Obama Fishes For Votes In The Great Lakes
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Though Michigan is still struggling with the economy, cars going overseas and a Detroit mayor involved in a scandalous affair, the Great Lakes state is now on Obama’s environment map. Sen. Obama yesterday announced the Obama-Biden Great Lakes Restoration Plan, showing recognition for an area close to his heart and home. With a dollar amount at $5 billion, the plan would provide resources to give a boost to the Great Lakes Compact, possibly making a difference in a state with blue collar workers who could vote either way in the upcoming election.
But the plan doesn’t seem solely about garnering votes, and Michiganders are praising Obama, at least in my email inbox that receives dozens of emails a day from Michigan’s Echo, the state’s environment list serv. Says Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition, “Sen. Obama’s proposal puts meat on the bones to the pledge both candidates made in December to restore the Great Lakes. The Great Lakes are a national icon that is the foundation of our regional economy, and the source of our drinking water, health and way of life.”
The plan pledges, according to the official press release, to help pay for sewage repairs, toxic cleanups and wetlands restoration over 10 years. It names a Great Lakes Coordinator to oversee operations and addresses issues such as toxic areas and mercury contamination. And it ratifies the Great Lakes Compact, which is an inter-state agreement aimed at influencing legislation in the area to help the waters.
The $5 billion, meanwhile, will be paid for by ending tax breaks for oil companies.
The Great Lakes in Politics
Focusing on the Great Lakes, whether to win votes or to actually focus on the lakes, isn’t new in politics. George W. Bush did the same thing in 2004 before his reelection by creating a restoration tax force for the area, but most of the $20 billion he pledged still has yet to see the light of day. Local leaders, especially in Michigan, have carried the weight of the five-year plan, even as Bush proposed a 16 percent cut in funding in his most recent budget proposal for 2009. Money is instead coming out of states’ pockets.
Although Obama’s plan doesn’t propose as much money as Bush’s, maybe some of that money will actually find its way into the lakes.
Sen. McCain is also focusing on the region, according to news reports, but he has yet to announce a definitive plan. Though looking at Sarah Palin’s record at buddying up to oil companies, it’s doubtful that funding will come from the same place.
Image Credit: lake.sider at Flickr under a Creative Commons License
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