Great Lakes Residents Love Their Lakes, Worry About Pollution.Joyce Foundation Commits $16 Million to Protect Great Lakes Water.
|
 |
||||||||
|
(Chicago) Great Lakes residents feel strong personal responsibility for the health of the Great Lakes, and want to protect the lakes from pollution and prevent the export of lake water to other regions. These are the principal findings of a new region-wide survey released today by the Joyce Foundation and the Madison-based Biodiversity Project. (available at www.joycefdn.org) In a related development, the Foundation announced plans to invest $16 million over the next three years to support efforts to protect Great Lakes water resources. “People who live in the Midwest feel strongly about protecting the Great Lakes,” said Ellen Alberding, President of the Joyce Foundation. “They see them as part of their heritage, a vast, beautiful, natural resource. They also understand that the lakes are vital to the region’s economy. This survey reveals a reservoir of broad public determination to protect the Great Lakes for future generations. The Foundation will use its resources to help translate that into effective public policies.” “It is heartening to know that people appreciate the remarkable Great Lakes system,” said Jane Elder, Executive Director of the Biodiversity Project. “But many of the region's residents don't grasp that there are serious threats to the ecosystem beyond pollution. We need to help Great Lakes citizens better understand the many threats -- and the solutions.”
Principal conclusions from the polling data
include: -Great Lakes residents generally (71%) believe the lakes are polluted. -Residents are less aware of the exact nature of the sources of pollution to the Great Lakes. Most (86%), for example, believe that industry dumping chemicals is the top threat to the lakes. People are less aware of chemical runoff from farms or pollution deposited from the air; the latter is the leading source of new pollution in the lakes. -Residents have limited understanding of other threats to the ecosystem, such as development, global warming, or local groundwater shortages. -Nearly all of those surveyed (96%) agree that we “need to do more to protect Great Lakes habitats from pollution. -Seven in ten residents oppose exporting Great Lakes water to other regions. Alberding announced a three-year commitment of $16 million from the Foundation’s Environment program to improve public policies to protect Great Lakes water. The money will go to groups pushing for stronger measures to prevent pollution, including stronger enforcement of the Clean Water Act as well as improved state and federal policies in land use, agriculture, and transportation that affect water. Also supported will be efforts to promote water conservation and improved infrastructure and management of the region’s water resources. Based in Chicago with assets of $750 million, the Joyce Foundation supports efforts to strengthen public policies in ways that improve the quality of life in the Great Lakes region. It is one of the largest funders of efforts to protect the Great Lakes environment. Other grantmaking areas are education, employment, gun violence prevention, money and politics, and culture. The Biodiversity Project, a Madison, Wisconsin-based nonprofit, designs and implements innovative communication strategies that build and motivate a broad constituency to protect biodiversity. The Project’s programs are designed to demonstrate how lifestyle choices and community involvement can reconnect people to nature and build a better future.
The survey was conducted by Belden,
Russonello & Stewart, an independent research firm in Washington D.C. The
survey consisted of a telephone survey of 1,539 adults from July 12 to
July 28, 2002, in Wisconsin, Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Michigan, Ohio
and parts of New York and Pennsylvania. The margin of error for the survey
is plus or minus 2.5 percentage points.
Link to the
Great Lakes
Water Research
|
   
|
