Unity.
Don’t snicker.
Unity is possible in these divisive times. I speak right now of unity behind protecting the Great Lakes.
So many people love them, so many people appreciate them and use them, I simply have to believe we can come together and protect them.
In one of my books, I pointed out that there are huge untapped constituencies for the Great Lakes, some of whom we don’t even think of as environmentalists or conservationists.
There are lighthouse admirers, building their life lists of towers visited. There are shipwreck enthusiasts, some of them divers, who are intrigued by the history and fate of human beings on the water.
There are romantics, whose imaginations take flight in the face of the faraway blue line of the horizon.
There are thousands of small businesses who depend on them, from hotels and restaurants to coastal town gift shops.
And of course, there are swimmers, power boaters, kayakers, anglers, hikers, and even winter surfboarders.
If all of these interests could be yoked together, pulling as one, the lakes could be a lot healthier and more beautiful than they are.
During the first term of the current president, focus groups yielded the finding that his supporters were nearly as firm as other voters in their conviction that clean water is an important priority of government.
I would say that applies even more strongly in this state to the bodies of freshwater we call the Great Lakes. Although they belong to nobody, we Michiganders think of them as our own and as something we need to cherish and protect.
So why don’t we pull together behind protecting the Great Lakes? Not just pull together, but make them a priority? That means more than hauling in federal dollars for them — which is the only thing Great Lakes members of Congress can agree on.
It means changing our ways, curtailing our bad habits, and insisting that those who pollute or overexploit them reform their ways. This can be done through both personal and prudent and government action.
And such action is needed. The latest State of the Great Lakes reports from the US and Canadian governments characterize the condition of the Great Lakes as fair and unchanging. beset by old foes like toxic pollutants and new menaces like microplastics. They should be excellent and improving. How long will we settle for mediocrity?
So don’t think that it’s impossible to build a broad based coalition to do a better job of stewarding the lakes. Wouldn’t it be nice to work together as Americans on something in this time of upheaval?