Great Lakes Article:

WASHINGTON -- Midwestern environmentalists called Tuesday for senators to back legislation that would force American companies to reduce their emissions of carbon dioxide, which most scientists believe to be a principal cause of global warming.

"The Great Lakes region is especially vulnerable to the effects of changing water levels," said Howard Learner of the Environmental Law and Policy Center, an environmental advocacy group active in six Midwestern states including Illinois and Indiana.

A study released earlier this year by the Environmental Protection Agency stated that most climate prediction models suggest water levels in the Great Lakes will fall by between 1.5 and 3 feet during the next 30 years because of global warming.

Learner welcomed an amendment to the energy policy bill proposed by Sens. Joe Lieberman, D-Conn., and John McCain, R-Ariz., which would introduce limits for carbon dioxide emissions.

"The most fundamental effect of the Lieberman-McCain amendment would be to put the United States on a path to shaping a response to global warming rather than simply being a cause," Lieberman said. "It's a step in the right direction, but not sufficient in itself."

The United States is the only industrialized country that has not signed the Kyoto Protocol, which requires a reduction in carbon dioxide outputs.

The senators' amendment would force companies to reduce emissions of the gas to 2000 levels by 2010 and 1990 levels by 2016.

Several senators suggested the economic cost of the proposal would be too high. They said energy companies and manufacturers would suffer if they have to change their fuel source from coal to natural gas, which is cleaner but more expensive.

"Fuel switching means the end of manufacturing in my state," said Sen. George Voinovich, R-Ohio, at a hearing on climate change at the Senate Committee on the Environment and Public Works.

"It means moving jobs and production overseas, where there are less stringent environmental programs and (it) will actually increase global levels of pollution," he said.

However, Learner said the economic effects would not all be negative.

"There are also benefits," he said, explaining that companies creating products and systems designed to increase energy efficiency would be helped by legislation requiring reduced emissions.

"The Midwest economy has some strong winners" in this sector, Learner added, such as a Milwaukee firm that produces energy-efficient heating, ventilating and air conditioning systems.

Legislators also should beware of the economic cost of failing to act, according to Joel Brammier, habitats coordinator at the Chicago-based Lake Michigan Federation.

Brammier said a fall in water levels caused by higher temperatures would hit the tourist industry, especially recreational boating and fishing. He said that water levels in Lake Michigan are the lowest since the 1960s and that current difficulties could foreshadow future problems.

"Right now, we're seeing increasing problems with marina management," he said. "Eventually, you would see problems in commercial shipping too, because any shipping is sensitive to water levels, especially in channels close to the shore."

Brammier added that fish are sensitive to temperature changes and said that climate change could adversely affect fish stocks in the lake.

The Great Lakes Regional Assessment predicting the water level drop in Lake Michigan, which was sponsored by the EPA and coordinated by the U.S. Global Change Research Program, said the economic consequences of changes to the region's climate would be complex.

Farmers may benefit from a longer growing season, but more erratic weather could put crops at higher risk from damage by droughts, the report stated.

"Other impacts from short-term extreme weather events such as floods, tornadoes and blizzards may also increase in the Great Lakes region," the report concluded.