Protect Pure Michigan
Hiking, fishing, hunting, skiing and other outdoor activities are part of Michigan’s culture and way of life. Nearly 84% of Michiganders feel that outdoor recreation is important. 194,000 Michigan jobs and more than $1.4 billion in state and local tax revenues come from outdoor recreation.
Clean Water Action’s “Protect Pure Michigan” campaign, launched earlier this year, seeks to protect the state’s air, land, water and Great Lakes from climate change impacts and dangerous pollution. The campaign traveled to Traverse City to speak with business owners there who often rely on tourism to keep their doors open and organized a “business after hours” event at Right Brain Brewery. There, Crystal Mountain Ski Resort CEO, Jim MacInnes, spoke about climate change impacts on his business. Read more
Michigan House Votes to Trash Michigan with Coal Ash
The Michigan House of Representatives passed a package of bills in May that would endanger public health and the Great Lakes by encouraging coal-burning electric utilities to spread their contaminated waste ash across the state in road foundations and under parking lots. The measures also exempt companies that create and use the coal ash from liability when the ash contaminates drinking water sources. Read more
Bilking Taxpayers for "Pure" PR?
The state-funded “Pure Michigan” advertising campaign costs taxpayers $29 million annually, about the same as is now spent on the Department of Environmental Quality’s (MIDEQ) entire general budget for protecting the state’s natural resources. The legislature’s warped spending priorities have slashed 320 full-time positions from MIDEQ’s staff since 2004 while pumping up investment in TV ads and other PR touting the state’s bountiful natural beauty. $300 million in additional budget cuts to Michigan’s public universities over the past twelve years have reduced critical research and development efforts, further hampering Great Lakes protection and restoration.
BWL's Eckert Coal Plant to Close
This spring, the Lansing Board of Water and Light (BWL), Michigan’s largest municipal owned utility, announced that it would be taking its coal-fired Eckert plant offline in five years. A BWL distributed solar project is expected to launch in June. Read more
Fracking in Michigan: DEQ Rules Need Strengthening
Clean Water Action and allies have been pressing the state for tougher rules to protect water from hydraulic fracturing, the natural gas drilling process more commonly known as fracking. Last fall the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced that it would be proposing new rules, but the draft DEQ rules presented to state lawmakers earlier this year fall well short of the mark. Read more
Pet Coke Problems
Pet Coke, the toxic oil refinery by-product, has been in the news a lot lately. Last year, massive unpermitted piles of the substance were found stored next to the Detroit River. Contaminants were leaking into the river and blowing into nearby communities. Following a public outcry, the responsible company was forced to relocate the piles. Read more
Award Celebration Honors U.S. Rep. Dingell
More than 100 people joined Clean Water Action on Earth Day April 22 for the 2014 GREAT LAKES AWARDS CELEBRATION at Barfly Ventures’ HopCat brewpub in East Lansing. Award recipients included Michigan’s U.S. Rep. John Dingell, the House’s longest-serving member. Dingell received a lifetime achievement award for his leadership on behalf of the Great Lakes state. Other honorees included Clean Water Action volunteer of the year Katie Johnstone and organizer of the year Joseph Bellgowan, a senior field manager and seven-year veteran with Clean Water Action’s community outreach canvass team. Robb Meeuwsen of Zeeland Farms was honored for his sustainable agriculture leadership and Garry Boyd of Barfly Ventures for his efforts uniting Michigan breweries in support of Great Lakes protection.Read more
DTE Energy's CEO Hides from Shareholders and Ratepayers
DTE Energy’s May Shareholders meeting is supposed to be a time for local ratepayers and shareholders to meet, discuss energy plans and vote on resolutions to improve the company. In recent years, shareholders have pushed DTE’s CEO and Directors to protect the company and the communities it serves from skyrocketing coal costs by diversifying DTE’s energy portfolio to include more cost-effective clean renewable energy, more energy efficiency and less dirty coal. Read more
30 Percent by 2030 for Clean Water-Clean Energy Jobs
With passage of the state’s first renewable energy standard (RES) in 2008, Michigan took an important step toward a cleaner energy future. Utilities are required to meet 10 percent of the state’s electricity needs from renewable energy sources by 2015. With that deadline fast approaching, Michigan now has the opportunity to extend and strengthen the RES by tapping into much more of the state’s vast in-state renewable energy resources. Read more
ACT ON CLIMATE: On June 2nd the Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) announced an effort to limit carbon pollution from all power plants. Carbon pollution fuels climate change and triggers more asthma attacks and respiratory disease, worsens air quality, and contributes to more frequent, costly and deadly extreme weather events. Around the Great Lakes this same pollution is putting our agricultural heritage and tourism industries at risk.
