Gary Wilson
Commentary
A curious press release from Illinois Sen. Dick Durbin’s office caught my eye last week.
Durbin proclaimed his opposition to attempts by the owners of the S.S. Badger to extend the Lake Michigan ferry’s life beyond 2012. He said he would work to keep the Badger from receiving a new permit from the EPA.
The Badger is the old coal-fired ferry that runs across Lake Michigan between Manitowoc, Wisc., and Ludington, Mich. It discharges at least 500 tons of toxic waste ash into the lake each sailing season, according to published EPA estimates. If its permit isn’t renewed it will have to cease operations this year. There has been an outcry from the towns it serves over lost jobs.
Technically, Durbin doesn’t have a dog in the fight. As the number two guy in the Senate, a minor issue that doesn’t directly impact his state would be beneath his noise level.
The battle over the Badger pits protecting Lake Michigan from pollution against keeping Badger-related jobs alive.The senators from Wisconsin and Michigan, who do have a stake in the outcome, seem to be walking a tightrope.
They’ve encouraged the Badger’s owners by supporting their effort to apply for a new permit but not more than that. They definitely haven’t produced any high-profile press releases similar to Durbin’s.
Perhaps they agree that the Badger should be put out to pasture but don’t want to broadcast it out of fear of alienating voters who worry about the lost jobs.
Michigan’s Sen. Debbie Stabenow is up for re-election this year. Her office did not respond to requests for comment on the Badger’s permit.
Back to Durbin.
Is that why he entered the fray?
He’s not accountable to voters in Wisconsin or Michigan, so he has the luxury of being candid. Is he carrying the water for his politically vulnerable 
colleagues?
His office says no.
“Senator Durbin is representing his own views on this issue,” his press officer Christina Mulka wrote in an email. She said that challenging the Badger owners is part of what he has done to protect the Great Lakes over the course of a career.
Fair enough.
But working on issues, especially minor ones, is not the same as leading on the tough ones. Durbin doesn’t lead and many times has to be brought along by environmental groups.
In the early stages of trying to get Great Lakes restoration off the ground, Durbin wasn’t an early adopter. He eventually came on board but it took some coaxing.
His website page on invasive species still refers to securing funding for the electric barrier to stop Asian carp. That was eight years ago. There’s no mention of the ongoing Asian carp / Chicago Waterways system issues despite the fact that they’ve been in the news constantly for over two years.
That’s why I question his motives with the Badger.
What has been the reaction to Durbin’s public rebuke of the Badger’s owners?
Response was mixed with readers of the Muskegon Chronicle’s coverage. A few praised Durbin but others said he should worry about Great Lakes problems in his own backyard, pointing to his state’s foot-dragging on Asian carp.
They have a point.
From Asian carp and Chicago’s dirty river to agricultural runoff contributing to the dead zone in the Gulf of Mexico, Durbin has plenty to work on at home without taking on a small issue where there is no downside for him.
But that’s politics. It’s the way our system works – or doesn’t – depending on your view.
Whatever his motivations, Durbin got it right on the Badger.
The Badger’s owners haven’t made the case to justify the ongoing pollution of Lake Michigan.
Now let’s hope that Sen. Durbin will use the gravitas of his lofty senate perch to take on Great Lakes problems in his home state.
That’s where he can have the biggest impact.Those issues aren’t layups like the Badger.
Durbin will have to put some skin in the game and take political risks.
That’s what’s required of a leader.