Task Force Members to Biden: Canada Essential to Great Lakes Restoration
Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition
Contact: Lindsey Bacigal, BacigalL@nwf.org, (734) 887-7113
Jordan Lubetkin, Lubetkin@nwf.org, (734) 904-1589
Task Force Members to Biden: Canada Essential to Great Lakes Restoration
Earlier this week, members of the Great Lakes Task Force sent a bipartisan letter to President Biden, urging him to highlight the importance of the Great Lakes during an upcoming visit to Canada. Signatories to the letter included U.S. Reps. Brian Higgins (D-NY), Bill Huizenga (R-MI), Marcy Kaptur (D-OH), Dave Joyce (R-OH), Jack Bergman (R-MI), Mike Gallagher (R-WI), Debbie Dingell (D-MI), Elissa Slotkin (D-MI), and John Moolenaar (R-MI).
“The Great Lakes contain one-fifth of the world’s fresh surface water, providing drinking water for more than 30 million Americans and Canadians, supporting a $6 trillion regional economy, and providing habitat for a host of fish and wildlife,” the letter reads. “Through partnerships between the United States and Canada, sustained investments are critical to clean up toxic Areas of Concern, address the threat of invasive species, restore habitats, reduce harmful algal blooms, and mitigate other threats to the Great Lakes.”
The letter reminds that the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement and the 1954 Convention on Great Lakes Fisheries obligates both Canada and the United States to provide funding for the Great Lakes. In the U.S., this funding has come through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which has received approximately $300 million per year since the program started in 2010, as well as an additional $1 billion in funding over the next five years through Infrastructure Investment & Jobs Act. However, the Government of Canada has not committed to the same level of funding. As the letter states, these investments “will be essential to supporting the health of this treasured national resource, which is critical to both our nations.”
Since 2004, the Healing Our Waters-Great Lakes Coalition has been harnessing the collective power of more than 175 groups representing millions of people, whose common goal is to restore and protect the Great Lakes. Learn more at HealthyLakes.org or follow us on Twitter @HealthyLakes.
