#greatlakes — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #greatlakes, aggregated by home.social.
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#Wisconsin Groups Call on #Evers to Halt #Enbridge #Line5 Following #MajorSpill
by Native News Online Staff, September 11, 2026
"Tribal leaders and organizations from across the #GreatLakes Region called on Wisconsin Gov. #TonyEvers (D) Thursday to halt Enbridge’s Line 5 reroute project and take action against the company following a major #NaturalGas liquids spill in northern Wisconsin.
"The press conference came two weeks after an Enbridge #pipeline rupture released approximately 31,000 barrels, or 1.3 million gallons, of natural gas liquids. Advocates described the incident as the largest pipeline spill of its kind in Wisconsin’s recent history.
" #BadRiver Tribal Elder #JoeBates, who obtained some of the first footage of the recent spill, described what he witnessed after receiving a call about the rupture.
" 'I got the call, and I went down to the site. I had no idea what I was about to see. The plumes of gas were like nothing I’ve ever seen before,' Bates said.
"The call for action also followed #Michigan Gov. #GretchenWhitmer ’s announcement Wednesday that she will reconsider state permits for Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 tunnel project beneath the #StraitsOfMackinac. #Whitmer also reiterated her opposition to continued Line 5 oil transport through the Straits.
" 'Yesterday, Governor Whitmer announced that she plans to spend her last three months as Governor cementing her legacy. She will prioritize protecting the Great Lakes from the catastrophic oil spill that Enbridge’s track record is moving towards. Today, we’re calling on Governor Evers to do the same and leave a legacy of putting people and our water above corporate interests,' said Elizabeth Ward, director of the #SierraClub Wisconsin Chapter.
"Dozens of organizations sent a letter Thursday to Evers and Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources Secretary #KarenHyun, calling on state officials to hold Enbridge accountable and shut down Line 5.
"The signatories include local organizations such as the #Chequamegon #Audubon Society; statewide groups including the Wisconsin #Wildlife Federation and Wisconsin #Ecolatinos ; and regional and national organizations such as the Great Lakes Business Network and Indigenous Environmental Network [ #IEN ].
"The organizations represent sportsmen, businesses, #environmentalists, #IndigenousPeoples, religious leaders, #CleanWater advocates and others who oppose continued operation of Line 5.
"Pipeline Safety Trust Director Bill Caram said the scale of the incident places it among the most serious pipeline spills in the country in recent decades."
#WaterIsLife #StopLine5 #NoLine5 #NativeAmericanNews #Pipelines #Resistance #CorporateColonialism #USPol #PipelineSpills #EnvironmentalCatastrophe
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Great Lakes sturgeon may be 400 years old:Scientists rethinking how to save them
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/ontario-great-lakes-sturgeon-lifespan-study-9.7329250
Comments: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=49624456
#HackerNews #GreatLakes #Sturgeon #Conservation #WildlifeResearch #EnvironmentalScience #AncientSpecies
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Damn if that Grand Haven lighthouse doesn’t make for some pretty shots: sunset in Grand Haven, 11 September, 2026. Photo by Mike Borstler.
#LighthousesOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeMichigan -
Manitoulin Island: The World's Largest Freshwater Island 🌊
Manitoulin Island is the world’s largest freshwater island located in Lake Huron The current name of the island is the English version, via French, of the Ottawa or Ojibwe name Manidoowaaling (ᒪᓂᑝᐙᓕᓐᒃ). It's home to hiking trails, Indigenous communities, and serene beaches. You can even find lakes *on* the island—with islands in them!
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The American Mariner departing Duluth just before sunrise, headed for Thunder Bay, 9 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior -
The American Mariner departing Duluth just before sunrise, headed for Thunder Bay, 9 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior -
The American Mariner departing Duluth just before sunrise, headed for Thunder Bay, 9 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior -
The American Mariner departing Duluth just before sunrise, headed for Thunder Bay, 9 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior -
The American Mariner departing Duluth just before sunrise, headed for Thunder Bay, 9 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior -
Republican Lawmaker Wants to Rename Lake Erie
A Republican lawmaker wants Lake Erie to be renamed “Lake Pennsylvania,” arguing that the state’s economy and identity…
#Canada #davidmaloney #GreatLakes #LakeErie #Pennsylvania #Republicans
https://www.europesays.com/canada/204449/ -
CNN's Laura Coates just pointed out that with President Trump renaming Lake Ontario to Lake America, the new names of the Great Lakes are...
