Protecting the Great Lakes from Asian carp

In January, Environment Illinois launched a new campaign in support of emergency measures to prevent the spread of voracious, invasive Asian carp into the Great Lakes ecosystem. The campaign is in response to DNA evidence suggesting the presence of Asian carp within six miles of Lake Michigan--well past the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers' electronic carp barrier, a virtual fish fence designed to stop them.

Scientists fear ecological disaster, and the end of the Great Lakes' $7 billion fishing industry, if these giants--which grow to more than four feet long and up to 110 pounds--colonize the lake. In some sections of the Illinois River, they already make up 90 percent of living biomass.

Rosemont global warming hearing a success

On Nov. 19, the U.S. EPA held public hearings in Rosemont on a proposed first step in using the Clean Air Act to rein in global warming pollution. The EPA's proposed rule would regulate carbon dioxide emissions from new oil refineries, coal plants and other sources emitting more than 25,000 tons of global warming pollution each year.

The hearing was a huge success thanks to Environment Illinois's members, our coalition partners, and more than 160 citizens and volunteers who turned out in support of the rule. Over 60 people testified before the EPA, with supporters of the rule outnumbering opponents by a ratio of 15 to one. Prior to the close of the public comment period on Dec. 28, Environment Illinois field organizers also hand-delivered to the EPA an additional 291 public comments they collected in support of the rule.