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The Oakland Press
June 15, 2008 |
Glenn Gilbert
Staff Writer |
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Protect our lakes, protect our future |
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Advocates for the Great Lakes continue to clamor for more federal help to clean up and restore the basin that holds 20 percent of the world's freshwater.
But they are not willing trade any of this treasure to get the assistance.
"Let them live in Michigan in February like the rest of us if they want our water," says U.S. Rep. Mike Rogers.
"Our Great Lakes are not for sale," agrees State Rep. Marie Donigan, D-Royal Oak. Donigan is vice chairwoman of the Great Lakes and Environment Committee in the Michigan House of Representatives.
She suggests Michiganians who have moved to warmer states that are experiencing water shortages can always come back.
"We are open for business," Donigan said.
A coalition of federal, state, local and tribal agencies called the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration released a $20 billion strategy for protecting and upgrading the ecosystem in December 2005. Among its proposals were upgrading sewage treatment systems, battling invasive species, cleaning up toxic hot spots and restoring wildlife habitat.
But critics say Congress and President Bush have not given sufficient backing to the plan.
Rogers, a Brighton Republican whose district includes much of north Oakland County, says people from outside of the Great Lakes region have not been focused on the issue. He points out that substantial financial support has been committed to restoring the Everglades, but "the Great Lakes deserve more."
Rogers says he finds that colleagues need to see the lakes to understand the need. When they do, "they are absolutely blown away. It is hard for them to envision how big and spectacular they are."
"There is significant support in Congress for implementing the recommendations of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration," said U.S. Rep. Sander Levin, D-Royal Oak. "I and over 60 other members of the House and Senate have banded together to co-sponsor bipartisan legislation to implement the recommendations of the collaboration.
"Many of us have also actively lobbied the administration to fund it," Levin continued. "The environmental health of the Great Lakes has reached a turning point. We know what needs to be done, but there is no leadership from the White House. Instead of leading the effort to carry out the plan, the Bush Administration has sat on the sidelines and done nothing. Why did the White House commission a Great Lakes restoration plan only to ignore its recommendations?
"Rather than fund the recommendations of the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration, the administration keeps cutting Great Lakes funding. In order to truly make progress, we need a president who cares about the Great Lakes."
U.S. Rep. Joe Knollenberg, R-Bloomfield Hills, agrees the Bush administration has not done enough and the federal government should do more.
He pointed out that the House has adopted legislation regulating ballast water, which introduces invasive species, and controlling the harmful zebra mussel, but neither measure has passed in the Senate. Congress has acted to control the Asian carp.
Rogers points out that time is an enemy for Great Lakes funding. Great Lakes states are losing population, and so will lose seats in Congress after the 2010 census.
The fear might become that Congress will fund Great Lakes restoration only if other states are allowed to divert its water. New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson stirred a hornet's nest last October with his suggestion that Great Lakes water should be shared with parched states such as his.
Knollenberg agrees that a federal role in protecting the lakes carries a danger.
"There is always a desire in the Congress to take over, whatever it is," and thus lawmakers from Great Lakes states must be vigilant.
Several years ago Michigan and other states bordering the lakes, as well as two Canadian provinces, crafted the Great Lakes Compact to provide safeguards to protect the lakes and prevent their water from being looted and taken elsewhere. But before the compact can become law, it still must be approved by the legislatures of all the states involved, and then Congress. Only Illinois and Minnesota have adopted it so far.
Donigan is confident that Michigan lawmakers will adopt it, and Gov. Jennifer Granholm will sign the compact by the end of the summer.
It is clear Michiganians will have to be outspoken if they want to protect the lakes in coming years from natural, manmade and political enemies.
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