I spoke with Allegra Cangelosi this morning, who is a Senior Policy Analyst and the Director of Environmental Projects for NEMW. She spoke about the importance of national and international regulations to address environmental challenges (as you all know, invasive species tend not to be constrained by state boundaries). Allegra mentioned that she is hopeful for real progress on two programs in 2009. First, the development of federal rules governing treatment of ballast water (the source of many of our invasive species), where state action isn't sufficient. Second, the development of a biological screening process to prevent more invasive species...

There are a number of threats to the Great Lakes' health including sewage overflow, illegal dumping, stormwater runoff, overuse, diversion, and invasive species. All of these are serious, but the one that I wanted to know more about is invasive species. Here's what I found out: