Great Lakes opportunity: Will Kirk lead or muddle along?

By Gary Wilson

Illinois, with only a scant few miles of Great Lakes shore, recently increased its already significant influence over the Great Lakes.

The state’s first-term Republican senator,  Mark Kirk, announced early this month that he will  join Sen. Carl Levin, D-Mich., as co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force.

The Great Lakes Task Force is a congressional bipartisan group “that works to enhance the economic and environmental health of the Great Lakes,” according to the Kirk press release marking his appointment.

Levin has been on the task force since 1999. Kirk replaces  retired Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio.

Is this important?

Announcements like this are de rigeur in Washington but most times they are about appearance versus substance.

Is Kirk co-chairing the Great Lakes Task Force worthy of a commentary and your time as a concerned Great Lakes citizen?

Time will tell and that depends on how  Kirk engages in his new role. But he is now in a position to have a greater impact on the Great Lakes than his junior senator status in the minority party would normally allow.

Let’s err on the side of giving Kirk’s appointment coverage.

Leadership in Transition

This is a transitional and important time for the Great Lakes in Washington.

Many long-time Great Lakes advocates have left Congress. The tail wind of attention and funding that the Obama administration provided for restoration has turned into a head wind as discretionary federal spending is  cut. Kirk’s Republican Party is leading the way, making his appointment even more critical.

As co-chair of the task force, his always present Great Lakes voice will now carry more weight.

In the House of Representatives, Kirk was always a Great Lakes advocate. Makes sense as he had Lake Michigan lakefront in his district and Waukegan Harbor, one of the toxic hotspots that dot the region.

But his Great Lakes record is only middling.

I equate it to shooting layups in basketball. Kirk was all over the easy stuff.

He supported passage of the Great Lakes Compact, essentially a no-brainer for a Congressman from a Great Lakes state. He quickly jumped on the bash British Petroleum bandwagon a few years ago when it wanted to discharge more pollutants into Lake Michigan.

That’s not a layup, bashing BP is a slam dunk. Lots of political points with no downside as the polluting plant is in Indiana.

So far in the Senate, Kirk is sponsoring legislation with fellow Illinoisian and Democrat Sen. Dick Durbin to prevent dumping of sewage into the Great Lakes. But the bill lacks credibility on its face. It pushes enforcement out to 2026 and provides no funding for infrastructure improvements needed to remedy a systemic problem. In fact, the budget proposed by Republicans cuts funding in this area.

Not everyone agrees with my assessment of Kirk’s record in the House.

Sen. Mark Kirk, R-Illinois, is new co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force.

Joel Brammeier, president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, refers to Kirk’s tenure as that of a “champion of the Great Lakes.” The Alliance and Kirk have long had a good working relationship.

Chad Lord, policy director for the Healing Our Waters Coalition, used similar language saying “Kirk was a Great Lakes Champion in the House” and he expects Kirk will assume that role in the Senate.

Kirk’s past record is just that, in the past.

The question is what he will do now with his increased responsibility.

Brammeier says Kirk should focus on finding “consensus in Congress” on how to physically separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River. He urges Kirk to work for continued investment in the Great Lakes to prevent rollback of recent gains.

Lord echoes Brammeier’s call to keep federal dollars flowing for the Great Lakes.  He also notes that Kirk is now in a “position to lead” in the fight for federal funding.

I asked Kirk’s office to comment on funding for Great Lakes restoration and separation of the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River. Media Director Kate Dickens responded via email.

On restoration funding Dickens didn’t provide specifics but wrote Kirk has “consistently cosponsored legislation to authorize comprehensive restoration programs. In this difficult economic climate, Senator Kirk understands the need for shared sacrifice across the government as we work to reverse the current fiscal problems in this country.”

Regarding physical separation of the Great Lakes from the Mississippi Dickens wrote, “Senator Kirk supports a balance of protecting the Great Lakes from the proliferation of invasive species without adversely affecting our economy. The Great Lakes are a precious natural resource and a vital economic asset to the region. Any possible solution to blocking Asian Carp or other invasive species should consider both of these factors and bring all stakeholders together.”

Which Path for Sen. Kirk?

Kirk is in a unique position to improve the Great Lakes now that he has assumed a leadership role.  But fence-straddling statements like the ones his office provided for this commentary don’t inspire confidence.

Kirk has a choice.

He can continue to shoot layups as demonstrated by his record in the House and Great Lakes improvement will muddle along or stall.

Or he can work for substantive improvements by taking on the hard issues like convincing his own party to fund Great Lakes restoration. And he can embrace the emerging consensus that it makes both economic and ecological sense to separate the Great Lakes from the Mississippi.

If he does the latter he can earn that Great Lakes “champion” label already ascribed by Brammeier and Lord.

We’ll watch his actions and keep you posted.

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