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Yahoo
18-07-2025
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
Walleye, free concerts & more: 5 fun things to do this weekend in Northern Michigan
Whether you're looking for classical music, car shows or fishing tournaments, it's likely happening in Northern Michigan this weekend. Here's what we recommend: Fish for walleye in Sault The Michigan Walleye Tour will be in Sault Ste. Marie this weekend for two days of high-stakes competitive fishing. The event invites top teams to compete for glory in one of Michigan's most iconic fishing destinations. The fishing will take place on Friday and Saturday, July 18 and 19, with a start time of 7 a.m. daily from the launch site at 1225 Riverside Drive. The weigh-in will be at 3 p.m. daily. For registration info or to see the tour's full schedule, visit Enjoy free, classical music The Sound Garden Project: Fivemind Reeds will wrap up their series of free classical concerts in Cheboygan with multiple performances on Friday, July 18 and Saturday, July 19. The concert schedule includes: July 18: 9 a.m. Sunrise Sounds at Cheboygan Coffee Roasters July 18: 1 p.m. Yoga on the Opera House stage with Wild Hearts Studio July 18: 4 p.m. at Art Splash festival July 18: 8:45 p.m. Sunset Sounds at Duncan Bay Beach in Cheboygan State Park July 19: Noon 'Splash Down' competition at Art Splash July 19: 7:30 p.m. Final concert at the Opera House The project, presented by Interlochen Public Radio, is funded in part by Michigan Humanities, an affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities, and the Michigan Arts and Culture Council. More: Summer concerts, movies return to Petoskey's Pennsylvania Park in July Sounds of Summer starts in Petoskey Friday nights in Petoskey will have plenty of fun, with the Sounds of Summer concert series starting on Friday, July 18 with The Go Rounds. The free concerts take place at 7 p.m. in Pennsylvania Park. You can stick around after the concert for the Movies in the Park at Dark series, which will also begin on Friday with a showing of 'High School Musical.' For more information, visit Cruise the car show Emmet County Parks and Recreation is hosting the Cruise-In Car Show from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. on Sunday, July 20 at the Emmet County Fairgrounds in Petoskey. Gates will open at 9 a.m. on Sunday for vehicle registration. Participants will be required to pay a $15 fee per vehicle entered. Trophies will be awarded with door prizes throughout the day. Admission to the event is free for the general public. New Hemingway statue unveiled Horton Bay will welcome a new life size bronze sculpture of a young Ernest Hemingway with a special ceremony on Sunday, July 20. The prototype for the statue, 'The Young Boy and the Stream,' was created by Martha Sulfridge, a nationally recognized sculptor and recent resident of Boyne City, enlarged by sculptor Isaac Dell of Grand Rapids and then cast by Roger Smith of Michigan Art Castings in Leslie. The statue will be gifted to the community of Horton Bay and placed at the Bay Township Hall. Several community donations and grants from the Great Lakes Energy Prosperity Fund and Charlevoix County Community Foundation funded this project, which began in 2023. Festivities will take place from 12-2 p.m. with music, introductions and presentations followed by the unveiling and light refreshments. — Contact Jillian Fellows at jfellows@ This article originally appeared on The Petoskey News-Review: Things to do this weekend in Petoskey, Cheboygan, and Sault Ste. Marie Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
29-04-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Trump is bypassing community input to fast-track energy projects that risk pollution
This story is part of a Grist package examining how President Trump's first 100 days in office have reshaped climate and environmental policy in the U.S., and is made possible through a partnership with Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan. When President Donald Trump declared a national energy emergency on his first day in office, he directed the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to use emergency permitting for projects to boost energy supplies, including oil, natural gas, uranium, coal, biofuels, geothermal heat, hydropower, and critical minerals. Doing so effectively created a new class of emergency permit to fast track energy projects across the country. But environmental advocates worry this will harm the ability of the public to weigh in on projects that will contribute to climate change and harm sensitive ecosystems. Speeding up permitting for high-profile proposals will likely gain attention and trigger lawsuits, said David Bookbinder, director of law and policy at the nonprofit Environmental Integrity Project. But he worries that under the order, there will be less scrutiny paid to less well-known projects. 'The one thing that is clear is they're cutting back,' he said. 