WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Without fanfare, President Barack Obama has okayed a large cash infusion to help clean up the Great Lakes, quietly signing a bill that was years in the making and marks a rare bipartisan milestone.

The former senator from Illinois, which borders Lake Michigan, did it on Friday. Few people knew about it until Monday.

That’s because the measure with $475 million for the Great Lakes was part of a broader spending bill that included money for other projects, including $4 million with which to buy additional property for the Cuyahoga Valley National Park. And attached to that Interior and Environmental Appropriations Act was a more urgent matter, namely, temporary legislation, called a continuing resolution, to keep agencies within the United States government operating until late December.


It had to be signed by the end of last week or the government would not be able to pay its bills, since Congress has not yet approved all the spending for the current fiscal year and the old resolution was expiring. So Obama signed it, barely 24 hours after the Senate took the last legislative step and passed the bill. While senators, environmental groups and reporters were expecting word from the White House on a signing ceremony or Great Lakes kickoff event, the president’s signature was already dry.

Still, the news brought cheers Monday. It will mean about $146 million can be spent in the next year to clean toxic sediment and areas of concern, including the lower Cuyahoga River, while $60 million more can go toward removing zebra mussels, keeping out Asian carp and dealing with other invasive species that threaten marine life, shipping and recreation, according to figures in Obama’s budget.

Another $97 million will go to reduce runoff and contamination from entering streams and rivers from farms and industry, while $105 million will help restore habitat and wildlife, including building the populations of lake trout, brook trout, lake sturgeon and piping plover. Finally, the budget has $65 million for accountability and monitoring.

This was a bipartisan accomplishment, set in motion during President George W. Bush’s administration when Great Lakes shippers, environmentalists, fishermen and recreational boaters created an ambitious restoration blueprint calling for investments from U.S. and Canadian governments, states and provinces and the private and nonprofit sectors. Yet despite his blessing, Bush never approved the necessary money, said Kristy Meyer, director of agricultural and clean water programs for the Ohio Environmental Council. The Bush White House and Republican lawmakers said at the time that the Iraq war and other other matters required them to shift their spending priorities.

That’s what makes this news "a huge deal," Meyer said Monday. "This is the first time ever that a president has given substantial money to the Great Lakes."

The spending bill also contains $3.4 billion for drinking water and sewer improvements acround the nation. It has another $4 million to add 635 acres to the Cuyahoga Valley National Park in Summit County.


Congress also inserted a provision that will exempt 13 ships from having to comply with a stringent new Environmental Protection Agency air rule. Great Lakes shippers said older steamships that could not burn low-sulfer fuel and would have to stop operating. Besides the 13 exempted, another 13 will be eligible to apply for waivers.

"President Obama is committed to protecting and restoring the Great Lakes and recognizes this is a shared effort in partnership with regional leadership," White House spokeswoman Amy Brundage said. "The Administration is very encouraged that the funding the president requested for the Great Lakes restoration initiative was in the final Interior Appropriations bill as it will help to improve water quality and reduce pollution in the nation’s largest system of fresh water."

Congress members from both parties, including Republican Sen. George Voinovich and Rep. Steve LaTourette, and Democratic Sen. Sherrod Brown and Reps. Dennis Kucinich, Betty Sutton, Marcia Fudge and Tim Ryan, supported the bill and pushed its passage.

"This is a great day for the Great Lakes and the people who depend on them for their jobs and their way of life," said Jeff Skelding of the National Wildlife Federation. Skelding is the national campaign director for a 110-organization coalition, called the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition,that has worked for this kind of federal commitment for years.
http://www.cleveland.com/open/...a_quietly_signs.html

Taking care of our most important natural resource?

It must be some diabolical leftist scheme...

This is obviously a socialist plot to take over the water supply system so Obama can filter in mind controlling substances like fluoride.

quote:

It had to be signed by the end of last week or the government would not be able to pay its bills,

Ok so how does the Fed Gov. plan on paying this bill??? With "Obama-Money"? lol. Gimme a break, these freaks are worse than my wife with a Credit Card... And don't worry all you liberal people out there, I understand it goes both ways, Repubs are no better... God I luv having no party affiliation, lol.

quote:

Originally posted by gobrowns41201:

Ok so how does the Fed Gov. plan on paying this bill??? With "Obama-Money"? lol.

Of course, until those printing machines break down.

