Please either log in below,
or create an account.

Welcome to the Great Lakes Town Hall

Like the town meetings on which it is modeled, the Great Lakes Town Hall provides a "space" where Great Lakes basin residents can come together to share concerns, opinions and ideas about Great Lakes issues. At the Town Hall you will find frequently updated original content offering opinions and analysis on current events from our editors as well as guest features written by important figures in the Great Lakes community. But you don’t have to be an expert to participate! All are welcome and encouraged to give feedback, join the discussion and create their own posts in the community forum. Please read, learn, then log in and start discussing what matters to you.

Dave’s Place

Environmentalists Are Watermelons

Tue, 08/31/2010 - 11:22 — Dave Dempsey

A recent essay by the former director of what is now Michigan's Department of Naturalists made that comparison.

Yes, really.

"The Berlin wall came down and communism collapsed in Eastern Europe, but the socialist ideology is alive and well and has found a new home in the modern day environmental movement. The environmental movement has been likened to a watermelon — green on the outside and red on the inside. Most environmentalists would not consider themselves socialists, much less communists, but the policies they support in the name of saving the planet almost always sacrifice individual liberty for central government control."

Editorials

Just back from a few days in White Lake, Michigan, a gem of a lake bordering on what the locals call the "big lake" aka, Lake Michigan.

Stayed away from e-mail and news stories while gone so it was interesting to find two separate but somewhat connected pieces of correspondence in my mail box this morning.

First, the USEPA is seeking "advice, guidance, and recommendations" on the $475 million Great Lakes Restoration Plan. It seems they want our input on some of the annual decisions they have to make regarding priorities and projects.

The e-mail contains a link that will take you to a free form box where you can respond to their request.

Guest Feature

The only thing I remember learning about in school relating to the environment is rocks. That's it. Rocks and minerals. Now I'm sure rocks and minerals are important, but these days there are certainly more important things that kids should be learning in school about the environment. I want kids to graduate from high school (and middle school and grade school) understanding what global warming is, understanding why conservation is important, and believing that they can make a difference on this planet. This issue is so important to me because, more than anything, I believe that environmental literacy in children will transform the environmental movement in the future. It's simple; as more people understand the problems, making large-scale changes just might be easier.