'They're shortening the amount of time for public comment.' Three laws grant the Army Corps authority to permit projects that impact wetlands and waters, including assessing their environmental effects: the Clean Water Act, the Rivers and Harbors Act, and the Marine Protection, Research, and Sanctuaries Act. The agency typically uses emergency permitting for projects that prevent risk to human life, property, or of unexpected and significant economic hardship, such as rebuilding infrastructure after a hurricane. Creating emergency procedures to address energy supplies is new. And according to Bookbinder, it's illegal. The corps has allowed the president to amend its regulation without going through the required process, he said, 'And the president can't do that.' Emergency procedures will be determined by each Army Corps district, a process Bookbinder called 'rather opaque.' For instance, he said, it's not clear whether or how the corps will go through the environmental analysis required by the National Environmental Policy Act, or NEPA. The landmark 1970 law requires the federal government to account for environmental impacts before permitting a project, and is sometimes the only opportunity for people to weigh in on projects that will affect them. This is part of a much larger effort to increase energy production, including through drilling and mining; last week the Interior Department announced it would fast-track such projects on public lands. The Trump administration has also moved to unravel and decentralize how NEPA is implemented. Doug Garman, a spokesperson with the agency headquarters, said in an email the Army Corps is still required to comply with 'all applicable laws and regulations,' including NEPA, and that 'coordination of these reviews will be subject to the emergency declared under [the executive order.]' Garman said current regulations do allow the agency to respond to the declared emergency in this manner. Concrete changes are already taking place. Two Clean Water Act permits for Texas projects — that the corps designated as emergencies — now have shortened comment periods lasting less than two weeks: the Texas Connector pipeline supplying Port Arthur liquefied natural gas and the Rio Grande liquefied natural gas ship channel. The Army Corps also announced it will speed up its review of a contentious tunnel under the Great Lakes that would house a section of the Line 5 pipeline, which carries oil and natural gas liquids from Wisconsin to Ontario. The 72-year-old pipeline currently runs about four miles underwater in the straits between lakes Michigan and Huron. Read Next Trump's quest for 'energy dominance' is all about the vibes Kate Yoder Shane McCoy, a regulatory branch chief with the corps' Detroit District, told reporters the emergency procedures 'truncated' its timeline but that they weren't 'eliminating any of the steps' in the process. The corps said the project qualifies as an emergency and that a faster review will allow it 'to address an energy supply situation' which would risk life, property, and unexpected and significant economic hardship. The pipeline's owner, Canada-based Enbridge, first applied for a federal permit to build the tunnel in 2020. It says doing so would make the pipeline safer by reducing the risk of an oil spill and calls it 'critical energy infrastructure.' But the permitting process had been deeply flawed even before it had been fast tracked, according to seven tribal nations in Michigan that withdrew from federal talks on the tunnel. 'The Straits of Mackinac is spiritually, culturally, and economically vital to Tribal Nations,' tribal leaders wrote in a letter to the corps, saying that the agency's environmental review process 'disregards this deep place-based connection and instead seems designed to ensure that oil — and its associated threats — will continue to exist throughout the treaty ceded territory, including in the Great Lakes and the Straits.' The decision to speed up that review was the 'final straw,' according to Whitney Gravelle, president of the Bay Mills Indian Community. 'We will continue to defend the rights of the Great Lakes. See you in court,' she said in an emailed statement after the change was announced. There's also the matter of the energy emergency itself. The executive order holds that the country's 'insufficient energy production, transportation, refining, and generation constitutes an unusual and extraordinary threat to our Nation's economy, national security, and foreign policy.' But many energy experts have said that isn't accurate, adding to numerous legal questions surrounding the order. Under former President Joe Biden, the United States produced record amounts of oil and gas, and remained the world's largest liquid natural gas exporter, though that administration cut back on leasing federal lands for drilling and slowed some gas exports. The White House did not respond to an emailed request for comment. 'Overall, our production levels for fossil fuels were quite high,' said David Spence, a professor of energy law at the University of Texas at Austin. 'So on the oil and gas side of things, to the extent that the Trump administration wants to increase production, it's going to be incremental at best because the market will only take as much as the market wants, and we were doing a pretty good job of satisfying that demand beforehand.' Faster permitting will likely benefit individual projects, Spence said, along with oil companies and exporters of products like liquefied natural gas. While Trump's executive order doesn't directly mention wind or solar, it implied that such energy made the grid unreliable. It also includes critical minerals in its push for domestic extraction — minerals used in renewable technologies. Spence said the supply of critical minerals is less secure because the U.S. relies on foreign imports. 'If that's what the emergency is aimed at, then you can sort of make that case with more of a straight face.' Still, he said in an email, 'I generally think that 'energy independence' is a silly idea. Trade happens because it benefits both parties. Getting in the way of that takes away those benefits.' Enbridge is among IPR's financial sponsors. Financial sponsors have no influence on IPR's news coverage. This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Trump is bypassing community input to fast-track energy projects that risk pollution on Apr 29, 2025.