S-uperior
H-uron
A-merica
M-ichigan
E-rieThat should make it easier for school kids to remember the Great Lakes names...
#LakeOntario #Trump #Canada #GreatLakes #SHAME #Politicshttps://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/27/us/politics/trump-lake-america-executive-order.html
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People sometimes tell me to put down the camera and “just enjoy the moment,” but making the photograph is how I engage with the moment. A picture isn’t like a family home movie that only matters if you know the people.
A photograph stands on its own, the same way art in a museum does. Some images connect, some don’t — and the viewer brings their own meaning to it. That’s why I keep making photographs.
#MatthaeiBotanicalGarden #AnnArbor #Michigan #GreatLakes #GardenPhotography #NaturePhotography #ArtAndMeaning #HealingPlaces #PhotographyThoughts
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I’m finally heading home to Virginia after two months in Michigan settling my dad’s and brother’s estates. On the way home, I returned to the University of Michigan Matthaei Botanical Garden in Ann Arbor. I last visited a couple of years ago when I needed my soul to heal, and coming back now — stronger, steadier — closed the loop on everything that’s happened since.
People sometimes tell me to put down the camera and “just enjoy the moment,” but the photograph is what brings the moment back. And even for someone who’s never been there, an image can still matter. A photo doesn’t transfer my memories — it sparks theirs. Light, color, and mood give the viewer something to connect with, even without knowing what I was going through when I pressed the shutter.
The garden remains a peaceful place for my heart and soul.
#MatthaeiBotanicalGarden #AnnArbor #Michigan #GreatLakes #TravelNotes #HealingPlaces #BotanicalGardens #gratitude
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#A2A - Connecting lands and people across the #Algonquin to #Adirondacks region
"For a resilient, ecologically connected #A2ARegion that sustains a full range of native #wildlife and enhances people’s quality of life for generations to come.
The time to reconnect is now.
Nature cannot survive on isolated islands. Between #AlgonquinPark and the Adirondacks, a crisis of fragmentation is unfolding.
Roads, development, and borders have severed ancient migratory pathways, trapping wildlife in habitat pockets too small to sustain genetic diversity, find food, or adapt to a rapidly changing climate. When we isolate nature, we weaken the very systems that sustain us.
The A2A region is a continental lifeline. As one of the last remaining large-scale, #IntactForest and #wetland linkages in #EasternNorthAmerica, this corridor represents our best opportunity to ensure wildlife can move north–south across the #GreatLakes – #SaintLawrence system.
Our mission is to heal and reconnect these landscapes. We must repair these broken links to restore the interconnected web of biodiversity that sustains the health of our region and the resilience of the entire continent."
Learn more:
https://a2acollaborative.org/#SolarPunkSunday #WildlifeCorridor #PreserveTheForest #ReconnectNature #US #Canada #Biodiversity #Interconnectedness #RestoringNature #NorthAmerica #NatureCorridors
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Hype for the Future 250L: Jefferson County, New York
Introduction Jefferson County is a notable county located at the beginning of the North Country in the State of New York home to the City of Watertown; the Villages of Carthage, West Carthage, Clayton, Adams, Sacksts Harbor, Black River, Philadelphia, Brownville, Alexandria Bay, Dexter, Theresa, Cape Vincent, Antwerp, Chaumont, Evans Mills, Glen Park, Mannsville, Deferiet, and Ellisburg; and the Towns of Adams, Alexandria, Antwerp, Brownville, Cape Vincent, Champion, Clayton, Ellisburg, […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/07/08/hype-for-the-future-250l-jefferson-county-new-york/
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Hype for the Future 224A: Benzie County, Michigan
Introduction Benzie County is a notable rural county located along the eastern shore of Lake Michigan in the northwestern portion of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula, associated with a number of notable glacial lakes throughout much of the county, especially in the east, and associated resorts such as the Sleeping Bear Resort, the Old Brundage Creek Mill, Baker’s Centennial Farm, and the Homestead Dam on the Benzie River. Along Crystal Lake are the communities of Beulah (the county seat) and […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/06/12/hype-for-the-future-224a-benzie-county-michigan/
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Hype for the Future 224/284: Leelanau, Michigan
Introduction Leelanau County is a notable county within the northwestern portion of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and is associated with the Leelanau Peninsula and a number of associated islands, most notably the Manitou Islands of the region. North Manitou Island is notable for Swenson’s Barn, the historic site of the Katie Shepard Hotel (Lot 1), and the historic North Manitou Island Lifesaving Station in the area, while South Manitou Island is notable for the South Manitou Island […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/06/12/hype-for-the-future-224-284-leelanau-michigan/
