Organizing for America | Debra Shore's Blog: Standing in -- and Up -- for the Great Lakes

Standing in -- and Up -- for the Great Lakes

By Debra Shore - Sep 7th, 2007 at 10:42 pm EDT

Also listed in: Illinois Environmental Leaders for Obama

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Last Thursday I was invited to stand in for Barack Obama at a conference in Chicago of organizers and leaders on Great Lakes issues. Imagine, a gay Jewish conservation advocate over 50 born in Chicago and raised in Texas representing a skinny black man with a funny name born and raised in Hawaii! In truth, that diversity encapsulates the reach and appeal of Barack Obama's campaign, I think, for it invites all of us into a robust discussion of what it means to be an American. But back to the Healing Our Waters conference…..

The meeting organizers had invited all of the presidential candidates to send a representative to talk about their positions and plans on environmental issues. Obama's was the only campaign to do so - and the 200 or more people in attendance from all the Great Lakes states were very grateful.

First Barack sent a message of welcome to Chicago - his hometown, after all - and noted that he and his family live just a mile from the Lake Michigan shoreline, depend on lake water for their sustenance, and enjoy the lake for bike rides, swimming and play. Barack noted that when he served in the Illinois State Senate, his district extended east to the lakefront and south to the state border, so he was well aware of issues involving beach closings, water quality and the health of the lake.

"Protecting and restoring the Great Lakes is not merely a matter of sound environmental policy," he said in his message to the group. "It is the key to a robust regional economy and it is a matter of national security. Our posture with respect to the rest of the world has got to be one of sound stewardship of this precious, irreplaceable resource."

Obama is a sponsor of the Great Lakes Collaboration Implementation Act - a compelling blueprint for restoring water quality and biological diversity to the lakes. As president, Barack has said he would push for passage of this vital piece of legislation - and for funding that is a shared responsibility among local governments, states and the federal government.

Barack also has said he would make it a top priority to restore strength to the Environmental Protection Agency and see that sound science, not ideology, is the foundation of the law and guides every action.

Senator Obama is a sponsor of the Great Lakes Environmental Restoration Act and a co-sponsor of the National Aquatic Invasive Species Act. He has introduced legislation to significantly reduce the amount of mercury that is deposited in oceans, lakes and rivers and has successfully pressured the US Department of Energy to stop its proposed sale of large quantities of mercury to companies overseas.

Barack Obama has not only been a Great Lakes Senator, but I believe he would be a Great Lakes President. Every time he comes home to Chicago, he and his family use and depend on water from Lake Michigan for their very survival. The lake is, literally, in his blood. It's time we had a president from the heart of America's heartland who understands intimately the vital importance of healing our waters.

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