Blog Posts

Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers

Accounting for Environmental, Health, and Climate Impacts in the Energy Sector

December 5, 2019

This article is excerpted from the final of four policy briefs by former FLOW board chair, and former director of the Michigan Department of Energy, Labor and Economic Growth, Skip Pruss, that make the economic case for government’s role in protecting the environment. The fourth policy brief, “Resetting Expectations: Accounting for Environmental, Health, and Climate Impacts in the Energy Sector” is available here to read or download.

Breaking the Cycle of Great Lakes Ruin and Recovery

December 4, 2019

It’s been almost 50 years since the United States and Canada entered into the Great Lakes Water Quality Agreement, and during this time, we have watched rust-belt contaminated urban cores rebound and polluted ecosystems revived. But we also have witnessed a rollback of major federal environmental regulations and laws, the Flint lead crisis, Detroit water shutoffs, lack of investment and crumbling regional water infrastructure, lack of safe, affordable drinking water, wetland destruction, water privatization, legacy and emerging pollutants like PFAs, and unprecedented climate change impacts. Our challenge in this new century is to avoid the constant cycle of ruin to recovery.

Protecting the Great Lakes is “A Matter of the Heart”

December 3, 2019

What I have learned, and what I believe in the most elemental way, is that our first and most basic relationship with water is anchored in love. In the absence of love there is the great risk of indifference and failure to protect this resource that, under the Public Trust Doctrine, belongs to us all and is essential to life. If the heart is not engaged, the waters will not be saved. So, while we marshal facts and organize and encourage activism, let us remember to acknowledge the power of our affections and make them a guiding principle in all that we do.

Minnesota Water Train Proposal Exposes Flaw in Great Lakes Compact

November 27, 2019

By Jim Olson A railway company recently proposed extracting 500 million gallons of groundwater per year from Minnesota and shipping it to water-scarce states in the southwestern United States. Although the water that would be diverted lies outside the Great Lakes Basin, and Minnesota officials said they are not likely to approve the water export… Read more »

Kalkaska County Bid to End Point-of-Sale Septic Inspection Program Fails

November 25, 2019

Residents and wastewater users in Kalkaska County can rest easier at night. A bid to weaken septic and groundwater protections has failed. The November 22 meeting of the District 10 Health Board yielded what appears to be the final chapter of the year-long effort to prevent Kalkaska County from ending the point-of-sale septic inspection program contained in the District 10 Health Department Sanitary Code.

Resetting Expectations in Traverse City and Grand Rapids

November 20, 2019

Do environmental regulations hinder or help the economy? That question framed FLOW’s community engagement session on November 13 in Traverse City examining the role of government in protecting human health and the environment. Presenters included Cherry Republic founder and environmental steward Bob Sutherland and former FLOW board chair Skip Pruss, who has authored three “Resetting Expectations” reports for FLOW that make the case for government regulations to protect the environment.

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FLOW Cites New Evidence of Enbridge Operating Illegally, Calls for Orderly Shutdown of ‘Line 5’ Oil Pipelines in Straits of Mackinac

November 13, 2019

FLOW today called on the State of Michigan to increase and strictly enforce the requirement for comprehensive oil spill insurance and terminate the 1953 easement that conditionally allows Line 5 to occupy the Straits of Mackinac, triggering the orderly shut down of the dual oil pipelines as soon as practicable after securing alternative sources for residential propane.

Where Does Michigan Go from Here on Leaking Septic Systems?

November 11, 2019

Can Michigan’s governance system succeed in solving one of our state’s worst water pollution problems? That’s the key question in the wake of FLOW’s Michigan Septic Summit in Traverse City on November 6. Attended by more than 150 people representing diverse points of view, the summit demonstrated that there is widespread interest in addressing a problem that is putting our waters and human health at risk.

Michigan Septic Summit Draws Packed Crowd to Traverse City

November 8, 2019

Above: Nature Change’s Joe VanderMeulen and FLOW’s Liz Kirkwood welcome attendees to the Michigan Septic Summit on Nov. 6, 2019, at Northwestern Michigan College’s Hagerty Center in Traverse City. All photos by Rick Kane. We really didn’t know what the level of public interest would be when FLOW started working with Joe VanderMeulen of Nature… Read more »