« May 2007 | Main | July 2007 »
"It's not about bottled water," Jim Olson, the Traverse City attorney taking on Nestle's water franchise in court, told me in an interview last year. "It's about who owns the water and who makes the decisions."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706300352
Thirty years ago, bottled water barely existed as a business in the United States. Last year, we spent more on Poland Spring, Fiji Water, Evian, Aquafina, and Dasani than we spent on iPods or movie tickets--$15 billion. It will be $16 billion this year.
Bottled water is the food phenomenon of our times. We--a generation raised on tap water and water fountains--drink a billion bottles of water a week, and we're raising a generation that views tap water with disdain and water fountains with suspicion. We've come to pay good money--two or three or four times the cost of gasoline--for a product we have always gotten, and can still get, for free, from taps in our homes.
http://www.fastcompany.com/magazine/117/features-message-in-a-bottle.html
If Great Lakes states won't honor the 21-year-old federal law that requires ALL 8 governors to approve (not just abstain from voting on) any new Great Lakes diversion, will the proposed interstate compact be any more likely to work?
The City of New Berlin is again pressing for a Lake Michigan diversion before
the state approves the pending Great Lakes Compact, or before the
likely supplier, the City of Milwaukee, says it wants to sell.
And one DNR official suggests - - again, here - - his agency can approve this request without the say-so of the other Great Lakes states, something you may have read here first.
And again, just for the record: the Wisconsin Attorney General has already opined in writing that the DNR does not have that authority - - something the traditional media continues to withhold from publishing.
http://thepoliticalenvironment.blogspot.com/2007/06/new-berlin-lobbying-for-lake-michigan.html
From the Healing our Waters coalition...
TELL CONGRESS TO GET IT RIGHT ON PROTECTING THE GREAT LAKES FROM INVASIVE SPECIES!
A Coast Guard reauthorization bill that includes provisions to address ballast water discharge from ocean going ships, the number one source of invasive species in the Great Lakes, is now moving through the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee. While it is encouraging that the problem of invasive species is receiving the congressional attention it deserves, there are a number of areas in the legislation that need improvement in order for the Great Lakes to receive maximum protection from the number one problem plaguing the Lakes.
The House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is meeting today at noon (6/28) to vote on the bill. Call your Great Lakes representatives on the committee TODAY and urge them to promote the following changes. The capital switchboard, where you can be connected to the office of your member of Congress, is 202-224-3121.
1) THE GREAT LAKES CAN'T AFFORD TO WAIT UNTIL DECEMBER 31, 2015 TO REQUIRE INSTALLATION OF BALLAST WATER TREATMENT TECHNOLOGIES ON SHIPS. An amendment was passed in the subcommittee review of this bill that gave the Secretary of the Coast Guard authority to fudge on the deadline by which ships would be required to install technology by 2 years!
2) SHIPS SHOULD HAVE INCENTIVES TO INSTALL TREATMENT TECHNOLOGY NOW AND OVER THE NEXT SEVEN YEARS RATHER THAN RELYING ON INFERIOR BALLAST WATER EXCHANGE. Until superior ballast water treatment requirements take effect, ships should not be precluded from installing these technologies in the first years of the new federal program.
3) ENSURE THAT STATES RETAIN THE RIGHT TO PROTECT THE GREAT LAKES UNTIL A STRONG FEDERAL PROGRAM IS IN PLACE.
4) ALL SHIPS ENTERING THE GREAT LAKES AND CLAIMING NO BALLAST WATER ON BOARD SHOULD BE REQUIRED TO REMOVE INVASIVE SPECIES USING BEST MANAGEMENT PRACTICES STARTING IMMEDIATELY. Senator Levin has introduced legislation that specifically requires BMPs for ships that may be carrying invasive species even if they are carrying little or no ballast water.
5) ENSURE THAT THE ENVIRONMENTAL PROTECTION AGENCY ASSUMES THE REGULATORY AUTHORITY TO ADMINISTER ANY NEW FEDERAL PROGRAM ADDRESSING BALLAST WATER. The EPA is the agency with the expertise to establish and enforce new ballast water standards.
6) ENSURE CONSISTENCY UNDER THE CLEAN WATER ACT. The bill defines "waters" too narrowly. This definition should be broadened to make it consistent with other legislative provisions.
Great Lakes congressional representatives who sit on the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee:
Democrats
Jim Oberstar -MN
Jerry Costello
- IL
Jerrold Nadler - NY
Julia Carson -IN
Tim Bishop - NY
Brian
Higgins - NY
Dan Lipinski - IL
Zack Space - OH
Michael Arcuri -
NY
John Hall - NY
Steve Kagen - WI
Republicans
Thomas Petri -
WI
Vern Ehlers - MI
Steve LaTourette - OH
Tim Johnson - IL
Randy
Kuhl - NY
Jean Schmidt - OH
Candice Miller - MI
Thanks to Minneapolis' own mayor R. T. Rybak and allies.
