Protect and Conserve the Great Lakes
News! Historic Great Lakes Compact Vote Expected Tomorrow, Legislators Urged to Support Compact Bill
The Great Lakes, containing almost 20% of the world’s fresh surface water, are valuable and vulnerable. Decisions we make today about how to jointly manage the Great Lakes will impact the economic and environmental vitality of the region.
On December 13, 2005, all of the Great Lakes Governors and the Premiers of Ontario and Quebec signed the Great Lakes Compact, which establishes minimum uniform standards to protect the waters of the Great Lakes. Now it is up to the Great Lakes States and Canadian Provinces to affirm and strengthen the protections laid out in the Great Lakes Compact. Ask your legislators to strengthen state legislation to stop exporting Great Lakes water a bottle at a time, require water conservation across the state and ensure the Compact meets Wisconsin's strong constitutionally-mandated Public Trust Doctrine. In September 2006 MEA was selected to serve on the Legislative Council's Special Committee on Great Lakes Water Resources Compact. MEA is working to have the Committee produce state legislation to implement the compact. A historic milestone on the Great Lakes Compact was reached March 6, 2008 when the Wisconsin Senate passed the Compact bill (SB 523) with a 26-6 bipartisan supermajority vote!! Read more here! |