According to blogger Jim Rowen, it's in limbo, still awaiting formal review by the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
The delay shouldn't be totally unexpected -- the decision the DNR makes will be precedent-setting for the entire region. It must pass the strictest scrutiny by the other Great Lakes states, Ontario and Quebec.
We live in a society where truth has been devalued and inconvenient facts are ignored, especially if they don't support the message du jour.
Politicians of all stripes of course are guilty of spinning the facts, especially during election season where they produce those dumbed-down commercials attacking each other. But it's not just politicians.
Many business executives are only a rung above politicians on the spin ladder, and at least the politicians are subjected to public questions, media scrutiny, and the approval of voters in elections. Business bosses have the luxury of hiding behind self-serving press releases and they rarely talk with the media unless they've got a product to promote.
A recent essay by the former director of what is now Michigan's Department of Naturalists made that comparison.
Yes, really.
"The Berlin wall came down and communism collapsed in Eastern Europe, but the socialist ideology is alive and well and has found a new home in the modern day environmental movement. The environmental movement has been likened to a watermelon — green on the outside and red on the inside. Most environmentalists would not consider themselves socialists, much less communists, but the policies they support in the name of saving the planet almost always sacrifice individual liberty for central government control."
Just back from a few days in White Lake, Michigan, a gem of a lake bordering on what the locals call the "big lake" aka, Lake Michigan.
Stayed away from e-mail and news stories while gone so it was interesting to find two separate but somewhat connected pieces of correspondence in my mail box this morning.
First, the USEPA is seeking "advice, guidance, and recommendations" on the $475 million Great Lakes Restoration Plan. It seems they want our input on some of the annual decisions they have to make regarding priorities and projects.
The e-mail contains a link that will take you to a free form box where you can respond to their request.
It's finally out there in the open -- even EPA doesn't think it's working. That's the implicit statement in the agency's release of a new clean water strategy.
"Despite our best efforts and many local successes, our aquatic ecosystems are declining nationwide. The rate at which new waters are being listed for water quality impairments exceeds the pace at which restored waters are removed from the list," EPA said.
This is not the place to be wonky about it. I have my opinions, but I'd like to hear from others. Warning: if no comments show up here, I will get wonky.
Bear with me for a few paragraphs as I reference some history before getting to the good news.
A few months after the Great Lakes Compact became law in 2008, I attended a Compact related event and struck up a conversation with an environmental advocate who had worked for its passage.
Perhaps knowing of my concern over certain aspects of the deal - I had written a number of times about the exemption for bottled water - the advocate volunteered that the environmental groups had given up a lot in order to secure passage of the Compact. Maybe too much, especially to business.
At the same event, another advocate said in the comment portion of the meeting that the Compact's conservation standards weren't particularly strong.
Two stunning recent oil spills, one in Michigan -- and what's the common element besides spreading oil? An honor system that counts on the private sector to police itself. And underfunded government and enforcement that fails to make sure that the private sector is doing just that.
Sunday's Kalamazoo Gazette reports on the lack of oversight by Michigan and federal enforcement agencies of the pipeline that broke and sent hundreds of millions of gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River. The lack applies to other pipelines as well.
Thoughts of this Minnesota resident:
Why is it that the world’s largest lake, the one that Minnesota touches, is often left out of Great Lakes cleanup discussions right now?
Over the weekend I received a provocative e-mail. It essentially says the recent Kalamazoo River oil spill is the exception that proves the rule; that the oil industry has a strong safety record and that in light of the volume of product pumped and transported, the amount spilled into the river is minor.
The e-mail also reacted strongly by an observation by Clean Water Action in a recent news release -- that the oil industry is not looking out for our resource-based industries. The e-mail author said that's not the industry's job, it's government's job. What do you think?
I quote the e-mail:
When the subject of diverting Great Lakes water surfaces, thoughts almost immediately turn to Waukesha, Wisconsin. Waukesha is the first community to test the Great Lakes Compact and it's believed that its controversial request will set precedent for others that are sure to follow.
Waukesha wants 18 million gallons a day of Lake Michigan water, though its actual need is only eight million gallons. The Wisconsin DNR as well as the Great Lakes governors will eventually decide Waukesha's fate.
Anyone who has seen the previous works of Minnesota photographer Ed Wargin knows he has an exquisite eye for beauty. Ed's numerous books include Lake Michigan: A Photographic Portfolio.
This time, he's surpassed himself with an ambitious new project, The Fresh Coast Project. As Ed says, the goal is to assemble a body of artistic and historical photographs on film of the natural and human-made Great Lakes land and waterscapes. It has the potential to engage and inform a multitude of people in the years, and decades, ahead.
