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Stabenow focuses on Great Lakes, out-of-state waste

With a campus as beautiful as MSU's, all Spartans should be environmentalists and care for their surroundings, U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich., told more than 100 people at the Union on Monday.

"We have such a gift here on campus," the MSU alumna said. "We have a special responsibility to protect that."

Stabenow talked about how she's working to stop other states and Canada from dumping trash in Michigan and ban companies from taking water from the Great Lakes.

Clean Water Action, a national environmentalist group with a chapter in East Lansing, invited Stabenow to speak on campus.

"Trash is a really large problem in Michigan," said Cyndi Roper, Great Lakes policy director for Clean Water Action. "We have a lot of landfill space, and it's cheap."

Stabenow said she's pushing for legislation that would require companies to pay for security inspections before dumping their trash. She also said Michigan should stop building more landfills.

But if her legislative plans fail, Stabenow said she'll stand at the Blue Water Bridge, which links Canada to Port Huron, Mich., and link arms with people to stop the dump trucks from entering Michigan.

Biosystems engineering senior Amanda Herzog said her attitude about the future is positive because Stabenow is making environmental issues a top priority.

"It's great she's making us responsible, because we'll have to be the ones who'll have to be responsible for enlightening people about the environment," Herzog said.

Midway through Stabenow's speech, a "Dump Debbie" sign was displayed through the lobby's window behind the podium. The drapes to the window were shut moments later.

The sign belonged to international relations freshman Kyle Bristow, who climbed on top of a patio bench to gain access to the window.

Demonstrating with the MSU College Republicans and the Michigan Youth Offensive, Bristow said Stabenow voted inappropriately on the recently proposed bill that would grant amnesty to millions of illegal aliens and bring 400,000 guest workers into the country.

Bristow said he's talked to a lot of people about immigration issues and is "standing up for the working man."

"Amnesty doesn't fix the problem at all — it's a Band-Aid to the problem at hand," he said.

The group, Young Americans for Freedom, also was protesting the event.

Stabenow said she disagrees with the bill and also said that American corporations are the ones that want the guest workers for inexpensive labor.

"It will bring in cheap labor that will undercut American jobs," Stabenow said.

Stabenow's communication director, Angela Benander, said Stabenow has co-sponsored an amendment to take the issue out of the bill.

Published on Tuesday, April 18, 2006