First, an indefensible statement by the Democratic Speaker of the State House of Representatives:
Dillon would not specify what the new proposed slate of broader
reforms would be, but he talked about the need to speed up Department
of Environmental Quality reviews of such key projects as power plants
in Midland and in Bay County's Hampton township. LS Power, which had
proposed a 750-megawatt coal-fired plant in Midland, pulled out earlier
this year, citing economic constraints as a major reason.
"I
think it's a culture change," he said of the DEQ. "That department
needs to know that they are there to serve businesses in the state."
No, sorry, that's the job of what used to be called the Department of Commerce. The DEQ is there to protect human health and natural resources. Maybe this needs to be put into a law or executive order just to make it clear.
Second, although there's some important misjudgments made in this Muskegon Chronicle editorial -- particularly dismissing the fact that Michigan may have converted the public's water to a commodity under law -- its praise of a citizen lawsuit to defend that water is on target.
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