AP:

Obama, an Illinois senator, said last month that McCain had “stood with Bush” in failing to support adequate spending on the lakes. The Democrat, whose home city of Chicago anchors Lake Michigan’s southern shore, released a five-point plan featuring a $5 billion “down payment” toward implementing the restoration.
McCain’s campaign said the Obama plan “throws taxpayers’ money at the problem.” Yet aides said the Republican senator from Arizona also supports the restoration, although he has put forward no detailed plan or spending commitment. Obama is a co-sponsor of legislation to implement the restoration; McCain is not.
“The Great Lakes restoration must be a bipartisan initiative that brings on board all regions of the country in supporting the lakes as a national treasure,” McCain campaign spokeswoman Sarah Lenti said in a written statement.
Robert Sisson, a national staffer with Republicans for Environmental Protection, said McCain’s support of the lakes was sincere. But the budget crisis makes any specific funding pledge at this point an empty gesture, he said.
McCain is trying to have it both ways, said Heather Zichal, Obama’s energy and environmental policy director.
“If John McCain is saying this restoration can take place without a significant federal contribution, he’s just paying lip service when he claims to support it,” Zichal said.
She acknowledged that money would be tight. But hailing from a Great Lakes state, Obama understands the lakes’ dire situation and would give them top billing, Zichal said.
“You don’t have to explain to a Great Lakes senator why this should be a priority,” said Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Mich. “It’s in our DNA.”
Obama’s plan also calls for appointing a Great Lakes czar within the Environmental Protection Agency to coordinate efforts on the federal, state and local levels.
Other proposals include stepped-up efforts to identify and reduce toxic pollution, promote water conservation and crack down on ship ballast discharges responsible for most of the 185 invasive species that threaten the lakes’ ecosystem.
The Great Lakes system holds 90 percent of the nation’s surface fresh water. Yet it’s under assault from sewage overflows in cities such as Cleveland, Detroit and Milwaukee. One study warned that the lakes were reaching a “tipping point” where they might be unable to heal themselves from pollution.

Maybe this first step for the “czar” will be to ask the Democratic Governors of Michigan, Wisconsin, Ohio, and Illinois to stop soiling the lakes.