Around this time last year, President Bush signed an order to establish the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force and now, a newly-formed coalition wants to help. (Photo courtesy of whitehouse.gov)
Last year, President Bush called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help coordinate clean-up of the Great Lakes. Now a new coalition of conservation and environmental groups says it wants to help with this latest government effort. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Michael Leland has
more:
Transcript
Last year, President Bush called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to help coordinate cleanup of the Great Lakes. Now a new coalition of conservation and environmental groups says it wants to help with this latest government effort. The Great Lakes Radio Consortium’s Michael Leland has more:
The new group calls itself The Healing Our Waters – Great Lakes Coalition. It’s headed up by the National Wildlife Federation and the National Parks Conservation Assocation.
Members say they’ll be closely involved in the government’s process of drafting a plan to preserve the Great Lakes. Andy Buchsbaum is a co-chair of the Great Lakes Coalition.
“This is our chance of a decade, and if we don’t get the planning process right this time. It could be another decade before the Great Lakes have a chance to recover from some of the damage that they’ve sustained.”
Last May, President Bush created the Great Lakes Interagency Task Force. It’s composed of federal agencies, as well as state and local authorities. The task force will develop a plan this year to address problems like invasive species, pollution, and coastline damage.
Buchsbaum says for the plan to be a success, Great Lakes preservation needs to become a national cause, not just a regional one.
For the GLRC, I’m Michael Leland.
