Take Action

The EPA is Coming to a Town Near You

Next week, the EPA will kick-off a series of public comment sessions in the Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin to examine the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. The hearing schedule is:

July 21, Milwaukee, Wis.
July 22, Chicago, Ill.
July 23, Merrilville, Ind.
July 27, Cleveland, Ohio
July 28, Erie, Pa.
July 29, Rochester, N.Y.
August 3, Lansing, Mich.
August 4, Duluth, Minn.

More information at: http://www.epa.gov/glnpo/glri/index.html

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 » »

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 » »

Tell Congress to Enact President Obama’s Historic Great Lakes Commitment

President Obama recently announced $475 million in his budget for Great Lakes Restoration – an effort that is critical to creating jobs and reviving our economy. The catch is that Congress holds the purse strings through their budget resolution and the annual appropriations process.
That’s where you come in.
Read Coalition statement on President Obama’s Budget
Tell Congress to match the President’s commitment

Cha-Ching

An article by Spencer Hunt of the Columbus Dispatch reminds us not to forget about our great fight with invasive species in the Lakes. The story makes it clear we need to implore our US Congress to pass restrictions on ballast water discharges as soon as possible. We continue to write and speak about the crisis point that we are at – that no return is just around the corner – yet the valuable Ballast Bill of 2007 and 2008 continues to languish. “We have never been able to eliminate any aquatic invader that’s gotten into the (Great Lakes) Read More » »

Promote the Great Lakes Restoration Presidential Candidate Letter Campaign

Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives is proud to host a letter campaign to encourage the Presidential candidates to support the Great Lakes Restoration Strategy. Please consider including the campaign on your Web site, in emails, in newsletters, on your blog or any other way you can get the word out.

To make this easier we offer a few ideas.

1) You can link to the survey hosted on the Healthy Lakes, Healthy Lives Web site:

http://www.healthylakes.org/presidential-candidate-petition/

2) You can place the petition to appear under your Web site design with the following code:

<iframe src="https://online.nwf.org/site/Advocacy?id=524&pagename=homepage" width="710" height="1100" frameborder="0" scrolling="auto" name="Great Lakes Presidential Candidate Petition">View Read More » »

Sign a Petition to Congress on the Great Lakes

Freshwater Future (formerly Great Lakes Aquatic Habitat Network and Fund) has initiated an online petition urging Members of Congress to act this year to pass and fully fund legislation to protect and restore the Great Lakes. Healing Our Waters Coalition staff worked closely with Freshwater Future on the development of this petition, and we encourage one and all to sign it and forward to colleagues, friends, and family. Freshwater Future and the HOW Coalition will work to tally signatures from constituents of particular members of Congress in the Great Lakes and deliver the petitions at in-district events during the Read More » »

Signup for Great Lakes Day 2008

Washington, DC, February 27-28, 2008

Registration / Scholarship applications due February 1st

As part of the annual Great Lakes Day in Washington, D.C., the Healing Our Waters® (HOW) -Great Lakes Coalition helps to bring coalition members and allies from the Great Lakes states to Washington to discuss the importance of restoring and protecting the Great Lakes with elected officials on Capitol Hill. Learn more and register here:

http://www.healthylakes.org/great-lakes-day-2008-event-registration

URGE GREAT LAKES SENATORS NOT TO CUT BACK FARM BILL CONSERVATION PROGRAMS

Farm Bill conservation programs are critical to restoring the Great Lakes. They help farmers put marginal cropland to work for the health of the Great Lakes. However many more Great Lakes farm families want to participate in the Farm Bill conservation programs than can be accommodated because of insufficient federal funding. Conservation programs are woefully under-funded. Two out of three farmers willing to take actions to help the environment are turned down due to lack of funds.

Now, the United States Senate may cut conservation programs even further as it rewrites a new Farm Bill within the next few weeks.

You can Read More » »

Stand Up for Clean Water Today!

In the wake of recent Supreme Court rulings that have rolled back clean water protections, a national coalition of conservation organizations is urging Great Lakes citizens to call their representatives today, Wednesday, September 26, urging them to support the Clean Water Restoration Act.

The bipartisan water bill would ensure that the Great Lakes, along with other streams, tributaries and wetlands are protected from further pollution under the Clean Water Act. We know, you thought that was already the case. Well, surprise, according to the group, it will take this act of Congress to reinstate the scope of the Clean Water Act Read More » »