Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/environmental-politics/)
New York voters passed a $4.2 billion proposal on Election Day for water drinking protection, pollution mitigation, land conservation, waste management and other environmental projects.
Attorney general candidates backed by environmental groups claimed the majority of seats in Great Lakes state elections. Attorney generals play an important role in litigation over environmental policy and regulations, climate and enforcement of state environmental laws.
Election Day has come and gone, and the results show that green-backed candidates for governor won in six Great Lakes states. They won in Michigan, Wisconsin, Illinois, Minnesota, Pennsylvania and New York, but lost in Ohio. All are Democrats.
Election Day was a winning day for many Great Lakes candidates endorsed by environmental groups for U.S. House seats. Among them were Democrats Jonathan Jackson of Illinois, Hillary Scholten of Michigan, Angie Craig of Minnesota and Marcy Kaptur of Ohio.
How the shape of the Great Lakes now compares with their past is important as negotiators update the consent decree addressing commercial and recreational fishing interests in waters covered by an 1836 treaty. The deadline is at the end of June, the third such decree covering these contentious waters. The most recent one in 2000 was for 20 years, and it’s overdue for an update.
The recent discovery of a dangerous family of chemicals in Michigan cattle has a statewide environmental group renewing efforts to ban the controversial substance.
As the megadrought in the Western U.S. worsens, calls for freshwater diversions from the Great Lakes to the West have grown increasingly popular. Water diversion from the Great Lakes harms not only the ecosystem, but also the cultural significance of water, according to Michigan environmental policy expert.
Read about the history of the little known International Joint Commission in “The First Century of the International Joint Commission.”
A coastal protection program that generated an estimated $86.9 million in economic impact across six Great Lakes offices in 2016 has again been zeroed out in the federal budget proposal after strong lawmaker support successfully restored funding to the program for 2018.
Toledo and Lucas County officials are leading the fight to curb Ohio’s algae-feeding pollutants. It’s a role they say should be played by the U.S. EPA.