Up North Progressive

How do you know an incumbent career politician is running scared over his ability to hold his seat in the US House of Representatives the day before an election? He sends his staff off to the back forty of his district where he seldom if ever treads and in a last-ditch effort to scare people into voting for him, spreads lies about his opponent, Dr. Rob Davidson. Huizenga’s staff came to Ludington, Michigan, and passed out fliers around downtown the late afternoon of November 5th claiming that Rob Davidson wanted to shut down the SS Badger over the boat dumping coal ash into Lake Michigan.

HUIZENGA STANDS UP FOR THE BADGER, LUDINGTON, OPPORTUNITY

The S.S. Badger is under attack again. This time from a candidate actually running to represent us here in Ludington. Bill Huizenga’s opponent, in a recent debate in Newaygo, made disparaging remarks about the Badger, and the ship’s recent fight with the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to stay in business.

He clearly must not know what the S.S. Badger means to the Ludington community. The S.S. Badger contributes $21 million annually to the Ludington economy. Losing this would not only devastate our entire community but would have negative repercussions throughout West Michigan. Not to mention, the S.S. Badger employs over 200 people. It is startling to see a candidate with such disregard for potential constituents’ jobs and our economic well-being.

Bill Huizenga has always stood up for the Badger and Ludington. When the EPA tried to shut the Badger down, he fought for a solution. In 2013, the S.S. Badger signed a Consent Decree agreement with the Department of Justice and the EPA allowing the ship to continue to operate. It’s unfortunate that Bill Huizenga’s opponent appears to be just as misguided as the EPA bureaucrats who tried to shut down the S.S. Badger not based on scientific facts but rather only trying to advance a partisan agenda. Bill was also instrumental in getting the S.S. Badger named as a National Historic Landmark by the National Park Service further protecting it from future EPA attacks.

For this and numerous other reasons, I will again be voting for Bill Huizenga for Congress on November 6th. I hope you will join me in supporting a candidate that is working to help our community prosper and not a candidate that shows clear contempt for one of Ludington’s most important economic and cultural landmarks.

Joe Lenius

This letter to the editor appeared in the Ludington Daily News on Friday, October 26th.

First, some facts about the SS Badger:

• The SS Badger is a car ferry shuttling vehicles and passengers between Ludington, Michigan and Manitowoc, Wisconsin. The boat is a section of US Highway 10.
• The SS Badger has been in operation on Lake Michigan for the past 65 years.
• The SS Badger can carry vehicles as large as a semi-tractor trailer. It can hold 180 cars
• It is the only coal-fueled ship in operation in the United States.
• The SS Badger generates $35 million in revenue every year for Ludington, MI, and Manitowoc, WI.
• The SS Badger is a National Historic Landmark.

In 2011 the EPA required the company operating the SS Badger to stop dumping coal ash into Lake Michigan. Coal ash is the waste product of spent coal. Coal ash contains toxins like cadmium, mercury, arsenic, and depending on the coal, other hazardous substances. People exposed to water containing coal ash can become susceptible to diseases like cancer. The EPA also required the Badger to pay $25,000 in fines and required them to update the ship so it no longer dumped four tons of coal ash into Lake Michigan every single day it operated.

Lake Michigan Carferry, the owner of the SS Badger, went to Congress looking for help to stay in business with their coal-fueled boat. Bill Huizenga was more than happy to help. He helped with getting exemptions for the Badger from following EPA rules and the car ferry was declared a national historic landmark, which made it more difficult to enforce pollution laws on the boat.

During the debate held in Holland, Michigan, on October 30, 2018, Dr. Rob Davidson commended the SS Badger for efforts to stop dumping coal ash into Lake Michigan. His statement on finding different solutions in no way meant that the SS Badger should stop operating as a ferry across Lake Michigan. That Huizenga would use this statement with hours left before the election to scare people into voting for him shows he’s the one who’s afraid right now. Otherwise, why resort to such disgusting tactics.

Who is Joe Lenius? He currently serves the First Ward on the Ludington City Council.

Dr. Rob Davidson has no intention of taking away the SS Badger from Ludington, Michigan. Huizenga is using the methods of a desperate man to scare people into voting for him. Dr. Rob doesn’t need to scare anyone. He will listen to his constituents and do what they want. Vote for Dr. Rob Davidson tomorrow on November 6.