Big Oil Derrick Goes Drilling for Michigan's Junk Shot Politicians

by: Progress Michigan

Thu Aug 19, 2010 at 15:06:45 PM EDT

Congressional candidate "Top Kill" Tim Walberg has taken over $57,000 from Big Oil and other dirty energy companies while voting time and again to hand out tax breaks to BP and Big Oil.

Our lawmakers shouldn't be subsidizing BP and Big Oil but they should be protecting our Great Lakes. Yet Walberg is on record supporting oil drilling in the Great Lakes. Michigan shouldn't be a place where we need "junk shots" and "top kills" to plug giant oil spills.

With the effects of the Enbridge oil spill into the Kalamazoo River still being felt, we know that breaking our dependence on Big Oil is key to keeping our waterways safe. Now, as Tim Walberg says he wants to represent Michigan in Congress - again - we think it's time he broke his dependence on oil, too. Sign our petition telling Tim "Top Kill" Walberg to shut down Big Oil's pipeline of influence today!

Back in Michigan

by: jcherry

Tue Nov 24, 2009 at 08:37:08 AM EST

We set our sights high when it came to advanced battery technology in Michigan.  We began by positioning Michigan to lead in advanced batteries just a few years ago, and the payoff was enormous.  Michigan received $1.2 billion of the $2 billion that the Federal Government allocated for advanced battery research and development.  This has resulted in a number of companies who will be manufacturing advanced batteries for the new generation electrical automotive engine making Michigan their home-- securing jobs for our future.  I believe we can do the same with water technologies bringing even greater benefits to our state.  

Following my stops in Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, I travelled to Dubai, one of the largest and fastest growing cities in the Middle East. There, even this Wolverine was proud to be the first state official to visit MSU's Dubai campus (and yes, I heard the U-M/OSU score already!). I also visited the American University-Dubai where I addressed the class of Professor Youssef Beydoun.   One of Professor Beydoun's students is from Saginaw Valley State University where she is studying for a degree in Political Science, specializing in International Relations.  She expressed to me her concern for the future of the Michigan Promise which is assisting her in paying for her education.

Both schools are emerging as great educational institutions in Dubai.   Students at MSU's Dubai campus frequently travel back to East Lansing for at least a semester of classes, and receive the same degrees as students here in Michigan - and also pay tuition back to MSU as well. MSU-Dubai is helping all MSU degrees obtain more international exposure and marketability, and I was pleased to be able to visit its campus.

After a long week on the road, I'm thankful to be back home in Clio for Thanksgiving, where I'll enjoy the company of good friends and family. I wish your family a safe and happy Thanksgiving!

Earth Day in Detroit

by: jcherry

Thu Apr 23, 2009 at 08:20:51 AM EDT

Yesterday, for Earth Day, I announced the "Green Jobs for Blue Waters Initiative" to target opportunities for economic growth and environmental protection centered around our most precious resource: water. By developing new technologies to conserve water here in Michigan, we can export those technologies around the globe to places where water is far more scarce: helping Michigan's economy and global environmental protection. Michigan can, and will be the place where the water technologies of the future are developed, thanks to our access to the Great Lakes, university research, water management experience, advanced manufacturing capabilities, and our strong history of environmental stewardship. We can create the same sort of dynamic based around a Blue Water Economy that we've started to build in alternative energy here, with component manufacturers and researchers flocking to set up shop here in Michigan, diversifying our economy, creating jobs, and helping our environment.

Happy Great Lakes Day!

by: jcherry

Wed Feb 25, 2009 at 08:35:07 AM EST

Since Monday, I've been in our nation's capital meeting with the international Great Lakes Commission, which includes commissioners from every Great Lakes state, Ontario and Québec. Today, for Great Lakes Day, I'm meeting with legislators on Capitol Hill along with the other participants in the Great Lakes Commission conference: the Healing Our Waters coalition, the Great Lakes and St. Lawrence Cities Initiative, the Chippewa Ottawa Authority, and the Council of Great Lakes Industries.

