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With Obama, hopes for Great Lakes rise

BY JOHN FLESHER • ASSOCIATED PRESS • November 7, 2008

TRAVERSE CITY -- Barack Obama's election as president and his appointment of Rahm Emanuel as chief of staff are hopeful signs for the struggle to heal the ailing Great Lakes ecosystem, advocates said Thursday.

Obama and Emanuel, both from the Lake Michigan city of Chicago, have championed initiatives in Congress to protect the lakes. In September, the president-elect released a plan pledging a $5-billion down payment toward a wide-ranging restoration that would include sewage system upgrades, toxic cleanups and wetlands repair.

Emanuel introduced a comprehensive cleanup bill in 2003, shortly after his election to the House. Although it didn't pass, he has continued working with lawmakers from both parties to build support, said Cameron Davis, president of the Alliance for the Great Lakes.

Davis, an Obama campaign adviser, said he had known of the Illinois senator's commitment to the lakes since he met him during a Lake Michigan beach cleanup a decade ago.

"It's hard to imagine how the Great Lakes could not be a priority" for the new administration, Davis said in a conference call with reporters.

He said he considers Emanuel "the godfather of Great Lakes restoration."

"He swims in Lake Michigan for exercise and for fun," Davis said. "I know he's got a very intimate connection to the lake that we care so much about, and I can't imagine that will be lost or ignored."

The Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, an organization that represents more than 100 groups, also expressed high hopes for an ecosystem that scientists warn is on the verge of ruin from big-city sewage, toxins and invasive species.

The lakes contain nearly one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water and 95% of the U.S. supply.

"The millions of people who rely on the Great Lakes now count on President-elect Obama's leadership to restore these waters, before the problems worsen and become more costly to correct," said Jeff Skelding, the coalition's national campaign director.

Advocates say they hope the change of administrations will bring more money to the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which cleans up highly-polluted harbors and river sediments.

This year, the House voted to provide $150 million a year for five years for cleanup work, but the Senate authorized just $54 million a year for two years.

Supporters acknowledged they will have to scrap for more money even with a friendly administration in power, given the federal budget deficit and the economic slowdown.

"It will be very hard for a president to propose major new programs unless you can find the money somewhere to fund them," said Michael Kraft, professor of public and environmental affairs at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. "Spending will be severely constrained."

Still, he predicted the Obama administration will be more supportive simply by virtue of having more policymakers with scientific and environmental advocacy backgrounds than the Bush team, which drew heavily from business and industry.

"I see what is likely to be a real effort to get beyond the idea that environmental protection competes with economic development," Kraft said.

Obama's plan also calls for a crackdown on invasive species and for appointing an official to coordinate the dozens of federal programs that deal with the lakes.

Davis said it is too early to speculate about who might get that job.