Yahoo
27-03-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
The US and Canada have long managed the Great Lakes together. That era could be ending.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist, Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan, and WBEZ, a public radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan region. Great Lakes Day is an annual summit where politicians and officials of all stripes gather in Washington, D.C., to demonstrate their commitment to the region home to the largest freshwater ecosystem on the planet. For years, leaders from the United States and Canada have met at the event without incident. But earlier this month and amid a tariff dispute between the two nations, the Trump administration abruptly disinvited two Canadian mayors from the long-standing White House meeting. The last-minute exclusion of Montreal Mayor Valérie Plante and St. Catharines Mayor Mat Siscoe came just 48 hours before the event due to 'diplomatic protocols,' according to Christine Maydossian, a spokesperson for the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, which coordinates the meeting and submitted the names of the two Canadian mayors and one American to White House officials a month earlier. Neither Canadian mayor responded to a request for comment. Since taking office in January, President Donald Trump and his administration has repeatedly stoked tensions with Canada, once considered the United States' closest ally. Along with trade and tariffs, this strife has also raised questions about how the region's water resources will be managed. Amid the escalating political tensions, some Great Lakes advocates worry the diplomatic snub is a warning sign that one of the world's most successful examples of water-sharing could become collateral damage in a geopolitical rift. 'We are worried that maybe behind all this is the idea that a country one day will be able to take water out of the Great Lakes and manage water not as an ecosystem that needs to be preserved in its watershed, but as a resource, as a commodity,' said Jérôme Marty, speaking as the director of the International Association for Great Lakes Research. The New York Times reported earlier this month that in calls with then-Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, Trump had 'mentioned revisiting the sharing of lakes and rivers between the two nations.' 'President Trump has made clear the need for Canada to stop ripping off the United States on trade. President Trump will explore any and all actions that put the interests of America first,' said Brian Hughes, a spokesperson with the National Security Council, in an emailed statement to Grist. (The White House did not respond directly to Grist's questions about cooperation between the two countries concerning the Great Lakes.) For over a century, the United States and Canada have worked in tandem to manage four of the five Great Lakes that straddle both countries: Superior, Huron, Erie, and Ontario. That cooperative arrangement — with which the countries settle everything from water use to navigation to invasive species to pollution — may now be on the line. Read Next Will JD Vance save the Great Lakes from Trump? Izzy Ross & Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco 'We cannot let this be sacrificed,' said Rachel Havrelock, a professor at the University of Illinois Chicago who directs the Freshwater Lab, an environmental research initiative focused on the Great Lakes and environmental justice. 'This is the most stable, productive, and mutually beneficial form of binational water governance on Earth,' she added. The lakes provide drinking water for more than 30 million people spread across both sides of the border. The U.S. and Canada, then under British rule, signed the Boundary Waters Treaty in 1909, a highly-praised water sharing agreement that formed the International Joint Commission, or IJC, a binational organization that aims to prevent and resolve disputes over shared lakes and rivers. (The arrangements between the two countries long sidelined Indigenous nations, which the U.S.-Canada border artificially bisect. For example, the IJC did not invite Indigenous representatives to participate until the 1980s, despite the sovereign rights of those nations. Indigenous communities often face disproportionate impacts from pollution and climate change, and recent IJC assessments have acknowledged that strengthening relationships with Indigenous governments is key to improving its response to those threats.) The relationship was further cemented by the Great Lakes Fishery Commission, established in 1955, which coordinates how invasive species and fisheries are managed, and again by the 1972 Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, which committed the two nations to 'restore and maintain' the health of the lakes. Those are just three among a layered patchwork of treaties and other agreements between local, state, federal, and tribal governments that determine Great Lakes management. Some don't necessarily rely on federal involvement, such as the Great Lakes Agreement and Compact, which protects the water from being shipped to other states and regions. Trump has cast doubt on the stability of these agreements by breaking a series of diplomatic taboos, including calling Canada the '51st state' and halting negotiations on the Columbia River Treaty, after referring to the British Columbia river as a 'large faucet' that could be used to solve California's water crisis last year. Policy experts say Trump's recent tack raises a red flag for the future of the Great Lakes. Read Next Iced out? Research on the Great Lakes goes ahead amid funding chaos. Izzy Ross 'The water and the resources don't recognize international boundaries,' said Mike Shriberg, a faculty member at the University of Michigan who specializes in Great Lakes policy. 