Gary Wilson over at Great Lakes Echo has written an excellent piece about (depressing) rollbacks and cutbacks to Great Lakes protection initiatives in the USA. Follow the link at the bottom of this excerpt to read the piece in its entirety:
It’s been a tough six months for the Great Lakes.
Federal funding has been scaled back for the restoration initiative and programs to fix our aging sewer systems are taking substantial hits. The effort to keep Asian Carp at bay muddles along, primarily relying on electrical barriers.
But that pales compared to what’s happening in the states.
The 2010 elections ushered in new business-friendly administrations in Wisconsin, Michigan and Ohio that believe that relaxing environmental protections should be a part of a jobs creation plan.
And they’ve been acting on their beliefs.
Wisconsin began by weakening wetland protections and trying to rollback phosphorous regulations. Lawmakers have started work on legislation to fast-track mining permits near Lake Superior.
Those same lawmakers are also considering a “presumptive permitting” process where applicant’s permits would automatically be approved if the short-staffed DNR didn’t decide in a certain time period.
