Michigan Environmental Report

“The 37 million acres that are Michigan is all the Michigan we will ever have.”  -- Governor William Milliken

Legislation introduced today by a bipartisan group of Michigan lawmakers would protect children from exposure to toxic lead in drinking water by implementing a ‘Filter First” strategy in Michigan schools and daycare centers. The legislation would place filters at the point of use: both installing filtered faucets and water bottle filling stations and installing on-tap filters in sinks where water is used for human consumption, like school kitchens.

MEC to honor Rhonda Anderson & Lynn McIntosh for protecting public health in their communities and beyond

Rhonda Anderson, Detroit resident and Sierra Club organizer, has been named the recipient of Michigan’s highest environmental award in recognition of her role in advocating for the health of Southwest Detroit residents.

Anderson is joined by Lynn McIntosh, a Rockford resident who blew the whistle on the health threats of PFAS in the water caused by Wolverine Worldwide’s tannery near her home.

The pair will be recognized at the Michigan Environmental Council’s 21th Annual Environmental Awards Celebration on Thursday, September 26, 2019, at the Rattlesnake Club in Detroit.

DTE Energy today submitted their integrated resource plan -- a proposed long-term energy plan -- to the Michigan Public Service Commission, and community and environmental organizations urged them to reject it. 

Michigan Environmental Council is a formal intervener in MPSC proceedings, committed to ensuring Michigan’s transition to clean energy is equitable and delivers the best possible deal for residential ratepayers. We released the following statement regarding DTE's IRP:

Today Great Lakes governors released a Great Lakes 2020 platform in advance of the Democratic presidential debates scheduled for July 30 and 31 in Detroit. The platform shows that Great Lakes restoration investments are demonstrating results, but serious threats to public health and water quality remain, including underfunded water infrastructure, invasive species, runoff pollution and PFAS contamination.

Leaders of Midwestern environmental councils -- representing hundreds of nonprofit environmental, health, and conservation groups -- urged candidates to outline how they would address these environmental issues facing the region, and issued the following statements.

Today the City of Detroit released their first sustainability strategy, the Sustainability Action Agenda (SAA), developed through City leadership and extensive community engagement to provide clear goals and outcomes for a sustainable city.  

Michigan Environmental Council (MEC) is proud to partner with the City of Detroit’s Office of Sustainability in development of the Sustainability Action Agenda. MEC has worked diligently in Detroit for many years to create a clean, healthy and safe environment where people want to live, work and play, and has long advocated for an Office of Sustainability to advance sustainability goals in the city.

Michigan Environmental Council President Conan Smith issued the following statement in response to today's legal steps by AG Nessel to decommission Line 5, and Gov. Whitmer's executive action directing the DNR to perform a comprehensive review of Enbridge's Easement compliance:

"Michigan Environmental Council supports the legal action taken by Attorney General Nessel against Enbridge to end the threat of Line 5 in the Great Lakes. We thank her for the clear filing of summary disposition on Enbridge’s lawsuit, and hope for swift resolution of that lawsuit.

Recently a diverse set of stakeholders reached a deal with Consumers Energy over the utility’s Integrated Resource Plan (IRP). The IRP is a long-range plan that outlines how a utility will meet energy needs 5, 10, and 15 years into the future. Michigan Environmental Council (MEC) weighs in on IRPs to advocate for keeping costs low for Michiganders by retiring aging, expensive coal plants and replacing that generation with low cost renewables and reducing energy waste. The agreement arrived at in Consumers’ IRP sets a bold path forward for the utility and one that will reap significant dividends in cleaning up our air, reducing greenhouse gas emissions, and saving us money on our utility bills.