Monday, March 6, 2017
Thursday, March 2, 2017
The Tsuga’s View - Part 5
A Long-Term Look At Environmental, Political,
and Social Issues, From The Perspective Of Michigan’s Oldest (and Most
Optimistic) Tree Species
By Marvin Roberson
OK. He’s here. President Trump. And it’s bad. Really bad. Worse
than any of us expected. Things are going to get worse. Good policies are going
to be dismantled. People are going to be discriminated against, they are going
to be hurt, and they are going to die. No two ways about it.
I’ve had folks point this out to me, and claim that it
contradicts my claim that from the Tsuga’s View, things are getting better
overall. I stand by that analysis, even in the face of all of the above.
Remember - the Tsuga’s View is the long view - not a reaction to
the immediate events of the day, no matter how disheartening or damaging. And
the fact is, while progressive ideals lost the election, we won the vote.
Consider - 3 million more people voted for Clinton than Trump.
More people voted for Democratic Senate candidates than voted for Republicans.
While the Democrats did not take the Senate, as we had hoped, they gained, not
lost, seats. And in fact, Trump won Florida by less votes than the number of
people who wrote in “Mickey Mouse”, or other nonsense votes.
The way I have described this situation, is that the Conservative
tide is going out, even if we get knocked down by some of the remaining waves.
As I said in an earlier edition of the Tsuga’s View, the fact
that the Right has progress to attack means that there has been progress. After eight years of excoriating Obamacare, the Right is discovering that American
citizens, even the ones that voted Republican, actually don’t want it repealed.
Look - in the long run, we’ve made huge progress. We will
continue to do so. When we get knocked down by the remaining incoming waves,
we’re not drowning - we’re claiming the beach left by the receding Conservative
tide.
Buck up - it’s awful now, but it’s been awful before (think
McCarthy, Nixon, etc). And in the long run, the Tsuga’s View is that we have,
and will continue, to prevail.
In the next installment of “The Tsuga’s View”, I explain why
sitting in front of a television for much of my youth reflects progress.
Tuesday, February 28, 2017
MPSC Approves Consumers Energy Rate Hike, Seeks Justification for Keeping Uneconomic Coal Plants Running
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
February 28, 2017
Contact:
MPSC Approves Consumers Energy Rate Hike, Seeks Justification for Keeping Uneconomic Coal Plants Running
Lansing, MI - Today, the Michigan Public Utilities Service Commission issued a decision allowing Consumers Energy to increase their customer's electricity bills. In approving that rate hike, the Commission required that Consumers Energy run a benefit/cost analysis on its aging coal fleet and provide that detailed analysis on their next general rate case filing. EarthJustice and Olson, Bzdok, & Howard represented the Sierra Club in this case.
In response, Regina Strong, Director for the Sierra Club's Beyond Coal Campaign in Michigan, released the following statement:
“We do not agree with the Commission’s decision to approve a rate hike, part of which will pay for Consumers’ investments in dirty, uneconomic coal plants. But, we are glad to see the Commission require Consumers Energy to undertake a detailed benefit/cost study of potentially retiring the D.E. Karn 1 and 2 and J.H. Campbell 1 and 2 coal plant units in the relatively near future. Given the escalating cost of maintaining coal-fired power generation units, that are already between 49 and 55 years old, the company should not commit to capital spending on these plants before that analysis is completed. Ratepayers should not be on the hook for avoidable costs that are no longer economically justifiable.
“Today's decision also initiates a separate proceeding to address electric vehicle issues, to be led by Staff. Its goal is to convene stakeholders from the EV marketplace and develop a statewide master plan for EV charging infrastructure, including the role for Michigan's utilities. Our electric utilities have a critical role to play in shaping the future of the EV market, from infrastructure to education. Today's decision marks a critical step toward realizing that future in Michigan, the birthplace of the modern auto industry."
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About the Sierra Club
The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 2.7 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.
Monday, February 20, 2017
Enbridge denies own report noting Straits oil pipeline losing coating
Officials with Canadian oil transport corporation Enbridge on Thursday denied reports that the company's twin, underwater, 64-year-old oil and natural gas pipelines in the Straits of Mackinac are losing their protective coating.
A work plan filed by Enbridge with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency last September, now available on the company's website, references areas of "holidays," the oil and gas industry term for open areas on pipelines where anticorrosion protective coating has fallen off or is missing on the underwater portions of Line 5.
Sunday, February 19, 2017
Wednesday, February 15, 2017
Suggested Comments on Nestle Water Withdrawal Permit Application
Michigan Department of Environmental Quality:
I am submitting these comments
on the application of Nestle North America under the Safe Drinking Water Act
for an expansion of its water withdrawal from White Pine Springs Well (PW-101),
Osceola County, Michigan.
The appropriate course of action for an agency responsible for protecting the
public trust waters of the State of Michigan is to not allow a doubling of
water withdrawal from a sensitive watershed and important tributary of the
Great Lakes. Further, the MDEQ should
begin a process of independently and comprehensively evaluating the impacts of
Nestle’s current permitted withdrawals on the Muskegon River watershed. This
should be done before any further consideration is given to Nestle’s request to
double its permitted water withdrawal.
To ensure protection of our public waters and to fully engage the public in this critically important decision affecting Michigan's Great Lakes ecosystem, I specifically urge the MDEQ to:
· Reject Nestle’s application to double the amount of
water withdrawal from public well 101;
· Conduct a site-specific reviews on all of Nestle's permits issued
to date to in order to comply
with the Michigan Safe Drinking Water Act;
· Apply the strict legal standards and requirements set
forth in all state and federal environmental laws designed to protect our
public waters and uses from export outside the Great Lakes Basin, including
(without limitation) Michigan Environmental Protection Act, riparian reasonable
use law, public trust law, Great Lakes Compact, and the federal Safe Drinking
Water Act;
· Commit to full disclosure and transparency of all
relevant documents on MDEQ's website, and;
· Hold multiple public hearings on Nestle's permit request in Evart, Detroit, Flint, Muskegon, Sault Ste Marie and Traverse City.
Sunday, February 5, 2017
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