NORTON SHORES – State Representative Mary Valentine (D-Norton Shores) today outlined her initiatives aimed at protecting the environment, including the plan to attack the economics of the ever-growing trash trade, and the "Great Waters, Great Michigan" package, a plan to protect Great Lakes water from being diverted and sold for profit to other states and nations, to members of the Gillette Nature Association.
"Michigan is a beautiful state with incredible natural resources and it's essential we must do everything we can to preserve this for the state's future generations," Valentine said. "Our three biggest industries –agriculture, manufacturing and tourism – all depend on having healthy Great Lakes water and a clean environment."
Valentine's presentation was part of the Sand Dune/Natural Resources series at the Gillette Sand Dune Visitor Center at P.J. Hoffmaster State Park as a guest of the Gillette Nature Association, a non-profit organization of volunteers that fund-raises and supports educational programs at the Gillette Sand Dunes Visitor Center.
Valentine spoke of an initiative to combat the economics of the ever-growing trash trade by raising the paltry charge that trash companies pay to dump in Michigan. The House Democratic anti-trash plan raises Michigan's dumping charge; bans new landfills and strictly limits the expansion of existing landfills until 2012; returns money from the new dumping charge to local communities to pay for roads, fire and police, and more recycling; and cracks down on jurisdictions that send prohibited waste to Michigan.
Valentine also detailed the "Great Waters, Great Michigan" package that strengthens environmental protections, requires large-scale users to adopt tougher conservation practices, and gives citizens the ability to hold companies accountable for violating water protection laws.
"Canadian and out-of-state trash makes up 30 percent of Michigan's land-filled trash, eating up our land and threatening our water and our way of life," Valentine said. "Michigan's Great Lakes are threatened by large-scale water withdrawals to other parts of the country and water bottling companies strictly looking to make a profit. In order to preserve our special way of life in Michigan, we must crack down and protect our natural resources."