We're meeting with members of Congress to discuss our priorities for the Great Lakes:
• Fulfilling the promise for sustainable funding for Great Lakes restoration
• Protecting water quality
• Cleaning up toxic sediments
• Closing the door on aquatic invasive species
• Restoring valuable fish and wildlife resources

I look forward to working with Congress and President Obama to help protect and restore Michigan's most precious natural resource - not only for the environmental benefits, but also because we can leverage the Great Lakes to advance Michigan's economic recovery! Yesterday, I presented Nancy Sutley, Chair of the White House Council of Environmental Quality with the MI-Great Lakes plan that was developed with public input from meetings I attended all over Michigan - along with comments on blogs like this one.  I will keep you updated as we move forward on implementing the plan.

Since today is Great Lakes Day, please leave a comment below or email me about your favorite Great Lakes memory. To live in Michigan is to love the Great Lakes, and I'm sure nearly every reader has a great story to share. I look forward to reading your responses!

(more at A Whole Lot of People Supporting John Cherry)

The Next Wave - Michigan's Blue Water Economy

by: jcherry

Mon Nov 10, 2008 at 13:30:57 PM EST

I come to this discussion today, obviously, as the Lieutenant Governor of THE Great Lakes state and as the immediate past chair of the Great Lakes Commission.  

But just as importantly, underlying all that, is the personal connection I feel to Michigan’s water and woods. As an upland hunter and person who enjoys spending time on the water, I understand the attraction that our amazing natural resources have to people all across the Midwest.  I  recognize the tremendous impact that Michigan’s water has on the course of their lives and our local economies.

So it is important today, as we focus on big ideas and broad concepts, that we also remain mindful of the profound impact our work and discussions can have on a family, a town, or one tiny stretch of pristine beach somewhere on our shoreline.  

Restoring and preserving our Great Lakes

by: jcherry

Mon Sep 22, 2008 at 15:46:32 PM EDT

On Thursday, the reauthorization of the Great Lakes Legacy Act was passed in the U.S. House of Representatives. This Act has been the cornerstone of our work to preserve and protect the Great Lakes and it has already proven effective in those efforts. I applaud the U.S. House of Representatives and their commitment to expand and continue this vital program. Now we have to keep pushing to make sure the United States Senate passes the legislation as well.

During the next month I will be participating in public meetings conducted by the Office of the Great Lakes. We are seeking your input on the draft framework that will serve as Michigan's action agenda for Great Lakes restoration.

Also, the Great Lakes Town Hall has asked me to be a guest blogger this week. Starting today, I'll be writing about the upcoming hearings and the Commission's work thus far. Later in the week, I'll explore the main issue areas covered in the Commission Draft Action Plan, and the need for continued collaboration at the local, regional, and national levels.

I hope you will all join the conversation at the Great Lakes Town Hall!

Great Lakes Tour: Thunder Bay National Maritime Sanctuary

by: jcherry

Thu Aug 14, 2008 at 12:16:49 PM EDT

Above: NOAA divers explore a Lake Huron shipwreck in the Thunder Bay National Maritime Sanctuary

Back in the early 1980's, State Senator William Faust led an effort in the Michigan Legislature to establish a network of underwater preserves.  Bill Faust was a respected legislative leader who in his pre-political life edited a newspaper in western Wayne County.  He had a life long passion for history.  One of his other significant accomplishments was rescuing the state library from years of financial neglect by transferring its management directly to the legislature.

The looting of Great Lakes' shipwrecks had been brought to the attention of Senator Faust.  To protect the shipwrecks and preserve them for future exploration and research, he authored legislation creating the Michigan underwater preserves.  Subsequently in 1980, Thunder Bay and the nearly 250 shipwrecks that lie within the boundaries of the Thunder Bay preserve were designated a National Maritime Sanctuary.  Today, I had the opportunity to tour the Sanctuary's Historical Center, a gold LEED certified building that houses the Sanctuary's administrative offices and a historical maritime museum.  The Sanctuary is managed by a partnership of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the Michigan Department of History, Arts, and Libraries (HAL).  Consequently, Thunder Bay has become the data collection center for much of NOAA's Great Lakes research.  Several of NOAA's research vessels operate out of Alpena and the National Maritime Sanctuary.  Interestingly, NOAA's Great Lakes fleet has converted to bio-diesel fuel.

Protecting the Great Lakes: Non-point source pollution

by: jcherry

Fri Aug 08, 2008 at 10:06:19 AM EDT

Non-point source pollution is a major contributor to the sediment load that is annually deposited in the Great Lakes.  It can carry with it nutrients and pollutants that can drastically alter the ecosystem of the Lakes and its watersheds.  Elimination of non-point source pollution has been a major focus of the State's Soil Conservation Districts.  While the Districts work extensively with the agricultural community to instill good soil management practices, not all non-source pollution originates with agricultural activity.