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Hype for the Future 221K: Antrim County, Michigan
Overview Antrim County is a notable rural county located within the northwestern portion of Michigan’s Lower Peninsula and along the Lake Michigan shoreline of the State by way of the East Arm Grand Traverse Bay. Today, the county is notable for the communities of Elk Rapids, Bellaire, and Mancelona, with the community of Bellaire serving as the county seat and Routes 31 and 131 serving the respective communities of Elk Rapids and Mancelona. Within the Elk Rapids area, notable community […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/06/09/hype-for-the-future-221k-antrim-county-michigan/
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Hype for the Future 209C: Lake Michigan Urban Corridor, Wisconsin
Introduction The southeastern portion of the State of Wisconsin along the western side of Lake Michigan is home to notable communities in and around Milwaukee, including Waukesha, Port Washington, Grafton, Cedarburg, Kenosha, and Racine, just to name a few. Notable features of the area include proximity to Lake Michigan and high urban densities relative to the smaller urbanized areas and urban clusters throughout the State. While the Grafton, Port Washington, and Cedarburg areas are to the […] -
Hype for the Future 208MIC: Manitowoc and Ludington
Introduction Within the Great Lakes region, the Cities of Manitowoc and Ludington are notable Lake Michigan cities connected via a seasonal ferry carrying the Route 10 corridor with the City of Manitowoc in the State of Wisconsin to the west and the City of Ludington in the State of Michigan to the east. While Manitowoc serves as the Manitowoc County seat, Ludington serves as the Mason County seat on the opposite side of Lake Michigan. Apart from Route 10, the City of Manitowoc is also a […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/05/27/hype-for-the-future-208mic-manitowoc-and-ludington/
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This week we’ve got travel editor Rachael Boardman’s love letter to her home town.
https://countyfencemagazine.com/a-love-letter-to-my-home-town/
#Sailing #BayOfQuinte #LakeOntario #GreatLakes #YGK #CanCon #HomePort #IndieAuthor #Magazine #Fence #Nomad #DigitalNomad #HomeTown @bookstodon #Books #Writing #Reading #Author #Writer #WritersOfMastodon #Readers #IndieAuthor #Authors #AuthorsOfMastodon #FridayReads #BookLovers #FreeBooks #WeekendReads #EasternON #KingstonON
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Spin the #ClimateChangeWeatherWheel and see where it lands!
US weather to go nuts with blizzard, polar vortex, heat dome, atmospheric river all at once
By SETH BORENSTEIN
Updated 12:03 AM EDT, March 13, 2026"Nearly every part of the United States is getting walloped by wild weather or just about to be.
"Days of downpours have begun in #Hawaii. The #Southwest will soon bake with day after day of record 100-degree-plus (38 Celsius-plus) #heat. Two storms will dump snow by the foot over northern #GreatLakes states. And the dreaded #PolarVortex will again invade the Midwest and East with soul-crushing #ArcticChill.
"This forecast of extremes comes as weather whiplash already hit much of the East. On Wednesday, Washington, D.C. residents walked around in shorts in record-breaking 86 degrees Fahrenheit (about 30 Celsius). On Thursday, it snowed.
" 'All of the country, even if you’re not necessarily seeing extremes, are going to see generally changing from cold to warm, or warm to cold to warm,' said meteorologist Marc Chenard of the weather service’s Weather Prediction Center in Maryland.
"Former National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration chief scientist Ryan Maue said he expects extreme weather in all 50 states."
#ExtremeWeather #USWeather #USWx #TemperatureSwings #RecordHeat #Blizzards #ClimateChange #ClimateChangeIsReal
#ThanksExxon! #BigOilAndGas #Oiligarchy -
Hype for the Future 104K: The National Forests of Michigan
Introduction Within the State of Michigan, three (3) distinct national forest zones exist serving notable roles throughout the scope of the community. The national forests in question are the Huron-Manistee, Hiawatha, and Ottawa National Forests, with the three distinct national forest zones offering unique perspectives on the general area of the Northwoods region of the Upper Midwest. Huron-Manistee National Forest Although the Huron and Manistee National Forests are geographically […] -
#Meteotsunami or #MeteorologicalTsunami
This entry was posted on October 2, 2024 by Anne Helmenstine (updated on May 6, 2025)
"#ClimateChange is expected to lead to more frequent and intense storms, including thunderstorms and squalls. These #AtmosphericDisturbances generate #meteotsunamis, so a rise in storm activity may result in more frequent meteotsunamis in certain regions.
