Issues

Why We Support the Coast Guard Reauthorization Bill (H.R. 2838)

The owners of the SS Badger, Lake Michigan Carferry, are committed to retrofitting the vessel to run on cleaner fuel and have already spent hundreds of thousands of dollars exploring the best options.

The SS Badger is currently working with the Great Lakes Maritime Research Institute on a pilot project to evaluate conversion to natural gas fuel—one of the cleanest fuels available. In anticipation of this conversion, chief engineers for the Badger have already undergone comprehensive training on the use of natural gas fuel and received full certification in December 2011. However, because conversion to a new, cleaner fuel is so complex and costly, it cannot be realistically completed by December 2012. More time is needed to make the transition to natural gas.

The Coast Guard Reauthorization Bill (H.R. 2838), supported by Congressmen Huizenga (MI), Benishek (WI) and Petri (WI), passed through the House of Representatives on December 9, 2011. Now, it will move to the Senate for vote. Will you help ensure that our voice is heard in the Senate? Click here to email Senate Commerce Committee Chairman Rockefeller and let him know that the Badger is important to our states and deserves the appropriate time to be retrofitted to run on cleaner fuel. 

Why We Want to Make the SS Badger a National Historic Landmark

To put it simply, the Badger is a national treasure. It links us to an earlier time when a sea voyage was the ultimate travel and vacation adventure.  

As the only coal-fired steamship in operation in the United States, the Badger has a unique propulsion system that has been designated as a national mechanical engineering landmark. The vessel has also earned historical awards and designations from the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, Michigan Historical Commission, Wisconsin Historical Commission, Historical Society of Michigan, Steamship Historical Society of America and has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the U.S. Department of the Interior.

We urge you to click here and tell Secretary Salazar that the Department of the Interior should acknowledge the century-old tradition of car ferry service on Lake Michigan by granting the SS Badger National Historic Landmark status.