New York State has joined Illinois, Indiana and Minnesota in approving the Great Lakes Compact.
Michigan, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin are in varying stages of debating the agreement, with Ohio and Wisconsin appearing to be the most serious obstacles.
Both those states have opponents who, citing state's rights and baseless fears about groundwater protection, believe the Compact can be renegotiated.
The four states and two Canadian provinces that have approved the Compact, however, are unlikely to re-open negotiations that ran from 2001-2005, and which have led in the last 28 months to the Compact's growing acceptability.
What will be interesting to watch is Michigan. Regardless of what you believe is happening in Wisconsin, Michigan now holds the title of 'foot dragger'.
ReplyDeleteMy guess is they're going to wait and see what everyone else does before they act. They hold all the cards and probably could care less if the Compact is or is not adopted by all states. They truly are awash in water and can move it around freely.
My bet is that Wisconsin will have this all wrapped up way before the more holier than thous in Michigan.