A 2004 report from the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration estimated that a meaningful restoration of the Great Lakes would cost $20 billion. We never did quite get to $20 billion. But Obama made a good start, proposing a 5 billion dollar clean up effort. Of course, the latest batch of conservatives is putting the stomp on even that. Clean water, environmental health, and 1.5 million jobs be damned.
Keep in mind the US spent 6.1 billion dollars in a restoration effort for the Florida Everglades for 18,000 square miles.
For just $20 billion we could restore the Great Lakes...20% of the world's surface fresh water, a surface area of 94,000 square miles, and 295,000 square miles within the water shed. 10,900 miles of coastline. We could restore an ecosystem, a way of life, and a massive economic driver that creates1.5 million jobsand $62 billion in wages each year.
Did I mention 62 billion dollars in annual wages for the people who rely on the Great Lakes for their living?
Well there's that, too. And the one time cost would have ongoing economic benefits, doubling the value of the initial one time investment.
Not surprisingly, no action was taken to actually FUND the 2004 Great Lakes Regional Collaboration recommendations during the Bush Administration.
Barack Obama formed the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative in 2009 to start funding the cleanup. It was going to be $5 billion over 10 years: basically about $500 million per year.
GLRI funding in 2010 was $475 million, with $62 million coming to Michigan for competitive projects.
But...here we are in 2011...so of course the investment in this necessity is going to be slashed.
Congress has proposed reducing Obama’s budget for GLRI funding to $225 million for the fiscal year 2011, and reducing the 2012 commitment even more severely. Congress also is proposing significant cuts to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Association, the federal agency managing oceans and the Great Lakes. These reductions in funding would significantly affect our ability to restore and manage the Great Lakes and result in wide-ranging ecological, economic, and societal impacts.
Supposedly the standard talking point is that the Federal Government has no place in taking care of its national treasures, keeping our largest supply of fresh water clean, and protecting a unique ecosystem, and a source for agriculture, fish, and shipping.
This is one of those restoration efforts that can't be put on hold. It's been ignored way too long.