Jenny Gets One Right
I have not had a lot of praise for Governor Granholm and she deserves very little but she did get it right on an issue that affects the Great Lakes State very much.
The Great Lakes themselves.
If we understand presidential candidate Bill Richardson correctly, he wants some of our water for the parched west. Understandable but not doable.
The water levels of our great inland freshwater seas are lower than they have been in nearly a century this is not showing any signs of reversing. Further reduction in water levels by artificial means would only accelerate this.
The west needs to find other ways to get water. They do need water but they need to find another source that is local. Here's an idea. Offer an X-prize, say 10 million tax free, to the person who can come up with an environmentally friendly way to bring water to these areas. The profit motive can always be counted on.
Governor Granholm said "Hell No!" She got one right.
Richardson now says he was misunderstood, but I don't see any other possible explanation of what he said.
The Great Lakes themselves.
If we understand presidential candidate Bill Richardson correctly, he wants some of our water for the parched west. Understandable but not doable.
The water levels of our great inland freshwater seas are lower than they have been in nearly a century this is not showing any signs of reversing. Further reduction in water levels by artificial means would only accelerate this.
The west needs to find other ways to get water. They do need water but they need to find another source that is local. Here's an idea. Offer an X-prize, say 10 million tax free, to the person who can come up with an environmentally friendly way to bring water to these areas. The profit motive can always be counted on.
Governor Granholm said "Hell No!" She got one right.
Richardson now says he was misunderstood, but I don't see any other possible explanation of what he said.
posted by shoprat at 4:25 PM
8 Comments:
Your Governor missed an excellent chance for some lucrative interstate trade. She should've agreed to send some water from the Great Lakes westward provided that they take the UAW with it.
The west needs to stop building cities in the desert. One day they will pay the price for wanting to live in permanent sunshine.
You're right, Shoprat. That's what he said. Happily he seems to have retracted his comment, but I'll bet this isn't the last we hear about this nitwit idea!
The Saudis already do it: desalinization plants. VERY expensive (hence the Saudis having them) but do-able. Finally, HOW in the hell would the water get to Fornicalia from, say, Michigan??? Pickup truck? Mule train?
BZ
I'm frustrated that both parties don't give a rat's behind to what is happening to our state and this is another example. Bill Richardson wants our water, Barrack Obama has basically told the auto industry "up yours" along with Kwame Kilpatrick (so much for black solidarity), both he and Edwards have taken their names off the primary ballot, and none of the Republicans, not even Mitt Romney (who comes from here) plan on doing anything to boost spending on public works or any other job creation. Their free market/tax cutting medicine is more like poison for us. So yes, it's true. Michigan is to be bled dry figurativly, and, if the southwestern states get their way, literally. Not only do we pay more than our fair share in federal taxes (why are we a donor state when we have the highest unemployment rate in the country) than Texas, a state that pays less to Uncle Sam than Uncle Sam gives them in public works. Why are we subsidizing states that are economically better off? I can understand them getting the same amount, but why should they get more? Especially when we can't afford it. I don't understand why anyone here would want to vote for ANY of the front runners from either party. They will keep trying to get our water. Every year, more people will move from here to other states, thereby lessening our numbers in the House of Representatives, and there may come a day when they vote to just take it away. If they can build the Alaska pipeline, I don't think a water pipeline to Arizona is out of the question. I fear it's coming. Grandholm is correct that we must get this compact approved before 2011, because there is a very good chance that we will have less House representation then, and no longer have the clout to get it passed.
tim
Michigan has never received a lot of respect. Even when Johnson and Nixon were president people were complaining about how little Michigan got back from the dollars sent to Washington compared to other states. They hoped it would change with Ford as president but it didn't.
Kinda obvious question, but wouldn't the OTHER states that border those lakes have a say in shipping off the water?
kurtp-The Great Lakes States (and Canadian Provinces) have drafted a document called the Great Lakes compact, that basically says that the water must remain in the Great Lakes watershed. The urgency to get something done by 2011 is that is when the next census is coming, which will probably take away House seats for Michigan and the other Great Lakes states.
Post a Comment
<< Home