Michigan's Environment: What We're Thankful For
For Thanksgiving 2010, we’d like to focus on what’s going right in Michigan.
Sure, the state has seen its share of burned turkeys in the last year. But Michigan will soon have a new governor, Rick Snyder, who’s been speaking about the value of Great Lakes protection and revitalizing our central cities.
We have a chance to start 2011 with a fresh, entrepreneurial perspective that embraces clean energy technologies and the preservation of our state’s most precious natural assets. With that in mind, here are some environmental highlights we’re thankful for this year. Feel free to add your own in the comments section (or on Facebook). And pass the gravy:
- More than 100,000 jobs created in Michigan under the federal Recovery Act, which has spent money on clean energy, transportation and other infrastructure projects;
- More than 140 projects across the state awarded grants from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative;
- Natural wonders like the Saugatuck Dunes, designated at one of America’s 11 Most Endangered Historic Places;
- The promise of high-speed rail in Michigan, with a proposed corridor to link Dearborn, Kalamazoo, Pontiac and Chicago;
- The advanced battery industry in Michigan, which includes 16 companies and is estimated to create more than 60,000 jobs over the next 10 years;
- Solar power, which employs more than 6,000 people in Michigan (the nation’s fourth-largest number of solar jobs);
- Our members, website visitors, Facebook and Twitter followers, and environmental leaders across the state who work every day to help preserve Michigan’s environmental priorities;
- Environmental champions like Dan Scripps, Sarah Roberts, and Aaron Bailey, who ran for office with a bold vision for the Michigan of the 21st Century, a Michigan that embraces public transit, the renewal of our urban centers, protection of our majestic Great Lakes, and celebration of all the defines our Pure Michigan. These champs lost, but their vision will be carried forth by Michigan LCV. It's our vision, too.
For all of this, we are extraordinarily grateful. Happy Thanksgiving.
--- Photo Credit: Alan Vernon
