GLIN==> President’s Budget ‘Charts Path for Great Lakes Restoration, Economic Recovery’

Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition
For Immediate Release: May 7, 2009
 
Contact: Jeff Skelding, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, (202)
797-6893
Chad Lord, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, (202) 454-3385
Jordan Lubetkin, Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition (734)
904-1589
 
President’s Budget ‘Charts Path for Great Lakes Restoration, Economic
Recovery’
 
ANN ARBOR, MICH.—Today President Obama released his budget for 2010,
which contains an additional $475 million for Great Lakes restoration
and economic recovery. 
 
The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition is examining the budget.
The coalition will be holding a detailed briefing on the budget’s
impacts on the eight Great Lakes states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan,
Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin on Tuesday, May
12. 
 
The coalition’s initial assessment of the budget is positive. 
 
“President Obama’s budget charts a path forward to restore the Great
Lakes and benefit the local economy,” said Tom Kiernan, president of the
National Parks Conservation Association and co-chair of the Healing Our
Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes
Coalition applauds the president and looks forward to working with the
U.S. Congress to advance Great Lakes restoration before the problems get
worse and the solutions get more costly.”
 
The White House budget “…requests $475 million for the Administration's
new Great Lakes Restoration Initiative. EPA will lead this interagency
effort that will target resources to the most pressing environmental
issues in the Great Lakes, such as aquatic invasive species,
contaminated sediment, and nonpoint source pollution.”
 
Details of the White House budget can be found on page 2 of the EPA’s
budget highlights at:
http://www.whitehouse.gov/omb/budget/fy2010/assets/epa.pdf 
 
“The president’s budget will inject $475 million of vital medicine into
an ailing Great Lakes ecosystem and economy,” said Andy Buchsbaum,
regional executive director of the National Wildlife Federation’s
Regional Center. “These funds will provide the relief the lakes need by
opening our beaches, stopping invasive species, cleaning up toxic
pollution, and restoring wetlands. And they’re an investment that will
help jumpstart our economy too.”
 
Attention now turns to federal appropriations committees to fund the
restoration effort. 
 
Rep. David Obey (D-Wis.) chairs the U.S. House Appropriations
Committee, whose Great Lakes members include: Reps. Chaka Fattah
(D-Penn.), Maurice D. Hinchey (D-N.Y.), Jesse L. Jackson, Jr. (D-Ill.),
Steve Israel (D-N.Y.), Marcy Kaptur (D-Ohio), Carolyn C. Kilpatrick
(D-Mich.), Mark Kirk (R-Ill.), Steve LaTourette (R-Ohio), Nita M. Lowey
(D-N.Y.), Betty McCollum (D-Minn.), John P. Murtha (D-Penn.), Tim Ryan
(D-Ohio), José Serrano (D-N.Y.) and Peter Visclosky (D-Ind.).
 
Senate Appropriations Committee members include Sens. Herb Kohl
(D-Wis.), Richard Durbin (D-Ill.), Arlen Specter (D-Penn.), and George
Voinovich (R-Ohio).
 
“President Obama’s budget includes a significant down payment on the
multi-year effort to restore the Great Lakes and revive the economy,”
said Jill Ryan executive director of Freshwater Future and co-chair of
the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “We look forward to
working with the Great Lakes Congressional delegation to make sure that
we put people to work immediately on the highest priority restoration
projects that benefit our communities and economy.”
 
Source of more than 90 percent of the nation’s surface fresh water, the
Great Lakes are seriously threatened by problems such as sewage
contamination, invasive species, toxic pollution and the loss of
wetlands and other habitat. When the Lakes are unhealthy, it is a drain
on the economy and it means fewer jobs for the region. Just as
disturbing, unhealthy Lakes mean fewer people can enjoy beaches,
fishing, waterways and clean drinking water.
 
“For years, I have been calling for additional Great Lakes restoration
funding, and I am very pleased that President Obama is committing
significant new funds for the Great Lakes,” said Sen. Carl Levin
(D-Mich.), who serves as co-chairman of the Great Lakes Task Force. “The
lakes are so precious that it is our job to protect and restore them for
future generations.”
 
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said: “The Great Lakes have been plagued by
invasive species and decades of pollution that has resulted in frequent
beach closings and warnings against consuming fish from its waters.
Thousands of concerned citizens and elected officials have worked hard
to reduce pollution and guarantee the health of the Lakes for
generations to come. Today, President Obama is backing up that
commitment with a significant investment into efforts that will preserve
and protect this national treasure.”
 
According to the Brookings Institution, an investment of $26 billion to
restore the Great Lakes will lead to at least $50 billion in economic
benefit for the region.
 
“Our Great Lakes are an inseparable part of our economy, history and
culture, and must be protected,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow (D-Mich.). “I
am pleased the president’s budget lays the foundation to combat
dangerous threats to our lakes and communities such as invasive species,
pollution, and contamination. Times are tough right now in Michigan, but
our Great Lakes always provide us with an economic resource unique to
our region, and this budget invests in that resource.”
 
Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) said: “I am very pleased that the
president has made good on his promise to make the restoration and
revitalization of the Great Lakes one of his top priorities. As co-chair
of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force, I am focused on working with the
administration and the Great Lakes delegation to advance restoration
efforts in this critical region, and I will do everything I can to
ensure that this funding remains in the FY2010 appropriations bills.”
 
Restoring the Great Lakes will benefit the region’s metropolitan areas,
generating between $200 million to $7 billion in cities like Duluth,
Minn., Detroit, Mich., Chicago, Ill., and Buffalo, N.Y.
 
“The Great Lakes are a prized natural resource and a significant
economic engine for our country,” said Rep. Louise M. Slaughter
(D-N.Y.). “By investing in the protection and restoration of this
national treasure, we will not only preserve the lakes for future
generations but create jobs and bolster regional communities,
industries, and economies. As co-chair of the Great Lakes Task Force, I
applaud President Obama’s serious commitment to defend the Great Lakes
and strengthen our economy.”  
 
The movement to restore the Great Lakes has been bolstered in recent
months with the passage of a regional water management plan to ban water
diversion from the Lakes and increased attention from both the White
House and U.S. Congress.
 
“The president’s plan to boost funding for Great Lakes restoration
could not come at a more important time,” said Rep. Mark Kirk (R-Ill.).
“Unprecedented water demand, the rise of invasive species and
pollution all threaten the drinking water for more than 30 million
Americans. As we look for ways to bring about an economic recovery, few
things are more important than the Great Lakes – the economic engine and
ecological crown jewel of the Midwest.”
 
The president’s initial budget outline—which included a new $475
million Great Lakes restoration initiative—received support in the
budget framework Congress passed last week. 
 
The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition consists of more than 100
environmental, conservation, outdoor recreation organizations, zoos,
aquariums and museums representing millions of people, whose common goal
is to restore and protect the Great Lakes.
 
For more information, visit: http://www.healthylakes.org/ 
 
 
Jordan Lubetkin
Senior Regional Communications Manager
National Wildlife Federation - Great Lakes Office
213 West Liberty, Suite 200 | Ann Arbor, MI 48104
 
Phone: 734-887-7109 | Fax: 734-887-7199 | Cell: 734-904-1589
 
NWF's mission is to inspire Americans to protect wildlife for our
children's future. www.nwf.org/news/ 
 
Working to restore the Great Lakes by offering solutions to sewage
contamination, invasive species and other threats. www.healthylakes.org
( http://www.healthylakes.org/ )
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