Key regions include:
- #MediterraneanSea: One of the most well-known meteotsunamis occurred in the #BalearicIslands in 2006, with waves reaching over 4 meters.
- #GreatLakes (U.S. and Canada): The Great Lakes experience meteotsunamis during periods of intense thunderstorms or pressure changes. In 1954, a meteotsunami struck Chicago, causing significant damage and claiming seven lives.
- #EastCoast of the United States: Meteotsunamis have been recorded along the eastern seaboard, especially in the Gulf of #Maine and #Massachusetts Bay.
- #AdriaticSea: A notable meteotsunami occurred in Vela Luka, #Croatia, in 1978, reaching 6 meters in height."Source [very spammy website. Looking for a better source]:
https://sciencenotes.org/meteotsunami-or-meteorological-tsunami/#UnpredictableWave #RogueWave
#ClimateChange #AtmosphericDisturbance #AtmosphericDisturbances -
I finally got out of the house. The lake is gorgeous and strange, as always in winter. Also really freaking cold. It was worth it, though.
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The kids are alright
(Or maybe not, but some of them at least have an accurate understanding of why)#wny #NYState #lakeErie #GreatLakes #capitalism #lateStageCaptialism
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This from 2021. And yes, it's still sitting there. The alternatives? Desecrating #YuccaMountain? Polluting the #GreatLakes? Or maybe burying it underneath Congress? But until we figure out how to transport and permanently store nuclear waste, it is being stored on site. And not just in #Maine -- everywhere there was a #NuclearPowerPlant!
Armed Guards Protect Tons Of #NuclearWaste That Maine Can’t Get Rid Of
By Abigail Curtis, BDN
Published July 19, 2021"In the summertime, the picturesque village of #WiscassetME is infamous for its long lines of people hungry to try a lobster roll at Red’s Eats and cars that crawl through town on the often-clogged #USRouteOne.
"But just a few miles south of downtown is a different kind of roadblock: 550 metric tons of nuclear waste stored on a coastal peninsula at the now-decommissioned #MaineYankee atomic energy plant that have nowhere to go.
"The change in presidential administrations means another chance for the federal government to make good on its promise to remove the waste, so the site can be closed for good. The Biden administration’s Department of Energy seems to be picking up where the Obama administration left off, creating a process for communities to volunteer to host the waste.
" 'What worries me is that there really isn’t any national leadership right now on this stuff. There isn’t an agency that has a mission and has developed a strategy, that has goals and is willing to act on it,' Don Hudson, the chairman of the Maine Yankee Community Advisory Panel, said. 'We’re currently in this limbo.'
"That’s a problem because the waste — 1,400 spent nuclear fuel rods housed in 60 cement and steel canisters, plus four canisters of irradiated steel removed from the nuclear reactor when it was taken down — is safe for now, but can’t stay in Wiscasset forever.
"The situation in Wiscasset underscores a thorny issue facing more than 100 communities across the U.S.: close to a hundred thousand tons of nuclear waste that has no place to go.
"Securing these remnants of nuclear energy generation is an ongoing task that requires armed guards around the clock and costs Maine Yankee’s owners some $10 million per year, which is being paid for with money from the government.
"After the government failed to remove the spent fuel, Maine Yankee and the other two decommissioned nuclear power plants in New England — Connecticut Yankee in East Hampton, Connecticut, and Yankee Atomic in Rowe, Massachusetts — took it to court. So far, they have been awarded a total of $575.5 million in damages during four rounds of litigation, money that has been paid out of the U.S. Judgment fund. A fifth round is happening now, and the lawsuits are likely to continue until the fuel is removed.
"All told, the country’s many abandoned nuclear facilities — including Maine Yankee — have cost the federal government billions of dollars, a sum that increases by about $2 million each day, according to Eric Howes, the spokesperson for Maine Yankee and two other decommissioned plants in New England.
" 'All the #taxpayers in the United States are paying for the government’s failure to meet its obligations,' he said.
