DETROIT — The Obama-Biden campaign recently announced a plan that addresses Great Lakes concerns, according to a September 16 article in the Detroit Free Press.
If elected president, Senator Barack Obama, D-IL, says he promises to:
● Dedicate $5 billion over 10 years to work that will benefit the Great Lakes
● Appoint a Great Lakes coordinator to make sense of the “bits” of policy currently scattered around in federal legislation
● Ratify and implement the Great Lakes charter to ensure policies are enforced and dollars are distributed
● Clean up toxic hotspots and strengthen controls on mercury
● Control invasive species by stopping their release through ship ballast water.
The plan covers points from a number of past Great Lakes efforts, such as President Bush’s Great Lakes Collaboration in 2004, which never came to fruition. According to the article, Arizona Sen. John McCain, the Republican presidential candidate, also generally speaks well of the Great Lakes.
The lakes issue has drawn attention from the two major campaigns because they border several electoral “swing” states.
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