Saving the Lakes One Policy at a Time

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 would go a long way toward helping the Great Lakes ecosystem survive the throes of climate change. A year ago today, the Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition released a report detailing the devastating ways climate change is expected to impact the Lakes.

It won’t surprise anyone to hear that climate change promises to bring lower and lower water levels from evaporation and less precipitation. Lower water levels expose toxic sediments that endanger the health of humans and wildlife. The odor and taste of drinking water may get worse and more intense short storms will mean more raw sewage overflow and more beach closings. But in these tough economic times, the worst news is the economic news – global warming promises to rock the shipping industry, damage water quality and limit our ability to use the water as a source of food and drink.

The American Clean Energy and Security Act of 2009 promises to address both the ecological and economic hardships that are expected to come with climate change. By reducing carbon emissions (via cap and trade) we will be buying time for the planet and our atmosphere to heal. And as that happens the damage to the Lakes will be mitigated. But it also offers up new economic opportunity too.

This bill marks the dawn of the clean energy age,” said Subcommittee Chairman Edward Markey (D-MA). “This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity to revive our economy and create millions of good-paying clean energy jobs. After months of hearings and discussions with my colleagues, I am pleased that we have produced a bill that has widespread support from all regions of the country.”

It will be an age of innovation as the nation and the world turns to unconventional sources of energy – a new growth industry – a green collar industry. “The key question is – who will lead the world in making the fuel-efficient vehicles, wind turbines, solar panels and other products and technologies that will power tomorrow’s economy? Steven Chu, US Department of Energy Secretary asked during testimony before Congress. And our region knows a thing or two about innovation and leadership.

Congressmen Henry Waxman (D-CA) and Markey introduced the ACES HR2454 in Mid-May and as of a week ago it passed out of the Energy and Commerce Committee.

Rep. Steve LaTourette: A Profile in Courage?

Not only is Great Lakes Rep. Steve LaTourette (R-OH) on the Appropriations Committee, he is on the subcommittee that will be tasked with recommending to the full committee how much money gets put into the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. And that means he is in a good position to explain to the Chair Rep. Norm Dicks why full funding of the GLRI is so vital to Rep. LaTourette’s district and our region. So, as far as we’re concerned, LaTourette is a very important guy.

Rep. LaTourette’s district (14) is in Northeast Ohio and runs right along Lake Erie. In fact, his district has the longest shoreline along Lake Erie. Cleveland sits squarely in his district along with other industrial and rural areas. The District is home to two Areas of Concern. There is no doubt that LaTourette’s district would reap great economic gains if the Great Lakes restoration package is fully funded.

First of all, the Areas of Concern named so for the toxic chemicals that sift in the sediments of the lake and her tributaries would be in a much better position to be cleaned up and delisted if the GLRI is fully funded. The President has set aside $146.9 million to clean up these industrial legacy sites so that fishing and swimming is safe and more importantly, the water is drinkable.

Cleveland, Ohio is one of many Great Lakes cities reconnecting with the Lake. City planners realize there is a lot of business and residential potential tied to waterfront development. In an effort to give Cleveland a competitive edge, the Lakefront has become the central piece of the city’s economic development plans. Their plans include lakefront housing, expansion of green space at Battery Park and a pedestrian bridge for North Coast Harbor. A recent Brookings Institution analysis found that Great Lakes cities will see an economic gain between $200 million to $13.3 billion if the Lakes are restored. Cleveland can expect profits between $2.1 and $3.7 billion from increased tourism, business, and property ownership if restoration is fully funded (and that’s a conservative estimate!). So cleaning up the AOC’s and the nonpoint source pollution (there is another $97.3 million to deal with this odious and odorous problem) would really help the urban centers and local economies in LaTourette’s district.

“Our message to Congress is simple,” Dave Ullrich, executive director, Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative has said. “Local governments have a strategy and are willing and able to get to work to restore the Great Lakes, safeguard public health, and create jobs. It’s time for Congress to move forward and act.”

