Frederica Freyberg:
Another state Capitol item in the news this week involves the ongoing Asian carp story. As Art Hackett reported, the species has been netted in the Chicago Sanitation Canal. The threat of the invasive Asian carp needs to be shut down, according to Wisconsin's Attorney General J.B. Van Hollen. He joined in on legal action just before the new year. We asked him just what action he took.  

Frederica Freyberg:
What actions did you take to protect Lake Michigan from Asian carp?

J.B. Van Hollen:
Well, as a lot of people are aware, the state of Michigan filed a motion to get a preliminary injunction in an old lawsuit that Wisconsin had been involved in, and after they did that, the Supreme Court established a deadline of the end of last year for any other states to respond to that motion who were parties to the case. Wisconsin was one of the parties, and on the 30th, a day before the deadline, we filed our response to the motion for preliminary injunction, joining in Michigan's request to enjoin the three defendants in the case and try to force them to at least temporarily close the locks and take other measures necessary to make sure that if the Asian carp haven't already passed these barriers to get into Lake Michigan and other Great Lakes, that they won't.

Frederica Freyberg:
Now, Illinois, the Army Corps of Engineers, the Water District of Chicago are defendants, of course are opposing this injunction to force an emergency shutdown of these locks to prevent the carp from getting into the lakes, saying they're dealing with this Asian carp threat and that, furthermore, perhaps this threat is overblown. What is your reaction to that?

J.B. Van Hollen:
I think it's amazing to take the position that the threat is overblown. There's no doubt about the fact, there's scientific proof that these carp can completely take over a waterway. As a matter of fact, in parts of the Chicago River they have overtaken 80 percent of the waterway. If they got into our Great Lakes, they could almost destroy the fisheries. And that's sport fishing, commercial fishing. That's in excess of a $400 million a year industry for Wisconsin alone. So there's a great, great risk. Their argument that they've done something about it is an argument that they've been bringing for a long, long time. The carp have come further up the river and canal and hit the point of no return right now. And so I guess I can't say it any better way than to say that we don't have faith in them. We don't believe they're doing what is necessary. We need to intervene to make sure that we protect our Great Lakes because we don't think they're doing it.  

Frederica Freyberg:
The state Justice Department has just learned that the U.S. Supreme Court will consider the injunction a week from today.