Michigan Environmental Report
News from Michigan Environmental Council on public policies affecting the health of Michigan's people and environment
Fish farms don't belong in the Great Lakes
This article was originally published in the Detroit Free Press and is reprinted here with permission. Multiple proposals to put fish farms in our shared Great Lakes waters are under consideration by state officials. We find it deeply troubling that this idea is even on the table. Michigan officials have been approached with at least two proposals for fish farms, in Lake Michigan near Escanaba and off Rogers City in Lake Huron. State agencies have assembled a panel to look into these plans and explore the possibility of aquaculture in Michigan's Great Lakes.
MEC IN THE NEWS
MISO, the folks in charge of managing the grid, have made it clear that Michigan actually has excess capacity. This is an attempt by the utilities to hang on to old, inefficient coal plants they should have shut down years ago.
Ten surprising facts in Michigan's new water strategy
Crafting a 30-year strategy to position Michigan's abundant (and awesome) water assets in a national and global context is no easy feat. MEC is grateful to Governor Snyder for asking for such a plan, and to Jon Allan and his team at the Office of Great Lakes (OGL) for pulling a laudable draft of one together.
MEC and Tip of the Mitt highlight key policy options in new U-M fracking report
The University of Michigan last fall released a report three years in the making that offers a comprehensive review of Michigan's policy options regarding fracking for natural gas and oil. While fracking has been used for decades in Michigan, new techniques use far greater quantities of water and chemicals and pose greater risks to the environment and human health.
MEC President Chris Kolb named to co-chair Flint water task force
MEC President Chris Kolb was appointed by Gov. Rick Snyder in October to co-chair a task force charged with determining the root causes of Flint's drinking water crisis, and making recommendations to ensure nothing like it happens again in Michigan.
MEC submits comments on state's 30-year water strategy
MEC and several of our partners and members submitted formal comments on the draft document, Sustaining Michigan's Water Heritage: A Strategy for the Next Generation, created by the Office of the Great Lakes (OGL) at the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
MEC leads effort to reconnect Michigan By Rail from Coast to Coast
Grand Rapids entrepreneurs catch the morning train to a meeting in Lansing and update their business plan on the ride home. A couple boards in Ypsilanti for dinner and a show with friends in Detroit. Michigan State students hop a train for a Saturday at the beach in Holland.
David Ermisch and Craig Lamberton: Celebrating marriage with MEC
Though he now lives on the East Coast, it's clear that Cheboygan-raised David Ermisch still loves Michigan's Great Lakes and wild places. For one thing, he didn't let a late-summer cold front with temperatures in the 50s stop him from swimming in Lake Michigan during a visit to his family's cottage in the Upper Peninsula.