March 14, 2008
Organization urges state legislatures to pass Great Lakes Compact
WASHINGTON, D.C. - At its winter meeting yesterday, the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) unanimously supported a resolution (see attached) co-sponsored by Michigan Lt. Governor John D. Cherry Jr. that encourages state legislatures in the region to quickly pass Great Lakes Compact legislation that will protect and preserve Michigan's greatest natural resource.
Cherry, former chair of the NLGA, said that the resolution also urges all three presidential candidates from both parties to outline their plans and priority actions for Great Lakes restoration and protection that will be initiated in 2009 and beyond.
"This resolution sends two clear messages: State legislatures around the region - including our own here in Michigan - must ratify the Great Lakes Compact as soon as possible, and individuals who are interested in being our country's next president must outline in detail what they plan to do to protect and preserve our Great Lakes," said Cherry, who currently serves as chair of the Great Lakes Commission. "Our country's next president must make the Great Lakes a top priority - both today and tomorrow."
The resolution was sponsored by Lt. Governor Barbara Lawton (D-WI), and Lt. Governor Carol Molnau (R-MN). Only two of eight state legislatures have passed the compact, but many others are considering ratification. Michigan Governor Jennifer Granholm urged Michigan lawmakers to pass the compact in her State of the State speech earlier this year.
When all eight state legislatures in the Great Lakes region pass the Great Lakes Compact, Congress will be asked to provide its consent, which will turn the compact into state and federal law.
"Today, the Great Lakes are threatened not just by pollution and growing numbers of invasive species but by the withdrawal and export of water to other areas of the nation," Cherry said. "Passage of the Great Lakes Compact here in Michigan brings us one step closer to ensuring that the Great Lakes will be preserved forever as they are now."
More than 35 million Americans receive the benefits of fresh drinking water, food, a place to work and live, recreational opportunities, and transportation from the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes states represent nearly 30 percent of the nation's gross domestic product and 60 percent of all U.S. manufacturing.
National Lieutenant Governors Association
Great Lakes Preservation Resolution
WHEREAS, The Great Lakes are one of the largest surface freshwater system in the world; and
WHEREAS, More than 35 million Americans receive the benefits of fresh drinking water, food, a place to work and live, recreational opportunities and transportation from the Great Lakes; and
WHEREAS, Our national economy depends on the Great Lakes with nearly 30% of our nation's gross domestic product is produced by the Great Lakes States, which includes approximately 60% of all U.S. manufacturing; and
WHEREAS, The Great Lakes are threatened, not just by persistent pollution and growing invasive species, but by the withdraw and export of water; and
WHEREAS, According to Brock University Cartography and Fuller and Sheer's The Great Lakes: An Environmental Atlas and Resource Book, only one percent of the Great Lakes water is renewable. The remaining 99 percent is finite and, once gone, can never be replenished; and
WHEREAS, According to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, instead of a normal seasonal drop of 2 inches in November 2007, the lakes dropped 6 inches. For the Lake Michigan-Huron watershed, it was the driest November since 1908; and
WHEREAS, On December 13, 2005, the bi-partisan governors and premiers of the U.S. States and Canadian provinces that share the Great Lakes signed a cooperative agreement for the future protection of Great Lakes waters known as the Great Lake-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact. This compact sets rules for the withdrawal of waters; and
WHEREAS, Two of eight state legislatures have ratified the Great Lake-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact while others are in the ratification process; and
WHEREAS, After the Compact is ratified by all of the Great Lakes States, Congress will be asked to provide its consent thereby turning this unprecedented set of protections into State and federal law; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Lieutenant Governors Association urges the state legislatures in the Great Lakes States to protect this valuable resource by ratifying the Great Lake-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources; and
NOW THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED that the National Lieutenant Governors Association urges the presidential candidates from both parties to outline their plan and priority actions for Great Lakes restoration and protection that will be initiated in 2009 and beyond; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED, That copies of this resolution be sent by the NLGA to the President of the United States, Vice-President of the United States, the Speaker of the House, President of the U.S. Senate, the state legislatures of Wisconsin, Ohio, Indiana, New York, Michigan and Pennsylvania, and that NLGA make all state elected officials aware of passage of the resolution through a notice in StateNews magazine, and that NLGA further post the full text of the resolution to its web page making the resolution available at all times for all NLGA members, state elected official, and other interested parties.
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