The answer to a bad process is to improve the process. The answer is not a one-year statewide moratorium that treats every proposed data center the same. A state that wants next-generation investment cannot behave like it is suspicious of it.
Guest Commentary
At Bridge, we believe in listening to voices from all over our state. Got something to say? Contact us and join the conversation (details below)
How to submit a Guest Commentary
What to know:
Bridge welcomes a diversity of voices and perspectives from readers on issues important to Michigan. Guest commentaries reflect the views of the author(s), and are independent of the nonpartisan, fact-driven reporting of Bridge’s newsroom staff.
Commentaries must be the author’s original work and preferably will not have appeared first in other publications. Bridge reserves the right to decline submissions at our discretion.
We reserve the right to edit commentary for grammar, clarity, brevity or to address legal or factual concerns. We may offer editing suggestions, but in the service of making your work more accessible, not to alter your views.
We do not pay for guest commentary.
Here are some guidelines:
- Columns are usually 500-700 words
- They generally focus on a Michigan topic or policy and should avoid ad hominem attacks
- The more direct, distinct and/or intimate your perspective, the more effective your column will be
- The best columns do more than identify problems; they also offer solutions and facts to back them up
- Please include a one- or two-sentence bio, including the writer’s organization or relevant background.
- Authors must show their work, by backing up facts with links to reports or studies
- Bridge does not publish self-promotional columns or candidate endorsements
- Send a good quality, large headshot of the writer(s) as an attachment
- We also ask that, in return for publishing a guest commentary, the author(s) and their organizations generously promote the link to the published column through your Facebook, Twitter and other social or professional networks.
That’s about it. Keep the writing clear, conversational and free of jargon, and sell our smart and receptive readership on the argument you are trying to make.
Who to contact:
Email your submission or idea to guestcommentary@bridgemi.com. Please briefly describe who you are and what you would like to say and put the words “guest commentary” in the email subject line.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Bill would make workforce housing harder to build. Whitmer should veto it
House Bill 6074 is a mistake. Building new housing in Michigan’s lower-income, workforce neighborhoods is already hard. HB 6074 makes it harder. Build-to-rent is not a move away from homeownership. It is the sequence that makes ownership possible again.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Treating poverty to prevent preterm births and newborn deaths
Efforts to prevent preterm birth have focused largely on medical interventions delivered during pregnancy. Flint’s experience suggests that addressing the economic conditions surrounding pregnancy may be as important as addressing its biological complications.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Michigan cyclospora outbreak: Why buying directly from grower is safer right now
Based on the best information currently available, produce harvested from your own garden or a U-pick farm, or bought directly from the grower at a producer-only farmers market, genuinely is the safer option right now.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Five solutions to make Michigan energy more affordable
Affordable energy is a necessity. Michigan families, businesses, and communities thrive when energy costs are low. These practical solutions will lower bills and make energy more affordable for all Michiganders. Political candidates should take note.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Why Michiganders should care about proposed overhaul of federal grant rules
Every Michigander has a stake in ensuring that scientific funding decisions are guided by rigorous expert review, transparency and the potential to improve people’s lives. OMB-2026-0034 deserves more public attention.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | ‘Save Our Bacon Act’ would hurt Michigan’s farmers, rural communities
Congress should respect state authority, uphold voter-approved laws and support a food system that rewards innovation, responsibility and consumer trust rather than weakening those values.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | An anonymous abuse report targeted Buttigieg, but Michigan CPS did its job
Mr. Buttigieg and his family were surely distressed and frightened. Who wouldn’t be? But as we consider what policies should be enacted to prevent Mr. Buttigieg’s experience, we must also ask how those policies would impact the investigation of true cases of child abuse
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | We can’t afford to balance budget on backs of child care small businesses
Enrollment-based reimbursement provides the stability child-care providers need to operate. Attendance-based reimbursement does not. No other small business is expected to reserve capacity for a customer while absorbing financial losses every time that customer is absent.
Posted inGuest Commentary
Opinion | Michigan patients deserve real transparency on drug discount program
For physicians who spend our lives and careers caring for Michigan patients, it can be hard to wrap our minds around the idea that a prescription drug discount program actually raises costs for our patients, but that’s the reality.