Renegotiation of the GLWQA
In a June ceremony, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Canadian Minister of Foreign Affairs Lawrence Cannon announced the two countries would update this important pact to protect water quality.

Court victory over mining pollution
A Canadian federal court judge ruled in favour of Great Lakes United and its allies, finding that Environment Canada must direct the mining industry to report the toxics being released into tailings ponds and waste rock piles.

$475 million funding boost for Great Lakes protection
U.S. Congress and President Obama approved nearly half a billion dollars in new funding for Great Lakes clean up. The boost will help clean up toxic contamination, fight invasive species, and improve nearshore ecosystem health.

U.S. Coast Guard proposes stringent final ballast standard
The proposed rulemaking is designed to ramp up ballast discharge standards to the highest in the world, making significant gains in the protection against invasive species. However, an extended timeline and potential loopholes may delay or undermine the effort; vocal public comment is needed to prevent this.

Great Lakes United launches conservation initiative
Building on the framework set by the Great Lakes Compact and Agreement, Great Lakes United launched a three-year conservation initiative this past summer. The plan is a mix of high level policy action and public outreach through the Great Lakes United TALL SHIPS CHALLENGE® 2010.

Improved exhaust emissions from ships curtailed
In a short-sighted maneuver, Great Lakes politicians managed to exempt up to 26 lakers from new EPA exhaust emission standards. After the shipping industry lobbied for the exemption with overblown claims of economic calamity, the dirtiest ships on the lakes will continue to emit a black smoke of pollutants.

Report outlines principles to guide a 21st century shipping industry
As the St. Lawrence Seaway celebrates its 50th anniversary this year, Great Lakes United released a report that identified 7 principles necessary to guide the industry into a century of sustainability and prosperity.

A picture of the future of the Great Lakes? The dark blue shows a possible
outline of the Great Lakes in 2008, while the light blue shows the outline
of the Great Lakes today. Click for larger image.
Credit: Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative

Interns for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative have pulled together a possible outline map of the Great Lakes in 3008 – if the trends in water levels were to change in a pattern similar to that that has occurred over the past 30 years.

In the map, the current outline is shown in light blue; the dark blue shows what the lakes would look like in 3008.

The most dramatic change would be at the western end of Lake Erie and the connecting channels between Lake Erie and Lake Huron. Toledo would now be 75 kilometres distant from the shores of Lake Erie, and Detroit, Windsor, Sarnia and Port Huron would at most be along a minor stream.

Lakes Michigan and Huron would be the other lakes most severely changed. The southwestern end of Lake Michigan would have retreated 25 kilometres away from Chicago and Calumet Harbour.

The Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative carried out this exercise to show the significant potential effects that could result from the impacts of climate change on water levels in the Great Lakes and to show the potential impact of human-generated climate change on the Great Lakes.

For more information, contact Melissa Soline, program manager at the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative at melissa.soline@glslcities.org.

Tom wears many hats. In addition to being a charter boat captain, he is a freelance writer, a member of the Erie County Environmental Management Committee, New York Director to the Great Lakes Sport Fishing Council, Vice President of the Federation of Fly Fishers, Lake Erie Chapter, Corresponding Secretary to the Southtowns Walleye Association of WNY Inc. (Past President), a member of the Botulism Task Force, and is on the Fisheries Committee for the New York State Conservation Council. All of this experience has made Tom almost an expert on all things recreational and sport fishing, a multimillion-dollar industry full of economic spin-offs. Every year, anglers from all across North America come to the Eastern Basin of Lake Erie for what Tom says many believe to be the finest walleye fishing on the continent. Fishing tournaments occur all along the lakeshore, like this week’s Basseye Tournament. Beginning this past Wednesday night with the Bait, Beer, and Boats party, this celebration and tournament is meant to raise awareness and funds for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. It is also a beautiful opportunity to bring people to and out on the water to partake in our regions wonderful fishing and recognize the vulnerable balance our Great Lakes have.

In addition to fishing tournaments, charter fishing vessels exist in our section of the Lake. Tom is a part of the Eastern Lake Erie Charter Boat Association, a group with captains and boats at ports from Dunkirk to Buffalo. Tom estimates there are between 20 to 25 members in the group. There is room to grow this group however. Charter boat associations in other Great Lakes cities far exceed the number in our basin of the lake. As long as it done with responsible management, the charter boat industry could use Buffalo as a port of call to send boats all over the eastern Lake Erie Basin. Becoming a licensed charter boat captain might not be a bad new career. Tom became a licensed captain after retiring from his career as an engineer at Dunlop. Fishing, however, has always been his life.

Tom remembers his first trip in a rowboat with his father. After crying the whole way out, his father never thought four-year-old Tom would ever fish again. He couldn’t have been more wrong. Tom has fished Lake Erie his entire life any way you can whether it be drop line, downrigger, or fly fishing. Tom could tell stories of the Lake’s days as path for rum-runners and the details the Lake of his childhood. While those childhood Lake Erie memories of shores choked with seaweed and a ‘dead zone’ are gone, Tom’s passion lives on.

This article, the first in a two-part series, originally appearing on the Buffalo Rising website. You can read the second article here.

The chemical industry wants new flammability standards that will lead to toxic flame retardants being added to new TVs worldwide. These chemicals can cause an alarming array of adverse health effects in experimental animals including thyroid problems, reduced sperm count, infertility, hyperactivity, mental retardation, obesity, and cancer. And they are known to out migrate from our TVs into our pets, our children, and us. Children and pregnant women are the most vulnerable.

By June 27, standards setting committees in up to 50 countries will vote on a chemical industry marketing ploy to fill the plastic cases around the world’s TVs with toxic and unneeded chemical flame retardants.

Tell the CEOs of the big TV and electronics companies who will be voting this week that we don’t want toxic chemicals in our TVs. Your message will be sent to the CEOs of Sony, Toshiba, Pansonic, Samsung, Sharp, LG, Philips, and IBM.

To send your message visit:
http://takebackmytv.com/page/speakout/toxictvs