The Koch Brothers/Industries are going after the Great Lakes

[glinda]

with all of the watersheds, areas rich in natural resources and the largest freshwater on the planet. I have to say this because I believe this is what everyone is missing here. If you look at the "remove environmental restrictions" mantras in MN., WI, OH. and most likely elsewhere around that region and how especially in MN. & WI. the conservatives are representing the areas by the Great Lakes and pushing for mining near say "The Boundary Waters", etc... this is the end game. Control and dominance of the majority is a by-product. The Great Lakes and the natural resources is the end game.

[stevedeshazer]

1. That's very insightful.

The greatest resource of all is the waters of the Great Lakes.

Canadians, please note, you may be next.

[glinda]

7. The area above and to the East of the Great Lakes, in Canada,, if I remember right,

is totally polluted from them already. Or at least other Companies that have made the land toxic. I need to locate the report recently put out on it.

[Little Star]

2. Jesse Ventura has been warning about this.

[glinda]

17. Do you have a link or anything?

[Little Star]

24. I saw it on his TV series "Conspiracy Theories"......

They may be running re-runs or maybe you can find it on You-tube.

[Sonoman]

3. That's it.

Boone Pickens can have all the Texas/Mexico water he wants, the Kochs will take the Lakes.

Look at a map. As you implied, they have pretty much 'framed' the battlefield.

Good take, glinda.

Sonoman

[FeelingBlue]

4. Do they not own enough stuff already?

Imagine plotting to own and own and own more and more of a country. Who thinks like this? And what is it for? So they can die with mega bucks. And then what? What a wasted life.:thumbsdown:

[TBF]

5. Bingo. K&R nt

[we can do it]

6. Let's Just Give It To Them. They Might Create One Minimum Wage Job

naaaaaaaaaa, probably not.

[madrchsod]

8. good luck with that.....

canada owns half of the lakes and illinois/chicago is`t going to let anyone buy the lake.

[glinda]

12. They don't have to buy the Lakes. They can destroy all that surrounds the Lakes and then by

default, they own the Lakes after they have killed them.

[thereismore]

9. We dumped tons of poisons in those lakes - fish still not good to eat, now this?? nt

[snagglepuss]

10. I wonder if this is related to the massive Tar Sands project that will see pipelines

and Tar Sands refineries across North America. Environmentalists are warning about these refineries planned on the shores of the the Great Lakes on both sides of the border as well as near cities. Tar Sands is the dirtiest fuel out there.


http://oilsandstruth.org/maps/updated

[glinda]

11. I would guess that is part of it. The other part is mining and whatever else they can

extract. Including forest. Also there is the issue of the water itself although I suspect that is low on the list.
Gov. Dayton of MN. just okayed fast-tracking projects that need environmental permits allowing the Companies to write the assessments themselves and received massive praise from the Chamber of Horrors. I do not know what safeguards were dropped exactly but as much I respect Mark, I fear he has made a horrible mistake. The area of interest is in the NE corner of the State adjacent to the lakes and Boundary waters.
The busiest area of tar sands currently is in NW MN. and ND but.... there is geological potential in the areas towards the Lakes. This is horrible.
The media is grappling with the attacks on Unions which might be a distraction for the real issue here. Rethugs are like bomb throwers. They throw out the most extreme items like "Obama was born in Kenya" or "we will send out lay-off notices" and all of this makes things so crazy that maybe we do not see the real issue here.
I think that is what is happening.

[glinda]

14. Just remembered that Duluth has a huge Port also to ship from.

[amandabeech]

23. Duluth and the surrounding areas have quite a few ore docks.

There are another couple in Marquette, MI, still functioning, I think.

The area around western Lake Superior has been mined for iron and copper ores commercially since sometime in the mid-1800s.

I don't quite understand how what the Kochs are looking for is different from what has been going on for some time.

Not that I like the Kochs or want them to go on an unsupervised rampage in the area. I'm just curious.

[Mojeoux]

13. "Lake Huron rolls, Superior sings in the rooms of her ice-water mansion.

Old Michigan steams like a young man's dreams;
the islands and bays are for sportsmen.
And farther below Lake Ontario
takes in what Lake Erie can send her,"



The "Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald," Gordon Lightfoot

[Lucinda]

15. Thanks for connecting the dots for us.

:hi:

[glinda]

16. Try Googling Tar Sands Great Lakes and this is what you get....

-snip-

"From an international perspective we will see that 70% of the United States foreign oil import comes from Alberta with a number of pipelines crossing the international boundaries to reach destinations including the Great Lakes region. There are currently 17 refinery expansions being considered, planned, applied for, approved or being developed around the Great Lakes Watershed (Israelson, 2008), which is a major freshwater source in North America. If all become operating refineries, the Great Lakes region and watershed can expect an additional 2.3 million tons of green house emissions (sulphur dioxide and nitrogen oxide emissions) per year, an equivalent to 500,000 tailpipe emissions (Feldman 2008). It can be assumed that refineries are attracted to the Great Lakes region for the abundance of fresh water which is required for the oil refinery process. Principles of ecology remind us of the interconnectedness, and the chain of life within a watershed. If one of the Great Lakes is affected by pollution, there is a strong potential to affect the entire watershed.

-snip-

Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force
Gerry Jamieson
Environmenatal Technician
Haudenosaunee Environmental Task Force

http://www.hetf.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=61:alberta-tar-sands-and-the-environmental-effects-on-indigenous-north-american-culture&catid=50:other-environment-issues&Itemid=74

____________________________________

AND MORE.....

http://blog.nwf.org/wildlifepromise/2011/02/new-report-tar-sands-pipeline-safety-risks-highlights-great-lakes-pipeline-concerns/

http://www.circleofblue.org/waternews/featured-water-stories/tar-sands/

http://www.canadians.org/campaignblog/?p=6553

http://www.citizenshift.org/node/23323&dossier_nid=22361

http://michiganmessenger.com/40744/pipeline-spill-underlines-fears-of-new-tar-sands-development

[spanone]

18. there is only one reason to remove environmental restrictions

so corporations can pollute at will

[Bobbie Jo]

19. Yes, they're everywhere.

Including your own back yard.

[Darth_Kitten]

20. They're here...they're there...they're everywhere...so beware.

:(

[Morning Dew]

21. Good call, Glinda.

I hadn't thought of that.

[glinda]

22. HI!