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Carol Browner addressing Great Lakes leaders in Cleveland

That's the headline Keep America Fishing used when they recently published the Presidential candidate's answers to some policy questions surrounding various issues important to anglers. One of those questions specifically revolved around the Great Lakes, most notably the threat from invasive Asian Carp. It's always easy to make policy statements, it's another to back them up. A recent Great Lakes event in Cleveland is perhaps more telling when it comes to the respective candidates answer to that Great Lakes policy question.

Romney's Silence on Great Lakes Protection Speaks Volumes

Last week in Cleveland, over 500 leaders from around the Great Lakes gathered in Cleveland to talk about the challenges facing the drinking water source for 38 million Americans - our Great Lakes.

On the agenda were assessments of toxic waste cleanup projects, the threat of Asian Carp and other invasive species, the growing water quality problem of nutrient pollution and algae overload, and evidence that climate change is already having significant impacts on this critical resource.

After weeks of considering whether to participate, the Romney campaign ultimately made the call: blow it off.

President Obama's campaign sent Carol Browner, until recently Obama's top adviser on energy and environmental policy, and also former head of the EPA for eight years. Browner spoke knowledgeably and forcefully about Obama's Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, a program Obama created to clean up contaminated sites, restore the Great Lakes ecosystem's natural areas, and protect drinking water. She talked about the administration's multi-pronged defense against the Asian Carp, and of the new Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement the administration just signed with Canada.

LINK (via: The Huff Post)