The $475 Million dollar project includes cleanup of water and beaches, wetland restoration, and fighting invasive species such as Asian carp. 

The plan calls itself light on study and heavy on action, seeking to heal the Great Lakes ecosystem from “150 years of abuse” and to ensure that “fish are safe to eat; the water is safe to drink; the beaches and waters are safe for swimming, surfing, boating and recreating; native species and habitats are protected and thriving; no community suffers disproportionately from the impacts of pollution; and the Great Lakes are a healthy place for people and wildlife to live.”

The plan is to cut invasive species and increase detection of new threats.

The plan also seeks to cut damaging runoff from farms, cities and suburbs into Great Lakes watersheds, which supply municipal drinking water and animal habitat, and to reduce beach pollution so recreation areas can stay open longer during the year. It includes the first complete assessment of the lakes’ entire 530,000-acre coastal wetland, and a goal of restoring nearly 100,000 acres of wetlands and other habitat areas by 2014.

Several governors from Great Lakes states say the plan will boost their environmental quality — and help energize a multibillion-dollar regional economy reliant on shipping, fishing and tourism.

Popularity: 5%

With the economy taking center stage in Obama’s administration, his advances in environmental protection have gone unnoticed. 

Mercury News reported on the President’s advances on the environment during his first term.   

• Increased gas mileage standards for cars and light trucks 40 percent, from today’s 25 mpg to 35 mpg by 2016. The announcement in May came as part of Washington’s bailout of Detroit. 
• Blocked Bush administration rules to open the California coast and 77 federal sites near Utah’s Arches and Canyonlands national parks to new oil and gas drilling.
• Begun a process in December in which the Environmental Protection Agency will, for the first time, restrict the amount of greenhouse gases industry can release. 
• Signed a bill in March establishing 2.1 million new acres of federally protected wilderness, the largest wilderness bill since President Bill Clinton signed the Desert Protection Act in 1994. The bill bans logging, mining and road-building on federal forests and deserts in nine states, including portions of Joshua Tree and Sequoia national parks and ancient bristlecone pine forests in the eastern Sierra.
• Announced tougher new national smog standards from the EPA this month.  
• Reversed Bush administration rules allowing more snowmobiles in Yellowstone and fewer federal agency reviews of endangered species.
• Issued EPA rules requiring large U.S. ships to cut soot emissions by 85 percent.
• Signed a stimulus package that included more than $50 billion in funding and tax credits for renewable energy projects. It includes billions to weatherize federal buildings, provide grants to companies building solar and wind farms and fund research on biofuels and other technologies.

Environmental groups have not gotten everything that they wanted from President Obama.  

Environmental groups have grumbled that Obama upheld Bush rules to remove gray wolves from the endangered species list in the upper Midwest, Idaho and Montana. He also has not moved as fast as they would like to stop a type of coal mining in West Virginia known as “mountain top removal.”

Most of the changes have come through executive branch rules, rather than laws passed by Congress. As a result, they could be overturned by future presidents.

For the sake of the Environment, lets hope the next President is an environmentalist.

Popularity: 4%