#greatlakes — Public Fediverse posts
Live and recent posts from across the Fediverse tagged #greatlakes, aggregated by home.social.
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Like an ocean - Lake Erie... 🌊
9 years ago... 🗓️#Photography #Photograph #Photo #meerMittwoch #seaWednesday #LakeErie #GreatLakes #CedarPoint
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Like an ocean - Lake Erie... 🌊
9 years ago... 🗓️#Photography #Photograph #Photo #meerMittwoch #seaWednesday #LakeErie #GreatLakes #CedarPoint
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Like an ocean - Lake Erie... 🌊
9 years ago... 🗓️#Photography #Photograph #Photo #meerMittwoch #seaWednesday #LakeErie #GreatLakes #CedarPoint
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Like an ocean - Lake Erie... 🌊
9 years ago... 🗓️#Photography #Photograph #Photo #meerMittwoch #seaWednesday #LakeErie #GreatLakes #CedarPoint
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Like an ocean - Lake Erie... 🌊
9 years ago... 🗓️#Photography #Photograph #Photo #meerMittwoch #seaWednesday #LakeErie #GreatLakes #CedarPoint
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An orange glow for a Monday morning arrival in Duluth of the H. Lee White to fuel and then unload stone at Canadian National Hallett Dock 5, 14 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior
#DestinationDuluth -
An orange glow for a Monday morning arrival in Duluth of the H. Lee White to fuel and then unload stone at Canadian National Hallett Dock 5, 14 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior
#DestinationDuluth -
An orange glow for a Monday morning arrival in Duluth of the H. Lee White to fuel and then unload stone at Canadian National Hallett Dock 5, 14 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior
#DestinationDuluth -
An orange glow for a Monday morning arrival in Duluth of the H. Lee White to fuel and then unload stone at Canadian National Hallett Dock 5, 14 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior
#DestinationDuluth -
An orange glow for a Monday morning arrival in Duluth of the H. Lee White to fuel and then unload stone at Canadian National Hallett Dock 5, 14 September, 2026. Photo by David Schauer.
#ShipsOfMastodon
#GreatLakes
#LakeSuperior
#DestinationDuluth -
Color change, Isle Royale National Park today (Greenstone Ridge). For more information https://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm and https://www.nps.gov/isro/learn/nature/trees.htm and #interpretation #nps #nationalparks #publiclands #landscapephotography #photography Image credit National Park Service #IsleRoyale #miwx #lake #summer #michigan #water #greatlakes #fall #color #sun #leaves #trees
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Color change, Isle Royale National Park today (Greenstone Ridge). For more information https://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm and https://www.nps.gov/isro/learn/nature/trees.htm and #interpretation #nps #nationalparks #publiclands #landscapephotography #photography Image credit National Park Service #IsleRoyale #miwx #lake #summer #michigan #water #greatlakes #fall #color #sun #leaves #trees
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Color change, Isle Royale National Park today (Greenstone Ridge). For more information https://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm and https://www.nps.gov/isro/learn/nature/trees.htm and #interpretation #nps #nationalparks #publiclands #landscapephotography #photography Image credit National Park Service #IsleRoyale #miwx #lake #summer #michigan #water #greatlakes #fall #color #sun #leaves #trees
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Color change, Isle Royale National Park today (Greenstone Ridge). For more information https://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm and https://www.nps.gov/isro/learn/nature/trees.htm and #interpretation #nps #nationalparks #publiclands #landscapephotography #photography Image credit National Park Service #IsleRoyale #miwx #lake #summer #michigan #water #greatlakes #fall #color #sun #leaves #trees
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Color change, Isle Royale National Park today (Greenstone Ridge). For more information https://www.nps.gov/isro/index.htm and https://www.nps.gov/isro/learn/nature/trees.htm and #interpretation #nps #nationalparks #publiclands #landscapephotography #photography Image credit National Park Service #IsleRoyale #miwx #lake #summer #michigan #water #greatlakes #fall #color #sun #leaves #trees
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Regular followers will know how much I like watching live and recorded videos of the ships on the Great Lakes in North America.
The YouTube algorithm just fed me this video of a bulk carrier picking up road salt from a Canadian port on Lake Huron and delivering it to Toronto via the St. Clair River, Detroit River, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. With the Captain doing a commentary. Fab.
17-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nspld0x_dog&feature=youtu.be
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Regular followers will know how much I like watching live and recorded videos of the ships on the Great Lakes in North America.
