Protecting the Great Lakes State
On Earth Day, Clean Water Action partnered with State Representatives Sarah Roberts, Jeff Irwin, Gretchen Driskell and Tom Cochran to introduce a package of bills calling for more state protections from oil and gas pipelines throughout Michigan.
Enbridge’s 62 year-old Line 5 pipelines run under the Straits of Mackinac, carrying nearly 23 million gallons of crude oil every day through the middle of the Great Lakes. Built during the Eisenhower administration, the aging infrastructure poses a significant threat to the Great Lakes. Read more.
Clean Air for Michigan
This past March, the state Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) held a public hearing on DTE Energy’s proposed permits. Clean Water Action was there with many of its members, urging the DEQ to stand up against DTE Energy and other big polluters by setting a strong State Plan to reduce sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution and meet federal guidelines. SO2 exposure can aggravate asthma, heart disease and other respiratory illnesses and affects communities across the state. Southeast Michigan residents are especially at risk.
Annual River Cleanup!
Lansing volunteers converged April 18 on the Grand River for the Clean Water Action Grand River Cleanup. The event was sponsored by River Town Adventures, Live Green Lansing, and in coordination with “Spartans WILL” Global Day of Service.
Volunteers paddled in kayaks and canoes northeast up the Grand River and into downtown Lansing, while others picked up debris along the Lansing Trail. Read more.
Renewable Energy
In April, Republican State Rep. Aric Nesbitt introduced an eight-bill package that would designate burning old tires as a form of “renewable energy.” These bills ignore Michigan’s current standards which limit the definition to true renewable sources such wind and solar.
Michigan utilities must generate 10% of the state’s energy from renewable sources. Nesbitt’s bills would simply redefine the term “Renewable Energy” and allow power generated by burning used tires and other hazardous solid industrial waste — as well as animal waste and sewer sludge — to be counted toward the 10% goal. The ill-conceived proposal ignores toxics released into the air by incinerating these wastes, and the associated environmental health risks. Read more.
Historic Victory to Protect Our Water
After ten years the US EPA has restored protection under the Clean Water Act to 60% of our stream miles and millions of acres of wetlands.
These are waterways that used to be protected from pollution, but those protections were called into question a decade ago, putting the sources of drinking water for 1 in 3 Americans at risk.
GLAC Awards: Honoring Senator Carl Levin
This year’s “Made in Michigan” event highlighted all that the Great Lakes state has to offer. More than 150 people joined Clean Water Action staff on April 8 for the annual Great Lakes Awards Celebration at the R.E. Olds Transportation Museum in downtown Lansing. The event celebrates and recognizes Michiganders who value hard work, ingenuity, conservation, and the arts. Read more.
Letter from the Director
Thank you for your continued support. You — our members and supporters — deserve much credit for Clean Water Action’s victories and progress.
Yet despite the progress we’ve made, our movement is still under attack by polluters and their allies in the legislature. They want to turn back the clock on progress and continue to use coal and other polluting energy sources instead of embracing the innovative, clean technologies made right here in Michigan. Read more.
