..and some simple plain trash talk. How we've turned our planet into a big trash can. The Issue that dare not speak it's name in debates...The ENVIRONMENT. Now...Environmental News to USE.
Now...One campaign is bitching about getting Michigan's Delegates...how about creating some solutions for the future for the state, eh?
Appeals court says Dow lawsuit should be class action. Thousands of plaintiffs who sued Dow Chemical say dioxin from Dow's Midland plant got into the Tittabawassee River and has contaminated their properties, dropping house values and making the homes difficult to sell. Detroit Free Press
Toxic leak threatens Kalamazoo water. A plume of pollution from a now-shuttered service station has migrated through groundwater to within 100 feet of Kalamazoo city wells, part of a drinking-water system that serves more than 120,000 people. Kalamazoo Gazette
Family ties cancer to Berlin & Farro. There are no warning signs - only a twisted chain link fence surrounding an uninhabited lot marks the former Berlin & Farro dump site, once considered one of the most toxic sites in the nation. Flint Journal
Will Stabenow rescue farm bill for Michigan? Congress returned to Washington this week and soon will finish work on the $280 billion federal farm bill that will determine our farm and food policy for the next five years. Lansing State Journal
EPA chief defends CA waiver decision. The EPA's chief defended before Congress today his decision to deny CA and 15 other states the right to impose their own strict tailpipe emissions standards, calling it "common sense." Detroit News
EPA boss says Calif. fuel rule isn't necessary. The administrator of the EPA on Thursday defended his decision to reject CA's attempt to set tough limits on global-warming pollutants from cars and trucks, saying the state was not suffering from "compelling and extraordinary" problems because of its emissions. Detroit Free Press
Cox all alone in defense of autos. Michigan Attorney General Mike Cox launched a spirited -- if lonely -- defense of the auto industry Thursday, testifying in opposition to the bid by California and 15 other states to impose vehicle tailpipe emissions limits. Detroit News
Manure 'biodigester' turning out electricity. A $2.7 million biodigester plant has been converting 30,000 gallons of daily cow waste into 30 kilowatts of electricity since Jan. 16 and about 45 kilowatts of thermal energy the last few weeks. Muskegon Chronicle
Proposal raised emissions concerns. Some officials in townships downwind of the Washtenaw County Jail, which proposes to use a wood-fired boiler, had raised concerns about emissions - especially small particulates - and odors. Ann Arbor News
Statewide ban on phosphorus makes good sense. What makes a lot of sense to help clean the waters of Saginaw Bay has the potential to blossom into a statewide, even a nationwide, movement to ban the use of phosphorus in lawn fertilizers. Livingston Community News
Protecting the Great Lakes. An ice floe at sea moves faster than Congress is proceeding on pending legislation to protect the Great Lakes from invasive species and viruses that arrive in the ballast water of foreign ships. Toledo Blade
Green efforts inspire local churches to conserve. While politicians argue in Lansing and Washington over how and when to reduce America's global-warming gases, some Michigan churches are already doing it. Detroit Free Press
House panel votes to require use of green energy by end of 2015. Within eight years, 10 percent of the electricity sold to Michigan consumers would have to come from renewable energy sources such as wind under bipartisan legislation passed Wednesday by a state House committee. Associated Press.
Clean energy is focus of legislative efforts in Lansing. Power companies would be encouraged to use cutting-edge clean energy technology under legislation unveiled this week in Lansing, Michigan. Bay City Times
Land program may protect watershed. A new study by the Huron River Watershed Council finds that a transfer of development rights program could provide significant ecological protection to the Huron River watershed. Ann Arbor News
Green program sprouting users. The response to Detroit's Recycle Here! program has been so tremendous that a pilot program is planned this year to offer limited curbside recycling -- a Detroit first -- in Rosedale Park. Detroit News
Good ways to LEED by example. In Kalamazoo, more institutions and organizations are deciding it's good to go green. Kalamazoo Gazette
Plug-in power. Andrew Angellotti spent nine months and about $6,000 to buy and transform his gasoline-powered, 1988 Mazda B2200 pickup into an electric vehicle. Flint Journal
Enviros and coal-fired power. There are around 100 coal-burning power plants on the drawing boards. In some cases environmental groups will fight to make sure they don't get built. But, one coal-burning power plant is being built with the blessings of the environmentalists nearby. Great Lakes Radio Consortium
Satellites could help Great Lakes. Scientists say satellite images could do more to help spot major problems in the Great Lakes, if there were more federal money for those kinds of programs. Great Lakes Radio Consortium
Bloody-red shrimp invades Great Lakes. The newest invader swarming in the Great Lakes is the bloody-red shrimp. Although it's too soon to know how bad this non-native shrimp will be for the Great Lakes, scientists believe they pose a high risk of hurting fish populations and promoting algae blooms. -The Windsor Star
Renewable energy standards vital to Michigan's future. Michigan needs energy to compete in today's economy -- and our citizens deserve a future built on clean renewable energy, not one built on the smokestacks of dirty coal-powered plants. Saginaw News
U.S.'s top toxic site here? A top government scientist says a toxic ''hot spot'' found in the Saginaw River near Wickes Park in Saginaw could represent the highest level of dioxin contamination ever recorded in the nation's river and lake systems. Saginaw News
Group wants tougher water law. Michigan's 2006 water withdrawal law needs to be strengthened to better protect groundwater and give local units of government a say in where corporations pump large quantities of water, environmentalists said Thursday. Muskegon Chronicle
Big Lake's fish population plummeting. The quantity of fish food in Lake Michigan hit a record low for the second straight year in 2007, a trend that could be disastrous for the salmon fishery if it continues. Muskegon Chronicle
Hey, presidential hopefuls, let's talk Great Lakes funding. Speak out, loud and clear: If elected, will you make funding and starting a Great Lakes Regional Collaboration plan to restore the environment of the lakes a priority? Bay City Times
Hey, candidates....how about those foreclosures?
In Genesee County, Michigan, wherein lies the city of Flint, more properties are facing foreclosure due unpaid property taxes than at any time since 2002. Among the commercial properties facing tax foreclosure are a former Ramada Inn hotel located at an intersection of the I-75 freeway on the outskirts of the city.
The former hotel is reportedly worth $2.9 million and owes $80,000 in unpaid taxes. A full listing of properties in Genesee County that owe back taxes will be published in the Flint Journal on January 29, February 5, and February 12.
Default Research, the premier provider of foreclosure real estate data in the Detroit area, is reporting that foreclosures in that part of Michigan were up 108 percent in 2007.
Hey, candidates...what about that NAFTA crap?
In a state where one in nine residents receive food assistance, and foreclosures were the staple long before today's national crisis, Michigan is the canary in the coalmine for an America that has sold her manufacturing prowess for pennies on the dollar.
For the past seven years, while free trade gurus were praising $20 sneakers and commending the benefits of placing the consumer before the country, Michigan was trying, in vain, to stop the bleeding. Over 400,000 jobs have been exported to China and Mexico, while back in October, long before the recession panic of today, Michigan's unemployment rate was the highest in the nation at 7.4 percent.
Why is Michigan in such dire straits? Simple - decades of free trade policies have placed American workers in a Darwinian battle with foreign competitors, a battle where the rules are uneven and the outcome rigged.
Before ANY Democratic candidate wanks about not getting Michigan's delegats, perhaps they should discuss why Michigan moved it's primary. It wanted its voice to be heard. It wanted its woes to be spotlighted, for their woes are our country's woes. It wanted some tough talk on some tough issues.
CONGRATS MISS MICHIGAN...the new Miss America.
