I’m writing to you because I am passionate about the fact that we need someone as our next U.S. Senator that understands how important the Great Lakes are to Michigan’s economy and way of life. I firmly believe the person for the job is Gary Peters. He will fight to protect the Great Lakes for our small businesses that depend on the region, for our tourism industry that relies on recreation and boating, and for future generations so good jobs are available thanks to our natural resources.

I’ve heard Gary say that our choice isn’t mutually exclusive, and I believe he’s right. We can be good stewards of the environment making wise use of our natural resources at the same time as we do what’s right for the economy and Michigan business. Gary’s vision for Michigan is to be at the forefront of the clean energy economy so we can create new jobs and grow our economy. Our state is primed to take advantage of our strategic location and history of innovation.

During Gary’s Great Lakes jobs tour in August, he said that he came away with a deeper understanding of how small businesses rely on the Great Lakes and just how important it is to protect our natural resources for future generations. Furthermore, the understanding of how the health of the Great Lakes affects even those small businesses not directly associated with the lakes, has become even more clear. Take for example, the ability for the self-employed fishing guides on the Pere Marquette River in Lake County. If we allow non-indigenous species to penetrate the lakes, the fishing guide’s business suffers, which in turn hurts the local economy’s tourism.

I’m positive Gary is the right choice for Michigan because he shares in our way of life and knows we need to fight to protect it.

Heather E. Robinson
Ann Arbor, MI