Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl and some of their colleagues are asking Obama to declare war on Asian carp. They want Obama to "create a 'commander' to fight the carp 'battle.'"
In short, they want to appear "fully engaged" and they think they can accomplish this by asking Obama to appoint a carp czar.
From the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel:
Federal agents committed to protecting Lake Michigan from an Asian carp invasion have been saying for months they would not be 100% convinced they have an imminent problem until they actually found a carp above an electric barrier built to keep the fish out of the lake.
Well, now they've got a problem - and the attention of the region's most powerful politicians.
On Tuesday, a single 20-pound bighead carp was found above the electric barrier in the Chicago canal system, about six miles south of Lake Michigan.
And on Friday, a group of 12 U.S. senators, including Wisconsin's Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl, sent a letter to President Barack Obama urging him to create a "commander" to fight the carp "battle."
Illinois Democratic Sen. Dick Durbin introduced a bill Friday that would require the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to speed up a study exploring what was unthinkable only a few years ago - what it would take to once again physically separate Lake Michigan from the Mississippi basin.
That separation was destroyed over 100 years ago when Chicago reversed its namesake river so it flushed the city's waste away from its drinking water intake pipes in Lake Michigan, into the Mississippi basin and ultimately down to the Gulf of Mexico.
"We have to do everything in our power to stop this invasive species from entering Lake Michigan," Durbin said. "We have to go at this as if we were at war. The viability of the Great Lakes is at stake."
Biologists have been saying for years that the only true solution to keep Asian carp - or any other aquatic invasive species - from spilling between Lake Michigan and the Mississippi basin is to construct a barrier in the canal system. Such a barrier would have tremendous implications for the way cargo moves through the system.
Still, most agree this "hydrological separation" could be accomplished. The question is how, and how much it would cost.
Congress previously instructed the Army Corps to begin a separation study, but the agency's pace - that study isn't due to be finished until 2012 at the earliest - evidently isn't fast enough for Durbin.
He wants an initial report done in 180 days and the final report completed in 18 months.
Army Corps Maj. General John Peabody said Friday he appreciates the politicians' sense of urgency.
"No one wants to expedite it more than me," Peabody said just before Durbin released his bill.
"I want to go as fast as possible, but there is a limit to how fast you can go," Peabody said. "I can promise you, I am riding the horse as fast as the horse can go."
Now that horse is feeling the spurs of the region's senators.
"We cannot afford to further delay our efforts to prevent the Asian carp from devastating an important sector of Wisconsin's economy, as well as our treasured Great Lakes," Feingold said. "All options to stop these carp must be on the table, and I have supported a host of efforts to do just that. As agencies at all levels of government, as well as private sector efforts, continue to work to contain the carp, a point person is critical to make sure efforts run smoothly and effectively."
This is just political posturing by Feingold and friends. It's way too little, way too late.
Suddenly, there's a sense of urgency. There must be a carp czar to oversee and coordinate efforts to protect the Great Lakes. NOW!
What's frustrating about this is that warning signs were ignored. There was sort of a "What, me worry?" approach to the problem that was guaranteed to fail.
"[C]onservationists and politicians alike have characterized [the carp invasion] as a slow-motion ecological disaster decades in the making."
That's inexcusable. Our only hope?
OBAMA TO THE RESCUE!
Really?
I have no faith whatsoever in Obama and the government to manage this potential crisis.
Other than appoint a carp czar, which is as good as doing nothing, what will Obama do?
He's not going to suck the carp out of the lake with a straw. He can't dive in and construct a barrier.
I suppose he could promise to find an ass to kick, if he can find the ass on an Asian carp.
2 comments:
A Carp Czar? I thought you were kidding when I read the title. I guess not.
It's amazing what trivia can motivate "progressives" and what really big things seem to hamstring them.
An invasive species like Asian carp getting into the Great Lakes could be devastating, but a "carp czar" isn't the answer.
It would be yet another example of Obama trying to look like he's doing something when he's really doing absolutely nothing.
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