PWIR

Tags: Army Corps of Engineers, asian carp, Durant, Great Lakes, Hoekstra, PWIR, RES

A new sulfide mine may be built a mere two miles from Lake Superior, Asian carp are at the threshold of Lake Michigan, and Pete Hoekstra sees no problem with drilling under the Great Lakes. You'd think we were writing on the day following Halloween, not Mother's Day, with this kind of news.

Tags: 25 by 25, asian carp, land cap bill, michigan supreme court, PWIR, RES

We talked about the Land Cap Bill a lot in the last edition. Since then, and largely because of your help, the issue really took off statewide with the Free Press and others weighing in on our side. No one likes the land cap.

Tags: fracking, land cap, pipeline safety, PWIR

We are one step closer to an arbritrary cap on how much land the state can protect and manage with a key vote on the issue is coming up in the State House. Looking at the bigger picture, what protected state land is left could potentially be opened up to oil and gas development if the recommendations from a new legislative report are taken up.

Tags: 25by25, asian carp, cherry crop, climate change, coal, PWIR, Renewable Energy, RES, underground storage tanks

Tags: 25x25, electric vehicles, michigan supreme court, PWIR, sulfide mining, toxic chemicals, wind energy jobs

A recent report announced that wind energy is creating strong job growth nationwide and, while that's encouraging, it also shows that we could be doing even better here in Michigan than we currently are. 

Tags: 25 by 25, Great Lakes, PWIR, RES, Traverse City

Spring is a time for renewal; a new season, a new start. The legislature will be starting up again next week, GM is restarting production of the Volt, the trout fishing opener is only a few weeks away, and the Tigers are very much enjoying the spring weather. Let's follow the Tigers' lead and get Spring started with some big wins!

Tags: fuel efficiency standards, PWIR, RES, UST, Wind

Conservation is about planning for the future, but what point in the "future" are we thinking of when we're planning? If your vision of the future is only as far as a few months out, you'll have a very different vision than those who are thinking of the next generation. For the sake of imagining a world in the not-too-distant future, though, let's look at one particular year in which two key clean energy goals happen to coincide: 2025.

Tags: environmental leaders, Pure Michigan, PWIR, Renewable Energy Standard, yard waste ban

Pure Michigan ads will begin running nationally this week, complete with the stunning vistas we all love. At the same time, though, the Legislature is passing a bill to bankrupt the composting business here and overstuff our landfills. It's a great example of how Pure Michigan needs to be the model of how we act, not just how we advertise. We're also trying to attract tourists from out-of-state, not trash, which this bill could actually encourage. Is that the “Pure Michigan” we want visitors to find when they visit this summer?

Tags: Chris Christie, gogebic taconite, great lakes compact, ohio, PWIR, Renewable Energy Standard, water diversion, Wisconsin mining

We live in a peninsular state, and sometimes it seems like the Great Lakes can insulate us from what happens in the rest of the country. It is those very lakes, though, which sometimes connect us, more than anything else, to what happens in other states. 

Tags: CAFE standards, great lakes summit, hb 5447, Michigan Primary, PWIR, RES

At the point where conservation groups, electric utilities, and car manufacturers are all agreeing on energy policy and fuel efficiency standards, you'd think that our elected officials could also get on board (or at least stay out of the way). Sadly, Representative Ray Franz (R - Onekama) continues to make things difficult.