'You can't manage things like invasive species from only one country and not the other. You can't manage harmful algal blooms from one country or the other. The information on the flow of ice and what that means for shipping has to be shared across borders.' Shriberg said the Trump administration's funding freeze and staffing cuts related to management of the lakes are impacting how the U.S. will protect them and meet its obligations with Canada — concerns that prompted him to write an op-ed making the case for politicians to unify to protect the Great Lakes. Some areas have shown signs of revival; the Great Lakes Fishery Commission's sea lamprey program can begin rehiring U.S. federal workers to control the invasive species, which can wreak havoc on other fish. That means the program will move forward, albeit weeks behind schedule. But other threats are visible, according to Shriberg: There are more bureaucratic roadblocks to federal scientists working with their Canadian counterparts on everything from harmful algal blooms to flooding — work he said had until this point been 'seamless.' 'It's often not happening because of the chaos within the agencies that's being caused by all the cutbacks,' Shriberg said. Those cutbacks have reached the NOAA Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory, which has been rocked by staffing upheavals, with a fifth of their employees reportedly retiring, resigning, fired, or on leave, including the communications team. 'You're already seeing a breakdown in capacity to do the basic work that we need to protect the lakes,' he said. This story was originally published by Grist with the headline The US and Canada have long managed the Great Lakes together. That era could be ending. on Mar 27, 2025.
Yahoo
15-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Will JD Vance save the Great Lakes from Trump?
Lake Michigan | Susan J. Demas 'This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist's weekly newsletter here.' This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist, Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan, and WBEZ, a public radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan region. Last year, Vice President JD Vance, then an Ohio senator, was part of a bipartisan coalition calling to increase funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, or GLRI — among the country's largest investments aimed at protecting and restoring the Great Lakes. 'The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative delivers the tools we need to fight invasive species, algal blooms, pollution, and other threats to the ecosystem,' said Vance, who was co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force when the reauthorization bill was announced. He voted to extend and increase funding for the project until 2031. 'This is a commonsense, bipartisan effort that I encourage all of my colleagues to support,' Vance said. Advocates hope he hasn't changed his mind. The five Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario — represent the largest freshwater ecosystem in the world and a source of drinking water for about 10 percent of the country's population. Since 2010, the massive GLRI spending package has helped fund everything from microplastics research to algal bloom elimination to climate-resilient shorelines. Just this week, Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan and Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana introduced a bill that would reauthorize funding at $500 million per year for the next five years. Politicians often point to the initiative as proof that they can agree on conservation and environmental issues. But its future may be at risk. The last time Trump was in office, his administration tried and failed to slash or even eliminate GLRI funding several times. Now, Trump is taking aim at environmental spending, including funding for programs tied to environmental justice and climate change. Vance has changed course on environmental issues as he has risen through the political ranks, such as his support for coal, electric vehicles, and even what he's said about human-caused climate change. He also invested in and sat on the board of the disastrous indoor farming operation AppHarvest. Advocates hope that Vance might save the GLRI despite a hostile political environment. Already, the Trump administration has frozen billions of dollars from two major initiatives passed under former president Joe Biden: the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law. Amid escalating uncertainty around federal support, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker preemptively halted construction earlier this week on a billion-dollar megaproject to prevent the spread of invasive fish in the Great Lakes. But Trump's blocking of federal funds for climate and DEI initiatives could put him at odds with longstanding bipartisan support for the Great Lakes — including from Vance. 'We know [Vance] supports Great Lakes restoration and protection,' said Laura Rubin, the director of Healing Our Waters–Great Lakes Coalition, a Michigan-based advocacy organization for federal environmental policy. 'He was a champion of it, and we're hoping that translates into his role as vice president.' The vice president's office did not respond to Grist's requests for comment. The GLRI began as a bipartisan response to mounting environmental problems in the early 2000s: rampant industrial and agricultural pollution, declining fish stocks, and growing threats of invasive species. Recently retired Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow helped launch the initiative 15 years ago, during the Obama administration. 