More, More, More

Frank J. Koshere: Mouth Of Brule River ~Enlarge

It's reassuring that citizen Great Lakes advocates are in Washington, D.C. this week speaking out for this amazing freshwater system.  This has become an annual winter ritual sponsored by the Healing Our Waters Coalition and it is doing much good, keeping the interests of the Lakes in the forefront of the minds of members of Congress.  This year's work might help spur action on the Asian carp invasion, among other things.

One of the themes of the advocacy this week seems oddly out-of-tune. It's the cry for more federal money for Great Lakes restoration in a time of worry over the federal budget.  The $475 million approved by Congress this year and the $300 million recommended by President Obama aren't enough, apparently.

Sure, it is always a good thing to see responsible funding investments in the Lakes.  But is it only the role of the feds?  Where are the states?  Even more to the point, is it the right message for we advocates to moan about a level of funding $300 million above what it was two years ago? The Great Lakes are not for pork-barreling, they're for protecting.  Let's secure and spend the proposed $300 million, make a small contribution to deficit reduction, and try to show results from the three-quarters of a billion in new money for the first two years of the initiative.  Then we can go for more.