SUBSCRIBE TO MICHIGAN CLIMATE NEWS! Dear Michigan Climate News readers, This edition of our monthly policy tracker explores We aim to help keep you up-to-date on the latest state and federal government policies impacting climate and the environment in Michigan. Please let us know if we're hitting the mark by emailing us at nina@planetdetroit.org. And […]
Posted inCommunity
Belle Isle study lights way for savings
By ERIC FREEDMANCapital News Service LANSING – The installation of a state-of-the-art street lighting system on Belle Isle – located on the Michigan side of the Detroit River across from Windsor, Ontario – was a major step forward in saving energy and electricity while improving safety for visitors. Now five years later, a new study […]
Posted inUncategorized
From the Headlines- Sept 19 – 23
Robin v. warbler: Not for the first time, Michigan is trying to give its state bird – the stalwart robin – a sendoff. Rep. Greg Markkanen, R-Hancock (yep, that’s in the U.P.) introduced a bill that would replace the robin with the Kirtland’s warbler, a denizen of sandy jack-pine barrens in just three northern Michigan counties. It’s […]
Posted inSolutions
Vacant to vibrant: How Mama Shu transformed abandoned lots in Highland Park into a place for children
This is the first in an ongoing series to introduce Planet Detroit readers to residents who bring beauty and community to the vacant lots in their neighborhoods. We begin our series recounting the story of Mama Shu and Avalon Village in Highland Park – perhaps one of the most ambitious and iconic examples of vacant […]
Posted inAccountability
One of Detroit’s most powerful families is displacing east side residents
Co-published with BridgeDetroit. In May, a representative for Crown Enterprises, a real estate firm owned by the Moroun family, knocked on Savannah Lewis’ door and offered her $90,000 to move out of the home she has lived in for six decades. The 92-year-old said she was given three days’ notice to decide and 30 days […]
Posted inAccountability
Regulators order DTE, Consumers to increase transparency around electric service reliability
DTE Electric and Consumers Energy will soon need to provide more detailed information to the public about how they plan to improve electric service reliability. The Michigan Public Service Commission, which regulates investor-owned utilities, found the utilities’ distribution plans insufficient and ordered them to implement various actions to increase transparency around distribution and maintenance plans. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Michigan # 2 for power outages (Right behind Texas!) PLUS: EV chargers are coming
CO2 2022/2021 : 416 ppm / 413.2 ppm Dear Michigan Climate News readers, In the news this week: Michiganders are among the most impacted by power outages — with only Texans suffering more. President Joe Biden visited the auto show in Detroit last week to announce federal funds for an EV charging network across 34 […]
Posted inUncategorized
From the Headlines- Sept. 12 – 16
‘Asthma capital’: Detroit tops the list of the worst cities in the country for asthma, jumping to # 1 from # 15 in 2021, according to an annual report released this week by the Allergy and Asthma Foundation of America. Detroit’s ranking was based on the high prevalence of asthma in the city as well as the number […]
Posted inAccountability
Proposed railway merger heightens pollution concerns for Detroit
Published in partnership with BridgeDetroit Michigan environmentalists are calling on the federal government to deny a proposed railway merger that they say would lead to increased noise and air pollution for Detroit. In 2021, Canadian Pacific Railway struck a $31 billion deal to purchase Kansas City Southern to create the first rail network from Mexico […]
Posted inAccountability
Detroit River cleanup a low priority in Biden’s $1 billion Great Lakes windfall
Hopes were high in February for a long overdue acceleration of the cleanup of toxic sediment sites in the Detroit River that have languished since the peak industrial era of the 1950s. President Biden announced that his infrastructure bill would designate $1 billion specifically for remediation of the multiple Great Lakes region sites officially designated […]