Chicago link bodes well for Great Lakes ecosystem

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — Barack Obama’s election as president and his appointment of U.S. Rep. 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. Obama released a plan in September 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, who served as an Obama campaign adviser, said he had known of the Illinois senator’s commitment to the lakes since meeting 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 considered 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, which 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 percent 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 hope the change of administrations will bring more money to the Great Lakes Legacy Act, which cleans up highly polluted harbors and river sediments.

The House voted this year to provide $150 million a year for five years, but the Senate authorized just $54 million annually for two years.

But supporters acknowledged they would have to scrap for more funding 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 would 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.