There is new legislation in Congress to push the Army Corps to engineer a permanent physical separation of the Mississippi River drainage and the Great Lakes at Chicago, reversing over 100 years of diversion of Lake Michigan water out of the Great Lakes watershed and closing the door on invasive species, like the Asian carp, trying to enter the Lakes. I’ve written on this several times, and a good general description of the problem is Carp Wars.
In an e-mail today Senator Debbie Stabenow writes:
Dear Brian,
I am writing to give you an update on my work to protect the Great Lakes from Asian carp. The recent discovery of an Asian carp in Lake Calumet, very close to Lake Michigan, should serve as a wake-up call to government agencies about the urgency of this situation.
Today, I introduced legislation to permanently prevent Asian carp and other invasive species from entering the Great Lakes. Congressman Dave Camp (R-Michigan) has introduced our bipartisan legislation in the House of Representatives as well. The Permanent Prevention of Asian Carp Act requires the Army Corps of Engineers to follow the recommendations of top experts in the field and expedite their study detailing the engineering options to permanently separate the Mississippi River from the Great Lakes.
In the Senate, my bill is co-sponsored by Senator Dick Durbin (D-Illinois), Senator Carl Levin (D-Michigan), and other Great Lakes Senators. A permanent separation of the waterways would allow cargo to pass through the Chicago locks, but would prevent the water itself, and any invasive species living in it, from entering Lake Michigan.
I also recently spoke about this issue on the floor of the Senate, so my colleagues would know how urgent this issue is for us in Michigan. You can watch the speech on YouTube at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QY-Sy12t3qg.
The Great Lakes are Michigan’s most precious natural resource, and they are a part of our way of life. I will never stop fighting to protect them.
Sincerely,
Debbie Stabenow
United States Senator
Now where this goes, or how much support we can expect from the Chicago-friendly White House, is anybody’s guess. But its a great effort, and I would encourage everyone to contact their Congress-person or Senator and encourage them to support this bill. An e-mail or phone call to the White House wouldn’t hurt either.
Does it strike anyone else as wrong that we continuously have to fight Washington to step-up and do what is right for public health and the welfare of our shared environment? Shouldn’t that be the default response?
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