There has to be a backdoor deal to supply Mexico with clean water in there somewhere

quote:

Originally posted by daDieken:
This is obviously a socialist plot to take over the water supply system so Obama can filter in mind controlling substances like fluoride.

A lot of people think fluoride is a joke. All I'll say is go read the tube of toothpaste that you own. I'm serious. The poison warning on it is because it contains a substance called sodium fluoride.

Sodium fluoride is the same rat poison that they used to put in our drinking water. It's true. Before the widespread use of sodium fluoride in our drinking water, it was primarily used as an effective rat poison. Again, go read your tube of toothpaste and see if I'm joking about the warning on it.

The good news is that most communities no longer use sodium fluoride in their water. The bad news is that they use fluorosilicic acid, which is even more toxic than sodium fluoride. Fluorosilicic acid is industrial waste from phosphoric acid manufacturing and phosphate manufacturing.

Sodium fluoride was at least tested on animals, but fluorosilicic acid was never tested to be safe for human consumption.

Right on Skeelos!

You may be too young to remember but while most of the country had fluoride in the water system, California did not because the old-school whack jobs convinced people that putting fluoride in the water was a communist plot with all sorts of wild conspiracy theories attached.

quote:

Originally posted by daDieken:
You may be too young to remember but while most of the country had fluoride in the water system, California did not because the old-school whack jobs convinced people that putting fluoride in the water was a communist plot with all sorts of wild conspiracy theories attached.

More like too old to remember. By the way, studies have shown that the increase in Alzheimer's correspond to the introduction of fluoride into the water supply. It was originally investigated because of the high incidence of Alzheimers among workers at aluminum refineries, which by sheer coincidence use a lot of fluoride. There's no causality proven between fluoride and Alzheimer's but a correlation. The fluoride dissolves aluminum and it's actually the aluminum that does the damage.

In fact, the correlation between fluoridated water and Alzheimers is much stronger than the correlation between CO2 emissions and global warming. The difference in public awareness of the two issues is due to the political forces behind the two issues. Lots of money for global warming studies, no money for more studies on the fluoride-Alzheimers link.

Read your tube of toothpaste yet?

quote:

Originally posted by skeelos:

Sodium fluoride is the same rat poison that they used to put in our drinking water. It's true. Before the widespread use of sodium fluoride in our drinking water, it was primarily used as an effective rat poison. Again, go read your tube of toothpaste and see if I'm joking about the warning on it.

My grandaughters dentist prescribed Sodium Fluoride tablets to strengthen tooth enamel. (which I was leary of) I looked up the side-effects and found this:



Recommended doses of sodium fluoride produce few side effects. Serious side effects can occur with overuse of sodium fluoride and include:
• aches and pains in the bones or joints
• black, tarry stools
• blood in vomit
• mottled or discolored teeth
• nausea, vomiting
• skin rash, itching
• sores in the mouth or on the lips
• stomach pain
• unusual weakness
Call your prescriber or health care professional for advice if you get any of these side effects.

Doesn't fluoride also cause neurological problems also??? Thought I heard that somewhere.

quote:

Originally posted by skeelos:

quote:

Originally posted by daDieken:
You may be too young to remember but while most of the country had fluoride in the water system, California did not because the old-school whack jobs convinced people that putting fluoride in the water was a communist plot with all sorts of wild conspiracy theories attached.

More like too old to remember. By the way, studies have shown that the increase in Alzheimer's correspond to the introduction of fluoride into the water supply. It was originally investigated because of the high incidence of Alzheimers among workers at aluminum refineries, which by sheer coincidence use a lot of fluoride. There's no causality proven between fluoride and Alzheimer's but a correlation. The fluoride dissolves aluminum and it's actually the aluminum that does the damage.

In fact, the correlation between fluoridated water and Alzheimers is much stronger than the correlation between CO2 emissions and global warming. The difference in public awareness of the two issues is due to the political forces behind the two issues. Lots of money for global warming studies, no money for more studies on the fluoride-Alzheimers link.

Read your tube of toothpaste yet?

I've known for some time the poison warning on toothpaste. I'm not doubting the dangers of fluoride, I don't know enough to make an opinion but I did that some states use some sort of fluoridated water in the drinking supply that kills fish.

quote:

Originally posted by AaannndddPunt:
Another $97 million will go to reduce runoff and contamination from entering streams and rivers from farms and industry,

Too bad we don't have an adequate system in place to make the farms and industries foot the bill for their own waste.

External Cost, gotta love it.