MichiganRadio

Mike Cox: Only Supreme Court Can Stop Asian Carp DETROIT, MI (Michigan Radio) - Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox wants the U.S. Supreme Court to order a number of Chicago-area locks shut down to prevent the spread of Asian Carp.

Cox says the Obama Administration has not put enough pressure on the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, or the state of Illinois, to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

The carp are an invasive species with voracious appetites that have spread up the Mississippi to within a few miles of the Lakes. Many biologists warn the fish could wreak havoc on the region's ecosystem, and its $7 billion-a-year fishery.

Cox says asking the Supreme Court to temporarily shut down waterways connecting to the Mississippi is the only way to ensure that doesn't happen. "We can't prod the Administration to work quicker to close down the locks," he says, "so the Supreme Court is our best hope to get some leverage to stop these fish."

Cox says he's hopeful other Great Lakes states, and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, will join in the suit.

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