This new narrative would declare the Great Lakes to be a lived Commons to be shared, carefully managed, enjoyed by all, and protected by the Public Trust Doctrine. My answer: a new narrative for the Great Lakes to replace the current narrative that they serve predominantly as an industrial engine for growth and prosperity, a narrative I hope elected officials, the International Joint Commission (IJC), and ordinary people will embrace. What would happen if the citizens living around the Great Lakes decided to collectively protect them based on the very principles and practices that informed the First Peoples of the region, namely that the Lakes must be shared equitably and responsibly by all who live around them and protected for seven generations to come? We also have the case of chronic under funding - especially on the Canadian side - and inconsistent enforcement of environmental laws and regulations. Milwaukee City Council is promoting a project called WAVE - Water Attracting Valued Employees - to use the "comparative advantage" of Lake Michigan to attract water intensive industry from the South with special low water rates. Ontario has its "Open for Business Act" clearly aimed to use its abundant water as an economic incentive to locate business there. Lawrence Seaway, to the control of water levels in the Lakes in order to promote shipping and trade, we have predominantly viewed the Great Lakes as an industrial engine for regional growth and prosperity, rather than an endangered watershed. But too many others, including some governments, see the waters of the Great Lakes as a huge resource for our convenience, pleasure and profit.įrom the building of the St. Some see the Great Lakes as a watershed that gives us all life and livelihood and is a living ecosystem to be nurtured, protected and preserved for future generations. There are competing visions of what the Lakes are for and who they serve. With so many wonderful people, elected officials and environmental groups working hard to save and protect the Great Lakes, what is the problem? So the question must be: why is the crisis growing? side of the Great Lakes new mining operations, including a vast copper and nickel ore deposit that runs from the tip of Lake Superior to Lake Ontario and possible nuclear waste shipments on the Lakes. New issues include gas and oil exploration, including fracking and the export of bitumen from Canada's tar sands to 17 refineries on the U.S. Ongoing issues include climate change, over-extraction, non-point pollution, continued high levels of sewage discharge into the Lakes, the loss of wetlands and forests, and invasive species. While there have been some breakthroughs - on PCBs, acid rain, and Lake Erie for example - as well as many border treaties to protect air and water quality and fisheries, they are not enough to offset other damage, both existing and new. So we who live around the Great Lakes of North America have a very special responsibility to preserve and care for them in the light of the global reality now so clear.
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