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Strategic plan targets invasive species
The Superior Daily Telegram (11/17)
Douglas County’s Land Conservation Committee is forwarding a plan to the county board that takes aim at invasive species.
Mich. Clean Marina Program: Public-private partners work together to improve water quality
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/9)
Partners from the public and private sector in Michigan are working together in a voluntary program to improve the quality of the Great Lakes.
Researchers seek funding for wind test site in Lake Michigan
Grand Rapids Environmental News Examiner (11/7)
In a recent article in The Muskegon Chronicle, it was reported that researchers at Grand Valley State University’s Michigan Alternative and Renewable Energy Center (MAREC) cited a lack of year-around data (on wind platform testing) needed by prospective development companies.
COMMENTARY: Senate needs to pass clean energy act to help Michigan
The Grand Rapids Press (10/26)
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was absolutely correct with his recent proclamation about the current condition of the Great Lakes State: "The State of Michigan," Reid declared from the Senate Floor, with a copy Time Magazine in his hand, "is in trouble."
First Nation women 'walk the environmental talk'
WeNews (10/23)
Tomorrow's global day of climate activism aims for media and political attention. First Nation women have another way. Since 2003, they've walked the shoreline of a Great Lake or major river, meditating on the needs of an unborn generation.
City making big push for water school
The Business Journal (10/23)
The push is on to convince the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee that the best location for its new School of Freshwater Sciences is near the university’s existing Great Lakes Water Institute on East Greenfield Avenue.
What's going on in your neighborhood this month? Meet other people and learn together at recreational and educational events! Our new dynamic calendar is updated daily with current educational events.
5 | Binational Agreements and Treaties: continued
The Ecosystem Charter for the Great Lakes-St. Lawrence Basin, 1994 is a good faith agreement between Great Lakes organizations that promotes an ecosystem approach to management, recognizing that the goals for environmental protection and economic development within the basin are linked and interdependent. The Charter ties a common thread through the many policies, laws and agreements in the basin, and explicitly defines objectives for an ecosystem approach to management.
The U.S. and Canadian governments signed the Air Quality Agreement to address shared concerns regarding transboundary air pollution. Air pollution, like water, knows no borders, and the agreement was made in hopes of protecting the health of citizens and ecosystems on both sides of the border. The agreement lists specific goals for each of the countries concerning emissions limitations for certain toxic chemicals and transportation vehicles.
In response to the dangers of persistent toxic substances, the Great Lakes Binational Toxics Strategy was developed jointly by Canada and the United States in 1997. The strategy provides a framework for actions to rid the Great Lakes basin of persistent toxic substances, especially those that bioaccumulate, such as DDT, PCBs, mercury and dioxins. Focusing on pollution prevention in all sectors of government, from local to regional to state/provincial/tribal and to the international sectors, the strategy hopes to deal with the problem of interbasin transfers of toxic substances from one lake to another.
The Great Lakes Charter is a good faith agreement between the Great Lakes governors and premiers to work together in preserving the integrity of the Great Lakes. Some of the goals of the charter include preserving the water levels and flows of the Great Lakes, protecting the Great Lakes basin ecosystem, and providing a secure foundation for future investment and development within the region. The charter promotes standardized data collection procedures across the Great Lakes states and provinces and consultation on a regular basis on the issues of water use, conservation and development.
Graphic: Power plant air pollution on Lake Michigan.