There is also money in the GLRI to deal with the problem of invasive species – a problem that so plagued Lake Erie in the past that it caused the Lake to have massive dead zones. The invasive species have not gone away, in fact, they are on the increase, but the GLRI would spend $60.3 million to help localities fight this costly and significant problem.

In fact, the health of the lake is dependent upon the entire Lake Erie watershed. Between urban development, agricultural run-off, shore-line development, climate change, invasive species and the destruction of natural filtering systems the integrity of the Lake is at risk. That means habitat restoration is also an integral part of restoring the lakes and making them attractive and usable again. The GLRI dedicates $105.3 million to this endeavor.

In a 2007 report, the Brookings Institution found that for every dollar invested in implementing the Great Lakes comprehensive restoration strategy the region will see a two dollar return. But this should not be news to Rep. LaTourette who is co-chair of the Northeast Midwest Coalition – a bipartisan group of Congressmen who understand the economic competitiveness that restoration brings to the Midwest states. He was also Co-Chair of the Great Lakes Task Force for a decade – the Task Force has written a letter for the Appropriations Committee urging them to fully fund the GLRI. (Unfortunately, Rep. LaTourette has yet to sign onto it.)

During Rep. LaTourette’s long Congressional stint, he has at times courageously stood up for the Great Lakes. During the last Administration it wasn’t always popular to be a Teddy Roosevelt Conservationist, but Rep. LaTourette did what was right and what was good for his district. He co-sponsored the Great Lakes Compact, authored a reauthorization of the National Invasive Species Act and has fought drilling in the Great Lakes. And under his watch, the clean up of the Ashtabula AOC has been completed. So, sounds like he could be our man: LaTourette is in a good position to emerge as the next great leader on Great Lakes issues in Congress. It will take delivering full funding. It will mean he will have to corner Rep. Dicks and convince him that we need every last cent of the $475 million to put people to work, jump start the Great Lakes economic engine and finally restore 90 percent of this nation’s increasingly vital fresh water resource. So, the question is, will he be a nominee for next year’s Profile of Courage Award or not?

Down to the Wire

Today is the last day for Great Lakes House Members to sign onto the Great Lakes Task Force letter urging the US House Appropriations Committee to fully fund the $475 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and yet, there are some Great Lakes Members who have not yet signed on.

It is outrageous to think that anyone representing a district or a State that borders the Great Lakes would fail to sign onto a letter that could influence Appropriators to create jobs and help the economy back home. That is why we are going to name names, right here and now, we are going to tell you who has signed this letter, and by omission, who has not.

Here goes:
IL: Mark Kirk

IN: No one.

MI: Rep. Vern Ehlers, Rep. John Dingell, Rep. Rogers, Rep. Bart Stupak, Rep. Schauer, Rep. Carl Levin, Rep. George Miller, Rep. Pete Hoekstra, Rep. Dale Kildee, Rep. Gary Peters, Rep. Jon Conyers and Rep. Thad McCotter.

MN: No one.

NY: Rep. Louise Slaughter, Rep. Chris Lee

OH: Rep. Dennis Kucinich (D-OH)

PA: No one.

WI: Rep. Gwen Moore, Rep. Steve Kagen, Rep. Tom Petri

If you don’t see your Reps name here, then s/he hasn’t signed on and we are hitting the deadline. It is incredibly important that the Great Lakes lawmakers come together enforce to show the Appropriations Committee that this funding is needed and expected. You can reach your Member of Congress by calling the Capitol Switchboard at 202-224-3121. Congressional staff should contact Joy Mulinex at (202) 224-1211 to sign the letter. We will report the final list of names including those who chose not to sign the Great Lakes Task Force letter.

The “It” Guy

Take a good look. This is Rep. Norman Dicks (D-Wash). Rep. Norman Dicks is the guy our Great Lakes US House Members have to convince to spend every last cent of the $475 million recommended by President Barack Obama for Great Lakes Restoration.

