Legislators Voice Pros, Cons of Great Lakes Pipeline.In the face of rising prices and consumer discontent, there's growing interest in drilling and piping natural gas from under the Great Lakes Great Lakes, group of five freshwater lakes, central North America, creating a natural border between the United States and Canada and forming the largest body of freshwater in the world, with a combined surface area of c.95,000 sq mi (246,050 sq km). to offset shortages across the country. But Wisconsin legislators aren't too sure about those plans. Senator Robert Cowles Robert Cowles (born July 31, 1950) is an American politician and member of the Wisconsin State Senate, representing the 2nd Senate District. He is a member of the Republican Party of Wisconsin. Cowles was born in Green Bay, Wisconsin. and Representative Jon Richards are sponsoring legislation that would prohibit drilling or construction of pipelines beneath Lake Michigan and Lake Superior. Richards says that "energy companies are lobbying for more domestic exploration for gas and oil. Drilling, however, is a huge gamble and ... it does not make sense to put North America's largest source of fresh water--not to mention the people who use the lakes--at risk." Michigan senators, meanwhile, have approved lifting the moratorium on new natural gas and oil drilling in that state's share of Lake Michigan, as long as the drilling is 1,500 feet from the shore. Senator Bill Schuette William Duncan "Bill" Schuette (b. October 13 1953) is politician and jurist from the U.S. state of Michigan. Since January 2003, he has served on Michigan's 4th District Court of Appeals. promises that there will be a number of safeguards to protect the Great Lakes from pollution. "There are tough and stringent requirements. What it says is hands off the shorelines of the Great Lakes," he points out. The House of Representatives must okay the drilling amendment when it reviews state environmental and natural resources budgets. Lake Michigan provides drinking water drinking water supply of water available to animals for drinking supplied via nipples, in troughs, dams, ponds and larger natural water sources; an insufficient supply leads to dehydration; it can be the source of infection, e.g. leptospirosis, salmonellosis, or of poisoning, e.g. for 10 million people in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Wisconsin. Although traditional platform drilling is prohibited on the Great Lakes, directional drilling Directional drilling (sometimes known as slant drilling outside the oil industry) is the science of drilling non-vertical wells. Directional drilling can be broken down into three main groups: Oilfield Directional Drilling, Utility Installation Directional Drilling (commonly currently is allowed. Michigan wells harvest oil and natural gas under Lake Michigan, earning the state more than $16 million in royalties. In directional drilling, a well is drilled on land and angles deep under a lake to avoid disrupting the lakebed lake·bed n. The floor of a lake. and preventing water contamination. Congress also is considering bills to impose either a two-year or a permanent moratorium on drilling in the Great Lakes. |
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