GLIN==> Great Lakes Advocates in D.C.: ‘Nation Can’t Afford Not to Protect Lakes’

Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition

For Immediate Release:
March 2, 2011

Contact:
Jordan Lubetkin, 734-904-1589
Jeff Skelding, 410-245-8021

Great Lakes Advocates in D.C.: ‘Nation Can’t Afford Not to Protect Lakes’

More than 100 citizens urge U.S. Congress to maintain funding for programs to protect Lakes, drinking water, public health, jobs and quality of life.

WASHINGTON, D.C. (March 1, 2011) – In an effort to beat back cuts to programs that protect the drinking water, public health, jobs and way of life for millions of people, Great Lakes advocates are gathering in Washington, D.C., to urge the U.S. Congress to support programs that restore the health of the Lakes.

“We can’t afford not to protect the Great Lakes—they are the source of drinking water for 30 million people,” said Jeff Skelding, campaign director for the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition. “Restoration efforts are already producing results, but there is still a lot of work to be done. If we cut funding now, it will only cost more later because all of these projects will only get harder and more expensive the longer we wait.”

More than 100 citizens from the states of Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are in the nation’s capital March 1-2 to urge public officials to bolster support for Great Lakes programs to clean up toxic sediments to safeguard public health, restore wetlands and habitat to improve water quality, stop polluted runoff to keep beaches open, and control invasive species to protect fish, wildlife and the regional outdoor recreation economy.

“The bottom line is Great Lakes restoration projects produce results and offer some of the best returns on the dollar in the federal budget,” said Skelding. “Project by project, Great Lakes restoration activities are improving the lives of millions of people. It would be foolish to cut restoration – especially when we are seeing results and there is so much work still to do.”

Read more about successful Great Lakes restoration projects in the following reports:
--“Great Lakes Restoration: Delivering Results” at http://bit.ly/deliverresults
--“Faces of Restoration: People Working to Restore the Great Lakes” at http://tinyurl.com/restorelakes
--“Progress and Promise: 21 Stories that Showcase Successful Great Lakes Restoration Projects” at http://bit.ly/21stories

Despite their successful track record, Great Lakes restoration programs face reductions in the congressional 2011 continuing resolution and in the 2012 White House budget.

The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative—a precedent-setting initiative to clean up toxic pollution, confront invasive species like the Asian carp and restore habitat—was funded at $475 million in 2010. The U.S. House passed a continuing resolution that funds the initiative at $225 million in the current 2011 budget – a reduction of $250 million, a 52 percent cut from what was appropriated by Congress in 2010. The U.S. Senate has yet to act on its own 2011 continuing resolution.

President Obama is recommending the initiative be funded at $350 million in fiscal year 2012—a reduction of $125 million, or 26 percent, from what was appropriated in fiscal year 2010.

“These budgets increase the time it will take to restore the Great Lakes,” said Skelding. “Our job is to hold the line against cuts in the 2011 budget and work with Congress to fund the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative at $475 million in the 2012 budget to protect drinking water, create jobs, safeguard public health and uphold the quality of life for millions of people. Slowing action now will allow the problems to get worse and cost more to solve.”

The outcome of the budget discussion in the nation’s capitol could have a profound impact on a region whose citizens, business leaders, industry, cities and states have united behind the accelerated clean-up of the Great Lakes as a means to advance economic recovery in the hard-hit region. Great Lakes activities produce jobs now by hiring engineers, landscape architects, construction workers and truck drivers. According to the Brookings Institution, every $1 investment in Great Lakes restoration produces at least $2 in economic benefit.

There is still much work that needs to be done.
--Aging sewers dump billions of gallons of sewage into the Lakes, closing beaches and threatening our health.
--Invasive species such as zebra mussel and sea lamprey are harming the food web and commercial and sport fisheries—while new threats like the Asian carp continue to appear.
--Toxic pollutants remain in the mud along Great Lakes rivers and harbors of major cities throughout the region, posing risks to human health and wildlife.

Cutting back on our commitment will cost hundreds of thousands of jobs; exacerbate current problems; allow new threats to emerge; continue to put public health at risk; erode the quality of life of millions of people; and deter workers and businesses from moving and staying in the region.

“We must continue efforts to modernize sewage treatment, clean up polluted harbors, restore wetlands and prevent unwanted, new species from entering the Lakes,” said Skelding. “Each of these steps is essential if we are to restore the Lakes and make our region a place where people and businesses want to be. If we cut the funding now, it will only cost more later because all of these projects will only get harder and more expensive the longer we wait.”

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition consists of more than 115 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: www.healthylakes.org<http://www.healthylakes.org/>

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Jordan Lubetkin
Senior Regional Communications Manager
National Wildlife Federation's Great Lakes Regional Center
Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition
w: 734-887-7109
c: 734-904-1589
lubetkin at nwf.org<mailto:lubetkin at nwf.org>

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