As millions of pounds of microplastics enter the Great Lakes each year, microplastics are turning up in human bodies. Researchers are scrambling to understand the health effects while efforts to curb waste fall short.
Michigan climate change
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Feds deny funding to reopen Michigan’s Palisades nuclear plant
The denial permanently eliminates 800 megawatts of emissions-free power from Michigan’s grid, hindering the state’s efforts to go carbon neutral. But nuclear detractors cheered the move, citing safety fears at the aging plant.
Posted inTalent & Education
New U-M president Ono lays out climate change, diversity and staffing goals
Santa Ono outlined a host of progressive priorities he hopes to pursue at the University of Michigan, including a $300 million investment in “socially responsible” companies.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Uncertainty for Michigan rivers, residents as Consumers reconsiders its 13 dams
The century-old dams are expensive to maintain, generate little energy and are generally harmful to rivers and native fish. But their reservoirs bring boaters, visitors and lake houses that help support small communities.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Mid-Michigan smacks down wind energy. Will it harm the state’s green plan?
Montcalm County voters rejected five renewable energy referendums and recalled several local officials who supported the plans. There is growing opposition to wind and solar farms as Michigan attempts to chart a green energy path.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
DTE wants to quit coal by 2035. Some in Michigan say that’s not fast enough
The energy utility plans to lean into natural gas after shutting down coal plants, a move that has irked some clean energy advocates.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Wind wars: Wind turbines put green energy on the ballot in mid-Michigan
Resistance to wind and solar farms is growing across the farmlands of Michigan, where locals, not the state, control site approval. Nowhere is that fight more intense than Montcalm County.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Broad support cited for expanding Michigan wetlands
Democrats and Republicans, hunters, fishers and birding groups want Michigan to invest $30 million in federal funds for wetlands to help reduce algal blooms in Lake Erie and Saginaw Bay.
Posted inTalent & Education
U-M President Santa Ono: New ethics office will be truly independent
President Santa Ono said the office will follow best practices from other universities in the wake of multiple sexual misconduct scandals. He also vowed a new initiative on climate change and explained why his selfies and ‘grams are more than a schtick.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Tudor Dixon and Gretchen Whitmer polar opposites on Michigan environment
Whitmer wants to close Line 5, prepare for climate change, watchdog industrial polluters and update water safety. Dixon wants Line 5 open, regulations cut and a state that treats businesses like customers, not adversaries.