Nearly 1.5 million Michigan children are one step closer to drinking lead-safe water in their schools and daycare centers thanks to two votes in the Michigan Legislature.

Senate Bills 184 and 185 both passed out of the Senate Committee on Environmental Quality with 5-0-1 votes on Nov. 30. They head to the Senate floor.

It began with a skim through the Yellow Pages.

Lynn McIntosh needed an environmental lawyer. Her thick phonebook yielded only one: AJ Birkbeck, Fulcrum Law.

So she gave him a call, and a short while later she was driving from small-town Rockford to East Grand Rapids in her rundown ’97 Mercury van.

The fog of anxiety was thick for many as we trudged through an exhausting election and an ever-present pandemic. Yet, bright lights cut through.

Laws, decisions and amendments passed at 2020’s end will make the health of Michigan’s people, places and finances stronger in 2021 and beyond.

Check out the wins from late 2020 that MEC helped secure. Let’s ring the bells once more!

When Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an emergency order March 28 requiring water be turned on and kept on in all Michigan homes, she did so to protect everyone’s health.

Clean, easily accessible water is essential for basic sanitation and is especially vital during a health pandemic. The Centers for Disease Control recommend frequent and thorough hand washing to keep people from contracting COVID-19 and spreading it to others.

But in October, the Michigan Supreme Court ruled Gov. Whitmer needed the Legislature’s approval for orders declared under the Emergency Powers of the Governor Act. Many past orders crumbled, including water shutoff protections.

A 16-member assembly of water rights, social justice and environmental organizations and impacted Michigan residents urged Michigan’s Senators to take up and pass, as soon as possible, a bill that would protect public health by ensuring access to clean water and sanitation for all during a global pandemic.

A substitute version of Senate Bill 241, introduced by Sen. Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) would require water utilities to turn water service back on to all customers and place a moratorium on residential drinking and sanitary water shutoffs until Jan. 1, 2021. 

COVID-19 has cast a bright spotlight on water shutoffs.

In response, we’ve seen the governor order service be restored, extensive media coverage and a flock of new voices joining debates about best ways to provide this essential service.

Yet all this attention hasn’t translated into enough immediate action. Today, upwards of 10,000 Detroit residents lack running water in their homes!

Thank goodness for We the People of Detroit.

Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel, Citizens Utility Board of Michigan and Michigan Environmental Council urged municipal utilities Friday to better protect their customers’ physical and financial health and well-being.

The Michigan Energy Efficiency For All coalition, of which Michigan Environmental Council is a part of, sent a letter to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Wednesday urging her to protect and strengthen the essential services residents need to remain healthy and in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic. The letter is provided in full below. You can view a PDF version here.

Michigan Environmental Council was among the low-income customer and energy efficiency advocates across Michigan who called on Gov. Gretchen Whitmer Wednesday to protect and strengthen the essential services residents need to remain healthy and in their homes during the COVID-19 pandemic.