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Jeff Alexander is an award-winning environmental journalist based in Michigan and the author of two critically acclaimed books. He covered Great Lakes issues for 20 years for several Michigan newspapers; he now writes for several nonprofit organizations, including the National Wildlife Federation.
EPA official says feds are winning Asian carp war
The federal government is winning the battle to keep Asian carp from reaching the Great Lakes, according to an Obama Administration official. Cameron Davis, the Obama Administration’s point person on Great Lakes issues, told a group of conservation leaders this… Read more >
Groups Call on EPA to End Harmful Shipping Practices
There are many reasons to hate the ‘80s: Big hair, bad music and acid-washed jeans. The 1980s were also a notoriously bad decade for the Great Lakes. That’s when ocean freighters that access the Great Lakes via the St. Lawrence… Read more >
Study offers a solution to Asian carp crisis facing the Great Lakes
The debate over how best to halt the movement of Asian carp and other invasive species between the Great Lakes and Mississippi River basin will likely reach a fever pitch in the coming weeks. The reason: The Great Lakes Commission… Read more >
Study Prompts Calls for Immediate Action on Asian Carp
Two U.S. senators are calling for immediate action to halt the spread of Asian carp in light of a new study that found the invasive fish could thrive in three of Ohio’s largest rivers. Asian carp were imported to Arkansas… Read more >
Great Lakes region targeted for nuclear waste dumps
The Great Lakes region, the center of the freshwater universe, could become home to central repositories for high-level radioactive waste from nuclear power plants across the U.S. and Canada. The U.S. and Canadian governments are both studying the possibility of… Read more >
NWF Appeals Court Approval of Controversial Mine
National Wildlife Federation and other conservation groups are appealing a Michigan court ruling that allowed a controversial metallic sulfide mine to be drilled below one of the Midwest’s finest trout streams. Opponents claim the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality should… Read more >
Asian Carp an Issue in 2012 Federal Budget Debate
Asian carp, the menacing invasive fish that rocket out of the water and are on the verge of storming the Great Lakes, have apparently captured the attention of Congress. Finally. The invasive fish could be part of the U.S. Senate’s… Read more >
Giving Thanks for Changes that Benefit the Great Lakes
Many Americans will eagerly sit down for Thanksgiving Dinner, only to be put on the spot by a well-intentioned but misguided host. “Before we eat,” the host will announce, “I’d like to go around the table and have everyone say… Read more >
Trash the Great Lakes? GOP Has an App for That
Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives recently did the Great Lakes a huge disservice. The GOP-led House passed a Coast Guard authorization bill that contained two bad amendments: Weak ballast water regulations, which will allow ocean freighters to carry… Read more >
Coal Ash Spill in Lake Michigan Another Blow to Industry’s “Clean Coal” Propaganda
A massive coal ash spill in Lake Michigan on Halloween was further proof that coal-fired power plants are anything but clean, as the industry claims. It’s bad enough that coal-fired power plants contribute to global warming, kill millions of fish… Read more >
