Photo source: iStock By Dave Dempsey Skyrocketing gasoline prices are shocking drivers–but they also provide an opportunity for environmental benefits and demonstrate the value of vehicle fuel efficiency standards. The transportation sector accounts for 28 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions in the United States. Within this sector, about 59 percent of those emissions, which… Read more »
FLOW Executive Director Liz Kirkwood expressed strong support for legislation introduced in Lansing today that would shore up public trust protections for the Great Lakes and groundwater against water-bottling companies thirsting for profits and strengthen safeguards for waterways on state land. “The Great Lakes must never be for sale,” Kirkwood said in a video-recording message for the press conference announcing the legislation. “And Michigan’s groundwater must never become privatized and siphoned away.”
Overlooked for many years, groundwater has taken the driver’s seat in 2022, as multiple organizations promote a deeper understanding of the source of drinking water for 145 million Americans and approximately 4.5 million Michiganders. Promotion this week comes from the Groundwater Foundation and National Ground Water Association as they encourage their constituents and the general public to observe National Groundwater Awareness Week. The two organizations call attention to “the responsible development, management, and use of groundwater. The event is also a platform to encourage yearly water well testing and well maintenance, and the promotion of policies impacting groundwater quality and supply.”
Governor Gretchen Whitmer in 2019 charged the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) with developing and implementing a “Healthy Climate Plan” to achieve Michigan’s greenhouse-gas reduction targets and otherwise prepare for and adapt to climate impacts that are now unavoidable. But EGLE’s draft MI Healthy Climate Plan is an imperfect response to this charge. Please join FLOW in helping EGLE improve the draft by emailing your public comments by the March 14 deadline.
Managing one of the oldest agencies in Michigan state government is the job of the youngest person ever appointed as its director. Dan Eichinger was 37 when Governor Gretchen Whitmer appointed him in 2019 to run the 101-year-old Department of Natural Resources (DNR), which was originally called the Department of Conservation. FLOW asked Eichinger to discuss what he regards as his most important accomplishments and the biggest challenges facing the DNR, which manages the state’s fish and wildlife, state parks, state forests, and more. Not surprisingly, climate change policy figures in both what’s been done and what’s yet to be tackled.
Those working on Michigan environmental issues at any time during the last 50 years have known exactly who the pioneering legal advocate for Michigan’s precious air, water, and land is: FLOW founder Jim Olson. As Jim’s February 26 birthday approaches, it’s time to take stock of all that he’s accomplished in the service of current and future generations.
Lucy Jones, a 14-year-old eighth grader at Traverse City West Middle School cares enough about protecting the Great Lakes to donate sales of her Up North Jewelry to FLOW, which is working with you to keep the Great Lakes public and protected for all. FLOW thrives on these creative collaborations with supporters, activists, and artists of all ages. We spoke with Lucy about what inspired this collaboration.
The more than 5,400 projects funded by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) have done considerable good, especially in speeding progress toward cleaning up dozens of toxic hotspots in bays and harbors. Even so, completing the job of restoring these areas could take another decade or more. The $1 billion infusion of federal GLRI funding this year provides an important opportunity to take stock of what has been accomplished, what remains to be done, and whether the funding is being used effectively.
In a proposed budget with major increases thanks to a booming state economy and massive amounts of federal infrastructure and COVID-19 relief funding, Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer on Wednesday announced important investments in environmental programs. As an aide to the governor said, “budgets are a reflection of values.” The Governor’s office characterized Gov. Whitmer’s environmental recommendations as record amounts for protection of water, including the replacement of lead pipes, control of toxic PFAS, rebuilding water infrastructure, and providing safe drinking water in schools.
When a coalition of citizen groups, including FLOW, last fall urged the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to protect the nearly 10,000 residents of Benton Harbor from lead in their drinking water, it was a reminder that government officials have failed to heed the lessons of a half-century of Michigan environmental health disasters. Once again, Michigan’s state government had failed to act with urgency to protect the public from toxic contaminants. This week, seeking to protect Benton Harbor residents from lead as well as hoping to head off further criticism, the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services promised to continue providing bottled water to the community until all lead pipes are replaced.
