Obama Proposes Steep Cut In Great Lakes Initiative

[Dinger]

http://www.greenbaypressgazette.com/article/20100207/GPG0101/2070699/1207/gpg0101



"WASHINGTON — The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative would lose more than one-third of its designated funding under President Barack Obama's 2011 budget proposal.



The president's budget would provide $300 million for the initiative — $175 million less than what Congress approved and Obama endorsed in the Interior Department spending bill for the current fiscal year. That's a 36.8 percent reduction from the original $475 million.

In his explanation of the reduction, Obama pointed out that because the program, which is being administered by the Environmental Protection Agency, is new, most of the money for 2010 had not been obligated and likely won't be spent until 2011.

Obama, a former senator from Illinois, has made restoring the Great Lakes a priority and called for the $475 million funding in February 2009. The initiative focuses on five areas of concern: toxic substances; invasive species; health and pollution issues; habitat and wildlife protection; and accountability, monitoring and evaluation."


Call me crazy, but I don't like this.

[MercutioATC]

1. I'm no great Obama defender, but it really depends on where the money was going.

A program to save the largest freshwater body on the planet? Yeah, a good idea.

...but the devil is in the details. As written (and I'm not familiar with the program) $300M may be enough to accomplish the program's goals.

[thunder rising]

2. $300M is a lot of money. If that ain't a start what is?

[FrenchieCat]

3. most of the money for 2010 had not been obligated and likely won't be spent until 2011

Sounds like a direct explaination to me. :shrug:

[Bobbieo]

4. Why do I get the feeling there is something 'fishy' here? It was in

the Dept of the Interior where Bush made his final push for political appointees. I have always felt Salazar was too cosy with Washington lobbyists.

[ProSense]

6. Well,

Salazar has an excellent record.

[Bobbieo]

8. Then Salazar must be having one helluva time with those Bush appointees.

[Nikki Stone1]

10. ROFL!

:rofl:

[amandabeech]

15. Salazar is a western rancher.

I would guess that the only thing is knows is that the Great Lakes hold lots of water that the west and southwest want.

I hope that he hears some sharp words from the Canadians about this.

To think that a conservative from Canada might be better than an Obama appointee, though, is sick. Or in this case, perhaps rational.

[Nikki Stone1]

5. The privatization of water is coming. The last thing the global corps want is

public ownership and cleanup of the waters. Eventually, some corporation will be in charge of the cleanup, will get Federal tax dollars to finance the cleanup, and then, as part of the deal (on which they will have spent nothing of their own money), they will get to control the water for whatever purpose they have: water purification/drinking water?

[Bobbieo]

7. Somewhere on the grapevine I heard the Asian carp is invading the Lakes.

What the hell is an Asian carp? Is it that large fish that eats everything in sight and flops into small boats?

[Nikki Stone1]

9. From wiki

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asian_carps

Because of their prominence, and because they were imported to the United States much later than other carp native to Asia, the term "Asian carp", is often used in the United States with the intended meaning of only grass, black, silver, and bighead carp. In the United States Asian carp are considered to be nuisance invasive species. Of the Asian carp that have been introduced to the United States, only two (crucian and black carp) are not known to be firmly established. Crucian carp is probably extirpated.<6> However, since 2003, several adult, fertile, black carp have been captured from the Atchafalaya and other rivers connected to the Mississippi River.<7> Dr. Leo Nico, in the book Black carp: Biological Synopsis and Risk Assessment of an Introduced Fish, writes that the black carp are likely established in the USA.

Bighead, silver, and grass carp are known to be well-established in the Mississippi River basin (including tributaries) of the United States, where they at times reach extremely high abundances, especially in the case of the bighead and silver carp. Bighead, silver, and grass carp have been captured in that watershed from Louisiana to South Dakota, Minnesota, and Ohio. Grass carp are also established in at least one other watershed, in Texas, and may be established elsewhere....

These fish are thought to be highly detrimental to the environment in the USA where they are established.<8> Because of these concerns, the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service convened stakeholders to develop a national plan for the management and control of invasive Asian carp (referring to bighead, silver, black and grass carp).<9> The plan was accepted by the National Aquatic Nuisance Species Task Force in the fall of 2007.

In July, 2007, all silver carp and largescale silver carp were declared by the U.S. Department of the Interior to be invasive species under the Lacey Act.<4>

[laughingliberal]

11. delete. wrong place

[Bobbieo]

13. Thank you Niki - I used to be a fisher person many years ago on the St Lawrence

River

I'm concerned about the Dept of the Interior because my late husband worked for 17 years with the Bureau of Reclamation. Naturally, I was concerned when I had heard that Bush was packing the Department with political appointees before he left office.

Now, out of the 20 or so petitons I am asked to sign every day, I find that more than half of the petitions are aimed at protecting some phase of our environment or animal life that falls under the jurisdiction of the Interior Dept - so I natually assume the Bush appointees are still there and are hard at work. It is really sad, too!!!!

[Nikki Stone1]

16. It becomes such hopeless feeling, doesn't it.

Sigh.

[Spheric]

14. Bingo! /nt

[laughingliberal]

12. K & R nt

[vegiegals]

17. The Great Lakes in a national resouce and vital to the local economy

meaning the 5 states surrounding it. I am angry about this and hope the Rep Obey can do something to restore the money.