"But as the years pass, it seems that fewer and fewer people even realize that there are tons of nuclear waste on the secured site behind a chain-link fence on Bailey Point. Hudson and others worry that for many, it’s too easy not to think about it, diminishing the drive to find a better solution.
" 'Nobody ever travels by it. Nobody ever sees it,' Hudson said. 'It’s the classic out of sight, out of mind.' "
#nuclear #nuclearwaste #WaterIsLife #OceansAreLife #NoNukes #NoNewNukes #NuclearWaste #RethinkNotRestart
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#Palisades power plant will restart. Here's where on the #GreatLakes #NuclearPlants operate
Story by Sarah Moore, Lansing State Journal, 2/27/2025
"Owners of Michigan's Palisades nuclear energy plant this week announced a new five-year program aimed at restarting the power station while adding two smaller, modular reactors to the existing facility.
"Holtec has launched 'Mission 2030,' a program to build America’s first small modular reactors — Holtec’s SMR-300 — at the Palisades site in Covert Township, Michigan, with a target of 2030 for first commercial operation.' Holtec International said in a release. "The new SMR-300s will be co-located with the existing 800-megawatt Palisades plant, which is on track to restart after an extended outage following shutdown in 2022.'
"The program was discussed at a ceremony Feb. 25, at which #Holtec said it has joined forces with #Hyundai Engineering & Construction to build a 10-gigawatt fleet of SMR-300s in North America, the release said.
"Nuclear energy production is seeing growing interest for power generation because it requires no fossil fuels and can help reduce greenhouse gases. The systems, however, generate tons of highly #RadioactiveWaste that has to be stored. In #Michigan, waste is stored within a short distance of the #GreatLakes in some locations."
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/palisades-power-plant-will-restart-heres-where-on-the-great-lakes-nuclear-plants-operate/ar-AA1zUV7D
#RethinkNotRestart #NoNukes #Renewables #RenewablesNow #WaterIsLife #RadioactivePollution #HoltecLies -
How Did The Great Lakes Form? Scientists Think They Figured It Out
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https://www.earth.com/news/how-did-the-great-lakes-form-surprising-new-clues-have-emerged/#google_vignette <-- shared technical link
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https://doi.org/10.1029/2024GL110777 <-- shared paper
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#geology #mapping #structuralgeology #USA #Canada #GreatLakes #NorthAmerica #CapeVerde #hotspot #tectonics #magma #Superior #Michigan #Huron #Erie #Ontario #freshwater #lake #mantle #formation #pangaea #supercontinent #remotesensing #geophysics #continent #kimberlites #seismicvelocitymodel #model #modeling #plume #lithosphere #glacial #glacier #anisotropy -
VIDEO DROP: "a drive down 519" shows the exact location of the Copperwood Mine entrance road, crammed between the North Country Trail and Porcupine Mountains State Park, just a stone's throw from Lake Superior
Petition: https://www.change.org/p/protect-the-porkies-cancel-the-copperwood-mine
More info: https://protecttheporkies.com/
#ProtectThePorkies #LakeSuperior #SulfideMining #UpperPeninsula #Michigan #GreatLakes #MIStateParks
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One can’t help but wonder how the proposed Copperwood Mine would adversely effect #LakeoftheClouds and the pristine wilderness that surrounds it. We don’t want to find out. Please sign the petition at https://www.change.org/p/protect-the-porkies-cancel-the-copperwood-mine
#MIStateParks
#ProtectThePorkies #StopCopperwood #LakeSuperior #SulfideMining #UpperPeninsula #Michigan #GreatLakes #Water #ClimateAction #Copper -
Highland Copper wants to ruin the pristine #PorcupineMountains and pollute #LakeSuperior while they’re at it.
Tell them, no: https://www.change.org/p/protect-the-porkies-cancel-the-copperwood-mine
More info: https://protecttheporkies.com/f/attention
#SaveThePorkies #GreatLakes #SulfideMining #UpperPeninsula #Michigan #BlackRiver #environment #climate #HighlandCopper #StopHighlandCopper #Copperwood #StopCopperwoodMine
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#Leaders from 51 #TribalNations - including some in #Michigan blasted #Canada ’s support of #Enbridge ’s #Line5 #pipeline last week.
In a #report sent to the #UnitedNations #HumanRights Council, the group demanded #tribes from around the #GreatLakes have a say in the matter.
