What the Governor’s Talking about
Today
Tuesday, January 19,
2010
Governor Urges White
House Action on Asian Carp
In a letter to President Obama today, the governor
called for the White House to immediately establish a summit with Great Lakes governors to discuss the growing Asian carp
threat. The letter, jointly signed with Wisconsin Governor Jim Doyle, was
in response to today’s Supreme Court decision to deny a preliminary injunction
sought by Michigan and other Great Lakes states
for an emergency closure of the locks in the Chicago Shipping Canal to stop the spread of Asian carp into the
Great Lakes.
“Asian carp threaten the well-being of our Great Lakes,
and ultimately the well-being of Michigan,” the governor said. “It is
disappointing that the Supreme Court declined to aid our fight against these
aquatic invaders, so we now ask the White House to work with us in finding a
solution before it is too late.”
Asian carp DNA samples have recently been found above
the electrical barrier in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal, providing new
evidence that the carp are moving closer to Lake
Michigan. Invasive species have already had a significant
impact on the economies of the Great Lakes
states, and the governor warned that the introduction of Asian carp into the
already fragile ecosystem would be devastating.
Key
messages:
- The Granholm
administration has taken aggressive steps to stop the spread of Asian carp
into the Great Lakes
including:
- Directing the
attorney general to explore all possible legal actions to protect the
Great Lakes from the imminent
threat
- Prohibiting the
possession of live Asian carp
- Providing direct
financial support for the electrical barrier in
2004
- Urging
additional protections be put in place to block carp from entering the
Great Lakes
Governor Announces More
Than 5,200 New and Retained Jobs for Michigan
The governor announced today that the Michigan Economic
Development Corporation is helping seven companies grow in Michigan and is backing
one brownfield redevelopment project. Combined, the eight projects are
expected to create 5,210 new jobs (2,581 direct and 2,629 indirect), retain 415
jobs and generate over $76.8 million in new investment in the state.
Earlier today, the Michigan Economic Growth Authority
board approved incentives to win the eight projects for Michigan over competing
states and countries. The projects include a Mumbai, India-based IT
company that plans to establish a Business Protection Services center in
Midland, a manufacturer of alternative-energy
products that plans to build a research and development facility in Blissfield,
and a brownfield redevelopment in Wyandotte that will transform an abandoned site
into a new center of economic growth and activity.
Key
messages:
- The scope of these
projects demonstrates that Michigan has exactly what companies are
looking for as they choose where to locate and grow their business: an
aggressive economic growth strategy, a competitive business climate,
innovative economic development tools and an outstanding
workforce.
- These job-creating
company expansions and brownfield redevelopment project are the result of
successful collaboration and teamwork with our economic development partners
around the state.
- Today’s successes did not come
easily. Michigan won out over stiff
competition from Florida,
Mississippi, North
Carolina, Ohio, Tennessee (twice), Texas, Wisconsin,
Canada and China.
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