THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED: That the Canadian Autoworkers recommends to Transport Canada that the goals of the supplement to the reconnaissance study be to: Examine the engineering needs and costs associated with maintaining the benefit of domestic shipping and jobs to the regional economy, and examine the economic justification of continued access by foreign ships to the Great Lakes basin.

A letter from Great Lakes United to the US Department of Transportation commenting on the proposal for a mandatory ballast water management program for US waters

Background information on Great Lakes basin water shortages.

TESTIMONY OF

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United urges the Government of Quebec to: not to approve the expansion of the outdoor high-level radioactive waste facility at Gentilly-2, and instruct the Board of Directors of Hydro-Quebec not to approve the planned repairs of the Gentilly-2 reactor, and announce as a matter of public policy that Quebec will be the first jurisdiction in North America to phase out of nuclear power as of 2008 at the latest, by which time Gentilly-2 will be permanently shut down, and announce as a matter of public policy that funds which would have been allocated to the repair of Gentilly- 2 will instead be invested in community-based energy conservation projects throughout Quebec.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United opposes the trading of any mercury emissions and reaffirms its support for the virtual elimination of the human use, generation and release of mercury to the environment.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United urge Great Lakes basin governments to create comprehensive, long-term energy strategies with extensive public input, addressing among other things: the environmental impacts of manipulating Great Lakes basin water flows to facilitate short-term increases in the output of existing hydroelectric power plants to meet temporary energy shortfalls, and the environmental impacts of new hydroelectric power dams, particularly those proposed in previously undammed rivers.

Therefore be it resolved that Great Lakes United urges Congress to require full Canadian participation in the design and implementation of the Supplement Report as a condition of further funding, and Be it further resolved that Great Lakes United urges Congress to require the Corps to work with other federal agencies and the Canadian government to agree on binational goals and objectives of the Supplement Report, including the following: To assess cumulative environmental damage and socioeconomic losses related to past commercial navigation system construction and operation, and To assess the engineering needs, economic benefits, and environmental and socioeconomic costs, both indirect and cumulative, associated with maintaining the current commercial navigation system, and. To examine the national and regional socioeconomic justification and environmental consequences of continuing foreign commercial shipping through the Great Lakes ecosystem.

Testimony of The National Environmental Coalition on Invasive Species before Joint Oversight Hearing, House Committee on Resources Subcommittee on Fisheries Conservation, Wildlife and Oceans and Subcommittee on National Parks, Recreation and Public Lands.

Great Lakes United believes this proposed rule is essential to improve, adopt and fully implement, as 72% of the invaders that have established since 1959 are from the ballast discharge of ocean-going ships (Reid, et al, 2002). In general, Great Lakes United supports the provisions under the proposed rule, “Penalties for Non-Submission of Ballast Water Management Reports” that require mandatory Ballast Water Management reporting and would apply penalties to ships operating without the required reports. Great Lakes United believes that strong enforcement and application of penalties are needed to analyze the effectiveness of existing ballast water management requirements-- requirements created to protect the Great Lakes from invasive species.

Factsheet on invasive species. Biological invaders have wreaked havoc on the Great Lakes ecosystem and have caused severe economic hardship to the people of the region. The Great Lakes remain extremely vulnerable to new invasions, underscoring the critical need to prevent the introduction of new invasions from the #1 vector: foreign-ships’ ballast water. Once a species invades and takes hold, it is here to
stay. The economic cost of these and other invaders is in the billions of dollars annually. The environmental costs are immeasurable.