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Congressional Winners and Losers
Calling All Great Lakes House Members To Support GLEPA
Our Great Lakes firebrand Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) introduced a bill that could be the biggest, best thing to happen to the Great Lakes since, well, the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Last week, in conjunction with the US Senate, Rep. Ehlers brought the Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act of 2010 to the US House. The Act rolls all the major restoration programs into one and would allow the fight against invasive species, the clean up of toxic hot spots and other restoration priorities to be funded once every five years instead of on an annual basis.
In the past, our Great Read More » »
Urging All Great Lakes Senators To Cosponsor GLEPA
Last week Great Lakes Senators introduced legislation that would pool together all the Great Lakes funding programs into one bill that would be voted on once every five years. The Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act of 2010 would provide a sustained stream of money to fight invasive species, clean up toxic hot spots and address restoration priorities in a way that lets us focus on getting the work done and not on asking Congress for appropriations each year.
In the past, our Great Lakes lawmakers would annually introduce the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act, a legislative translation of the Read More » »
Landmark Great Lakes Bill Would Provide Permanent Stream of Funds
If all goes well, funding for Great Lakes programs, from toxic clean up to the fight to stop invasive species from entering the lakes, will all be rolled into one legislative package that will create a permanent funding source for restoration efforts. US Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich.) and George Voinovich (R-OH) are poised to introduce the Great Lakes Ecosystem Protection Act of 2010 today.
“This monumental legislation adds momentum to Great Lakes restoration and sets in place a framework for the future,” said Lynn McClure, co-chair of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition and Midwest Regional Director for the National Parks Read More » »
Message From Congress: Keep Carping
Sixteen years ago, that is when Rep. Vern Ehlers (R-Mich.) first started asking his colleagues in Congress to deal with the Asian carp threat. “When I first learned about the Asian carp in the Mississippi, I thought good grief, we have to do something about this. They will get there (the Great Lakes)…but I could not get people excited about it and that is one of my chief frustrations of my life,” Ehlers said at a meeting this morning.
Had Congress listened to Ehlers back then we would not be faced with the difficult and expensive choices of closing locks and Read More » »
One Voice
The Great Lakes Governors, the Great Lakes Commission and the Healing Our Waters- Great Lakes Coalition are joining forces to ask Congress and the President to save the Great Lakes from the Asian carp and continue to invest in restoration.
“The Asian carp have brought us back to reality,” said Andy Buchsbaum, co-chair of the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, “they threaten to overwhelm a lot of the progress we’ve seen. That threat is not just to the Great Lakes and the fishery, it is also to our unity and our ability to work together. We have succeeded so far Read More » »
The Great Lakes are the Talk of the Town
It is a big week for the Great Lakes, not only are HOW members flying into Washington today to encourage lawmakers to continue to support restoration, but the Environment and Public Works Committee will hold a hearing on Thursday morning. THIS IS BEING RESCHEDULED NEW TIME TBA.
The Senate EPW Committee will be investigating the science behind federal efforts to control the Asian carp and stop them from getting a foothold in the Great Lakes. NY Sen. Kirsten Gilligbrand is a member of the EPW and she has been pushing for the closure of the locks via a new piece of Read More » »
Asian Carp Get Hearing on Hill
In the midst of back-to-back snowstorm that have disabled Washington, several members of the House Transportation Committee met for a hearing on the Asian Carp crisis.
But even though the audience was small, the news was not – the Federal Government is strongly considering permanently separating the Great Lakes and Mississippi River Basins as a long-term solution to the carp crisis. In the short term, the Army Corps refuses to shut the locks until they have been able to complete a study of the impact of doing so, not just on the carp and the lakes Read More » »
David Obey Cracks Door Shedding Some Light on an Increase in GLRI Funds
When Appropriations Chair David Obey (D-Wisc.) caught wind of a “dear colleague” letter addressed to him and asking him to up the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative from the President’s proposed $300 million back to last year’s $475 million he fired off a harsh response. The letter obviously hit a partisan sore spot that HOW isn’t interested in digging into, but we are encouraged that Obey’s reaction appears to leave the door to increased funding cracked and not shut.
After acknowledging that the GLRI is one of Obey’s “highest priorities” he writes, “The Administration notes that because a large amount of Read More » »
When All Else Fails, Turn To Congress
A Michigan Congressman reacted to the US Supreme Court’s failure to invoke a lock closure by introducing a bill in the US House that would force lock closure and further direct the Army Corps of Engineers to build barriers and conduct studies that would hopefully curb the advance of the Asian Carp into the Great Lakes.
Rep. Dave Camps (R) Bill, HR 4472 may be the next best hope to stop the carp momentarily while a more permanent solution to this issue is worked out. The studies called for would try and help the barge industry by abating any effects the Read More » »
Congress Takes Steps To Obtain Funds To Fight Asian Carp
A bipartisan group of Great Lakes congressmen called for the Office of Management and Budget and the US Army for Civil Works to ID funds that can be used now and in the future to fight back the march of the Asian Carp. Using words such as urgent and crucial the lawmakers told the heads of both agencies:
“Preventing the Asian carp from entering the Great Lakes is an extremely urgent matter currently facing the Great Lakes region, and we are writing to urge you to identify the necessary resources to keep the Asian carp out of the Great Lakes. Read More » »