#Indigenous #FirstNations #StopEcocide #NativeLand #unceded #TurtleIsland #NativeRights #NativeTribes #UnitedForEcojustice #CorporateGreed #GovernmentOfCanada #EnvironmentalRacism #StopExploitation
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Race You To The Water
The other day I expressed some misgivings over the word that Earthworks chose to apply to water in the first sentence of its report, Polluting the Future: their characterization of water as an “asset,” I said, made me uneasy. The water flowing from springs and brooks, the water of rivers, lakes and streams, the raindrops that fall from the sky and the dew on the morning grass, the water in our bodies, in plants and trees, the water in dogs, flowers, bugs, fish, elephants, walruses and caterpillars, the water in everything that is alive on earth — water is and will always be something greater, more wondrous and something other than a mere entry in the accounting ledgers of some grand business enterprise, which is all that the word “asset” conjures for me.
I came across the word again today as I was reading an editorial in The Detroit Free Press. I am in complete sympathy with the position it takes against plans to build a huge network of oil pipelines carrying diluted bitumen (or dilbit) across the Great Lakes region, and to transport crude oil by barge across Lake Superior. These are reckless, irresponsible ideas. The threat they pose to the integrity of the Lakes and the life the Lakes sustain is only made worse when you consider a couple of salient facts. First (and it is curious that the editorial does not mention this), the new mining around Lake Superior — as I’ve noted repeatedly — is already going to put pressure on Lake Superior and the Lake Superior watershed; the shipping of oil by barge would bring even more industrialization and greatly heighten the risk of environmental catastrophe. Second, the company building and running the pipeline (the Canadian company Enbridge) has already been responsible for an environmental disaster in Kalamazoo, Michigan — the worst inland oil spill in US history, in fact.
The editorial takes the position that these plans betray a “deep misunderstanding of the true value of the lakes,” but when the editors try to say what that value is, they run into trouble:
It’s easy to wax poetic about the value of the Great Lakes to Michigan and the other states they border. The beauty of the lakes, the wildlife and fish that dwell in and around the lakes, the environmental benefits the lakes present — they’re incalculable.
But let’s get practical: Clean freshwater is one of the scarcest commodities there is. And it’s only going to get worse. Clean water will be an asset that’s worth far more than oil. Jeopardizing the Great Lakes isn’t just morally and ethically wrong. It’s financially foolish, as well.
It’s interesting how the argument here moves, in just a couple of short paragraphs, from the “incalculable” to the crudest of calculations — the “worth” of clean water. This is tantamount to arguing that what is “morally and ethically” right should take second place to what is financially sound — as if finance should have more claim on the imagination and intellect (and the heart) than morality, and monetary value should be privileged over moral and ethical considerations.
I suppose that’s the way it goes nowadays, and I just need to get real. Still, there’s a great swirl of confusion in these two paragraphs, and I have a number of questions about the concept of morality being invoked here, how we’re to distinguish it from ethics, and why those things don’t seem to figure into what are called “practical” considerations. Practice and finance here are unmoored from and unrestricted by moral and ethical concerns; it’s precisely that kind of thinking that got us into the precarious situation we’re now in.
One remedy for all this confusion may lie in the perspective that holds water to be a basic human right — a perspective I also found missing from the Earthworks report. But even then we need to go beyond talking about assets and recognize the limitations of the argument that “clean freshwater is one of the scarcest commodities.” Why? Follow the link from The Detroit Free Press editorial to the National Geographic site on the “Freshwater Crisis.” There you enter a Malthusian world:
While the amount of freshwater on the planet has remained fairly constant over time—continually recycled through the atmosphere and back into our cups—the population has exploded. This means that every year competition for a clean, copious supply of water for drinking, cooking, bathing, and sustaining life intensifies.
Here, all of humanity is engaged in a contest or race. More and more people enter every year to compete for the same, limited resources. This is one reason why it’s imperative to recognize freshwater as a human right. Otherwise, history becomes a death match, or a big, global reality TV show: intensifying “competition” over this scarce “commodity” means that there will be winners and losers in the water game. The winners are fully vested with their rights; the losers struggle to survive in arid, toxic regions, or simply die of thirst.
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#commodity #corporatePower #DetroitFreePress #dilbit #Enbridge #environmentalEthics #ethics #extractiveIndustry #finance #GreatLakes #humanRights #LakeSuperior #language #Malthus #Malthusianism #metaphors #Michigan #moralPhilosophy #morality #power #practice #scarcity #Water
