Urging Congress to protect Great Lake source waters

Lake Michigan is our gem and the source of Chicagoland’s drinking water, but it’s only as healthy as the streams and wetlands that feed it. But now those source waters are under attack by the Bush administration’s “No Protection Policy,” under which polluters are pushing to pave the wetlands and dump in the streams that feed the Great Lakes. This May, Environment Illinois launched a new campaign to urge Congress to pass the Clean Water Restoration Act, which declares that ALL waters, from the Great Lakes to their source water streams and wetlands, are protected by the Clean Water Act.

Great Lakes Lobby Day a success

At February’s Great Lakes Lobby Day in Washington D.C., Environment Illinois joined 150 region advocates to call on Congress to restore the Great Lakes. The advocates met with over 100 U.S. House and Senate members and staff, including Sen. Durbin and 12 other Illinois offices, to urge them to stop invasive species, clean up toxic hotspots and fix leaking sewer systems. A 2007 Brookings Institute Report estimated the economic benefits of Great Lakes Restoration at $50 billion, which could kickstart an economic revival in the region.

Midwest governors chart course on global warming

Environment Illinois’s Rebecca Stanfield was appointed one of seven environmental advocates in the region to participate in the Midwest Midwestern Greenhouse Gas Accord Advisory Group.

The governors of Illinois, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Kansas agreed last fall to develop a joint plan to cut emissions, using clean energy solutions to meet the reduction targets. While similar regional global warming pollution caps have been developed in the Northeast and the Western states, the influence of the coal, oil, electric and auto industries in the Midwest have hindered progress in the region.

Environment Illinois’s Max Muller, with over 100 other advocates from the Great Lakes region, on the U.S. Capitol steps urging policies to restore the lakes.