Tuesday's stop in Christmas, Michigan was a case in point.  Christmas is the location of Kolbus Motor Sports Park-a racetrack for motocross competition.  The racing oval sits on a 27 acre site.  When the track was constructed, it was stripped of vegetation and top soil.  The spring melt-off collects in the depression of the oval and then ultimately drains off site into the headwaters of Gangeau Creek, then into Furnace Lake and finally Lake Superior.  Each spring the residents along the shore of Furnace Lake see their waters turn orange and a clear soil plume in Lake Superior is visible from the air.

Tuesday in Sault Ste. Marie

by: jcherry

Thu Aug 07, 2008 at 10:33:11 AM EDT

The Locks, which are operated by the Army Corp of Engineers, are themselves one of the issues facing the Great Lakes.   Although the original locks were built in 1855, the current four locks (the Davis Lock, the Sabin Lock, the MacArthur Lock, and the Poe Lock were constructed in stages stretching from 1915 to 1968.  Only one of the Locks, the Poe Lock, is wide enough to handle the widest of modern ships.  Given today's concern with homeland security, it is critical that there be at least two locks capable of handling these wider ships.  Consequently there is an active proposal to replace the Davis and Sabin Locks with a completely new, wider lock.  Senator Carl Levin has championed that cause but with the war in Iraq funding is at a premium, it seems we cannot afford to secure the homeland.  

Great Lakes Tour: Macomb

by: jcherry

Wed Jul 30, 2008 at 13:37:43 PM EDT

The Mt. Clemens Water Treatment Plant also hosts one of the region's real time monitoring stations.  It is the most sophisticated regional monitoring system in the world and is capable of measuring the level of 28 specific chemicals every 15 minutes.  Just over a dozen stations stretch from Port Huron on Lake Huron along both the St. Clair River and Lake and all the way south to Wyandotte on the Detroit River.  The Real Time Monitoring Program provides early detection of drinking water contamination from chemical spills or other polluting events.  For the three million residents of southeast Michigan that depend on this water course for their drinking water, the system is critical to their public health.

Monday in Bay City

by: jcherry

Thu Jul 17, 2008 at 11:23:01 AM EDT

Bay City's location, near the mouth of the Saginaw River as it flows into Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay, made it an early center for lumbering, milling, and shipbuilding.  A number of enterprising settlers amassed great fortunes in those industries, and even today the City is characterized by mansions that still stand from that bygone era.

Today, Bay City is a community of festivals.  River Roar, the 4th of July Fireworks, St. Stan's Polish Festival, the Pig Gig Rib Roast, and the River of Time fill the summer calendar.  The City has reinforced all of that with an intensive effort at Riverfront Development.  Veterans Memorial Park and Wenona Park bookend both sides of the Saginaw River.  Private investors have renovated dozens of store fronts creating restaurants, coffee shops, taverns, antique stores, and boutique retail shops.  There are new condominium developments and a city marina along the waterfront.  City Hall and County Government are located in historical architecture, and downtown boasts the Bay County Historical Museum and a planetarium.

Protecting the Great Lakes: Day 1

by: jcherry

Wed Jul 09, 2008 at 07:52:38 AM EDT

Our lakes are not only a beautiful treasure, but are also a key component of Michigan's - and the Midwest's - economy.   Our lakes provide recreation, jobs, drinking water, food, commercial navigation and water resources that help sustain industries and utilities.

Additionally, tourism in Michigan thrives along the water's edge.  Both Michiganders and our friends from out of state flock to the bountiful waters of our 5 Great Lakes and more than 11,000 inland lakes to relax and enjoy the natural beauty our State has to offer.

BREAKING -- Dow Chemical Wins Removal of EPA's Mary Gade, Region V Administrator

by: asagady

Thu May 01, 2008 at 17:42:38 PM EDT

Wisconsin vote on Great Lakes Compact could come next week

by: Eric B.

Wed Apr 23, 2008 at 17:45:42 PM EDT

Depending on the breaks, Michigan could fall further behind other states in the Great Lakes region to pass the Great Lakes compact.

