Attorney General Mike Cox is waging a whopper of a legal battle against a whopper of a fish: the Asian carp that could cause colossal damage to the Great Lakes and Michigan’s economy.

Cox, joined by four states and Ontario in Canada, has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to order closing of Chicago-area locks and waterways to keep the aggressive invasive species from entering the Great Lakes via a key commercial canal that connects Lake Michigan to the Mississippi River.

At issue in this ecological, economic, and increasingly political saga are carp that can grow to up two five feet long and 80-plus pounds; have been advancing up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers since the 1990s, and, most alarmingly, consume 40% of their weight on a daily basis and outcompete other species wherever they go.

Politicians of many species are scrambling to see that they don’t go into Lake Michigan.

“Politicians Pulling Out All Stops To Deal With Carp,” read a headline posted Friday on www.protectyourwaters.net, which does an excellent job tracking media reports about invasive species as part of the Stop Aquatic Hitchhikers! Campaign (which has primarily focused on species that attach to boats and come to new areas via ships’ ballast water).

The site noted Representative Tonya Schuitmaker (R-Lawton) has introduced a resolution declaring carp a potential threat to Michigan tourism and calling on Congress and President Barack Obama to support the closing.

“President Backs Home State” was the headline on a report noting Cox said he is “extremely disappointed by President Obama’s choice to protect the narrow interests of his home state.” He said carp could cause severe damage to Michigan’s economy “by ruining” the Great Lakes’ $7 billion fishing and tourism industries.

“Stopping Asian carp is an economic and environmental necessity for Michigan,” said Cox, who on Wednesday started an online petition site (StopAsianCarp.com) that by mid-Friday attracted more than 8,000 people asking for closing of the locks connecting carp-infested waters with the lake until there are better barriers.

Wisconsin, Minnesota, Ohio, and New York support Cox’s lawsuit. Illinois, not surprisingly, opposes closing of the channel that generates $30 million in annual revenue from barge and related activity in the waterway.

Less fathomable is U.S. Solicitor General Elena Kagan, on behalf of the feds, asking the court to reject Cox’s request.

Cox is right on in declaring: “The actions of Illinois and federal authorities have not been enough to assure us the Lakes are safe. That’s why the waterways must be shut down until we are assured that Michigan will be protected.”

As Cox spokesman John Sellek said Friday in providing an update on the maneuvering, Cox wants to “push the pause button” until there are assurances that a state that controls 63 miles out of 10,000 plus miles of Great Lakes shoreline does not hold “the fate of other states in its hands.”

Cox and Governor Jennifer Granholm note that, legally, the Asian carp threat relates to the numerous Supreme Court rulings made since 1922 when Wisconsin sued Illinois on a diversion issue. The court allowed closely regulated monitored diversion of Lake Michigan water to divert sewage away from Chicago. It retains jurisdiction for “further action or relief” under its diversion rulings.

Said Granholm: “While the diversion has been allowed by the court, it has acknowledged that damage due to the diversion relates to fishing, among other things.”

According to Cox’s office there’s a February 19 deadline for the court to decide whether there should be modification under its earlier diversion rulings.

Meanwhile, there have been these developments on politics of carp:

• On December 2, Democrat Granholm and Lieutenant Governor John Cherry (her point man on Great Lakes issues who at the time was running for governor but no longer is) sent a letter to Republican Cox urging “you to vigorously pursue every legal tool at your disposal…to prevent the ecological disaster that will occur if” the carp are allowed into the Great Lakes and jeopardize “Michigan’s $4.5 billion sport and commercial fishery.”

They specifically said “emergency action to close the Chicago Sanitary and Shipping Canal locks…most be fully explored.”

On the same day, Cox, who had been meeting with Granholm administration officials on the issue (and still is running for governor), sent a letter to federal, Illinois, and Chicago officials “demanding that they take action…including, potentially, the closing of the locks to ensure the carp never enter the Great Lakes.”

He also that day sent a letter to Granholm about the issue, asking for some information and saying, according to his press release that day, “that he is prepared to take whatever legal action is necessary to protect the Great Lakes.”

• It remains to be seen how aggressively Granholm and Senators Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow will press fellow Democrat Obama to be more sympathetic to Michigan’s cause. Cox’s office said there has been good bipartisan support from the state’s congressional delegation on the many efforts that have been taken to erect barriers and other efforts to block advance of the carp.

• Illinois Attorney General Lisa Madigan, according to a Christian Science Monitor report, said Cox’s comment about Obama’s favoritism toward his home state “sounds like politics to me, that doesn’t sound substantive.”

It’s substantive and serious.

Rick’s Riders

Political candidates use a variety of gigs to get attention in local media. U.S. Representative Pete Hoekstra of Holland, a Republican candidate for governor, has long taken bicycle tours of his district and now is embarked on a series of working jobs alongside fellow Michiganians.

Now comes Ann Arbor businessman Rick Snyder, a less well-known Republican candidate for governor, with a gig that comes naturally.

During an early February swing of northern Michigan, Snyder, a snowmobile enthusiast who owns two machines, will ride for about 100 miles in Marquette and Delta counties with assorted supporters, including former Republican National Committeeman Chuck Yob.

Snyder also is one of the sponsors of the I-500 snowmobile event in Chippewa County, which gets him in the program and other exposure.

Before going to the Upper Peninsula, Snyder plans other non-riding northern events in such places as Cadillac, Traverse City, and Charlevoix – without his helmet.

George Weeks retired in 2006 after 22 years as political columnist for The Detroit News. His weekly Michigan Politics column is syndicated by Superior Features.