How to Spend $475M

I noticed today that more than half of a year has gone by since I started posting and I have not run out of “musings”. More often, I just run out of time.

When I began to write this blog, I wasn’t sure exactly where it would take me. My initial intention was to reflect on the small part of the world around me but I quickly realized I had to do more. It’s that interconnected thing – one thing leads to another leads to another. I found myself clicking around on websites I never knew existed; my list of bookmarks is extensive and I have learned so much. My favorite sites are those of other bloggers. From them I learn not only what the issues are, I also can see that I am not alone in my feeling for these five Great Lakes and the area they encompass.

And that brings me to what I want to tell you today. If I didn’t read these blogs, I would not know about the $475M earmarked for Great Lakes Restoration Initiative that is part of the President Obama’s 2010 Budget. If it did appear in my local newspaper, it was buried between the local events and recipes or the obituaries. If it was in The New York Times, I missed it. Somehow, having lived in New York City and New York State for many years, I think that even if the Great Lakes money had gotten some coverage, it would have been miniscule at best. There is the New York perspective on the rest of this country and it does not often include the Great Lakes. It is only because of my fellow bloggers that I know of the $475M and have read discussions of what should be done with it.

The EPA is holding public hearings starting this week in all the Great Lakes States. The one in Wisconsin is tomorrow in Milwaukee. The one in Chicago will be webcast live from 6- 8 PM Wednesday evening, July 22. Check out some of the sites on My Blog List (to the left) if you want to read more about what my fellow bloggers are saying about the initiative.