The YouTube algorithm just fed me this video of a bulk carrier picking up road salt from a Canadian port on Lake Huron and delivering it to Toronto via the St. Clair River, Detroit River, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. With the Captain doing a commentary. Fab.
17-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nspld0x_dog&feature=youtu.be
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Regular followers will know how much I like watching live and recorded videos of the ships on the Great Lakes in North America.
The YouTube algorithm just fed me this video of a bulk carrier picking up road salt from a Canadian port on Lake Huron and delivering it to Toronto via the St. Clair River, Detroit River, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. With the Captain doing a commentary. Fab.
17-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nspld0x_dog&feature=youtu.be
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Regular followers will know how much I like watching live and recorded videos of the ships on the Great Lakes in North America.
The YouTube algorithm just fed me this video of a bulk carrier picking up road salt from a Canadian port on Lake Huron and delivering it to Toronto via the St. Clair River, Detroit River, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. With the Captain doing a commentary. Fab.
17-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nspld0x_dog&feature=youtu.be
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Regular followers will know how much I like watching live and recorded videos of the ships on the Great Lakes in North America.
The YouTube algorithm just fed me this video of a bulk carrier picking up road salt from a Canadian port on Lake Huron and delivering it to Toronto via the St. Clair River, Detroit River, Lake Erie, and Lake Ontario. With the Captain doing a commentary. Fab.
17-minute video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nspld0x_dog&feature=youtu.be
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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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#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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Michigan Supreme Court Overturns Line 5 Tunnel Permit, Delivering Major Victory for Tribal Nations
By Levi Rickert on July 31, 2026. Cross-post from: https://nativenewsonline.net/environment/michigan-supreme-court-overturns-line-5-tunnel-permit-delivering-major-victory-for-tribal-nations/https://efjournal.wpenginepowered.com/2026/08/01/michigan-supreme-court-overturns-line-5-tunnel-permit-delivering-major-victory-for-tribal-nations/
#Pipelines #GreatLakes #Line5Pipeline #permits -
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 250/284: Monroe County, New York
Introduction Sometimes known as Western New York, Monroe County is a notable county along Lake Ontario within the northwestern Finger Lakes region of the State home to the City of Rochester and numerous associated areas. Major highways include Interstates 90 Toll (New York Thruway), 390, 490, and 590; Routes 15, 15A, 18, 19, 31, 31F, 33, 33A, 36, 64, 65, 96, 104, 153, 250, 251, 252, 259, 286, 390, 404, 441, 531, and 590; and the Lake Ontario State Parkway. Nine distinct colleges and […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/07/08/hype-for-the-future-250-284-monroe-county-new-york/
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Hype for the Future 249C: Orleans County, New York
Overview Orleans County is a notable county along Lake Ontario in the State of New York home to the Villages of Medina, Albion (county seat), Holley, and Lyndonville and the Towns of Albion, Barre, Carlton, Clarendon, Gaines, Kendall, Murray, Ridgeway, Shelby, and Yates. Major highways located within the county include Routes 18, 31, 31A, 31E, 63, 98, 104, 237, 269, 272, 279, and 387, along with Lake Ontario State Parkway. Within Medina are the American Craftsmen Gallery, the Medina Railroad […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/07/07/hype-for-the-future-249c-orleans-county-new-york/
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The New York Times - Breaking News, US News, World News and Videos [Unofficial] @[email protected] ·Blistering Heat Expected to Persist Into the Fourth of July
https://web.brid.gy/r/https://www.nytimes.com/2026/07/03/weather/us-weather-heat-wave.html
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Hype for the Future 242R: Genesee River
Overview The Genesee River is a notable river through the Western New York region which begins near Gold, Potter County, Pennsylvania, and ends in the City of Rochester at Lake Ontario to the north. As one of the relatively rare north-flowing rivers of the world, the Genesee River is a notable river associated with the Great Lakes system and is associated with a region in the State of New York west of the Finger Lakes but east of Lake Erie, the Niagara River, and the Allegheny watershed. The […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/07/01/hype-for-the-future-242r-genesee-river/
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Hype for the Future 214A: Chicago Communities
Introduction Chicago is a notable major city representative of the Midwestern region of the United States along the southwestern shore of Lake Michigan at the nearest point of the Great Lakes to the Mississippi River watershed in the northeastern portion of the State of Illinois. While the city is considered the third-largest in the United States (after New York and Los Angeles), Cook County, where the city is primarily located, is the second-largest in terms of population (after only Los […]https://novatopflex.wordpress.com/2026/06/05/hype-for-the-future-214a-chicago-communities/
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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 -
#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 -
#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 -
Moving nuclear waste through traditional territories could face opposition, #Ontario First Nation says
'Think about how many treaty territories that waste would have to go through,' chief says
Colin Butler · CBC News · Posted: May 27, 2024
"A First Nation in southwestern Ontario says even if the community votes yes on a proposed $26 billion dump for #NuclearWaste within their traditional territory, it would likely be opposed by other #FirstNations, through whose territories the more than 5.5 million spent fuel rods would have to pass.
