Environment
AG’s office has seized almost 20 million new docs in Flint water investigation
Updated, 2:26 p.m. 6/29/19 At a Friday night town hall in Flint, Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy announced they’ve seized almost 20 million pieces of new evidence in the now more than three-year-old criminal investigation of the city’s water crisis. Hammoud and Worthy said that only about 1% of the […]
Legal experts say Flint water crisis trials could be delayed for years
When Attorney General Dana Nessel’s office announced earlier this month that it would drop all charges brought in the criminal investigation of the Flint water crisis, it made national headlines — and shocked the city’s residents, who have waited half a decade for justice. Now, as Solicitor General Fadwa Hammoud and Wayne County Prosecutor Kym […]
Militia threats just paralyzed Oregon’s legislature. The movement’s roots in Michigan run deep.
Updated 12:11 p.m. Oregon’s legislature grabbed some unwanted national headlines this week, as Republican state senators fled the state to avoid voting on a cap-and-trade carbon emissions bill — issuing a thinly veiled threat of violence against the state police that caused anti-government militia groups to flock to his support.* “Send bachelors and come heavily […]
State panel proposes nation’s toughest drinking water limit for 2 toxic chemicals
A panel of experts put together by Gov. Gretchen Whitmer has proposed the nation’s most stringent drinking water limits for two chemicals in a suite of thousands of man-made, toxic substances. The panel submitted on Thursday its recommendation to the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART), which suggested drinking water limits for a handful of […]
Nessel asks court to shut down Line 5, dismiss Enbridge lawsuit
Updated 2:50 p.m. with a letter from Senate Republicans Attorney General Dana Nessel announced Thursday that her office has filed a lawsuit seeking to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. Nessel, who made decommissioning the oil pipeline a central promise of her 2018 campaign, asked the Ingham County Circuit […]
Michigan lawmakers seize critical defense bill to tackle PFAS in drinking water
WASHINGTON — Michigan lawmakers on Capitol Hill are eyeing must-pass defense legislation as a vehicle to crack down on dangerous chemicals that contaminate drinking water across the state. Lawmakers in both the U.S. Senate and the U.S. House want to force the government to do more to study, regulate and clean up the ubiquitous and […]
Whitmer admin. pledges ‘transparency’ on clean water
Just days after signing a spending bill that allocates $3 million to implement new drinking water rules, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer says she wants the public to be informed about the dangers of lead pipes. Like other initiatives Whitmer has undertaken in her first year in office, this new awareness campaign has its roots in the […]
Lawmakers plug electric vehicle plan
A bipartisan package of bills in the state House and Senate would create a network of electric car charging ports and support the electric vehicle industry in Michigan, according to bill sponsors and supportive conservation groups. The legislation would form a new Electric Vehicle Council to create a statewide electric vehicle charging network. The plan […]
As Legislature rests, Whitmer and teachers press for budget certainty
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer is using a legislative lull to tear into Republican lawmakers for passing budget proposals that she says are “phony solutions.” Speaking with reporters on Tuesday, Whitmer stressed that she’s “angry” and slammed fiscal year 2020 budgets that have passed in recent weeks for not investing heavily enough in her key priorities like […]
Dingell, Upton push for national fuel economy standard
Two members of Michigan’s congressional delegation are part of a coalition urging regulators to adopt a national fuel economy standard. U.S. Reps. Debbie Dingell (D-Dearborn) and Fred Upton (R-St. Joseph) have joined U.S. Reps. Paul Tonko (D-N.Y.) and John Shimkus (R-Ill.) in signing a letter that pushes the federal Department of Transportation, Environmental Protection Agency […]
Whitmer signs $29M in additional spending for Census, clergy probe
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed a bill Monday authorizing almost $30 million in supplemental spending for Michigan this current fiscal year. Senate Bill 150, sponsored by Senate Appropriations Committee Chair Jim Stamas (R-Midland), was passed earlier in June by the Michigan Legislature. It includes a total of $28.8 million in gross spending for fiscal year 2019 […]
Whitmer wants 58% federal funding hike for Great Lakes
Gov. Gretchen Whitmer on Monday sent a letter to federal lawmakers urging them to increase an annual fund for combating Great Lakes environmental problems to $475 million. Whitmer asked U.S. Reps. Grace Napolitano (D-Calif.), Bruce Westerman (R-Ark.) and other members of a federal subcommittee that deals with water and environmental issues to increase funding for […]