Gov. Whitmer asked Attorney General Dana Nessel to conduct an independent review of Public Act 395

Today Gov. Whitmer asked Attorney General Dana Nessel to conduct an independent review of Public Act 395 — the badly flawed law passed for Enbridge in the lame duck legislature to create a Mackinac Straits Utility Corridor Authority and keep Line 5 in the Mackinac Straits.

Attorney General Nessel has vowed to make her Line 5 review a top priority and for the first time in more than four years, decisions about Enbridge’s oil pipelines will be made by elected officials away from entanglements and influence from Enbridge and the oil industry.

Today’s action by the governor and attorney general is an important step toward clearing the air on Line 5 and protecting the Great Lakes from an Enbridge Line 5 pipeline rupture. Public Act 395 created the fiction of solving the Line 5 problem but in reality, it laid the groundwork for backroom deals that would increase the risk for the Great Lakes and Michigan taxpayers.

For more than four years, former Gov. Snyder and former Attorney General Schuette have overseen a corrupt process intended to produce a good result for Enbridge. These maneuvers came at the expense of protecting the Great Lakes and Michigan’s economy from a high risk oil pipeline rupture in the Mackinac Straits. Under Snyder and Schuette, Enbridge was allowed to fund “independent” Line 5 studies under the auspices of the state that were actually conducted by the oil industry. Those studies predictably led to the current proposal by Snyder and Schuette to keep Line 5 operating in the Mackinac Straits with the possibility of eventually putting Enbridge’s pipelines inside a tunnel.

Gov. Whitmer stated during her campaign that climate change "is a real threat to our environment, our economy, and the health and wellbeing of the people of our state.” With today’s decision by the new governor and backed by a new attorney general, Michigan can begin to reclaim its role as a protector of the Great Lakes and can begin to address the threat posed by climate change.

Onward!

David Holtz
Communications
Oil & Water Don't Mix
602 W Ionia St, Lansing, MI 48933

Gov. Whitmer Signs First Executive Directive to Protect Public Health, Safety and Welfare

LANSING -- Today Governor Gretchen Whitmer signed the first Executive Directive of her administration, Executive Directive 2019-1, to ensure any imminent threat to public health, safety or welfare is immediately reported, assessed, and investigated by department employees, department directors, and agency heads.

“As governor, one of my principal duties is to protect the health, safety, and welfare of all Michigan residents,” said Whitmer. “I am confident that the cabinet I have assembled will put Michiganders first, encourage and empower state employees to speak up if they believe there is a threat to public health and safety, and act promptly on any concerns with my chief compliance officer. This executive directive will ensure that our government works for the people of our state.”

“The people of Michigan deserve peace of mind that their government is working to protect them,” said Liesl Clark, director of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. “I am committed to having an open-door policy, listening actively, empowering employees to speak up, and reassuring them that they have protections under the law if they believe there are threats to public health and safety. I look forward to working with Governor Whitmer as we build a state government that puts Michiganders first.”

Under the directive, department employees who become aware of an imminent threat to the public health, safety, or welfare must immediately report it to their department director or agency head. If department directors/agency heads determine there is an imminent threat, they must eliminate or mitigate it if they have the resources to do so, and if they don’t, they must notify the governor’s chief compliance officer and request assistance. If a department director/agency head determines that there is no threat to public health, safety or welfare, they must report the reasons for that determination to the governor’s chief compliance officer.

Information related to any threat to Michiganders health, safety, or welfare must be reported objectively and promptly to eliminate any attempt to thwart discovery or obscure or discolor facts. If a department director/agency head believes that a threat is not being addressed adequately, they must share their concerns directly with the Governor. Department directors/agency heads must also remind their employees of applicable protections under The Whistleblowers' Protection Act and the Whistleblower provisions of the Michigan Civil Service Commission Rules.

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David Holtz
313-300-4454

A Conversation with Forest Ecologist Marvin Roberson

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Leading Citizens Groups To Gov. Snyder: Protect Public Health and Michigan Water by Vetoing Dangerous Legislation

Environmental, social justice organizations and civic groups today called on Governor Snyder to protect Michigan’s water and the health of millions of residents by vetoing destructive bills that don’t safeguard public health.

The citizens groups, which represent hundreds of thousands of Michigan residents, said the Governor should veto the following bills that weaken the state’s basic environmental and public health protections:

• HB 4205: Blocking safeguards that are more protective than federal standards which would prevent the state from proactively setting PFAS drinking water and other important safeguards that protect the people of Michigan.
• SB 1244: Weakening the state’s contaminated site cleanup criteria which will create roadblocks to protecting Michigan residents from PFAS and other contaminants. We support the more than 80 Michigan Department of Environmental Quality staff who called on Governor Snyder to veto this bill.
• SB 1196: Increasing the amount of radioactive waste disposed of in Michigan.
• SB 1211: Removing protections from more than 500,000 acres of wetlands that filter and store our water, reduce flooding and provide habitat for wildlife.

Organizations that have united in the call for Governor Snyder to veto from these lame duck bills include:

• Anglers of the AuSable
• Clean Water Action
• Huron River Watershed Council
• Michigan Demands Action Against Contamination
• Michigan Welfare Rights Organization
• Ecology Center
• Flint Rising
• Flint River Watershed Coalition
• FLOW
• League of Women Voters of Michigan
• Natural Resources Defense Council
• Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council
• Need Our Water (NOW)
• People’s Water Board Coalition
• Sierra Club
• Straits of Mackinac Alliance
• We the People of Detroit

Major Investors Pressure Exxon to Set CO2 Reduction Targets

The world's largest oil company is being pressured by major shareholders to take action on climate change.

Institutional investors with an estimated $1.9 trillion under management, led by the New York State Common Retirement Fund (NYSCRF) and the Church Commissioners of England (CCE), filed a shareholder resolution calling on ExxonMobil to set targets for lowering its greenhouse gas emissions, covering emissions from both its operations and the use of its products.

The NYSCRF is the third largest public pension fund in the U.S., with assets of $207.4 billion as of March 31, and the Church of England's investment fund manages investable assets of some £8.3 billion ($10.5 billion), according to the comptroller's office.

Their move—made a day after the critical COP24 climate summit in Poland wrapped up—is similar to the direct shareholder pressure applied to Royal Dutch Shell. After some hard resistance, Shell became the first energy giant earlier this month to set short-term greenhouse gas reduction targets, linking them to executive pay.

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Michigan Chapter Update Dec 16, 2018 - 2018 in the Rearview Mirror

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Michigan Chapter Update Dec 2, 2018 - Lame Duck Legislature Dangers

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