The Great Lakes are under attack. The threat is not an oil giant but a giant fish. The invasive Asian carp can weigh up to 100 pounds, has a voracious appetite, and just loves popping out lots of little fish babies. If allowed entry into the Great Lakes, Asian carp could crowd native fish out of house and home, as they already have on their decades-long northward journey up the Mississippi and Illinois rivers. This would not only spell ecological doom but also the demise of a multibillion dollar fishing industry.

Everyone's been edgy about the advancing invasion for years, and officials have tried a lot already in response, including electric fences and poison. Now, however, a series of recent carp catches and DNA finds on the edge of the Great Lakes -- including a recent live bighead catch on the Calumet River, a mere 6 miles from Lake Michigan -- has really set off a panic that these half-measures are failing. It may only be a matter of time before the largest group of freshwater lakes on Earth become "desolate carp ponds."

Ohio Gov. Ted Strickland issued a desperate cry for help last week and called on President Obama to take rapid action, including convening an emergency summit to discuss plans to immediately build a permanent physical barrier on the Calumet River that will isolate the fish but still provide a way to move people, cargo and storm water.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is studying this solution but it could take up to 5 years to finish. Great Lakes lawmakers have introduced a bill to speed up the study's deadline to within 18 months, but even that may not fast enough. Once Asian carp breach the Great Lakes, they will be infinitely harder to control. Unfortunatley, Illinois and Chicago business groups and some short-sighted politicians are pushing back against these immediate measures.

Even more than the Gulf oil disaster, we've had years of fair warning on this impending ecological threat. Now, it's time to act to save one of America's most precious resources. Sign this petition to tell President Obama, members of Congress, and Illinois state officials that they need to act now to stop this 100 percent preventable disaster.