Environment
Ananich: Won’t endorse yet in Flint election, says Dems will work with GOP on roads
Senate Minority Leader Jim Ananich is nearing a full decade of service in Michigan’s Legislature, and he doesn’t mince words while looking back: “I think we’re going to look back at the tenure of [Republican former] Gov. [Rick] Snyder as one of the worst things to happen to Michigan,” the Democrat said when asked about […]
Enviros urge Whitmer to halt oil tunnel plan, as GOP lauds talks
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has been in talks with Enbridge officials and is still not ruling out the Canadian energy company’s plan to bury a new oil pipeline beneath Mackinac Straits bedrock, the Detroit News reported. In response, environmentalist lobbying groups in Michigan are steering clear of criticizing the Democratic governor over the issue, but argue […]
Whitmer, Great Lakes governors oppose Trump’s water order
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and four other Democratic Great Lakes governors wrote a letter this week to President Donald Trump’s administration opposing an executive order over changes to water quality certifications. Trump last week issued an executive order easing energy regulations that also alters the Clean Water Act, making it easier to approve pipeline projects. Both […]
Enviro scorecard: Peters, Stabenow earn 100%, Huizenga, Walberg at zero
Michigan’s congressional delegation lagged those of the greenest states in the nation when it comes to supporting environmentally-friendly federal policy, according to a new report from the League of Conservation Voters. The report for 2018 — before this current term — offered consistently high marks to Democrats, but few to Republicans, including in Michigan. The […]
State announces panel members who will set PFAS drinking water limit
A state task force announced on Thursday the members of a new panel that will determine drinking water limits for a suite of toxic chemicals. In a press release, the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART) announced the three members who will determine by April 2020 the official drinking water limit for PFAS, or per- […]
U.S. House panel investigating DTE, other utilities, for industry group ties
Detroit-based DTE Energy Co. is one of eight utility companies under investigation by the U.S. House Committee on Energy and Commerce, according to a statement on Thursday by the committee. The committee, which is chaired by U.S. Rep. Frank Pallone Jr. (D-N.J.), is investigating the involvement of DTE and other utilities around the country with […]
Ex-oil lobbyist confirmed as Trump’s Interior secretary, Peters, Stabenow vote no
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Senate voted Thursday to confirm David Bernhardt, a former lobbyist and former President George W. Bush administration official, to become the next U.S. Interior secretary. The nomination was approved by a vote of 56-41, largely along party lines, with Michigan’s two Democratic U.S. senators, Debbie Stabenow and Gary Peters, voting against […]
Michigan officials sound off on Trump pipeline orders, legal action possible
Michigan political leaders are expressing anger over a pair of executive orders signed Wednesday by President Donald Trump which aim to ease regulations for oil and gas pipeline construction and handcuff state officials from intervening. It’s unclear whether a contested plan to bury the Line 5 oil pipeline — which runs underneath the Straits of […]
New enviro report underscores loose factory farm regulation
More than a hundred farms in Southeast Michigan may be contributing to Lake Erie pollution, according to a new report from the Washington, D.C.-based Environmental Working Group (EWG) and Environmental Law & Policy Center. Fertilizer in farm runoff is a common pollutant and contributed to a toxic algae bloom that forced Toledo, Ohio, officials to […]
Whitmer names environmental rules panel appointee
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has replaced former Michigan Environmental Council (MEC) director James Clift on an environmental rules panel that was once a major sticking point for Republicans who fought to preserve it. The governor announced in a press release Friday that Natural Resources Defense Council attorney Jeremy Orr will replace Clift on the panel, pending […]
Michigan sets 2020 deadline to establish limit for toxic chemicals in water
The state has set an April 2020 deadline to implement rules limiting the amount of toxic chemicals acceptable in the water supply, the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ) announced on Thursday. Michigan’s task force on PFAS — per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, commonly found in industrial waste, cosmetics and other consumer goods — also formally approved […]
Whitmer doesn’t rule out Enbridge tunnel plan
Speaking with reporters this week, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer did not rule out ultimately supporting a plan from Canadian oil titan Enbridge to build a new buried pipeline beneath the Straits of Mackinac. Whitmer, along with Attorney General Dana Nessel, took action last week to stop construction plans for a planned new pipeline 100 feet beneath […]