'We need a fund that has broad jurisdiction, that can be activated immediately when there is a crisis,' she said at a policy conference in January. The GLRI was preceded by a 2004 executive order from former president George W. Bush to create a regional task force — an attempt at improving coordination among federal agencies, states, and tribes to remediate freshwater ecosystems. Since it began, the GLRI has funded over 8,000 projects, with the federal government spending approximately $5 billion over the last 14 years, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 'That [funding] goes to cleaning up some of the most contaminated properties in our harbors and cities,' Rubin said. 'It goes to improving habitats and removing invasive species. It goes to reducing phosphorus and nutrient runoff, and it goes to education and outreach.' Many lawmakers support the GLRI for its economic benefits, such as increased tourism, job creation, and commercial development. A 2018 economic analysis from the Great Lakes Commission and the Council of Great Lakes Industries found that every federal dollar spent through the landmark program resulted in about $3 of additional benefits. Bill Huizenga, a Republican representative from Michigan, co-sponsored the latest push to reauthorize the GLRI. He recently posted a video from a regional environmental summit, urging a plan for how to 'parlay the relationships with JD Vance and people who are familiar with' the GLRI and explain what this investment means ecologically and economically. Huizenga's office didn't respond to requests for comment. But funding can't protect the Great Lakes if there's nobody to direct it. The Trump administration, as part of a broader campaign, has begun an aggressive push to gut federal agencies, including the EPA, which oversees the GLRI. Last week, EPA workers were notified that more than 1,000 positions filled within the previous year could be terminated at any time. Not long after, a total of 168 employees who work on environmental justice projects were placed on paid administrative leave. Both deal a major blow to the EPA office that regulates much of the Midwest and Great Lakes, according to Nicole Cantello, president of the union that represents regional EPA workers. She estimated the Trump administration's cuts could cost the office approximately 200 employees — one fifth of its entire workforce. Cantellos said that's bad news for offices like the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office, which leads GLRI implementation. 'I don't know how strong that program will be after all this round of resignations and dismissals.' she said. The program — which has relied on funding from the the bipartisan infrastructure law to clean up some of the most environmentally damaged areas of the Great Lakes region — has a much lower percentage of obligated funds compared to many others. This means it could be at a greater risk of clawbacks; less than half of the appropriated $597 million had been obligated as of January 6, according to an EPA report. Last year, when the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was cutting overall spending levels, it didn't touch the GLRI, according to Don Jodery, director of federal relations for the nonprofit Alliance of the Great Lakes. Jodery said it's fair for new administrations to review federal funding and agency staffing. 'But some of these programs are really, critically important,' he said,' 'and they really shouldn't be up for debate as to whether or not they need to be funded.' This article originally appeared in Grist at Grist is a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Learn more at
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Will J.D. Vance save the Great Lakes from Trump?
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between Grist, Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan, and WBEZ, a public radio station serving the Chicago metropolitan region. Last year, Vice President J.D. Vance, then an Ohio senator, was part of a bipartisan coalition calling to increase funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, or GLRI — among the country's largest investments aimed at protecting and restoring the Great Lakes. 'The Great Lakes Restoration Initiative delivers the tools we need to fight invasive species, algal blooms, pollution, and other threats to the ecosystem,' said Vance, who was co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force when the reauthorization bill was announced. He voted to extend and increase funding for the project until 2031. 'This is a commonsense, bipartisan effort that I encourage all of my colleagues to support,' Vance said. Advocates hope he hasn't changed his mind. The five Great Lakes — Superior, Michigan, Huron, Erie, and Ontario — represent the largest freshwater ecosystem in the world and a source of drinking water for about 10 percent of the country's population. Since 2010, the massive GLRI spending package has helped fund everything from microplastics research to algal bloom elimination to climate-resilient shorelines. Just this week, Democratic Senator Gary Peters of Michigan and Republican Senator Todd Young of Indiana introduced a bill that would reauthorize funding at $500 million per year for the next five years. Politicians often point to the initiative as proof that they can agree on conservation and environmental issues. But its future may be at risk. The last time Trump was in office, his administration tried