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Frozen commerce: Great Lakes businesses need a new icebreaker

Frozen commerce: Great Lakes businesses need a new icebreaker

During the past two winters, the Great Lakes have been covered with more and denser ice than at any time since the 1970s. Vessels have gotten stuck and damaged, precious and timely cargo has been delayed, and money and jobs have been lost — even in Lake Erie, along the Pennsylvania shore.

A new, heavy-duty icebreaker for the lakes is desperately needed.

Just one heavy-duty icebreaker, the Mackinaw, is in service for the vast expanse of the five lakes. The U.S. Coast Guard has several small icebreakers, but most are old and not up to breaking the thick ice that has clogged shipping channels.

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Yet Congress has refused to appropriate money for a new icebreaker. Two members of Congress from Michigan, Republican Rep. Candice Miller and Democratic Sen. Gary Peters, want their colleagues to add the $200 million necessary for such a vessel to a Coast Guard funding bill.

A new icebreaker for the lakes is a national priority, not just a regional one. The entire country depends on cargo shipped across the lakes. Last winter, Mr. Peters estimates, the effects of the ice cost 4,000 jobs and at least $700 million in lost business revenue.

Congress should immediately make this funding available. Every lawmaker from the Great Lakes region, including the Pennsylvania delegation and House Speaker John Boehner of Ohio, should press their colleagues to do the right thing.

Meet the Editorial Board.

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First Published: August 17, 2015, 4:00 a.m.

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