GOVERNORS RENEW CALL TO ENACT GREAT
LAKES PROTECTIONS
Governors reject notion that the Great
Lakes Compact needs to be re-opened
and call on states to protect the largest source of
surface freshwater in the world
CHICAGO,
ILLINOIS – The eight Great Lakes
Governors today renewed their call to state legislators to take the steps
needed to protect the region’s most valuable asset, the Great
Lakes. Specifically, the Governors adopted a resolution
again urging swift enactment of the Great
Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water
Resources Compact (compact) and rejected calls for renegotiations that will
only serve to weaken the protections they endorsed more than two years
ago. The Governors issued a clear statement decrying recent proposals to
upset the delicate compromise among diverse and varied interests in support of
protecting the Great Lakes through the
compact.
“The Great Lakes are not only our greatest natural resource,
but they are also a true national treasure,” said Wisconsin Governor Jim
Doyle, Chair of the Council of Great Lakes Governors. “As Great
Lakes Governors, we have been fighting to make sure we have a compact that
preserves and protects the waters of the Great Lakes.
We cannot allow misguided efforts to derail this important compact at this
critical time.”
“This compact will
improve and protect the health of the Great Lakes
and our region’s economy,” Minnesota Governor Tim Pawlenty
said. “It was designed to enhance the protections many of our
states already have in place and will protect us from new diversions of water
from the Basin. We are hopeful that every Great
Lakes state will ratify the compact
soon.”
In December 2005,
following a nearly five-year negotiation, the Governors of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin endorsed the
compact. To become law, the compact must be approved by each of the state
Legislatures and Congress must give its consent.
The compact will create
unprecedented protections for the Great Lakes
and ensure their continued availability for regional economic growth.
Once enacted, it will ban long-distance diversions and provide a framework for
ensuring sustainable water use in the Great Lakes Basin.
The compact was developed
by the Governors during an open and transparent process in order to ensure that
everyone’s interests were represented and protected. As a result,
there is an overwhelming consensus in favor of enacting the compact’s
protections.
Recent proposals by
individual state legislators to change the compact threaten to destroy its
protections and jeopardize regional management of the Great
Lakes. Due to the legal vulnerability of current federal
law, failure to enact the compact endorsed by the Governors will likely result
in litigation through the courts or Congress interceding to exercise control
over the Great Lakes.
Over 900 state
legislators have already voted to ratify the compact – about 95% of all
legislators who have cast a vote on its protections. Legislative approval
has already been completed in four states: Minnesota,
Illinois, New York
and Indiana.
Compact legislation has been approved by the Pennsylvania House and the Ohio
House; bills are pending in Michigan; and, a
bill is expected to be introduced soon in Wisconsin. Additionally, over 100
diverse groups of stakeholders who depend on the Great
Lakes have endorsed the compact approved by the Governors.
The five Great Lakes comprise the world’s largest surface
freshwater system and a world-class environmental and economic asset.
They are relied upon by 35 million Americans for agriculture, industry and as a
source of drinking water and recreation. The partners to the compact have
developed its protections to ensure the vitality of the Great
Lakes for this and future generations. The complete text of
the Governors’ resolution, the compact and additional information is
available at www.cglg.org.
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