. Finally, a new grants program targeted at restoration activities is included in the new bill. The House version remains the same as in years past.

When running for President, Barack Obama signed the pledge that Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-Ill.), Rep. Ehlers (R- and then Illinois Rep. Rahm Emanuel circulated requiring the president to shepherd restoration through the Congress and fund it too. Obama sent HOW this statement after signing the pledge, “ I am proud to sign the Great Lakes Protection Pledge, and when I am President, the Great Lakes Collaboration will receive real support, real financial resources, and real leadership from the federal government. As a resident of the Great Lakes region, I understand the importance of this critical natural resource to our nation’s economy, environment and public welfare.”

Then just before the economy slid further into the current chasm, candidate Obama released a five-point plan for restoration of the Great Lakes that promised to create a $5 billion trust fund to pay for the plan. The volatility of the economy has caused some to fear that these commitments have fallen from favor, but in fact, the very instability of the current economy may create a foothold for the restoration package that we’ve been fighting for since 2005.

“The economic recovery package potentially presents a very rare opportunity in a single stroke of the president’s pen to generate a significant amount of money for Great Lakes restoration,” our own Jeff Skelding, told the Detroit Free Press, referring to the upcoming stimulus package. “It would both heal the Great Lakes and create jobs.”

The Brookings Institution released a report that finds that by restoring the Great Lakes, hundreds of thousands of jobs would be created in our region and the $20 billion investment would reap at least a $50 billion profit–and upwards of $100 billion. The economic benefits of the legislative plan are a perfect fit for the region as a whole – it is the best strategy for the next president to pursue.

“Passage of this pivotal legislation would send a clear message to the country—we are committed to restoring the Great Lakes and protecting them from further deterioration,” Sen. Voinovich said. “It is vital that Americans understand that this is not a regional problem—the deterioration of the Great Lakes affects the country as a whole. We finally have a coordinated and unified strategy that is absolutely necessary to saving one of our nation’s greatest natural resources and it is time to move forward with the implementation of that strategy.”

Our real ace-in-the- sleeve may be having Rahm Emanuel as Chief-of-Staff whose dedication to restoration of the Great Lakes is fierce and determined. When he was still a Representative for Illinois, Emanuel promised HOW that he intended to get restoration funding for the Great Lakes if he had to create a $300 billion water bill that included water from every Congressional district in the United States. It seems like the timing may be on our side in 2009 and our Great Lakes Delegation is fighting for the fulfillment of promises made.



U.S. Senate Introduces Great Lakes Restoration Bill

Today, the U.S. Senate introduced the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act.

Below, you can read a statement by Jeff Skelding, national campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition.
 
ANN ABROR, MICH. (January 14, 2009)–“We appreciate the unwavering commitment of U.S. Senators Carl Levin (D-MI) and George Voinovich (R-OH) to protect and restore the Great Lakes.

“Congress’ ongoing focus on implementing the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration Strategy is encouraging, and in the days ahead our Coalition will work with the new Congress and the new administration to ensure President-elect Obama’s promise of a $5 billion Great Lakes trust fund is fulfilled.

“In the meantime, we urge Congress and the incoming President to seize the opportunity to jumpstart our economy and restore the health of the lakes by funding clean-up programs in the economic recovery package to protect our drinking water, jobs and way of life.”

For Immediate Release:
January 14, 2009

Contact:
Jeff Skelding, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, (202) 797-6893, jskelding@nwf.org
Chad Lord, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, (202) 454-3385; clord@npca.org
Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition (734) 887-7109, lubetkin@nwf.org