Wisconsin Signs Great Lakes Compact
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto 
on 05.30.08
I know. It's a snore. But it is an important snore, another step toward protecting one of the continent's greatest resources. Why? Read this editorial from the Oshkosh Northwestern:
"For years, especially as the Baby Boomer generation has aged, we've seen our mothers, fathers, grandmother and grandfathers pick up stakes and pack their 25-mpg Conestogas for warmer weather – for Florida, for Arizona. They are our "snowbirds." Well, soon, if not already, the migration isn't exactly a no-brainer. In exchange for no snow shoveling, Wisconsin emigrants are moving into a danger zone, the lands of environmentally-unfriendly energy and water shortages, especially in the booming desert southwest.
Having the Great Lakes Compact in place assures these folks (and entire generations of eco-savvy, recreation-hungry younger Americans, too) will long have a Wisconsin to return to that harbors clean, abundant water – a Wisconsin that will welcome those who care to enjoy it and help sustain it. It's not unreasonable to expect that, in not too long, the state will see an eco-boom – a reverse exodus, a return." ::Oshkosh Northwestern via ::Great Lakes Blogger
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"Wisconsin emigrants are moving into a danger zone, the lands of environmentally-unfriendly energy and water shortages, especially in the booming desert southwest."
I would very much like to dispute this sentence. The southwest is solar energy rich and over the coming decades we are going to be sending this out all over the nation. As far as water, look into something called water banking. Arizona leads the world in storing our fresh water in underground aquifers (water banking) where it can not evaporate and loss is very minimal. We have plenty of water because we have wisely conserved it for decades.
Yes, the southwest is solar rich, but it is as yet an untapped resource. The future viability of continuing to live in deserts depends on developing this industry, both photo- and thermovoltaic.
"Electricity produced in Arizona is mostly from traditional natural gas, coal, and nuclear resources. Hydroelectric contributes about 6 percent, while non-hydro renewable resources are currently very small (0.07 percent)."
http://www.bv.com/resources/energy_brochures/renewables/rsrc_AZ_RenewableEnergyAssessment.pdf