Rep. Norman Dicks holds the key to the bank because he chairs the House Appropriations Subcommittee on Interior, Environment and Related Agencies. While we aren’t sure how much he knows about the Great Lakes or the Great Lakes Collaboration Strategy -the blueprint for restoring 90 percent of this nation’s surface fresh water- we do know he was born and bred in Washington State and his district borders the Pacific Ocean and cradles Puget Sound.
Puget Sound suffers from years of unregulated industrialization that has left dangerous chemicals lining the Sound’s aquatic bed. The Great Lakes suffer from a similar problem – the legacy of the industrial and chemical revolution that left 31 Areas of Concern behind. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative would spend $146 million helping to clean these AOC’s up and return the drinking water of 40 million people back to pristine conditions. (We also agreed with Canada five years ago to clean these nasty spots up within the decade – so far, we delisted one AOC.)

Rep. Dicks’ district shares another ailment with the Lakes: near shore health. Roughly 1800 miles of shoreline surround the estuary and the near shore environment needs improvement. One of the factors affecting near shore health is non-point source pollution -also a problem on the shores of the Great Lakes. The GLRI includes $97.3 million to help the Lakes deal with the problem.

Salmon are synonymous with Washington and the Sound. Well, it turns out their habitat is being destroyed by a number of factors including invasive species (nonnative sea life) that change the order of the food chain. The Great Lakes suffer from both habitat destruction and invasive species and both these threats are addressed in the President’s GLRI with $105.3 million going to restoration of habitats and another $60.3 million devoted to fighting invasive species in the Lakes.

So, it appears Rep. Dicks district shares a number of common problems with the Great Lakes making it easier for him to understand why we need this money. It is time for Rep. Steven LaTourette (R-OH) and Rep. Maurice Hinchey (D-NY) to take their colleague aside and let him know we have a strategy developed by numerous stake holders to address each one of these issues. We are ready-to-go as soon as the funds are released. LaTourette and Hinchey sit on this subcommittee with Rep. Dicks. Heck, Appropriations Chair and Great Lakes Rep. David Obey (D-Wisc.) – an Ex officio member of the subcommittee – should also corner Rep. Dicks and bend his ear a bit on the need for full funding of GLRI.

We need every cent and every job and we need it now. We expect the Great Lakes Reps on the Appropriations Committee to push hard for this and make it happen.

5 reasons why Rep. Jackson Jr. should support Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

Jesse Jackson Jr.’s position on the House Appropriations Committee means he can play an important role in making sure the full $475M included in President Obama’s FY2010 Budget gets to Great Lakes restoration programs on the ground. Here are five reasons he should do all he can to bring his committee colleagues on board:

1. Rep. Jackson’s Congressional district, the Illinois 2nd, includes the Grand Calumet River Area of Concern (AOC) – a place designated by the EPA as especially toxic and need of cleaning. Factories long closed have left a legacy of disgusting and dangerous pollution in the district and its water, including PAHs, PCBs, heavy metals, phosphorus, nitrogen, iron, magnesium, volatile solids, oil and grease. Cleaning these toxins up will benefit the health and quality of life for all families in the area.
2. Full funding of restoration programs can bring those much-vaunted “green collar” jobs to the district. This includes both blue-green collar jobs updating sewer systems and directly cleaning toxic areas, and also white-green collar jobs in the science of restoration and wildlife management.
3. With the area’s manufacturing economy all but dead, neighborhoods in the district are placing the lakefront and natural areas at the forefront of long-term economic development plans. Great examples of this are the green initiatives included in South Chicago’s Quality of Life Plan and the ongoing recovery of the giant U.S. Steel South Works brownfield. Restoration funding would give these projects a boost and raise their chances for success once completed.
4. It’s no secret Rep. Jackson has aspirations for higher office – telling outdoors enthusiasts how he helped save the walleyes they catch on fishing trips might help him win downstate communities in future Senate or statewide campaigns.
5. As a long time ally and fan of Barack Obama, who proposed the $475M Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, and a Congressman who likes to fish and hunt with colleagues, Rep. Jackson is well suited to take up the torch in the House and bring his fellow Appropriations Committee members on board with The President’s plan.

Folks can contact Rep. Jackson and tell him to work hard to restore the Lakes through the House website or by calling the Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121. He’s also on Facebook and Twitter.

