Michigan Environmental Report

As we celebrate Black History Month this February, the contributions and leadership of Black activists in Michigan’s environmental movement cannot be understated. Communities of color have disproportionately experienced the worst impacts of fossil fuel pollution, environmental contamination, and climate change.

On Wednesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer laid out her proposed state budget, with billions of dollars in investments for climate resiliency, clean water, land and wildlife protection, and more.

Among the largest environmental investments are $1.65 billion for climate and clean energy, $1.12 billion for clean water, $340.11 million for health and justice, and $120.63 million for land and wildlife protection.

Charlotte Jameson, chief policy officer for the Michigan Environmental Council, issues the following statement in response.

This story is part of the Michigan Environmental Council's 2022 member magazine, "ECOsystems: Working Wonders With Water." You can read the magazine in full here.

The Ecology Center knows lead poisoning well. For 50 years, the Environmental Council member group has connected the dots between our health and our environment by eliminating dangerous substances that infiltrate our daily lives.  

But the work became worryingly personal for Rebecca Meuninck, its deputy director, when lead was found in the drinking water of Ann Arbor School District. Her son went there.

This story is part of the Michigan Environmental Council's 2022 member magazine, "ECOsystems: Working Wonders With Water." You can read the magazine in full here.

We took the backroads of dirt and gravel around what seemed like the entirety of Southern Michigan, stopping periodically on the roadside but being careful not to linger too long—Pam Taylor’s black Ford Escape might be recognized by prying eyes.

Taylor’s efficient. As soon as the engine cuts, she’s out of the car, geared up in gloves and wielding a long, homemade grabber pole with a plastic water bottle duct-taped to the end. “You don’t need fancy stuff,” she said.

This story is part of the Michigan Environmental Council's 2022 member magazine, "ECOsystems: Working Wonders With Water." You can read the magazine in full here.

First came the floods. Sewer water gushed up from drains and onto the streets of Dearborn Heights. The river rose into nearby neighborhoods. Yards became knee-high pools and porches their steps into them.

Then came the stories. Basements flooded and molded. Thousands of dollars and cherished possessions were lost—furniture, heating systems, the keepsakes of lost relatives.

And all the while, often unseen, came the pollution. Overburdened sewer systems pumped contaminated water into the open. Floodwater picked up pesticides, heavy metals, motor oils. All of it traveled through communities, emptying into lakes, streams, drinking water, and the homes of both people and wildlife.

Then, weeks later, as these places were drying out, it all began again.

Business, housing, and environmental groups today applauded the introduction of $1.65 billion in new funding aimed at addressing Michigan’s rising housing costs and aging housing stock to make homes more affordable and healthier for families.

On Thursday, one of Michigan's largest utility companies submitted its long-range  energy roadmap for consideration. 

DTE Energy's integrated resource plan is now before the Michigan Public Service Commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities in the state. The filing comes as studies show the company has some of the highest electricity costs and poorest reliability.

Camp Grayling is the largest National Guard training facility in the United States. What was once was the property of a lumber baron is now 230 square miles of government-owned land in the center of northern Michigan. 

When the land was bought a century ago, it was covered in beautiful forests, the sprawling Lake Margrethe, and the pristine Au Sable Manistee rivers.

Much of those trees and all of those waters still exist, intermingled with buildings, roads, and other military training infrastructure. But Camp Grayling's nature is not fully protected from additional development and the pollution that might come with it. That makes an unclear, proposed expansion of the facility all the more risky.