Favorite Quotes from the Conference and Great Lakes Week

Great Lakes advocate, Rebecca Hammond, collected her favorite quotes heard at the Great Lakes Restoration Conference and around the Great Lakes events. Her blog is also posted on the Sierra Club Great Lakes blog.

“For Native people, caring for the water is not merely a matter of practicality.” Frank Ettawageshik, Native Leader. “We lived as human beings on this earth for thousands of years without relying on oil. We can live without gold. But we cannot live without water.”

“We know that prevention is far more cost-effective than dealing with the damage that has already been done.” Lisa P. Jackson, EPA Administrator

“You want energy to be close to where the people are. Most of the population is around the coastal areas. The wind is close to where the people are.” Victoria Pebbles, Great Lakes Commission, speaking on offshore wind potential.

“We have a lot in common with Detroit. Polluted water, high cancer rates. We can relate to you. I can go home and say, ‘I saw what happened in Detroit.’ ” Commenter from Youngstown, Ohio

“Asian Carp would cause irreparable damage to the Great Lakes. We live and breathe the Great Lakes in Michigan.” Brandon Fewins, Regional Director for Senator Debbie Stabenow

 

“We need to engage every homeowner and get them involved. If we do that, they feel they’re part of the solution. When they read an article about [Lake Erie's] western basin, they’re more likely to get involved.” Chris Wible, Scotts Miracle Gro, who also said, “When you gather grass clippings, you’re ‘harvesting’ it. Instead, recycle it.”

“There is no greater manifestation of life than the Great Lakes.” Chris Brown, CEO, City of Detroit

“There are different levels you must find your way in. You can’t stay in your house anymore.” Maureen Taylor, Michigan Welfare Rights Commission

“The best story wins.”

“The Great Lakes are truly a winning issue, like Mom and Apple Pie.”

“If you invest in Great Lakes restoration, you’re going to get something out of it.” HOW Coalition Meeting

“Everyone needs to realize that this [online tool use] is the way people now expect to be communicated with.” Daniel Katz, Virilion

“People love the internet for fun things. Give them fun things.” and “This is just a new way of doing old business.” Jennifer Janssen, NWF, in a session she presented on Using Online Tools for Effective Organizing.

“The very nature of academia restricts the ability to do these studies.” Jason Palagi of NIMRI, speaking of the difficulties in following up on restoration projects.

“We shouldn’t be in crisis management. We spend a ton of money fixing things.”

“Follow the precautionary principle. Don’t allow restoration to become crisis management.” Various comments.

“We need to put people first. We need to have a proactive approach.” Roshani Dantas, Policy Analyst/Green Initiatives, Green Task Force

“If you don’t love people, you can’t serve people.” Heaster Wheeler, Asst. CEO, City of Detroit

“THE DAY YOU DON’T CALL IS THE DAY A CALL DIDN’T COME IN. THE DAY YOU DIDN’T SHOW UP IS THE DAY NO ONE SHOWED UP.” Millie Hall, Coalition of Labor Union Women

“I feel like I can die because the struggle will go on.” Millie Hall, speaking of the involvement of young people.

“We have to be as direct in our rhetoric as what comes at us.” Simone Lightfoot, NWF

“Clean water for the Great Lakes starts upstream.”

“We can’t keep putting BandAids on 19th century technology.”

“Maybe Great Lakes Week is not enough. Maybe we should be in Washington, DC, demanding the stopping of the tarsands pipeline.”

“The goal for everything we do should be to avoid the need for cleanup.”

“We have to clear up who is ‘we’ . These really are societal decisions.” Various commenters.

“Our connectedness has been broken in our human relations, and so has it been broken with water.” Lila Cabbil, People’s Water Board, Detroi