Obama’s $475 M Great Lakes Restoration Initiative: The Right Next Step for the Nation

The following is a guest post by Allegra Cangelosi, Director of Ecosystem Projects at the Northeast-Midwest Institute

The Obama Administration’s proposed Great Lakes Restoration Budget Initiative, if appropriated, will hit the ground running and produce near-term results. To some the proposed $475 M investment may appear to be coming out of the blue, and therefore, to be destined for a black hole. Not so. The Great Lakes Region is ready, willing, and able to turn those dollars into visible improvements in this massive fresh water resource for the American public to enjoy. Those of us in the Ecosystem Restoration policy community nationally are aware of the extensive technical planning and organizing which has preceded this budget proposal; those of us rooted in the Great Lakes ecosystem restoration effort perhaps painfully so! The last thing the nation needs is an extension of the planning stages for restoration of this significant resource. We just need to get started with implementation, and the Obama Administration has given us a glimmer of hope that we can in FY 2010.

If anyone doubts the adequacy, depth or cohesiveness of the plans developed to date, I urge them to consult the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration website (www.glrc.us) and the resulting federal Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes (http://www.glrc.us/strategy.html). This unprecedented Strategy is a result of several years of data gathering and countless expert meetings and tedious interagency collaboration. It provides a comprehensive blueprint for ecosystem restoration rooted in several massive underlying technical plans developed pursuant to state law, federal law and/or international agreement. These underlying technical plans include:

– Lakewide Management Plans for each Great Lake;
– Remedial Action Plans for each Area of Concern, or highly polluted site, developed by the EPA in keeping with a binational agreement with Canada;
– State Wildlife Action Plans;
– National Fish Habitat Action Plan, developed by the US Fish and Wildlife Service; and
– Joint Strategic Plan for Management of Great Lakes Fisheries, developed by the binational Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
– Upper Mississippi River/Great Lakes Joint Venture plans (North American Waterfowl Management Plan, etc.)

The federal effort to collaboratively develop a holistic Strategy to Restore and Protect the Great Lakes was launched under the Bush Administration in response to an Executive Order. All of the relevant federal agencies participated in the Bush-era process, as well as the Great Lakes Congressional delegation, tribes, cities, states, industry and the environmental community.

In preparation for the FY 2010 budget roll-out, the Obama Administration developed a list of specific “shovel ready” projects that were strictly consistent with this Strategy as targets for the FY 2010 funds. In essence, the Obama proposal for action respected the planning that took place under his predecessor, and provides a seamless transition to timely implementation.

The FY 2010 Great Lakes budget initiative is also a logical building block of what could be a comprehensive restoration agenda for our nation’s Great Waters over the course of the Obama Administration. Indeed, signs of this comprehensive approach to water resource protection and restoration are evident in other parts of the FY 2010 budget, including the sizable bump up for the State Revolving Loan Fund for waste-water treatment improvements. It would not surprise me in the least to see the funding levels proposed for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative sustained and combined with similar levels of funding dedicated to Great Waters in other regions of the country in Obama Administration budgets to come.

Last, I would like to recall the first and only other major federal investment in our nation’s water resources dating to 1972. After decades of neglect, areas of the Great Lakes and other national Great Waters were practically untouchable due to direct sewage discharges. The federal government invested $41 billion nationally in wastewater treatment infrastructure through the Clean Water Act’s Construction Grants Program; this was the largest non-military public investment since the Interstate Highways System. The outcome of the effort was a dramatic improvement in the nation’s quality of life. The Great Lakes were once again beautiful and dramatically more accessible. The job is not done, but there is a clear lesson: given a plan, public investment in environmental restoration can produce real, dramatic and visible benefits for the nation.

Serious problems in the Great Lakes ecosystem persist and new ones have emerged: fish are still unsafe for consumption by children, aquatic invasive species threaten wildlife and human health, erosion threatens magnificent shorelines, drinking water quality is still at risk. Indeed, these continuing problems inspired the multi-year planning process undertaken during the Bush Administration. Once again, like in the 1970s, a clear plan for investment of restoration dollars is there, and clear improvements are in store once the investment is made. Congress should appropriate the full FY 2010 proposed $475 M Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. As in the 1970s, the resulting improvements in Great Lakes will be tangible, visible and appreciated by all.

