Great Lakes Regional Collaboration

US & Canada to Iron out Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement

New threats are driving the US and Canada to reconsider the 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement that lays the original milestones for restoring and then protecting the chemical and biological make up of the Great Lakes.

It only took two decades to out-date the latest version of the Agreement as new invasive species, chemicals and pollution seeped into our fresh waters. During the same era, our understanding of the region’s environment grew and also made the former agreement a bit anachronistic. Add in the predictions associated with climate change and it becomes real apparent real fast that we need to Read More » »

Espirit de corps

Republicans and Democratic lawmakers from the Great Lakes region have joined together in one voice to implore their colleagues to fully fund President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. In a strongly worded letter, the Great Lakes Congressional Task Force explained the importance of this funding to our region and entire nation as the need for fresh drinking water shrinks around the globe. The letter is a rallying cry, evidence that our lawmakers will not back down because regardless of their politics they think this initiative is necessary for the nation.

The new money would address the problems of invasive species and Read More » »

President’s Plan Gains Definition

The Cleveland Plain Dealer has a fantastic story that outlines excactly where the $475 million will go if the House and Senate Appropriations Committees fully fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Hallelujah: We Have A Restoration Water Bill

The US House resoundingly approved a $19.4 billion-water bill that could vastly upgrade efforts to improve Great Lakes water quality. Now, how do we get it through the US Senate?

It was 1994 the last time Congress passed a Water Authorization Bill – since then members have had to use earmarks and other mechanisms to get money to localities to update ancient sewer systems, crumbling wastewater facilities and clean up overflows of raw sewage and toxic pollution. But this bill brings together five water quality bills that were consistently passed by the US House and then defeated.

This water bill will provide Read More » »

We’d Like To Thank You, President Obama

Talk about showing us the way; President Barack Obama is the first president to set aside money in his budget specifically for Great Lakes restoration. We can’t thank him enough for this historic $475 million commitment. Now, we must urge our members of Congress to include this budget line in their budget resolution. The Senate Budget Committee is holding a hearing today on the President’s Budget so the process is already underway. It is time to show this country’s political representatives that our region speaks with one voice when it comes to our Great Lakes and restoration cannot be put Read More » »

Great Lakes Restoration Featured on “Living on Earth”

I’m sure many of you have heard the radio show “Living On Earth” on NPR before. This week they are featuring a story with some Healing Our Waters Coalition members. It’s a really good, concise recap of what’s up with the Great Lakes and how President Obama is proposing to fund restoring the lakes and reviving our economy.

You can listen online here

or find out when it’s playing near you.

Gov. Quinn’s Advice for Great Lakes Day

Illinois newly minted Governor Pat Quinn – in Washington for the National Governor’s Association meeting - spoke to the members of the Great Lakes Commission yesterday. The Commission, that Gov. Quinn chairs, is also in Washington to urge Congress to make the Great Lakes a legislative and funding priority.

Quinn urged Great Lakes advocates to press President Barack Obama to make good on his campaign promise and appoint a Great Lakes Czar – a point person for restoration.

“We need to get a Great Lakes Czar,” Gov. Quinn said. “Someone who can get in touch Read More » »

The Great Lakes: An Economic Super Region

Last winter, a group of people came to Washington - people who usually compete with one another to draw business to their cities – people who left the Capital united and committed to working together to bring back the Great Lakes region.

“A year ago we came together to try and approach the Federal Government collectively with a strategic agenda for dollars and policy for an economic super region: the Great Lakes. We think we have a compelling story to tell,” said Andrew Rudnick, president and CEO for the Buffalo Niagara Partnership at a Press Conference. The Great Lakes Read More » »

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 Read More » »

Word on the Street

Even before Barack Obama won last night, he had teams of people planning for his 76-day transition. Word on the streets of Chicago and Washington is that Illinois Democrat Rahm Emanuel is on Obama’s short list for the Chief-of-Staff position.

This is the same man who stood before HOW a little more than a year ago and implored us to make this Presidential election about the Great Lakes. The same man who said he would do everything in his power to get the $26 billion into law that we need to heal and revive the lakes. Now, the Washington Read More » »