"#Canada's nuclear industry has been on a decades-long quest to find a permanent home for tens of thousands of tonnes of highly radioactive waste. The search has narrowed to two Ontario communities — #Ignace, northwest of #ThunderBay, and the Municipality of #SouthBruce, north of London.
"Both will vote later this year on whether to build a deep geologic repository, a kind of nuclear crypt, where more than 50,000 tonnes of waste in copper casks will be lowered more than 500 metres underground to be kept for all time, behind layers of clay, concrete and the ancient bedrock itself.
"But so will their Indigenous neighbours, whose traditional territories the towns are within, which gives each respective First Nation a veto.
"In the case of Saugeen Ojibway Nation in particular, it means the community again finds itself as the future arbiter of a potential nuclear waste site on their traditional lands for the second time in a few years."
[...]
"'We won't feel those effects, it will be our grandchildren and our great-, great-, great-grandchildren that will inherit whether we're selfish or not selfish in how we live today." -- #ChiefConradRitchie, #Chippewas of the #SaugeenFirstNation.
Read more:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/london/nuclear-waste-ontario-south-bruce-saugeen-nation-1.7213878#LakeHuron #OdauwahGummauh #GeorgianBay #WaussauGummauh #Chippewas #Nawash #Saugeen #FirstNations #OjibwayNation #NuclearWasteDump #GreatLakes #InformedConsent
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#Ignace council votes in favour of potential #NuclearWaste repository
Ignace is one of two potential locations being considered by the Nuclear Waste Management Organization
Kris Ketonen · CBC News · Posted: Jul 10, 2024
"The Township of Ignace noted in its release that #WabigoonLake #OjibwayNation (#WLON) will hold its own willingness process, and Ignace respects that WLON's support will also be required if the repository is to be built in the area.
"Whichever municipality ends up being chosen, the site won't be operational for some time; construction is expected to start in 2033, and the site would be up and running by the early 2040s.
"The proposed northwestern #Ontario #nuclear waste repository has received pushback from regional organizations and #Indigenous communities.
"In a media release issued Wednesday afternoon, We the #NuclearFreeNorth said the decision should be a regional one.
"'The #NWMO has deemed Ignace to be the 'host community,' despite Ignace's distance from the site, lack of jurisdiction, and the presence of other communities closer to the site and #downstream,' the media release stated."
Read more:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/thunder-bay/ignace-nuclear-waste-vote-1.7259610#WaterIsLife #DGR #Nuclear #InformedConsent #GreatLakes #Ojibway #FirstNations #Canada
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Line 5 Citizen Actions: Let’s get oil out of the Great Lakes
https://forloveofwater.org/toolkit/
#Line5
#StopLine5
#WaterIsLife
#WaterAndOilDontMix
#GreatLakes
#GreatLakesOilPipeline
#ToolKit
#StopLine5Toolkit
#TribalNations
#BadRiverBand
#StandwithBadRiverBand
#EjectEnbridge -
Please do take a moment to sign the #petition urging #President #Biden to revoke the #PresidentialPermit - this will also assure you are on the list to receive updates and action alerts from Oil and Water Don't Mix.
#Line5
#StopLine5
#WaterIsLife
#WaterAndOilDontMix
#GreatLakes
#GreatLakesOilPipeline #TribalNations
#BadRiverBand
#StandwithBadRiverBand
#EjectEnbridgehttps://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/tell_president_biden_to_shut_down_great_lakes_oil_pipeline
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There's nothing else like a summer's evening twilight in the North. A picture of my favorite part of Minnesota, which I dub simply "North Shore".
#art #photography #LakeSuperior #GreatLakes #NorthShore #Minnesota #beach #shore #forest #TwoHarbors
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Talking nuts and bolts of grassroots community funding for #GreatLakes #CitizenScience at @iaglr with @swimdrinkfish @hamiltonharbour @hamcommfdn #SwimDrinkFish #OurGreatLakes
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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
