Recently, Bill sat down with the Ripon Advance to discuss the Great Lakes. Below are excerpts of Bill’s interview on his bipartisan work to protect the Great Lakes and strengthen the economy.
From the Ripon Advance:
With funding for protecting the Great Lakes on the chopping block … Rep. Bill Huizenga (R-MI) is making both the ecological and the economic case for saving the largest freshwater system in the world.
“The Great Lakes ecosystem is extremely important and I believe we need to continue supporting it – the cleanup of it and the restoration of it,” Huizenga told The Ripon Advance in a recent interview.
As co-chair of the bipartisan Great Lakes Task Force, Huizenga’s top priority is safeguarding Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) funding, the largest investment in the Great Lakes in two decades … In one such example, thanks to GLRI funding, White Lake in Muskegon County was removed from the list of areas of concern under the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement in 2014.
The Great Lakes also helps drive the economies of eight states and Ontario, supporting commerce through maritime transportation, robust tourism and jobs. Fully implementing Great Lake restoration strategies would generate $80 billion to $100 billion in economic benefits, according to a Brookings Institution study. That includes the positive impact from fishing and recreation, reduced costs to municipalities and higher property values along the shoreline.
Furthermore, with Michigan surrounded by water on three sides, the lakes support more than 800,000 jobs for Michigan residents alone, according to Great Lakes Commission data.
Read Bill’s full interview here.