At today’s meeting of the U.S. Conference of Mayors, mayors from across
the country rejected efforts by the American Beverage Association and
Coca-Cola to stop a resolution that highlights the importance of
municipal water and calls for a study of the impact of bottled water on
city waste. Mayors voted to support the resolution, introduced last
week by San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom, Salt Lake City Mayor Ross
“Rocky” Anderson, and Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak.
The CBS-TV news story that caused so much comment last week.
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2007/06/21/eveningnews/main2963810.shtml?source=search_story
Great, if scary commentary. But it's Joan Wolfe, not Wolf.
Michigan citizens need to be aware that the 37-year-old landmark Michigan Environmental Protection Act is at grave risk in a pending Michigan Supreme Court decision. As one of many who fought for its passage in 1970, I urge Michigan citizens to take notice that the right of every citizen to go to court on behalf of our air, water and other natural resources could be overruled.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2007/jun/24forum.htm
Also of note is George Weeks' column on Great Lakes water:
The plight of the Great Lakes is getting increasing national media attention. Last week, CNN had vivid video of big Asian carp in the Illinois River leaping into open boats, including one in which the network's correspondent was clobbered.
Some of the coverage has been overboard, as when CBS hyped an evening news segment by asking: "Why is America's largest lake disappearing?” They're gravely pondering whether Superior is becoming inferior.
Nonetheless, there is a global water crisis and we are part of it. Stupak, who in the mid-1990s helped thwart a Canadian company's plans to sell water from the Great Lakes to China, said, "The challenge is a real threat to our livelihood and security. Wars will probably be fought.”
Dr. Jack Vallentyne, who passed away this week, was a Canadian scientist who did much to educate and inform the Great Lakes public and policymakers about the "ecosystem approach" to conservation. In retirement, he educated school kids in the persona of Johnny Biosphere. Here is one of his great moments, partially in his own words:
In July 1978, Vallentyne presented the arguments for an ecosystem approach to the International Joint Commission in an unorthodox manner. Standing in front of the commissioners and onlookers, he produced a bottle of whisky and four glasses from under a table. He poured a shot of whisky into the first glass, two into the second, four into the third and eight into the fourth glass.
"Commissioners," he said, "you and our leaders of government and industry believe that constant growth is a good thing. I am sure you are right. I am going to drink this whisky the way you say our society should grow." He promised to drink one glass each 10 minutes, and began making his formal presentation. It discussed growth as an exponential function -- constant growth meaning a doubling of the initial quantity over constant intervals of time. Just like his body, Vallentyne said, the Great Lakes Basin had limits of adaptability to the stresses of population growth and technology.
Vallentyne took a second drink, blinked and cleared his throat. He explained the ecosystem approach, citing acid rain, toxic chemicals and even road salt as examples of problems affecting water quality that couldn't be addressed by only considering water.
After the third drink, a reporter in the front row of the audience gasped, "It really is whisky!" Growing more theatrical with his ingestion of the liquid, Vallentyne demonstrated that there is no "away" in nature by crumpling a piece of paper and throwing it at the feet of the commissioners.
"After the fourth drink, my hands instinctively went to my chest as the whisky burned down my throat. After regaining my breath, I spent the better part of a minute looking unsuccessfully for the summary sheet of my text. Knocking himself on the head, Vallentyne realized the summary sheet was the one he had wadded up and hurled to the floor. He read it "cool and collected" to the commissioners.
The commissioners verified the validty of Vallentyne's stunt by sniffing the bottle, which did contain whisky, though diluted by tea. The chair of the Canadian section of the commission told a CBC reporter that the presentation had been "a simply staggering performance.
The timing was right for an ecosystem approach. Responding to suggestions made by Vallentyne and others, the U.S. and Canada incorporated the idea in the new Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, signed November 22, 1978.
Sad news -- this scientist/advocate was a pathbreaker in Great Lakes protection.
http://www.hamiltonspectator.com/NASApp/cs/ContentServer?pagename=hamilton/Layout/Article_Type1&c=Article&cid=1182486697628&call_pageid=1020420665036&col=1112101662670
Environmentalists notified shipping
companies Thursday of a lawsuit accusing them of violating
the federal Clean Water Act by releasing invasive species
into the Great Lakes.
http://www.cleveland.com/news/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/news/118250176828430.xml&coll=2
