January 12,  2010

            Lansing -  Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox today said he remains extremely disappointed by the decision of President Obama and officials in Illinois responsible for waters infested with Asian carp to protect narrow local interests over the health of the Great Lakes, $7 billion in annual economic activity and over 800,000 Michigan jobs connected to the health of the Lakes. The state of Illinois has only 63 of nearly 10,000 miles of Great Lakes shoreline.

        Though the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers itself admitted that allowing Asian carp into the Great Lakes would be an "ecological and economic disaster," Illinois officials today held a press conference in Chicago to oppose Cox's efforts to protect the Great Lakes from the Asian carp, an aggressive invasive species that could quickly devastate Great Lakes fish populations and the millions of jobs and billions of dollars in economic activity across the Midwest which they support.

        "While the decision by the Obama administration and the State of Illinois to ignore this imminent crisis won't make the carp disappear, they may wash away thousands of Michigan jobs, billions in economic activity and destroy the Great Lakes," said Cox. "It is distressing that inaction on the part of a state with only a few miles of shoreline is threatening the economy and ecology of Michigan and every other state in the Great Lakes basin."

        The Obama administration last week filed a brief with the U.S. Supreme Court opposing Cox's efforts to protect the Lakes from Asian carp. Since filing his suit on December 21, 2009, Cox has been joined by the states of Minnesota, New York, Ohio and Wisconsin and the Province of Ontario. The State of Indiana has also expressed support for Michigan's action.

        Attorney General Cox's suit came after Illinois and federal authorities reportedly executed the largest fish kill in Illinois history in response to the discovery of Asian carp DNA just miles from Lake Michigan. That action uncovered a carp near the electrical barrier, causing Cox to call for immediate action to once and for all address the potential devastation of the Great Lakes, before it is too late.

        Cox's office has aggressively protected Michigan's water resources, previously suing the federal government multiple times to compel them to address the threat to our waters from invasives. He also went to court to successfully defend Michigan's first-in-the-nation ballast water statute.

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