By Rachel Wells
The U.S. Supreme Court will not force immediate closure of two Chicago waterways locks.
Justices had denied a similar motion earlier this year, but Michigan renewed its request citing new evidence that Asian carp were nearing the Great Lakes. The invasive species has been moving up Illinois waterways for years, devastating other aquatic populations as it eats large quantities of plankton, the basis of the food chain.
Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox said he expects the Supreme Court to consider taking up the remainder of the lawsuit – the issue of reopening a nearly 100-year-old case over Chicago’s diversion of Lake Michigan water – on April 16.
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It will take a president who cares more about our environment than being popular in his home state to protect our countries Great Lakes from the damage that will be forever from these carp. Remember this administration campaign rhetoric about "going green"? They will not even address this problem in a manor to assure safety of the worlds largest reserve of fresh water. This administrations policy on curbing invasive species is close to nothing as is evident by the commander and chiefs Coast Guard plan of two plus decades for ballast water. People should realize that China the largest ship builders in the world are the major player in the IMO and will have a major say in the environmental laws of the United States under commander and chiefs military purposed plan to mirror IMO policy for the next decade. Of course the fact that we have allowed China to peg the value of their currency to ours, for trade reasons could be influencing this, and could have created the economic domination that is forcing this administration to link our peoples health and environment to International Maritime Organization. Perhaps this is because our president is aware of the outstanding record for spreading human virus (Cholera, etc.) and invasive s that the IMO has historically shown and would like to see it continue for short term economic health to obtain votes and retail store shelves filled with cheap foreign goods. A NEW REPORT FOR THE 111TH CONGRESS SUGGEST THEY MAY AGAIN TAKE UP THE ISSUE OF BALLAST WATER BUT, THAT IT MAY INCREASE THE COST OF IMPORTED FOREIGN MANUFACTURED PRODUCTS. (American jobs????) Of course knowing the economy is fragile I am quite sure they will be afraid to hurt the trade relations that have been construed by previous administrations. These big box outlet stores of foreign goods are now the major employers of our country. The rising cost of foreign goods may make manufacturing more competitive in our country, but the longer we wait the more destruction occurs as the new technologies are being developed by foreign ship builders. Ever noticed how many US ship building companies are on the NY stock exchange? (0) Why is ship building in the US only privately held? Many of these new technologies should not be approved in US waters until inspection, study and testing for the long term use, that may do more harm than good . New ballast treating technologies using different chemicals etc. needs to be studied for possible harmful effects created by mixing different discharges from ships in close proximity and through currents etc. In the last couple of years there has been quite a bit of research done on human health affects of ballast water for virus,and bacteria, influenza etc. just try a Google search of ballast water virus, yet Congress has yet to address this cost to our health.
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