Great Lakes Blogger

rumor has it, more coal in Michigan's future

First, the official plan to authorize another coal-burner:

Proposed funding for energy efficiency and renewable energy generation standards in Michigan released today are a step forward, but do not achieve Gov. Jennifer Granholm's stated vision of producing the bold 21st Century energy plan the state needs. 

The Public Service Commission's proposal, which includes a roadmap to a new coal-fired power plant prepaid by ratepayers and improvements in efficiencies and renewable energy, does not do enough to stabilize electricity costs, protect the environment and public health, or move the state toward  energy.

http://great-lakes.net/lists/enviro-mich/last30days/msg21018.html

Second, a rumor of yet another near Midland:

Dow, Dow Corning and HSC are in secret discussions with a developer and the state to build a large coal-fired power plant. They are pushing for "fast track" permitting and avoidance of advanced mercury emissions controls as well as bypassing Public Service Commission rules to allow private transport of electricity across public roads.

Just a rumor, you have to hope.

a prose and visual poem on Michigan's Chippewa River

http://baerrenblog.blogspot.com/

The word "spring" sounds very enticing.

Minnesota's future and climate change

Minnesota could be a much hotter and probably drier place in the next 70 to 90 years, with an altered or dwindling forest, Kansas-like summers and Illinois-like winters.

But that's if Minnesotans don't seize opportunities to reduce greenhouse gas emissions now, three scientists and explorer Will Steger told a rare assembly of legislators Tuesday.

More than 90 senators and representatives from committees on the environment, energy and transportation -- nearly half the elected body -- gathered in the House chamber for an informational session on global warming that included state Catholic and Lutheran leaders casting the issue as a moral and ethical challenge.

http://www.startribune.com/587/story/970648.html

Minnesota moving ahead on Great Lakes compact ratification

Bills to give Minnesota's ratification to the 2005 Great Lakes-St. Lawrence River Basin Water Resources Compact are moving ahead early in the new session.  House and Senate versions have each undergone two hearings, the second in the Senate wrapping up late this afternoon, and the bills (HF 110 and SF 38) are soon likely to see floor action. The only opposition to the compact (and four votes against) occurred in a House committee last week where opponents fretted that the agreement would infringe on the right of private property owners to drill new wells if they live in the Lake Superior watershed, and that it would create some kind of super-government.  Minnesota may be the headwaters state not just of the Mississippi, but also soon of Great Lakes compact ratification.

quote of the day: a new source of e-waste

"There will be thousands of tonnes of dumped monitors, video cards and whole computers," said Sian Berry, the Green Party's principal speaker. "Future archaeologists will be able to identify a Vista upgrade layer when they go through our landfill sites."

the spreading stain

The widening discoveries of groundwater contamination from chemicals once manufactured by 3M has intensified concerns about the safety of drinking water used by thousands in the east metro.

http://www.startribune.com/462/story/963411.html

 

at last, hope for the dunes?

The massacre of Lake Michigan sand dunes since the early 1900s is one of the most regrettable examples of resource exploitation in Great Lakes history. In 1976, Michigan passed a law regulating dune mining for the first time, and in 1989, the state passed a second law that was designed to phase out mining entirely. Now, 18 years later, maybe the phaseout can begin.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) — For more than a century, sprawling dunes along Lake Michigan’s shorelines have provided U.S. automakers with a rich source of sand for use in molding parts such as engine blocks and cylinder heads.

But research suggests there’s enough sand farther inland to meet industry needs and spare the remaining coastal dunes — geological treasures important to tourism and home to a unique mixture of animals and plants, says a report being released Sunday.

http://www.ludingtondailynews.com/news.php?story_id=34732

order your bumper sticker now

http://www.cafepress.com/bobcatcreek.79682619

New Nestle Water Prospecting Highlights Weaknesses in Water Use Laws

Lansing, MIchigan -- Lawmakers should take immediate steps to reform Michigan water laws that allow a major international company to threaten state-protected trout streams, leading environmentalists said today in anticipation of a Department of Environmental Quality decision.

 

Major new and anticipated proposed water withdrawals by Nestle are likely the beginning of a water export rush and challenge for control over the state's waters, environmental groups said.

"Drilling for water along our finest trout streams goes against Michigan values," said Mike Shriberg, Director of Environment Michigan. "When the Legislature enacted new water use laws in 2006, it didn't intend to spark an invasion of trout streams and an attack on basic protections for the Great Lakes."

http://great-lakes.net/lists/enviro-mich/last30days/msg20989.html

little snow = economic disaster in U.P.?

The Michigan Economic Development Corporation is looking into the possibilty of asking the Governor to declare the Keweenaw an economic disaster because of the lack of snow.

 

The Keweenaw Peninsula Chamber of Commerce is asking its members to contact the Chamber to indicate how seriously the warm weather has affected their businesses.  The Chamber will compile that information and then submit it to the MEDC on February 5.

http://www.wluctv6.com/Global/story.asp?S=5991047&nav=81AX

Can the Great Lakes afford not to control ballast water?

While the usual right-wing suspects are saying Michigan's new ballast water control law will doom the state's already faltering economy -- that is, the shipping industry, which has had 20 years to come up with its own solution and failed -- http://www.lsj.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070125/OPINION02/701250352/1087/opinion

It turns out other industries, which probably provide far more return in economic activity and jobs, are already paying the price for the lack of ballast water control. It is time for the other seven Great Lakes states to pass laws similar to Michigan to save the Lakes, and the economy.

The virus poses no danger to people but is usually deadly to fish. It targets some of the region's most popular sport and commercial species.

How VHS arrived in the lakes is uncertain. But fishery managers say a likely culprit is ballast water dumped by ocean freighters, widely considered a leading source of exotic species in the lakes.

http://www.planetsave.com/ps_mambo/The_News/Current_News/Virus_that_kills_fish_is_spreading_in_Great_Lakes,_threatening_fishing_industry_200701268391/