Michigan Environmental Report

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.

Reposted with permission by NRDC. Written by Samantha Williams, climate & clean energy program director, Midwest

Amidst important climate achievements at the federal level this year (e.g., the Inflation Reduction Act), Michigan has been making important progress in its own right. The state has been busy at work developing a climate roadmap that will implement Governor Whitmer’s goals of cutting GHGs from the state’s economy 28% below 2005 levels by 2025 and 52% by 2030, ultimately achieving carbon neutrality by 2050. Michigan’s goals reflect the scientific consensus on climate change and the scale and pace of decarbonization that must be undertaken for the state to do its part in tackling emissions and avoiding the worst impacts of the climate crisis. The final roadmap—the MI Healthy Climate Plan—was released in April to chart the course for the state’s GHG reduction goals, with an emphasis on this critical decade leading up to 2030.

Over half of Michiganders use septic systems on their property to dispose of their waste. Yet, only a fraction of them live in a county that helps keep those systems from polluting our land and water.

A bill in the Michigan Legislature would change that by establishing a statewide septic inspection program. All other states have some form of system in place.

Every Michigan child attending school or childcare centers—over 1.4 million—could soon drink lead-free water.

With 35-1 votes, "Filter First" bills passed out of the Michigan Senate on Tuesday and now head to the House.

Gas prices are slowly dropping across the state and nation, as they have been for two months. That’s thanks to an increase in gasoline production, federal initiatives, and a cutback on driving.

It’s what economists call the “rocket and feather” effect. Gas prices shoot up quickly and fall slowly. Unlike a falling feather, though, the slow drop in gas costs is painful. Gas prices are still abnormally high. That in turn, is making the cost of many products, which are dependent on vehicles, to be abnormally high, too.

People have endured this expensive cost of living for too long. For some, it’s a frequent inconvenience. For others, it’s another dent in their already too-strained paychecks, a sacrifice of comfort.