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WORD COUNT
694
SEPTEMBER 22, 2004
COULD GREAT LAKES VOTERS
SWING THE ELECTION? – Joyce Braithwaite-Brickley
Environmental issues
rarely decide elections, especially national ones. Polls show that while
most Americans consider themselves pro-environment, they don't rate clean
air and water high on their list of criteria when picking a president.
But in an election as
close as 2000 – or 2004 -- issues like Great Lakes protection could supply
the catfish whisker's difference needed to put George W. Bush over John
Kerry, or vice versa. After all, the eight
Great Lakes states send
16 senators and over 100 representatives to
Washington.
And they constitute a healthy141 of the needed 270 electoral votes.
Maybe that's why, on a
recent campaign swing through
Traverse City, President
Bush proclaimed that he strongly opposed the export of
Great Lakes
water to other regions, and taunted Kerry for his alleged indecision on the
issue. The line drew strong applause from the partisan crowd.
Bush wasn't totally
fuzzy. It's true that early in 2004, when asked for his position on
Great Lakes
water export by the “Detroit Free Press,” the Kerry campaign sidestepped,
saying a decision would require "a delicate balancing act." Wrong answer. In
Michigan, which
lies entirely inside the Great Lakes Basin, exporting water is not a
balancing act – it's an act of treason. Kerry's next-day correction
statement was a little too late. But it's also true that shortly after
taking office in 2001, Bush expressed an interest in speaking to
then-Canadian Prime Minister about shipping water to the parched
Sunbelt
states. So, neither candidate has clean hands.
Maybe it's more important
to look behind the platitudes about water export and consider the actions of
each candidate on an issue of national scope – protection of
U.S. waters under the
Clean Water Act of 1972. Here the contrast is clearer. The Bush
administration has proposed slashing funding for sewage treatment assistance
to communities, proposed abandoning protections for millions of acres of
wetlands (which provide natural treatment by filtering contaminants), and
dramatically reduced enforcement staff needed to police clean water
violation. Kerry, who has a lifetime League of Conservation record of about
90 percent, has opposed these policies, and co-sponsored legislation to
restore full authority under the Clean Water Act. He's also proposed
legislation to clean up the leading remaining source of mercury pollution of
our lakes – coal-fired power plants that release the naturally occurring
mercury from their smokestacks. Ultimately, that mercury falls out of the
air and ends up in the fish millions of anglers pursue in the Lakes.
Kerry is also co-sponsor
of bipartisan legislation that would pump $6 billion in matching funds over
10 years into restoration of the troubled
Great Lakes. Bush has
refused to endorse the bill and has instead created a task force – after the
election. On the other hand, neither candidate has distinguished himself in
fighting the current big threat to the lakes, invasion by alien species that
stow away in the ballast water of oceangoing vessels. The Bush EPA has
refused to regulate the discharge of ballast water as a pollutant. Kerry has
not expressed any significant view. So who's best on the issue? Only the
voters can decide, and it's instructive to see what they think.
A 2002 poll of more than
1,500 adults in the Lakes states found that 71 percent think the term
“polluted” describes this freshwater ecosystem very or somewhat well.
Majorities of close to 80 percent believed industrial chemicals and sewage
were significant threats. In fact, they're no longer as important as the
pollution caused by alien species – and the pollution we all cause with
runoff from city streets, construction sites and farms. But candidates must
meet the voters where they are – and huge chunks of them want to see a
crackdown on industrial pollution and sewage.
This year, more than
ever, it will be important to look behind slogans and examine detailed
promises. If a few hundred voters in a
Great Lakes states decide
that one candidate is not just a defender of
Lake Superior,
but superior on the Lakes generally, it could make all the difference in who
gets to be their steward in the White House.
--
Joyce
Braithwaite-Brickley was assistant to the Michigan Republican Party chairman
and political advisor and campaign manager for former Gov. William G.
Milliken. Her essays have appeared widely in the state.
priorities@charter.net -- A photo of Joyce Braithwaite-Brickley is
available:
CLICK HERE
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