| Northeast-Midwest Institute Weekly Update |
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NEMW Senate Coalition Co-Chairs Stress NEMW Region Priorities in Response to President's State of the Union Address
| NEMW Senate Coalition Co-Chairs Sherrod Brown (D-OH) and Olympia Snowe (R-ME) responded to last week's State of the Union Address by emphasizing job creation and economic growth - both of which are crucial for the NEMW region. Senator Brown applauded the President's focus on the manufacturing sector: "Tonight's State of the Union address gave manufacturing the attention it deserves ... Manufacturing is the backbone of our economy, providing good-paying jobs and helping to lead our economic recovery." Senator Snowe stressed the importance of bipartisanship in tackling these issues: "Tonight, the President described the challenges confronting America and our highest shared priority of economic growth and job creation - but what is regrettable is that these are issues we should have already addressed on a bipartisan basis long ago."
For more information, contact Michael Gaffin, Legislative Director of the Northeast-Midwest Senate Coalition.
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Senate and House NEMW Delegations Call on President Obama to Request Funding for LIHEAP at Least at FY11 Level
| Forty Senators and 103 Representatives signed bipartisan letters to President Obama, urging that in his FY13 request to be released to Congress early next month, the Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) be requested at least at the FY11 level of $4.7 billion. LIHEAP is an important program for the wintry and populous region; in FY10, NEMW states received nearly 60% of LIHEAP funding.
For more information, contact Kate Ostrander, Legislative Director of the Northeast-Midwest House Coalition.
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GLTF Members Attend NEMWI's Annual Great Lakes Environmental Summit
| Stakeholders from around the Great Lakes region convened in the Russell Senate Office Building last week to attend the annual NEMWI Great Lakes Environmental Summit. The objective of the Summit, an event of the NEMWI's Great Lakes Washington Program, was to identify and discuss opportunities to advance Great Lakes Restoration Strategy objectives in the Second Session of the 112th Congress. The event included 50 participants from NGO's, federal agencies, states, industry and Congressional staff. Senator Carl Levin (D-MI), co-chair of the Senate Great Lakes Task Force; Congressman Pete Visclosky (D-IN), member of the House Great Lakes Task Force; and Congressman Sean Duffy (R-WI), co-chair of the House Great Lakes Task Force each personally attended parts of the day's discussions, and provided remarks encouraging progress in Great Lakes environmental policy while also keeping in mind budget realities. Committee staff from the Senate and House Agriculture Committees, Senate and House Appropriations Committees, Senate Commerce Committee, and House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee made presentations about upcoming legislative tasks relevant to the Great Lakes. Cameron Davis, Special Assistant to the EPA Administrator, and NEMWI President Allegra Cangelosi provided programmatic updates. The meeting closed with a roundtable discussion on the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and ballast water regulations.
For more information, contact Leah Konrady, Director of the Great Lakes Washington Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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New Farm-Water Quality "Regulatory Certainty" Strategy to be Piloted in Minnesota under Joint State-Federal Initiative
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On January 17, Minnesota Governor Mark Dayton, together with U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack and U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lisa Jackson, announced a new program to be piloted in Minnesota to increase voluntary use of farm conservation practices that mitigate nutrient runoff and soil erosion. The program is part of a wider federal strategy that would effectively give farmers "certainty" with respect to compliance with water quality regulations if they voluntarily choose to put land conservation practices in place now for the benefit of improved water quality. Agricultural producers who implement a significant degree of conservation practices to reduce nutrient run-off and erosion would receive assurance (or "certainty") from Minnesota that their farms will meet the state's water quality standards and goals throughout the ten-year duration of the certainty agreement. Program details, along with links to relevant press releases, reactions and related federal initiatives, can be found here.
Read about this story and more in the January edition of the Northeast-Midwest Institute's Mississippi River Basin newsletter.
For more information, contact Mark Gorman, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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January Installment of Mid-Atlantic Watersheds Update Highlights Fracking News and More
| Over the last month, natural gas development has remained a hot topic on Capitol Hill and around the region. The Energy and Environment Subcommittee of the House Science, Space and Technology Committee will hold a hearing on February 1 on EPA research at the Pavillion, WY groundwater contamination site. Recently, many Members of Congress have weighed in on the issue; several have signed letters on EPA regulation of drilling and diesel use, and the study of groundwater in Wyoming. In the region, EPA has provided comments on New York natural gas development plans and has engaged in the Dimock, PA drinking water debate. Follow updates about these and related stories in the newly-released January Mid-Atlantic Watersheds Update and on the Mid-Atlantic Watersheds Blog.
For more information, contact Rachel Dawson, Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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Registration Now Open for Reinventing Older Communities Conference
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The Federal Reserve Bank of Philadelphia and its co-sponsors will host a conference on "Reinventing Older Communities: Building Resilient Cities" from May 9-11 at Penn's Landing in Philadelphia. The goal is to consider building resilient cities, with a particular focus on smaller cities that were once manufacturing centers. Visit this website for updated information about the conference and how to register.
For more information, contact Colleen Cain, Senior Policy Analyst at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.
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