Natalie McKittrick
Article: 2
NC Times
http://www.nctimes.com/news/national/article_974de34c-7eb8-5b99-8b8e-c10adbfd1c24.html
5 states take Asian carp case to Supreme Court
Asian carp in Great Lakes
Asian Carp are invading the Great Lakes and the waterways from Michigan to Chicago. This is a concern because they is damaging their reigions $7 billion fishing industry because they are eating all of the plankton which is ruining the lakes ecosystem. The states are suing the Army Corps and Chicago municipal water district for not regulating the waterways. So far Federal Courts have denied their request for gateways to keep the carp from entering the lakes. The court will not accept their appeal even though there is a really good chance that the unwanted carp will reach the lakes.
This connects to what we are studying in class because we are learning about the three branches and what our rights are. It also shows us in many ways how court cases are brought out. For instance in the court case the petitioners tried many times in federal courts and were not generally happy with what the final decison was and are now waiting for a hearing with the Supreme Court. The petitoners must have consent from a higher court in order to get the gate closed to the waterways. Like them we had to speak with higher officials (Mrs. Hancock) in order to get our right to chew gum in class.
This case also connects to my life as a citizen. For instance the loss of this industry could cost our country $7,000,000,000 dollars that we cannot afford. That would make the economy in much worse shape than it already is (which is very hard to do). That could make more people homeless, jobless, and under alot of stress to support their evergrowing families. I also love the environment and watching an ecosystem that is in really good shape plummet that fast because some carp getting into a lake that would just be bad.
My opinion on the topic would be that they should close the gates. I have done some reasearch on the topic and the Asian Carp are big, and can get huge, and by huge I mean HUGE! It is also true that they eat the plankton. They are non-edible fish because they will eat practically anything that comes their way, (I have had personal experiance with this) and you do not know what that may be. It will also damage the ecosystem and make our world all the more less what it was like in the old days (When the ozone layer had no holes, houses were not concrete, and Asian Carp were in Asia.)
I do agree with you, to a point. If the waterways would be blocked, that in itself would destabilize the delicate ecosystem, would it not? The waterways have never been blocked before, and who knows, there could be some rare species of sea animal that migrates to the Great Lakes in the summer and then migrates away in the winter, or vice versa. Anything that us humans would do would destabilize the ecosystem, but if we leave it alone it will get destabilized also. I hold a belief that if we leave an ecosystem alone, it will stay on track or get back on track, such as in Yellowstone, the wolves were sending the deer population down too low so the people started killing the wolves, even though if we left it alone the wolves would stop because there would be less deer and it would return back to normal. But in this situation, the people have already interfered, which puts us in a big ditch.
ReplyDeleteI agree with you but I wished you would of shared your experience and just how big the fish could get. You did a great job all in all and I hope my constructive critizume helps
ReplyDeleteI agree with your opinion and would like to hear your experience with the fish. Sadly, I think that this problem will spread throughout the nation no matter what the government does.
ReplyDeleteRedo
ReplyDeleteI agree with you. I agree because the asian carp are invading other animals habitats. For example, what is someone just moved into your room and you couldn't do anything about it. You would be pretty upset too right. This is how oll the other animals feel.