By Liz Kirkwood MACKINAC ISLAND, Michigan – The biggest news coming from the Mackinac Policy Conference held here this week wasn’t even listed on the official agenda. Instead, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel made headlines in interviews conducted on the margins of the main affair. Nessel’s message: She intends ASAP to keep her campaign promise… Read more »
“Let’s be clear: the ‘Line 5’ oil spill threat to Great Lakes won’t be solved by emergency anchor rules that Gov. Whitmer called for today,” said Liz Kirkwood, executive director of FLOW. “The real solution to the threat of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac is to shut it down now.”
By Jim Olson I don’t mean to dampen the joy of spring in Michigan, but amidst headlines over Line 5 and unconscionable groundwater contamination from PFAS, we need to embolden our governor, our state officials, and every citizen who cares about water, justice, and the rule of law to join another battle. We need to hoist the mast of Michiganders’… Read more »
Now that Michigan’s governor and attorney general have sunk the oil tunnel scheme hatched by the last administration, I’m asked nearly every day: What can citizens and state leaders do to shut down the propped-up, banged-up Line 5 oil pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac for good? Here’s my answer, as succinctly as I can distill… Read more »
How Did We Get Here on Line 5? Tracing the Law and the Politics The plotting of former Governor Snyder’s administration and Enbridge to hand over the public trust soils and bedrock under the Straits of Mackinac for the company to build and operate a new crude oil pipeline in a tunnel for 99 years… Read more »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 28, 2019 Liz Kirkwood, FLOW Executive Director Email: Liz@FLOWforWater.org Office: (231) 944-1568, Cell: (570) 872-4956 Web: www.FLOWforWater.org Jim Olson, FLOW Founder and President Email: olson@envlaw.com (231) 499-8831 Dave Dempsey, FLOW Senior Advisor Email: dave@FLOWforWater.org (612) 703-2720 In the wake of an opinion by Attorney General Dana Nessel invalidating a law that… Read more »
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 28, 2019 Liz Kirkwood, FLOW Executive Director Email:Liz@FLOWforWater.org Office: (231) 944-1568, Cell: (570) 872-4956 Web: www.FLOWforWater.org Jim Olson, FLOW Founder and President Email:olson@envlaw.com Cell: (231) 499-8831 Dave Dempsey, FLOW Senior Advisor Email:Dave@FLOWforWater.org (612) 703-2720 FLOW supports attorney general’s process and opinion, which is binding on state agencies and rejects… Read more »
This is the first in a series of essays by FLOW board member Rick Kane on the vital issues of risk management and the responsibilities of public officials under the public trust doctrine. The issue has special meaning in light of the risks posed by the twin Enbridge pipelines that convey 23 million gallons of… Read more »
If the 66-year-old Enbridge Line 5 pipelines fail in the Straits of Mackinac, who will pay for the oil spill clean-up costs and damages to residents, coastal communities, businesses, and our public waters? Michigan citizens may believe they are protected, at least at some level, by the insurance Enbridge should be required to have in… Read more »
After last year’s election, newly chosen leaders and the old guard with a few weeks left in Lansing rushed in opposite directions. The Snyder administration and legislators intensified their unprecedented, legally questionable attacks on water, the environment, and public health during a lame-duck feeding frenzy. The new guard, Governor Gretchen Whitmer and Attorney General Dana… Read more »