Great Lakes Town Hall interviewed Ed recently.
Bill McKibben Tells Environmentalists to Get Tough
There was an interesting commentary last week in the Los Angeles Times where noted environmentalist, Bill McKibben, dished out some tough love for leaders of the environment movement, especially those who have been working on global warming.
McKibben wrote that despite being on their best behavior and "compromising at every turn," the enviros haven't been able to advance even a watered down version of climate change legislation. He continued that for their efforts they don't even have a "moral victory," only "total defeat."
I said it was tough love.
As suggested by this:
Former Oceana elected official and state legislator Bill Bobier of Ferry was unable to complete his presentation at Hart Middle School on behalf of Scandia because of the audience uproar. Bobier is a consultant and lobbyist for the U.S.-Norwegian offshore wind developers.
First, regardless of your position on this issue, can we please be polite to each other? It's not that much to ask.
Second, it's beginning to look more and more like a small demonstration and study project offshore in the Great Lakes is going to have a better chance of acceptance than any mega-proposal.
The last few weeks have been busy in the world of Great Lakes water, and far beyond.
- Chicago and Milwaukee dumped a few billion gallons of raw sewage into Lake Michigan. An amount that would fill enough olympic-sized swimming pools that if laid end to end, would traverse the 90 miles from Chicago to Milwaukee. This isn't news, it's what happens in heavy rains, and not just in one of those supposed "20 year storms."
- An oil pipeline failed in Michigan polluting the already degraded Kalamazoo River which flows into Lake Michigan. Yes, it can happen here. When you hear (some) activists and experts clamoring for more regulation and enforcement in addition to throwing money at Great Lakes problems, this is a reason why.
Are cleanup volunteers welcome or not?
Gov. Jennifer Granholm and wildlife officials are saying no thanks to volunteers attempting to rescue oil-covered wildlife from the Kalamazoo River and surrounding waters.
"While the sentiment is appreciated, the unauthorized efforts have potential to harm human health, environment & affected wildlife," Granholm wrote on Facebook on Thursday. "Incorrect disposal of wastewater created when cleaning oil-covered wildlife contaminates ... groundwater, surface water & drinking water."
Another oil business public relations mistake to go with a spill:
Sound familiar?
Gov. Jennifer Granholm on Tuesday hammered a company responsible for an 819,000-gallon oil spill near Marshall as the crude continued to flow westward along the Kalamazoo River, and government officials and company workers attempted to stop the disaster from spreading.
Cynthia Price of Grand Rapids, MI, puts it this way: "Given that every Republican candidate in Michigan is running on a platform of "fewer regulations on business," it seems unlikely that we ever WILL learn ..."
A quick Google News search for 'asian carp' yields over 2,000 articles in the last month alone. Not many of them speak favorably of the latest and largest non-native aquatic threat to the Great Lakes.
Kind of makes you think the carp should hire a K street lobbyist.
But they won't and they can't and so they're easy to beat up.
It's heartening to see Great Lakes political leaders speak out in unison (except for those from Illinois) against the carp. It's great to see specific anti-carp measures proposed. It's a little difficult, however, to see some of the rhetoric as anything but pure posturing.
On January 29th of this year President Obama nominated Lana Pollack of Michigan to the International Joint Commission (IJC).
The IJC is the U.S. and Canadian agency that advises the two governments on a range of transboundary water issues, and one need only look at a map to see the vast scope of what the commission touches.
In the scheme of presidential appointments, Pollack's received scant attention but that doesn't diminish its importance. Water defines the U.S. - Canada border and if it's the oil of the 21st century and beyond, the IJC and Pollack have the potential to be critical players.The Great Lakes region of the U.S. and Canada are stewards of 20% of the Earth's fresh surface water.
What do they have in common? Well, they're all large bodies of water, and they're covered in a single executive order signed by President Obama Monday. The text of the order is here.
The import of the order for the Lakes is unclear. Its central feature is coastal and marine spatial planning, a kind of aquatic zoning that earlier caused unfounded concern about the "outlawing" of sport fishing on the Great Lakes.
I try not to be a keeper of "things" and admire the philosophy of Chris McCandless, the inspiring but tragic figure whose life was chronicled by author Jon Krakauer in Into the Wild. McCandless wanted to experience life and eschewed material possesions.
On being told by his parents that they were buying him a car he responded, "I don't want any things."
It's hard to not collect things in a society that constantly promotes consumption.
© 2010 Great Lakes Forever.
Great Lakes Forever is a program of:
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project@biodiverse.org