‘Like a Godzilla movie’: Residents of southwest Detroit have long dealt with truck traffic that brings noise, powerful vibrations, dust and asthma. But road work and the construction of the Gordie Howe Bridge may be making the problem worse by rerouting trucks onto more residential streets and increasing traffic. “It sounds like a Godzilla movie. It’s so […]
Posted inVoices
OPINION: Detroit’s water affordability plan is a good start, but more is needed
In 2021, the Detroit City Council joined over 240 municipal, county and state bodies in declaring racism a public health crisis. In a city whose Black residents experience all-cause, maternal, infant, and Covid-19 mortality rates substantially higher than those experienced by white residents and higher than those of the nation as a whole, Detroit’s declaration […]
Posted inCommunity
Efforts to update Detroit’s livestock ordinance in play again
Mark Covington might live in the city, but he knows a lot about raising farm animals. The lifelong Detroiter is the founder of the Georgia Street Community Collective, an urban farm on the east side. Located near Harper and Gratiot, the site is a combination garden and community center encompassing 17 lots and features a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Climate change brings strange weather, threatens Michigan's forests
CO2 2022/2021 : 417.39 ppm / 414.54 ppm Dear Michigan Climate News readers, Climate change is making a real difference in Michigan's weather patterns. Northern boreal forests may not last to the end of the century. And Ann Arbor will vote on whether to study the feasibility of setting up its own municipal utility. That […]
Posted inUncategorized
From the Headlines- Aug 29 – Sept 2
Rate hike? While DTE Energy pushes for a nearly 9% rate hike, roughly 370,000 residents lost power after heavy storms on Monday. And on Wednesday around 200,000 were still without power with DTE predicting some would have to wait until Saturday to be reconnected. Downed power lines also resulted in the death of a 14-year-old girl in Monroe, while an 8-year-old […]
Posted inCommunity
A balm in Detroit: How residents find tranquility and togetherness across the city’s green spaces
Researchers say gardens, parks, and other green spaces help boost mental health and offer pathways toward wellness. These Detroiters are taking advantage of nature’s healing effects. Demetrius Thomas felt called to the river. After playing music for a yoga class last Saturday, Thomas didn’t go right back home. Instead, he drove to Belle Isle. All […]
Posted inVoices
OPINION: The Inflation Reduction Act is a win for healthcare, but it needs to go further
The classic heart attack patient in medical textbooks is someone who collapsed while shoveling snow. For one 72-year-old metro Detroit resident, it was a flood. The stress of watching flood waters overtake her home, and moving possessions up from the basement, led to a heart attack. This is one example of how climate change is […]
Posted inUncategorized
Great Lakes threatened by toxic coal ash + climate change
CO2 2022/2021 : 417.39 ppm / 414.54 ppm Dear Michigan Climate News readers, What happens to coal after it's burned? It's transformed into toxic coal ash, and it poses a threat across the Great Lakes. In other news, Grand Rapids could feel more like Memphis by 2100 and Michigan could offer crucial habitat for the […]
Posted inUncategorized
Coal ash timebomb ticks away in the Great Lakes
Many coal-fired power plants have been located on the shores of the Great Lakes, and there’s increasing concern that climate change-related flooding could cause water from coal ash ponds – waste ponds storing wet ash that include heavy metals like chromium, arsenic and selenium – could enter Lake Michigan. These impoundments are vulnerable to extreme […]
Posted inUncategorized
From the Headlines- August 22 – 26
Punishing water debt: Highland Park will have to pay a disputed $21 million debt to the Great Lakes Water Authority (GLWA) following a Michigan Court of Appeals ruling. Highland Park Mayor Hubert Yopp says the city was overcharged after being compelled by the state to enter the GLWA system. However, two suburban sewage districts representing Macomb County residents joined […]