Don’t look for state legislative action this week on the Great Lakes water protection agreement.

Reports say an agreement could come as early as next week, but maybe without the proposed new hospital tax and the transferring of millions in gasoline tax revenues.

Wisconsin is one of two states where the Compact had run into real opposition.  Growing counties straddling the Basin boundaries have sought provisions allowing them to access Great Lakes water without actually being in the Basin.  The other state is Ohio, where some nutball Republican has interpreted portions of the Compact as being an attack on property rights.

Great Lakes need Great Protection

by: TomChoske

Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 15:32:44 PM EST

Great Lakes agenda at the federal level

by: Eric B.

Sat Feb 23, 2008 at 12:33:33 PM EST

I understand that if you go looking for John Cherry next week in Lansing, you won't be able to find him.  That's because, as chairman of the Great Lakes Commission, he'll be in Washington promoting the Great Lakes legislative priorities for 2008 around and on Great Lakes Day, which is Wednesday.

Every year is important in building a sound federal policy towards the Great Lakes.  I realize that there are lots of folks who don't want the feds involved, but as interstate and international bodies of water, there's no getting around the federal role.  And, because the lakes themselves play such an important role in daily life here in Michigan (from commerce to tourism to even influencing the weather), it's important that federal policy be based on protecting and restoring and not regarding them as a resource to be squandered for short-term gain.

The biggest Great Lakes fight this year might be over getting Congress to sign off on the Great Lakes Compact (that is, might, if the various state legislatures get their acts together and present it to Congress before the elections, it could be that both parties see it in their interests to not antagonize the electoral vote heavy Rust Belt and let the thing squeak through).

The actual legislative initiatives are fairly comprehensive and built around a solid understanding of how things that take place even far inland impact the lakes themselves.  For instance, the legislative priorities call for money for buffer strips for inland farms (a buffer strip is a strip of vegetation -- usually trees -- between farm fields and streams meant to prevent fertlizer and pesticides from running off fields and into inland waters ... the failure to do so is believe to be a cause of the Dead Zone at the mouth of the Mississippi, and which has seriously damaged Gulf Coast fisheries).

It involves appropriating money for electronic barriers to (hopefully) prevent the spread of Asian carp into the lake system.  You might remember this from last year, when Smirky vetoed the reauthorization of the Water Resources Development Act on the grounds that it spent too much money, when it only authorized Congress to appropriate money for the projects at a later date and spent exactly zero (0) dollars on its own.  The veto was overridden.

And, of course, one of the other priorities is federal legislation prohibiting ocean-going freighters from dumping ballast water full of non-native critters into the lakes.  Although you can credit the state Legislature for taking a leadership role on this issue last year, movement at the federal level has been stalled, naturally, by the shipping lobby, which doesn't like the idea of being told that it can't dump ballast water laden with non-native species wherever it damn well feels like it.

Status of the Compact, pt. 2

by: Eric B.

Wed Feb 20, 2008 at 09:41:36 AM EST

Well, slap me on the fanny, I hope I didn't speak too soon on the Great Lakes Compact.  Negotiations broke down yesterday over the companion legislation that would do a bunch of things.  From the side of Senate Republicans, it's naturally mostly bad, which would actually weaken water protection in Michigan rather than strengthening it.  Among the lowlights:

*--A desire to shorten public comment periods.  This was Russ Harding's first proposal for protecting the state's groundwater, back in the Engler days (I guess if you don't know there's a problem, it don't exist!).   It's worth noting that it was during the public comment period last year that it was discerned that the public document record was incomplete.

*--Placing wide swaths of rivers and streams open for withdrawal.  If you earnestly wish to protect groundwater from diversion, probably the first thing you don't do is this.

*--Both of these translate into water takings with little or no oversight.  This means leaving things in the hands of the court system to adjudicate whether harm has been caused to riparian rights of landowners downstream.  As we've seen with MCWC v. Nestle, this means landowners trying to prove damages better have both deep pockets and a long time to wrangle things out in the court system.

*--Naturally, none of this would be made possible without a failure to apply the public trust doctrine to groundwater.

The bills are expected to come up today at a meeting of the Senate Natural Resources & Environmental Affairs at 1 p.m.

A competing package of bills is working its way through the House.

Status of the Great Lakes Compact

by: Eric B.

