Report: U.S., Michigan face dire consequences if Soo Locks fail
Source: Detroit Free Press
WASHINGTON – A U.S. Department of Homeland Security report indicates a 6-month shutdown of the Poe Lock in Sault Ste. Marie, if one occurred, would plunge the nation into recession, closing factories and mines, halting auto and appliance production in the U.S. for most of a year and result in the loss of some 11 million jobs across the nation.
The report, obtained by the Free Press through the Freedom of Information Act, paints a grim picture of the outcome of any long-term shutdown of the Poe, the only one of the so-called Soo Locks able to handle the 1,000-foot-long vessels that each year move millions of tons of iron ore from mines in Wisconsin and northern Michigan to steel mills dotting the lower Great Lakes and beyond.
And while the Poe may not be imminently threatened with such a closure, there also is no question that it and the other operational shipping lock at the Soo, the smaller MacArthur, have seen more delays and closures in recent years, prompting shipping companies and manufacturers to agitate for a second Poe-sized lock – authorized by Congress some 30 years ago, but never adequately funded – to finally be built.
“The beauty of what (Homeland Security) has done is they’ve done a high level analysis of the impacts -- not just regionally, but nationally,” said James H.I. Weakley, president of the Lake Carriers Association, a trade group representing companies that ship on the Great Lakes.
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Read more: http://www.freep.com/story/news/politics/2016/03/03/us-michigan-face-dire-consequences-if-soo-locks-fail/81261608/
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more worried about , I don't know, there concept of religious freedom is under assault for example, or better yet denying people the right to vote, means testing people for food stamps, gutting a cutting education, passing right to work for less legislation, poisoning a water system, building stadiums for professional teams that's more important (that's the ticket) --------------------for starters --------------------to hell with infrastructure work ---------------------------divide and conquer the society as a whole because they want power and greed-----------------------that's the ticket---------------incompetence at its finest, thirty years knowing that this had to be fixed------------------what a disgrace
Honk---------------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016
for electing non-republicans---------------they then will follow the Lewis Powell memorandum:
http://reclaimdemocracy.org/powell_memo_lewis/
and continue there mantra of doing nothing, no progressive foresight---------------none, except gutting and cutting and so called tax breaks, then more spending on the military
Then, they will go or be invited on the right wing MSM outlets to reinforce that mantra of blaming a black president second, because after all a lot of us (Mexicans, Latinos, Indigenous People, African-American, Chinese, Natural born Americans of Russians, British, Canadian descent, etc,. voted him into office (twice) and they were upset-------------there still upset...........
To hell with the right wingers, they can bark at the moon------------ (these Tories)---------------just imagine what they would and will do if a Woman or a Jew will be elected---------------------it will be the same--------------------blame------------------they don't care---------------it's all about there right wing base------------give them stupid and the stupid will follow.
Because they (stupid) think that one day, they will be like the millionaires and the billionaires who are laughing at them, because (they the stupid), think the millionaires and billionaires care and will let them have the cake also.......................and they will continue to blame the other person for there failure---------------to run and hide..
Excuse the rant -------------but this is going to cost a lot of money, a lot to fix those locks.
And what is inexcusable Panama repaired the Canal, while this country was attacking a democratic president for signing and giving back
Honk------------------for a political revolution Bernie 2016
the pseudo brown shirts that hate government, want the government to do just that----------------------while Rome is burning, they are more concern about adding more wood to the fire instead of putting out the fire....................they just don't care..................
Honk-------------------for a political revolution Bernie
And here's the interior of the aptly named, and nearby "Antler's Restaurant". Great food there!!!
I kinda remember the place, but it's been decades since I've been to Sault St. Marie or even north of Big Mac*.
*Mackinac Bridge - five miles long, it's a beauty. Connects the two MI peninsulas.
I remember as a kid taking the ferry across the straits while the bridge was under construction. The two towers were built, but little else. That was a long time ago.
When I moved to the Soo we were told to think of it as an international city because the largest part was in Canada. The old timers there HATED what 911 did to the bridge.
We were lucky enough to live in an old Victorian where we could see the bridge from our house and watch the fireworks in Canada from the 3rd floor. What a view!
I miss the Soo and that old house. What I don't miss is the dreary winter weather.
Here:
who wanted an easy meal they could heat on their mining shovels over an open flame.
Quite a delicious concoction, if you ask me!
Adopted by the Suomilainens* -- yup! I are one -- who settled "up back nort" in the U.P. and worked in the copper and iron mines.
*Suomi == Finland. Suomilainen == Finnish.
BTW, my mother was fluent in both Finnish and English to her dying day. She was the youngest of twelve by two Finnish parents (who immigrated via Ellis Island just after the turn of the 20th century) and was born in Wisconsin. One of her brothers was born in Finland and was named after Czar Nicholas because Finland was ruled by Russia then. There was no English spoken at home; my grandmother never spoke it. My mother learned English from her older brothers and other relatives.