and failed to slash or even eliminate GLRI funding several times. Now, Trump is taking aim at environmental spending, including funding for programs tied to environmental justice and climate change. Vance has changed course on environmental issues as he has risen through the political ranks, such as his support for coal, electric vehicles, and even what he's said about human-caused climate change. He also invested in and sat on the board of the disastrous indoor farming operation AppHarvest. Advocates hope that Vance might save the GLRI despite a hostile political environment. Already, the Trump administration has frozen billions of dollars from two major initiatives passed under former president Joe Biden: the Inflation Reduction Act and the bipartisan infrastructure law. Amid escalating uncertainty around federal support, Illinois Governor JB Pritzker preemptively halted construction earlier this week on a billion-dollar megaproject to prevent the spread of invasive fish in the Great Lakes. But Trump's blocking of federal funds for climate and DEI initiatives could put him at odds with longstanding bipartisan support for the Great Lakes — including from Vance. 'We know [Vance] supports Great Lakes restoration and protection,' said Laura Rubin, the director of Healing Our Waters–Great Lakes Coalition, a Michigan-based advocacy organization for federal environmental policy. 'He was a champion of it, and we're hoping that translates into his role as vice president.' The vice president's office did not respond to Grist's requests for comment. Read Next How J.D. Vance's hometown has won millions in climate investment that he calls a 'green scam' Oliver Milman, The Guardian The GLRI began as a bipartisan response to mounting environmental problems in the early 2000s: rampant industrial and agricultural pollution, declining fish stocks, and growing threats of invasive species. Recently retired Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow helped launch the initiative 15 years ago, during the Obama administration. 'We need a fund that has broad jurisdiction, that can be activated immediately when there is a crisis,' she said at a policy conference in January. The GLRI was preceded by a 2004 executive order from former president George W. Bush to create a regional task force — an attempt at improving coordination among federal agencies, states, and tribes to remediate freshwater ecosystems. Since it began, the GLRI has funded over 8,000 projects, with the federal government spending approximately $5 billion over the last 14 years, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. 'That [funding] goes to cleaning up some of the most contaminated properties in our harbors and cities,' Rubin said. 'It goes to improving habitats and removing invasive species. It goes to reducing phosphorus and nutrient runoff, and it goes to education and outreach.' Many lawmakers support the GLRI for its economic benefits, such as increased tourism, job creation, and commercial development. A 2018 economic analysis from the Great Lakes Commission and the Council of Great Lakes Industries found that every federal dollar spent through the landmark program resulted in about $3 of additional benefits. Bill Huizenga, a Republican representative from Michigan, co-sponsored the latest push to reauthorize the GLRI. He recently posted a video from a regional environmental summit, urging a plan for how to 'parlay the relationships with J.D. Vance and people who are familiar with' the GLRI and explain what this investment means ecologically and economically. Huizenga's office didn't respond to requests for comment. But funding can't protect the Great Lakes if there's nobody to direct it. The Trump administration, as part of a broader campaign, has begun an aggressive push to gut federal agencies, including the EPA, which oversees the GLRI. Last week, EPA workers were notified that more than 1,000 positions filled within the previous year could be terminated at any time. Not long after, a total of 168 employees who work on environmental justice projects were placed on paid administrative leave. Both deal a major blow to the EPA office that regulates much of the Midwest and Great Lakes, according to Nicole Cantello, president of the union that represents regional EPA workers. She estimated the Trump administration's cuts could cost the office approximately 200 employees — one fifth of its entire workforce. Cantellos said that's bad news for offices like the EPA's Great Lakes National Program Office, which leads GLRI implementation. 'I don't know how strong that program will be after all this round of resignations and dismissals.' she said. The program — which has relied on funding from the the bipartisan infrastructure law to clean up some of the most environmentally damaged areas of the Great Lakes region — has a much lower percentage of obligated funds compared to many others. This means it could be at a greater risk of clawbacks; less than half of the appropriated $597 million had been obligated as of January 6, according to an EPA report. Last year, when the Republican-controlled House of Representatives was cutting overall spending levels, it didn't touch the GLRI, according to Don Jodery, director of federal relations for the nonprofit Alliance of the Great Lakes. Jodery said it's fair for new administrations to review federal funding and agency staffing. 'But some of these programs are really, critically important,' he said,' 'and they really shouldn't be up for debate as to whether or not they need to be funded.' This story was originally published by Grist with the headline Will J.D. Vance save the Great Lakes from Trump? on Feb 14, 2025.
