Environmentalists Attempt to Oust Bush Official

Some environmental groups have launched a petition drive to oust a top interior department official. However, their prospects of success are questionable. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Wheelhouse reports:

Transcript

Some environmental groups have launched a petition drive to oust a top interior
department
official. However, their prospects of success are questionable. Bill wheelhouse
reports:


Earth First, Greenpeace and the Common Assets Defense Fund are using an internet
petition
drive to try to get Interior undersecretary, Steven Griles, fired. The groups say
Griles close
association with the gas and coal industries demonstrates the Bush administration is
unfriendly to
the environment.


However, Michael Kraft, who tracks environmental policy at the University of
Wisconsin, Green
Bay, says the effort is unlikely to succeed.


“There clearly will be an effort to gain media attention to highlight what
environmentalists
believe to be unacceptable policies in the Interior Department and elsewhere within
the Bush
administration and my guess is the Bush White House will find it very easy to
respond to those
criticisms much as they have for the last three years.”


Kraft says the drive might get more attention if larger environmental groups, such
as the Sierra
club, Audubon Society and Wildlife Federation took part.


But even if they did, he says it likely would not affect Griles standing within the
administration.


For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Wheelhouse.

Species Diversity Remains in Remnant Wetlands

While wetlands have disappeared in great numbers over the last century in the Midwest, it seems that most of the wildlife relying on them have survived. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Wheelhouse reports:

Transcript

While wetlands have disappeared in great numbers over the last century in the Midwest, it seems
that most of the wildlife relying on them have survived. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s
Bill Wheelhouse reports:


Nearly 90 percent of the wetlands in the Midwest are gone. They have been replaced by farm
fields and development. A study in the February issue of Conservation Biology says despite the
change. Most of the native species have survived in the remaining wetlands. Co-author David
Jenkins is a biologist at the University of Illinois. He says the study of crustaceons shows more
than 90-percent of those species are surviving in isolated shallow ponds and puddles. Jenkins
says the wetlands range in size from an office cubicle to a football field. He says there is far
more biodiversity tucked away in the Midwest than previously thought, but says the remaining
wetlands must be protected.


“It’s kind of a catch 22, in that the species that have been still hanging on are less likely to be able
to hang on if we were to lose more wetlands.”


Some state legislatures are considering measures that might help protect these types of wetlands,
although discussions are still in the early stages. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill
Wheelhouse.

State May Ban Mercury Thermometers

The state of Illinois could be the next Midwest state to ban the sale of thermometers containing mercury. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Wheelhouse reports:

Transcript

The state of Illinois could be the next Midwest state to ban the sale of thermometers containing mercury. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Wheelhouse reports:

A measure moving through the Illinois legislature would prohibit the sale or manufacture of mercury fever thermometers in Illinois. Supporters say it’s a public safety issue… because the mercury can end up in the waste stream. Chicago democratic representative Dan Burke is the sponsor:

“We’re just talking about eliminating this particular cause of poison in our environment… So that in a small way just prohibiting the sale would be the beginning piece in eliminating it altogether.”

If approved… Illinois would be following the lead of cities such as

Ann Arbor and Chicago. It would join the states of Indiana, Minnesota, and New York, which already have laws limiting the sale of thermometers containing the toxic element. A number of similar proposals are being discussed across the country. For the Great Lakes Radio Consortium, I’m Bill Wheelhouse.

Illinois Pressured to Rejoin Regional Funder

Five years ago, Illinois discontinued payments to the Great Lakes Protection Fund. The Fund is a regional endowment which supports environmental projects. The state’s failure to pay has meant that no Illinois groups have received any of the five million dollars in annual grants. Now, a group of state lawmakers is asking Governor Jim Edgar to resume payments. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Bill Wheelhouse reports: