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| 1 | SENATE RESOLUTION
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| 2 | WHEREAS, Lake Michigan is the only Great Lake located | ||||||
| 3 | entirely in the United States; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, When measured by water surface, Lake Michigan is | ||||||
| 5 | the third largest of the Great Lakes; and
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| 6 | WHEREAS, Lake Michigan is the second largest of the Great | ||||||
| 7 | Lakes by volume; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, Approximately 12 million people live along Lake | ||||||
| 9 | Michigan's shore, including the 2.7 million residents of the | ||||||
| 10 | City of Chicago; and
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| 11 | WHEREAS, Lake Michigan serves as a source of drinking | ||||||
| 12 | water, as a place for swimming and fishing, and as a scenic | ||||||
| 13 | wonderland; and
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| 14 | WHEREAS, Lake Michigan is a magnificent resource that | ||||||
| 15 | provides an essential home for all kinds of wildlife; and
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| 16 | WHEREAS, In 2008, Illinois, along with Indiana, Michigan, | ||||||
| 17 | Minnesota, New York, Ohio, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin adopted | ||||||
| 18 | a compact banning diversions without concurrence of all | ||||||
| 19 | signatories, which President George W. Bush signed; and
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| 1 | WHEREAS, Diverting water from Lake Michigan out of the | ||||||
| 2 | Great Lakes Basin would be exorbitant in cost, inefficient, and | ||||||
| 3 | dangerous; and
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| 4 | WHEREAS, The declining water levels could negatively | ||||||
| 5 | impact industries such as commercial shipping, hydroelectric | ||||||
| 6 | power generation, and recreational boating and fishing, which | ||||||
| 7 | would hinder the economic growth of the region; and
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| 8 | WHEREAS, The Great Lakes are large bodies of water that | ||||||
| 9 | would not replenish easily; and
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| 10 | WHEREAS, Experts have already seen environmental changes | ||||||
| 11 | created by the diversion of water; the Great Lakes ice cover | ||||||
| 12 | has been decreasing, while air and water temperatures have been | ||||||
| 13 | rising, which clearly illustrates global climate change in the | ||||||
| 14 | region; and
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| 15 | WHEREAS, Removing water from this vital body of water sets | ||||||
| 16 | a bad precedent for the protection of this finite resource and | ||||||
| 17 | will put a strain on its water supply; therefore, be it
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| 18 | RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED FIRST GENERAL | ||||||
| 19 | ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we adamantly oppose any | ||||||
| 20 | effort to divert water from Lake Michigan, or the other Great | ||||||
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| 1 | Lakes, to outside of the Great Lakes Basin; and be it further
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| 2 | RESOLVED, That we strongly support the Great Lakes Basin | ||||||
| 3 | Compact.
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