Great Lakes Around the Web – May 11 – May 17, 2009

Great Lakes Around the Web – May 11 – May 17, 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.

• Great Lakes groups urge passage of Obama cleanup plan; cite jobs,environment benefits,The Great Lakes Echo
• Congress pushed to OK Great Lakes aid Plan has $475M for restoration,Toledo Blade
• Obama Following Through On Great Lakes Restoration,The Political Environment
• Obama Wants $475 Million For Great Lakes Cleanup,The Huffington Post
  • And also on:

  • Akron Beacon Journal
  • WCAX
  • Pioneer Press
  • TMJ 4
  • WXYZ
• To clean up Great Lakes,Barack Obama pledges $475 million for next year, The Plain Dealer
• Commercial fisherman sues to catch Saginaw Bay walleye,The Bat City Times
• Congress advances bill for new lakes icebreaker,Toledo Blade
• Great Lakes on the rise,WJRT
• Group extends remarks period for lake study,Journal Sentinel
• Biomass plant may get go-ahead,Traverse City Record-Eagle
• 265-Year Reconstruction of Lake Erie Water Level,CO2 Science
• Pheromones in river traps attract sea lampreys,Great Lakes Eco
• Government too slow to control Asian carp,Detroit Free Press
• Great Lakes restoration juggernaut,Great lakes Blogger
• Cottagers fume as Lake Huron sinks,The Star
• Unwarranted ,Journal Sentinel

Pressure

The Great Lakes Task Force is putting the full press on the subcommittee responsible for deciding how much money the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative will get.

In a strongly worded letter to their colleague Rep. Norman Dicks, the Chair of the Subcommittee on the Interior, Environment, and Related Agencies Appropriations, the Task Force makes a compelling argument for full funding of the $475 million initiative in the 2010 Interior budget.

The President’s initiative would address the most egregious problems in the lakes such as invasive species, toxic pollution and non-point source pollution immediately.

The problem is this – even though $475 million has been authorized it is only a recommendation to the people dolling out the dollars – people who may have no love for, or understanding of, the Great Lakes. There is huge competition on the Hill right now for every last cent.

The Appropriations Committee is expected to consider this part of the budget as early as the first week of June so it is really important that you call your Representatives to urge them to sign onto this letter this week – the deadline is Thursday, May 21. You can get connected to your Representative by calling the US Capitol Switchboard at (202) 224-3121.

Just ‘Cause They Say You May Surf, Doesn’t Mean the Water’s Clean

Guess what Great Lakes surfers, Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative would go a long way toward cleaning up the water that you surf in.

That is right, with $146 million going toward cleaning up the nasty chemicals and toxins that lie in the lake beds and an additional $97 million to put an end to near-shore pollution.

Here is the hitch: although the President said this much should be spent on these clean up programs, Congress is the group that puts the money into them and they often come up short.

If you have a second over the next few days, email or call your Great Lakes Representative and Senators and tell them you want full funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. And thanks!

Hang Ten for Lake Michigan

Surf’s up Dude, well, it could be very soon at five Lake Michigan beaches in the Chicago Area thanks to HOW’s very own surf enthusiast Vince Deur. Deur has been lobbying the city for some time to decriminalize lake surfing.

“There has been a lot of resistance to surfing in Chicago, going back more than 20 years,” Deur, of Grand Rapids, Mich., told the Chicago Sun-Times.

Surfing has been outlawed in Chicago for decades. “Now that we have a toe in the water, so to speak, we want to do it right and keep a good thing going,” Deur said. “Surfing is not a crime.” As part of his efforts to spread his enthusiasm for Great Lakes surfing Deur has made an impressive film called Unsalted and he started the Lake Michigan chapter of Surfrider – a lobbying group focused on surfer’s water concerns – in 2007.

The Parks have agreed to take steps to allow surfing between Memorial Day and Labor Day and they are considering leaving one beach open year-round. Some of the best Great Lakes Surfing happens in the Autumn and sometimes the winter when storms ravage the waters and create significant waves. Go Vince!