Jobs & Economic Recovery

US House Expected to Pass Jobs Bill Tonight: Promising News for Great Lakes Water Infrastructure

Tonight is the night that the US House intends to put people to work modernizing this nation’s water infrastructure. The jobs bill that is expected to pass tonight provides $1 billion for clean water and $1 billion for drinking water giving Great Lakes states an additional $400 million to update our sewers this year.

Healing Our Waters signed onto a letter that urged the House to set aside some funding for green infrastructure projects and efforts to institute water efficiency. The House has done so, setting aside 20 percent of the funding for such projects. The House is also waiving the Read More » »

Sen. Sherrod Brown promotes Great Lakes initiative in Cleveland

[caption id="attachment_3219" align="aligncenter" width="200" caption="Senator Sherrod Brown speaking at the Great Lakes Clean Water and Jobs Breakfast"][/caption]

People around the Great Lakes might not like their tax dollars heading off to Washington each year, but this year a good portion of those dollars are expected to come back home. The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative would provide at least $400 million to help clean up and restore the Great Lakes. The investment is based on economists’ predictions that restoration can jump Read More » »

In Unison: Great Lakes Cities Push for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative

It may be August and Congress may be on break, but the people who live and work around the Great Lakes are continuing to push for their Representatives in Washington to approve of President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Four Great Lakes cities will be hosting rallies to show their support while putting the pressure on Washington to do the right thing.

Starting in Cleveland on Monday, Ohio’s Senator Sherrod Brown will be joined by the Mayor and economic guru John Austin to highlight the benefits that the $475 million package of federal aid would bring to Read More » »

EPA’s Great Lakes Listening Tour Consistently Draws Full House

Last Tuesday night the EPA began a series of public meetings to determine the best way to implement President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The first meeting was held in Milwaukee, Wisc. and according to reporter Dan Egan the room was packed.

“The issues are more understood now,” Milwaukee’s Annette Gelhar told Egan. “So now we’re focusing on solutions to things that we’ve ignored in the past.”

The following night another gathering was held in Chicago. Former reporter Jeff Alexander attended both meetings and tweeted events in real time on our twitter page. Read More » »

It’s Not Just for the Lakes, it is for the Economy, Stupid!

It’s Déjà all over again. Last September the US House passed a Great Lakes Legacy Act reauthorization that tripled the funding to clean up toxic pollution in the Great Lakes. One Senator from Oklahoma shot down the bill in the US Senate. Today, Sen. George Voinovich (R-OH) is trying once again to convince his colleagues to support the $150 million price tag.

Oklahoma is pretty far away from the Great Lakes and it might be that we need to invite this persnickety Senator for a summer tour of this nation’s largest source of fresh water. If he could see their Read More » »

Great Lakes State Leading Health Care Innovation

Wisconsin is President Barack Obama’s number one agenda item today. The President is flying into Green Bay to hold a town hall style meeting to learn about how this Great Lakes State has made cutting edge healthcare available to more people. The Washington Post writes today that “The federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality gives Wisconsin high scores on 100 measures, ranging from the treatment of heart disease to childhood asthma.” Healthcare is predicted to continue to be a huge generator of jobs over the next several decades and the availability of good healthcare makes cities very attractive Read More » »

We Need a Little Christmas Right Now

President Obama released more details about how he intends to spend $475 million on Great Lakes restoration today. He also outlined a plan to provide states with an additional $3.9 billion to clean up the drinking water with new infrastructure projects. And although it feels like Christmas on this balmy May day, there is no guarantee that the Grinch (read: Congressional appropriators) won’t steal all these hard won gifts away from us in the middle of the night. Because, at the end of the day, Congress holds the purse strings and the appropriations committees will decide if any of Read More » »

Wooden Pipes and Ancient Sewers

The New York Times today details what many of us around the Great Lakes are well aware of – our pipes are leaking and failing and we need to address our waste water infrastructure immediately. In an article about the nation’s problems with water main breaks the author hits on the plea being made by mayors and city managers for federal money – heck any money – to rebuild, renovate and update the water infrastructure. Read more here: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/04/18/us/18water.html?_r=1&hp

Michigan Cities Benefit from Stimulus

Sixteen Michigan cities will get $66 million from the economic stimulus package to upgrade water systems and create 109,000 jobs. This is exactly what we have been talking about – spending money on restoring the Great Lakes creates jobs and helps our region’s economy.

Restoration may sound lofty and unduly “green” but in reality it translates into spending millions to fix our ailing and ancient combined sewer systems and that also means jobs. But the stimulating effect doesn’t stop with employment -by stopping untreated waste from flowing into the water we drink and swim in business will feel a boon. Read More » »

No More Rolling Downhill

The Duluth News lost little time in writing about how the stimulus package signed into law by President Barack Obama will impact the Great Lakes region by putting people to work to stop sewage from flowing into the lakes and tributaries.