The 1,000-Mile Great Lakes Adventures

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Asian Carp before the Supreme Court


This Friday, January 15, the case to keep the Asian Carp out of Lake Michigan will be argued before the Supreme Court. [Since this is a matter involving more than one state it must be judged in the highest court.] The state of Michigan is requesting that the locks on the canals around Chicago be shut to permanently bar the fish from entering the lake. The argument to keep the canals open will site that closing the canals will hurt the economy by making goods transported through the locks more expensive since they will have to be moved via rail or truck.

The non-profit group The Alliance for the Great Lakes has noted that only a small proportion of goods transported around Chicago actually go through the locks, and the the lake could be cut off from the canals minimal impact on the flow of goods.

Let us all hope that the court is more focused on the future of the lake than anything else.

Sign the online petition to stop the Asian carp from reaching lake Michigan: http://stopasiancarp.com/

Update: The Supreme Court sided with the state of Illinois and will NOT order the locks to be closed.

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