Environment
Buttigieg tweets opposition to Line 5
Updated, 8:35 p.m. 2/24/20 with comments from AG Nessel In a tweet Monday evening, former South Bend, Ind., Mayor Pete Buttigieg became the second Democratic presidential contender currently in the race to call for Enbridge’s controversial Line 5 oil pipeline to be decommissioned. “With such a high risk of an oil spill under the Great […]
Enviros applaud state for rejecting DTE Energy’s 15-year plan
One of Michigan’s largest public utilities must go back to the drawing board and come up with a better plan to provide electricity to customers over the next 15 years, a state regulatory body decided last week. Detroit-based DTE Energy, which provides electricity in Michigan to 2.2 million customers and natural gas to 1.3 million, […]
Slotkin talks prescription drug prices, PFAS at East Lansing event
U.S. Rep. Elissa Slotkin (D-Holly) held her first “State of the 8th District” event Friday night at East Lansing High School, where she recapped her first year in Congress and announced two bipartisan bills regarding border security and the cost of insulin. Slotkin was joined by state Rep. Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Twp.) and East Lansing […]
House Dems call on EPA for stronger Lead and Copper Rule
A group of 50 House Democrats led by U.S. Rep. Haley Stevens (D-Rochester Hills) is pushing for more robust federal rules for protecting consumers against lead and copper in their drinking water. In a letter sent Tuesday to Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Andrew Wheeler, the Democrats urged the federal agency to strengthen proposed changes […]
Whitmer appointee Heartwell under fire from gun rights advocates
Former Grand Rapids Mayor George Heartwell on Thursday defended his ability to chair the Natural Resources Commission (NRC), which regulates hunting and fishing. He appeared in front of the state Senate Advice and Consent Committee a week after the GOP-led Senate rejected Lansing Community College biology professor Anna Mitterling, another Gov. Gretchen Whitmer appointee to […]
AG joins legal brief to urge federal action on clean energy
Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel has joined attorneys general from three more states, plus the District of Columbia and California’s clean air agency, in a legal brief urging the federal government to uphold orders to help states promote clean energy. The amici curiae, or “friend of the court,” brief was filed on Feb. 7 on […]
Key Line 5 legal challenge could wrap soon
Canadian oil company Enbridge has not yet shown that its ongoing installation of support anchors along the controversial Line 5 pipeline complies with environmental protection laws, according to a new ruling issued by Administrative Law Judge Daniel L. Pulter. The 18-page order made public last week rejected all but one of the petitioners’ legal challenges […]
Trump admin plan to relax NEPA enviro protections met with pushback
Updated, 2:47 p.m. 2/19/20 DENVER — Lyla June Johnston, an activist and member of the Diné, or Navajo, nation, drove six hours from Santa Fe, N.M., to Denver to speak out against the President Trump administration’s proposed rollbacks to the National Environmental Protection Act, better known as NEPA, the nation’s oldest environmental law. She told […]
Whitmer, EGLE want EPA to toughen water lead rules
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Director Liesl Clark sent a letter to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), asking it to follow Michigan’s lead in regulating lead presence in drinking water. In the letter, Whitmer and Clark asked EPA Director Andrew Wheeler to consider lowering the national action level for lead […]
Whitmer: GOP Senate rejecting bio professor for state board is “sexist,” retaliatory
The GOP-controlled Michigan Senate on Thursday voted to reject one of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s appointments to the Natural Resources Commission (NRC), which regulates hunting and fishing. Before the vote was taken, Whitmer spokesperson Tiffany Brown told the Advance the office believes rejection of Lansing Community College biology professor Anna Mitterling is a “sexist” move to […]
Upton joins Dems in approving massive U.S. House wilderness bill
WASHINGTON — U.S. House Democrats approved legislation Wednesday that would place permanent wilderness protections on vast swaths of land in the West. U.S. Rep. Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) crossed over to vote with Democrats. The Michigan delegation was split 8-5, with U.S. Rep. Justin Amash (I-Cascade Twp.) voting with Republicans. As the Advance has reported, […]
Whitmer to deliver special message on clean water
As Michigan continues to grapple with serious and costly issues like PFAS and lead contamination, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer plans to give a special message on clean water. Whitmer told the Advance in an interview this week that she plans to speak on water issues likely within “four to six weeks.” Her message will go beyond […]