Mississippi River Basin News

Week of August 21st

Northeast-Midwest Institute News

Upcoming Congressional Briefing on Asian Carp Control

Asian Carp Management and Control in the

Ohio River and Upper Mississippi River Basins.

Wednesday, September 6, 2017

12:00 PM - 1:00 PM

2043 Rayburn House Office Building

The Northeast-Midwest Institute's Mississippi River Basin Program will hold a Congressional briefing in conjunction with the Mississippi River Cooperative Resource Association (MICRA), Congressman Mike Kelly (PA-03), and Congressman Ron Kind (WI-03) on Thursday, September 6, from 12:00 PM to 1:00 PM. Lunch will be served.

The briefing will provide Congressional staff, regional and environmental organizations, and interested members of the public the opportunity to hear directly from stakeholders from the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers about the ongoing efforts to control the spread of Asian carp. The briefing will include an overview of current efforts to monitor, control, remove, and deter the spread of Asian Carp, as well as a discussion of the role of public-private partnerships in these efforts.

The list of speakers includes:

Mr. Mike Weimer, US Fish and Wildlife Service
Mr. Nick Frohnauer, MN Department of Resources
Mr. Ron Brooks, KY Department of Fish and Wildlife
Mr. Andre Raghu, Blue Shores Fishery
Mr. Greg Conover, MICRA, US Fish and Wildlife Service

Presentations will be followed by a Q + A session with the panel. Representatives from the US Army Corps of Engineers and US Geological Survey will also participate.

RSVP

For more information, please contact Joe Vukovich, Senior Policy Analyst for the Mississippi River Basin Program at the Northeast-Midwest Institute.

This Week in Washington

Congress continued its August recess this week, but there were several important developments off the Hill.

The Department of Energy released its study of the electric grid this week. Environmentalists had worried that the report would be politicized, possibly blaming renewables for the decline of coal plants in recent years. The report actually named natural gas plants as the biggest factor in coal's decline, though the report did state that the EPA should loosen its permitting requirements for new coal plants.

Multiple states in the Upper Mississippi River Basin continue to invest heavily in renewable energy, and the report may be an important clue as to whether the White House will tolerate the growing strength of renewables or whether it will fulfill President Trump's promise to embrace coal.

When Congress reconvenes, they will have a busy schedule. They face a September 30 th deadline to raise the debt ceiling. They also have to come to an agreement to fund the government, or else face a shutdown. President Trump has already threatened a shutdown if his border wall is not funded.