Philzone.org Discussion Board: Archive 2004: Politics Archive 2004: BUSH LOVES FISH

Leaders vow joint effort to protect Great Lakes
December 4, 2004
BY MAURA KELLY LANNAN

Dozens of government and tribal leaders promised Friday to join forces in protecting and preserving the Great Lakes from pollution, invasive species and other environmental dangers, but some participants say more money and a clear action plan are still needed.
U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky (D-Ill.) said eight studies have been done recently on how to clean up and protect the Great Lakes.
''We must be sure that this initiative is not simply No. 9. It's time for action,'' she said.
The gathering, at which participants signed a declaration of support for cleaning up the Great Lakes, was prompted by an executive order issued in May by President Bush. He named a 10-member Cabinet-level task force, chaired by Environmental Protection Agency chief Michael Leavitt, to coordinate Great Lakes cleanup efforts among states, federal agencies and Canada.
The Government Accountability Office found last year that 33 federal and 17 state programs have spent more than $1.7 billion on the environmental restoration of the Great Lakes. However, the efforts were uncoordinated and the results difficult to measure, the GAO said.
Leavitt said protecting and improving the Great Lakes ecosystem is challenging, and collaboration among states and local leaders is ''messy.''
''But there's absolutely no substitute,'' he said.
Wisconsin Gov. Jim Doyle, co-chairman of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, said the Great Lakes and states surrounding them face several challenges: Contaminated sediment leaches pollutants, beach access is restricted when water quality is poor, and exotic and invasive species, such as Asian carp, threaten the Great Lakes' health.
''These are not one state's issues or one agency's issues. These are regional and national issues of great significance. This is not something government can do alone,'' Doyle said.
AP

That is a start but it doesnt make up for what he is doing (or failed to do) in the Columbia - Snake river systems.

I still don't like him.

OOOHHHHH... Bush names a task force.

That is nowhere near the same as taking action.

I am thoroughtly unimpressed.

Good I guess ~ I'll have to find out what the real deal is. Probably not much, but there has been alot of good work done in the lakes during the past years. I Don't trust Leavitt at all. He got his job by opening protected lands to lumber and road building, and loostening restrictions on buisness in Utah.

Ya, Leavitt is a Bush "yes man." I saw an interview where he thinks compromise from both sides is needed with regard to the envoironment. I sent him a letter telling him that aproach ensures we will compromise the open spaces away a little bit at a time. In other words, a slower road to failure. This was a few months ago, no response yet.