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Good Vibrations

Good vibrations are rolling across Capitol Hill as the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee prepares to take up the reauthorization of the Beaches Environmental Assessment and Coastal Health Act of 2000 tomorrow. HOW and the NRDC are collecting signatures on a letter regarding this legislation until noon today so sign on if you have time.

The legislation funds beach water monitoring programs that update the public on health issues associated with beach activities. We support the legislation and hope no amendments weaken it. Beach tourism is big business in the Great Lakes States during the summer months and provides numerous Read More » »

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 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 » »

And Then There Were Seven…

In the end, Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich), George Voinovich (R-OH), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) were joined by Amy Klobuchar (D-Minn.), Karen Gillibrand (D-NY) and Sherrod Brown (D-OH) as original cosponsors of the new and improved Great Lakes Legacy Act.

Senators Levin and Voinovich – co-chairs of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, introduced the reauthorization yesterday. “While we’ve made progress on cleaning up the contaminated sites in the lakes, much work remains. This legislation will bring us closer to our goal of restoration,” Levin stated.

The United States promised Canada in the Great Lakes Water Quality Read More » »

Great Lakes 11

What do Sens. Carl Levin (D-Mich), George Voinovich (R-OH), Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich), Charles Schumer (D-NY) and Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) all have in common? They are all original cosponsors of the Great Lakes Legacy Act that will be introduced today. This new version significantly increases funding that helps states and localities clean up toxic pollution. That means cleaner drinking, less beach closings and it means healthy habitats for fish making Friday fish frys safe again.

Last September, the US House passed a similar version of the GLLA, but it was shot down in the Senate by a Senator from Oklahoma. One Read More » »

Calling All Senators

It is time to put the “clean” back into the Clean Water Act. An important bill to the Great Lakes and all of this nation’s rivers, lakes and waters is circulating Capitol Hill right now the Clean Water Restoration Act (S.787) and we need EVERY Great Lakes Senator cosponsoring and voting for this bill.

Over past years, the scope of the Clean Water Act has been eroded by policy and court decisions that allow pollution to once again threaten our waters. We are asking anyone who cares about their drinking water or the water they swim in or the water they Read More » »

Courting Disaster

It would be difficult to argue that Boyer Lake and Bah Lakes - two of Minnesota’s 10,0000 lakes – are, in reality, a pond or puddle, don’t laugh, those opposed the Clean Water Restoration Act make that very argument. They say that by passing this bill we would be regulating pollution in every watering hole, small pond and rain puddle in America.

Oh, you thought the clean water act (CWA) already did that? Once upon a time it did, but that was before several court decisions that rolled the regulations, back leaving over 60 percent of this nation’s rivers, streams Read More » »

Make a Call for the Great Lakes Today!

Your US House Member and US Senator need to hear from you today. We need you to contact them and tell them how important President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Initiative is for the entire region’s economy and ecology. Tell your Congressperson that you expect to see his/her name on the House or Senate letter showing support for this budget initiative. We need to let our delegation know that we are watching and expecting action! After you call or email - if you have time - please comment on this thread and let us know what you heard from your Congress Read More » »

Your Task Force Working For You!

The US Senate Members of the Great Lakes Task Force are circulating a letter in support of President Obama’s Great Lakes Initiative. This will hopefully influence their colleagues in the Senate who control the purse strings.

President Obama’s FY2010 Budget includes $475 million for Great Lakes restoration. No US President has ever made such a commitment before and we want to make sure that the US Congress follows through by providing the same amount in their budget. The GL Task Force in the US House is circulating a similar letter among their colleagues.

So far, Senators Carl Levin (D-Mich) and George Voinovich Read More » »

Action Alert: Tell your Members of Congress to Match President Obama’s Great Lakes Restoration Funding

President Obama included a $475 million Great Lakes Restoration initiative in his proposed FY2010 Budget – the largest Great Lakes funding commitment ever made by a President. While this is a great testament to our new Great Lakes President, Congress ultimately dictates federal funding levels. The first step in that process is the Congressional Budget Resolution, which is currently being debated in Congress. The House and Senate plan to pass their budget resolutions by the first week of April.

HOW YOU CAN TAKE ACTION: Please take ten minutes today to call Congress today to urge your Representative and Senators to Read More » »