Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers
Environmentally, Michigan once strived to be the best. Now the Michigan Senate’s policy goal is to sink down with the rest. Two bills approved last week by the Michigan State Senate, Senate Bills 652 and 653, would lead to a deteriorating environment in Michigan. They create two supercharged boards dominated by pollution interests to govern environmental rulemaking and… Read more »
FLOW submitted a letter to Governor Snyder, urging him to veto Senate Bill 409, which violates the public trust in the Great Lakes. We ask you today to do the same. Please call the Governor at 517-335-7858, and tell him to veto SB 409. Letter to Governor Snyder Detailed Analysis of SB 409
The discovery of thousands of discarded chemical drums on the Hooker Chemical Company property near Montague, Michigan in the 1970s helped spur Michigan’s toxic cleanup program. Now retired, Andrew Hogarth was the respected longtime chief of the Remediation and Redevelopment Division – in charge of toxic cleanup – in the State Department of Environmental Quality…. Read more »
Are the Great Lakes getting better or worse? Any good scientist will tell you that’s a short question with a long answer, a simple question with a complicated answer. And after a half hour of trying to explain it to you, they will have made it only a little simpler. If you’re lucky. So why… Read more »
FLOW’s organizing principle is the public trust doctrine. What sounds like an exotic concept is quite simple. This 1500-year-old principle of common law holds that there are some resources, like water and submerged lands, that by their nature cannot be privately owned. Rather, this commons – including the Great Lakes — belongs to the public. … Read more »
Last week, the U.S. EPA acknowledged the serious algae problem sickening western Lake Erie. It withdrew its approval of the State of Ohio’s decision not to declare the western Erie basin to be impaired. Does that mean the lake will be cleaned up soon? Hardly. EPA’s determination bounces the ball back to Ohio for reconsideration. … Read more »
“It is said in the desert that possession of water in great amount can inflict a man with fatal carelessness.” ― Frank Herbert, Dune As a youngster, my favorite novel was Frank Herbert’s Dune, which takes place on a fictional desert planet. Unsurprisingly, this planet houses plenty of sand but precious little water. Climbing the sand dunes… Read more »
We have many important public trust resources in our region, but one of them gets little attention —Lake Michigan-Huron. Lake Michigan-Huron is one water body, despite its appearance to the eye and mind. People living in Empire or Alpena live on the same lake. They’re in the same watershed and tread a single uninterrupted shore. When… Read more »
Advocates of shutting down dangerous Line 5 at the Straits of Mackinac presented a detailed plan for its decommissioning yesterday. The plan gives the state officials who are accountable, Attorney General Bill Schuette and Governor Rick Snyder, a detailed, realistic plan for protecting the Great Lakes from a catastrophic oil spill while assuring energy to… Read more »
At the core of its plain meaning, public trust means that future generations depend on us – trust us – to protect the water, air, and land upon which their wellbeing will depend. Public trust principles are enshrined in law. The people who serve in positions of leadership and authority are legally responsible to all… Read more »