Tue Feb 19, 2008 at 16:39:17 PM EST

A very good editorial in this morning's Detroit News calling for the state to ratify the Great Lakes Compact.

A plan to strengthen the ability of governors in the Great Lakes region to protect the area's water is running into snags in some state legislatures. The plan, called the Great Lakes Compact, should be ratified by all of the remaining state lawmaking bodies -- including Michigan's -- that have not done so.

Amen.  I'm told that Michigan is expected to ratify the thing this year, and what's really holding things up are companion pieces of legislation in the House and Senate.  Environmental groups want the Compact approved while at the same time loopholes closed in Michigan law allowing the diversion of Great Lakes water from the basin as long as it's in little plastic bottles.  State law is the first line of defense, they say.

Despite the fact that earlier this year Mike Bishop included the Compact in a list of things he wasn't so interested in pursuing, ratification could come quicker than the spring deadline Birkholz hopes to meet.  And, if they can get the companion legislation hammered out, why not?  The Compact's co-signers in the Senate include basically the entire body (and shame on the few who haven't).

The problem isn't in Michigan, as it notes in the News editorial.  The problem is an out-of-state one.  Specificially, Ohio Republicans who see in the Compact a great threat to property rights, and in Wisconsin, where the Milwaukee suburb of Waukesha wants to divert Lake Michigan water to its system to feed the city's growth.

The legislator behind Ohio's counteroffensive is state Sen. Tim Grendell (R., Chesterland), who introduced a bill that exempts tributary groundwater and nonnavigable surface water from regional control, while calling for a simple majority rather than unanimous approval from governors when deciding which communities will be allowed to tap into the water.

"We can't pass enough impediments to diversions, but we shouldn't give away private water rights," Mr. Grendell said.

That's right.  We can't pass enough impediments to diversions ... mostly because they're getting hung up on worries about non-existant threats to private water rights. 

What you're seeing at work is the private property rights at its most extremist ... a basic refusal to give really anything up in the name of the common good.  This is the same thing at work behind opposition to the workplace smoking ban:  People refuse to give up smoking where it might damage someone else's health on the grounds that the other person -- if they like clean air so bleedin' bad -- should go somewhere else.

Will these folks scuttle this?  God, I hope not, but it wouldn't surprise me if they managed to.  The Compact only required years to construct, and a lot of spilled ink.  Why wouldn't we expect such an important and needed piece of legislation be undone by a vocal, extremist minority?

But, the real test might not be in the states that stand to benefit the most.  The real test might come in Congress, which has to ratify the thing after the states. The danger is letting the momentum carrying the Compact through the states dissipate as Congress changes in the new session.  It might be the kind of thing that's allowed to rot in committee, since it means putting more blocks between the Great Lakes and other, dryer parts of the country where the kind of development being encouraged can't be sustained by local resources.

There's hope that Congress might sign the thing yet this year, and let's hope that Smirky's poll numbers are so bad that he's compelled, for the purposes of good press, to sign the thing before he rides off into the setting sun, leaving a smoking wreck of a country behind him. 

"Climate Change in the Great Lakes Region" at MSU, April 9-10

by: liberalmomma

Tue Feb 12, 2008 at 12:42:01 PM EST

The following is information from a flyer I received on a climate change conference at Michigan State University. And no, they will not be debating whether global warming is real. While the conference clearly has an academic bent, grassroots activists and the general citizenry are encouraged to attend and participate (that includes presenting).

See below the fold for details.

Michigan's Impaired Waters - Granholm's MDEQ Obscures the Problems

by: asagady

Tue Jan 29, 2008 at 01:41:11 AM EST

[Crossposted from Enviro-Mich Listserv; 

http://www.great-lakes.net/lists/enviro-mich/   ...]

It is impressive how devoted the MDEQ Water Bureau
water quality planning staff is to the current Granholm Administration's
goal of getting Michigan citizens used to living with dirty, impaired
waters and violating the Clean Water Act in the process -- by
being less worried through being unaware of dirty water problems.

While the Granholm political people, the top management in the
MDEQ and the line workers in the Water Bureau would never
agree to it being described or cast in this way, nevertheless that is what is going on here with the year 2008 MDEQ Section 303(d) Impaired waters report just published on January 28:

http://www.michigan.gov/deq/0,1607,7-135-3313-184170--,00.html