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Tuesday, January 05, 2010
Environment - Feds oppose Great Lakes states' suit re Asian Carp
In a 53-page memorandum for the United States in opposition to the Michigan motion for a preliminary injunction, the:
Solicitor General, on behalf of the United States of America, respectfully submits this memorandum in opposition to the motion for preliminary injunction submitted by the State of Michigan.* * *Thanks to Lyle Denniston, who posted this entry on SCOTUSblog late this afternoon.Michigan states in its petition for a supplemental decree (at 29-30) that its ultimate goal is a permanent injunction separating the Great Lakes from the Mississippi River system, undoing a connection that for well over 100 years has served the important purposes of flood control, navigation, commerce, and sanitation. A host of responsible actors -- federal, state, and even international -- are deeply and intensely engaged in studying all the considerations involved in preventing the transmission of invasive species through that connection. For this Court to pretermit that process and to decree that the answer is to sever the connection, based on a purported federal common law rule, would be altogether inappropriate.
In a host of ways, the federal government has demonstrated its commitment to protecting the Great Lakes from the expansion of Asian carp. Nothing in federal law warrants second-guessing its expert judgment that the best information available today does not yet justify the dramatic steps Michigan demands.
Posted by Marcia Oddi on January 5, 2010 05:49 PM
Posted to Environment