In his second time period, President Donald Trump has not taken many actions that draw near-universal reward from throughout the political spectrum. However there’s no less than one in every of these political anomalies, and it illustrates the broad attraction of environmental safety and conservation tasks – significantly when it considerations an ecosystem of important significance to thousands and thousands of Individuals.
In Could 2025, Trump issued a presidential memorandum supporting the construction of a physical barrier that’s key to conserving invasive carp out of the Nice Lakes. These fish have made their means up the Mississippi River system and will have dire ecological penalties in the event that they enter the Nice Lakes.
It was not a on condition that Trump would again this undertaking, which had long been supported by environmental and conservation organizations. However two very completely different methods from two Democratic governors – each potential presidential candidates in 2028 – mirrored the significance of the Nice Lakes to America.
As a water policy and politics scholar focused on the Great Lakes, I see this growth not solely as an environmental and conservation milestone, but in addition a possible pathway for extra political unity within the U.S.
A feared invasion
Maybe nothing alarms Nice Lakes ecologists greater than the potential for invasive carp from Asia to determine a breeding inhabitants within the Nice Lakes. These fish had been intentionally introduced within the U.S. Southeast by personal fish farm and wastewater remedy operators as a method to manage algae in aquaculture and sewage remedy ponds. Someday within the Nineteen Nineties, the fish escaped from those ponds and moved quickly up the Mississippi River system, together with into the Illinois River, which connects to the Nice Lakes.
Generally stated to “breed like mosquitoes and eat like hogs,” these fish can consume up to 40% of their body weight each day, outcompeting many native species and actually sucking up different species and meals sources.
Research of Lake Erie, for instance, predict that if the carp enter and thrive, they might make up approximately one-third of the fish biomass of the entire lake inside 20 years, changing popular sportfishing species such as walleye and different ecologically and economically necessary species.
Invasive carp are typically not eaten within the U.S. and are usually not fascinating for sportfishing. In reality, silver carp will be apt to leap as much as 10 ft out of the water when startled by a ship motor. That may make components of the Illinois River, which is packed with the invasive fish, virtually unattainable to fish and even maneuver a ship.
The Brandon Highway Lock and Dam answer
Initially, the Nice Lakes and the Mississippi River weren’t linked to one another. However in 1900, the town of Chicago linked them to avoid sending its sewage into Lake Michigan, from which the town attracts its consuming water.
Essentially the most full method to block the carp from invading the Nice Lakes could be to undo that connection – however that might recreate sewage and flooding points for Chicago, or require different costly infrastructure upgrades. The extra sensible, short-term different is to modify the historic Brandon Road Lock and Dam in Joliet, Illinois, by including a number of obstacles that collectively would block the carp from swimming farther upriver towards the Nice Lakes.
The barrier, estimated to cost US$1.15 billion, was approved by Congress in 2020 and 2022 after a few years of intense planning and negotiations. For the primary section of development, the undertaking acquired $226 million in federal money from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation to enrich $114 million in state funding – $64 million from Michigan and $50 million from Illinois.
On the primary day of Trump’s second time period, nevertheless, he paused a wide swath of federal funding, together with funding from the Bipartisan Infrastructure Legislation. And that’s when two completely different political methods emerged.
Pritzker vs. Whitmer vs. Trump
Illinois, a state that has voted for the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since 1992, has essentially the most financially at stake within the Brandon Highway undertaking as a result of the undertaking requires the state to acquire land and operate the barrier. When Trump issued his order, Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker, a Democrat, postponed the purchase of a key piece of land, blaming the “Trump Administration’s lack of readability and dedication” to the undertaking. Pritzker basically dared Trump to be the rationale for the collapse of the Nice Lakes ecosystem and fisheries.
One other Democrat, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer of Michigan, a swing state with essentially the most at stake economically and ecologically if these carp species enter the Nice Lakes, took a really completely different strategy. She went to the White Home to talk with Trump about invasive carp and other issues. She defended her nonconfrontational approach to critics, although she additionally hid her face from cameras when Trump shocked her with an Oval Workplace press convention. When Trump visited Michigan, she stood beside him as they praised each other.
When Trump launched the federal funding in early Could, Pritzker stored up his adversarial language, saying he was “glad that the Trump administration heard our calls … and decided to finally meet their obligation.” Whitmer stayed extra conciliatory, calling the funding choice a “huge win that will protect our Great Lakes and secure our economy.” She stated she was “grateful to the president for his commitment.”
AP Photo/Alex Brandon
Why unity on carp?
Whether or not coordinated or not, the online results of Pritzker’s and Whitmer’s actions drew praise from both sides of the aisle however was little observed nationally.
Trump’s assist for the undertaking was a uncommon second of political unity and a particularly uncommon instance of main Democrats being on the identical web page as Trump. I attribute this stunning final result to 2 key components.
First, the Nice Lakes area holds disproportionate energy in presidential elections. Michigan, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania have backed the eventual winner in each presidential race for the previous 20 years. This swing state energy has been utilized by advocates and state political leaders to drive funding for Great Lakes protection for many years.
Second, Great Lakes are the uniting force in the region. In keeping with polling from the Worldwide Joint Fee, the binational physique charged with overseeing waterways that cross the U.S.-Canada border, there’s “nearly unanimous support (96%) for the significance of presidency funding in Nice Lakes protections” from residents of the area.
There aren’t every other points with such excessive voter resonance, so politicians wish to make sure Nice Lakes voters are completely happy. For instance, Vice President JD Vance has been particularly vocal about the Great Lakes. And Great Lakes restoration funding was one of many few issues within the presidential finances that Democrats and Republicans agreed on.
Each Pritzker and Whitmer seemingly had state-based and national motivations in mind and big aspirations at stake.
Their mixed effort has put the undertaking again on monitor: As of Could 12, 2025, Pritzker authorized Illinois to sign the land-purchase agreement he had paused again in February.
And maybe the governors have recognized a brand new space for unity in a divided United States: Conservation and environmental issues have broad public support, significantly after they contain iconic pure assets, shared values and fashionable outside pursuits akin to fishing and boating. Even when political methods diverge, the outcomes can convey bipartisan satisfaction.