Great Lakes Echo (http://greatlakesecho.org/tag/great-lakes-restoration-initiative/page/2/)
(WI) Sheboygan Press – The Great Lakes got a huge shot in the arm last week when President Obama signed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. This measure commits $475 million to a restoration and recovery program for the largest source of freshwater in the world. It also makes the federal government and the eight states that border Lakes Michigan, Superior, Huron, Erie and Ontario partners in the effort. More
(WI) Milwaukee Journal Sentinel – A Great Lakes restoration plan hatched by President Barack Obama in the heat of last year’s campaign has been embraced as a prescription to heal centuries of pollution and mismanagement. But while the federal government is about to spend up to $475 million toward a restoration program that ultimately could cost tens of billions of dollars, assaults continue on the world’s largest freshwater system. And the plan does little or nothing to stop them by calling for tough new laws and regulations, or ensuring that existing rules be enforced. More
(MI) The Detroit News – The Senate easily passed legislation tonight containing $400 million for Great Lakes restoration by deterring invasive species, cleaning up highly polluted sites and expanding wetlands. The funding level for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative falls short of the $475 million passed by the House in June and supported by President Barack Obama. Michigan Sens. Carl Levin, D-Detroit, and Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, voted for the full bill. More
(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Environmentalists’ long-held dream of restoring the Great Lakes may be on the verge of being realized. More than 200 of them are meeting in Duluth this week to celebrate — and to plot their next moves to protect the lakes that hold nearly one-fifth of the world’s fresh water. More
Editors note: This story is part of an occasional series of Echo reports on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. By Allison Bush, bushalli@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 20, 2009
Preventing shipborne organisms from damaging the Great Lakes ecosystem is one target of the Obama Administration’s $475 million Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. Ships carry ballast water to make them more stable as their cargo is offloaded. When they take on more cargo, they flush the ballast back into the lake or ocean. That water can carry from foreign ports plants and animals that compete with native organisms for habitat and food.
By Allison Bush, bushalli@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 14, 2009
Great Lakes officials are anxious for the Obama Administration to appoint the region’s top Environmental Protection Agency administrator. “The appointment is always important, but for (the Great Lakes states), right now it’s absolutely critical,” said Andy Buchsbaum, executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s Great Lakes region. “For the first time in history, we could get millions and millions of dollars from Congress, and the administrator is important to making sure the money is spent well.”
The Chicago-based Region 5 administrator is responsible for the Great Lakes program under the Clean Water Act. Region 5 includes Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, Ohio and Wisconsin.
By Sarah Coefield, coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 13, 2009
Some Great Lakes brownfields will turn green if Congress passes a $475 million restoration package. Literally. The U.S. Forest Service seeks $2 million of the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative to transform unusable industrial lots into parks and trailways – and clean up some contaminants in the process. While the forest service has long restored natural vegetation and has an urban forestry division, this will be its first foray into phytoremediation, said Steven Davis, a watershed specialist with the forest service’s Northeastern Area State and Private Forestry division.
By Jeff Gillies, jeffgillies@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 11, 2009
The Great Lakes states have more outdated sewers dumping waste into local waterways than anywhere else in the country. At the same time the region is on the verge of a federal infusion of $475 million for environmental protection. Happy convergence of problem and solution? Not really.
By David Poulson
poulsondavid@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Aug. 7, 2009
I attended a Great Lakes public hearing this week that really wasn’t. The event at Michigan State University was one of the EPA-sponsored meetings held to solicit feedback for the Obama Administration’s proposed $475 million investment in environmental restoration. And while the meeting was open to the public, not much of the public was represented. Instead, this was mostly a Great Lakes love-in.