You can find lots of good stuff in the finalists among the Great Lakes restoration funding proposals announced by EPA yesterday. You can also inject many question marks.
If the purpose of the funding is to demonstrate to the public how new money can go to work on the ground and water for restoring the Great Lakes (i.e., the infamous "shovel-ready") kind, the list may fall short. Lots of research, lots of communication, lots of education -- good, but the results will be long-term and difficult to quantify.
And who's getting the money? A good analysis is in order.
Maybe it's the frustration with the way both BP and the federal government have handled the gulf oil disaster that has emboldened some of us. But I was surprised at the tone and direct language used by the editors of the Cleveland Plain Dealer (PD) yesterday.
The PD blasted the Obama administration for its handling of the Asian Carp problem and demanded that the locks leading to Lake Michigan be immediately closed. They said that the feds have been "disingenuous" and have "flip-flopped." The PD went on to imply that the Obama admnistration is protecting its shipping industry cronies. Strong words.
The only thing I remember learning about in school relating to the environment is rocks. That's it. Rocks and minerals. Now I'm sure rocks and minerals are important, but these days there are certainly more important things that kids should be learning in school about the environment. I want kids to graduate from high school (and middle school and grade school) understanding what global warming is, understanding why conservation is important, and believing that they can make a difference on this planet. This issue is so important to me because, more than anything, I believe that environmental literacy in children will transform the environmental movement in the future. It's simple; as more people understand the problems, making large-scale changes just might be easier.
The latest episode in the long-running struggle over whether to permit a sulfide mine at the headwaters of a coldwater Lake Superior tributary comes Thursday.
As Eartha Melzer reports in the Michigan Messenger, opponents of the Kennecott/Rio Tinto mine will present an environmental justice petition to state officials (if any will accept it) in Lansing. A poetic version of the petition is viewable here.
Sorry for this diversion to another endangered ecosystem, but this item is unbelievable. May we please prosecute BP and contractors first and more aggressively?
I don't have much use for Greenpeace most of the time, but c'mon.
All right, it's not quite that bad. But not so far off.
The Michigan League of Conservation Voters is releasing its legislative scorecard today, documenting the appalling obstructionism of that state legislature's Senate members. Senate leadership refused to permit action or votes on bills protecting human health from lindane, mercury and arsenic. Meantime, a parade of bills weakening environmental standards marched through the Senate.
Judging from a comment below from a citizen opponent of Michigan's proposed law protecting groundwater connected to lakes and streams from massive water grabs by multinational corporations, a disinformation campaign operated by representatives of these companies and others is working:
As an avid reader of Great Lakes news, I often have a lot of questions about what I read and am curious about people's reactions to various stories and events.
With that as the starting point, a few questions that are top of mind.
Waukesha, WI has now submitted its Lake Michigan water diversion application to the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. It's the first such proposal under the Great Lakes Compact.
It'll be interesting to see whether Wisconsin DNR measures the proposal by tough conservation-based standards or more lax, politically-influenced ones.
If the whole world isn't exactly watching, at least some public interest groups are.
Interesting stuff, including this excerpt: "there is virtually no information documenting short-term or long-term impacts to the freshwater aquatic ecosystem from wind power development."
The Council operates under the terms of a multijurisdictional agreement fostered by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission.
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