Anyone who has lived even remotely close to them knows the Great Lakes are perhaps the most valuable natural resource to Wisconsin, as well as the other seven states and two provinces that encompass them. They provide millions of people with freshwater, are a prime source of food and are great tourist attractions, which brings a much needed boost to our state economy. Unfortunately, these waters are almost constantly threatened by pollutants, invasive species and over-consumption, putting the world's largest collection of freshwater lakes at risk.
To protect these waters—in particular against invasive species—Wisconsin has proposed various laws that would be especially tough on the international shipping business that traverses the lakes. However, Minnesota, with whom Wisconsin shares a major port, has put forth a much more relaxed version of rules for saltwater shipping vessels that merely reduces the risk of biological pollution instead of eliminating it. This sort of patchwork set of laws will simply not work to protect the Great Lakes. In this case, federal law would be best as it could impose a universal set of rules that all of the states bordering the lakes can adhere to and utilize in order to preserve our greatest natural asset.
The international shipping trade is perhaps the greatest perpetuator of this constant biological pollution that threatens to destroy the natural ecosystem of the Great Lakes. The ships involved in this trade can, and have, introduced several new species into the Great Lakes via ballast waters—that is, water taken into a ship to steady it if it has less than a full cargo load. These waters, which can be taken in at foreign ports, then released at more local waters, are full of organisms not native to the new ecosystems they are introduced to and thus become invasive species.
Wisconsin has proposed a new set of laws to be implemented in 2012 for the international shipping industry, which are extremely strict and require technology, according to the same industry, that simply does not yet exist. Minnesota, on the other hand, has a far more lenient proposed set for instatement in 2016 that several conservation groups deem unsuitable for protecting the ecosystems of the Great Lakes. This is especially problematic considering that most ballast waters released into the Great Lakes are done so at the twin harbors of Duluth-Superior; a consensus between the two states, however, has yet to be reached. This is where the federal government needs to step in, by providing a set of laws to apply to all Great Lakes states.
Fortunately, it seems like the do-nothing plan of the Bush administration is coming to an end, as EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson recently said that a reassessment of the policy is probable. Application of a universal law set laid down by the federal government would be best for everyone involved. The foreign shipping trade would then need only to comply with one set of rules, and states and conservation groups could rest assured that the laws will protect our greatest natural resource by working with the federal government to create a new universal standard. In the end, this will greatly reduce the likeliness of the Great Lakes being reduced to stagnant waters in which much of the natural ecosystems have been destroyed by invasive species.
However, reducing biological threats to the Great Lakes may never completely reach zero. Invasive species have several routes of ingress into these waters: they can go through the St. Lawrence Seaway, or up the Mississippi and Chicago River—like the Asian carps have done, though they still remain a mere two-day swim from Lake Michigan. Hitching a ride in ballast waters of international ships has been a favorite for them, as roughly 65 percent of all introduced species are said to have arrived that way. Allowing states to create their own rule sets is simply not acceptable. Many of them will continue to disagree, effectively stopping any stricter rules from passing. A universal set of laws placed on the lakes by the federal government is really the best way to protect the Great Lakes.
Ryan Dashek is a junior majoring in biology. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
