To meet the challenges of the global climate crisis, we need bold ideas and to speak truth to power. That’s the idea behind Climate/Justice, a Planet Detroit opinion column written by Detroit-based environmental justice activist Michelle Martinez. Martinez writes not only as an activist but as a mother and fourth-generation Detroiter. Martinez will be donating […]
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Michigan's northwoods threatened by climate change?
CO2 2022/2021 : 417.39 ppm / 414.54 ppm Dear Michigan Climate News readers, We just got back from a hike through pine and fir forests along Lake Superior and were greeted with new University of Michigan research shows that these boreal forests may change quickly due to climate change. In other news, we've got the […]
Posted inAccountability
Can the police and the public coexist at Rouge Park?
by Jena Brooker and Bryce Huffman Growing up on the city’s far west side, Nicole Reed has heard exploding bombs and gunfire from the Detroit Police Gun Range at Rouge Park her entire life. For the last four years, she’s lived directly across the street from the gun range with her two kids, ages one and three. The […]
Posted inAccountability
Weary of waiting for a truck route ordinance, Southwest Detroit residents ask city officials to enforce existing traffic laws
Cynthia Mendez is tired of living with the noise, the vibrations and the soot from constant truck traffic coming past her home on Livernois in Southwest Detroit. The rumbling wakes her up at night, the vibrations have caused damage to the foundation of her home, and the soot cakes up on her vehicle and the […]
Posted inAccountability
Detroiters and suburbanites unite in protest over Huron River toxic spill
Tiffany Stewart moved to Milford from Livonia 15 years ago to be closer to nature. She wanted to live in a place where “observing nature within nature wasn’t a rare experience but an everyday occurrence.” “We have that here, or we had that here. Now, we’re not allowed to have contact with the water, and […]
Posted inSolutions
New Detroit partnership to begin planting trees where people need them most
Grant funding totaling $900,000 will help launch an ambitious plan to improve Detroit’s ailing tree canopy and make it more equitable. The effort, dubbed the Detroit Tree Equity Partnership, will begin planting trees this autumn. “There has been so much effort here in reinvesting in key assets and services like public transportation, emergency response, street […]
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How will the Inflation Reduction Act impact Michigan?
CO2 2022/2021 : 417.92 ppm / 415.03 ppm Dear Michigan Climate News readers, We're one step closer to a serious climate bill after the Inflation Reduction Act passed the U.S. Senate Sunday. The bill contains substantial ($369 billion) spending for clean energy development. Not everyone is happy, especially environmental justice advocates who say the bill […]
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Climate hopes raise, Canada geese stay
CO2 2022/2021 : 418.43 ppm / 416.08 ppm Dear Michigan Climate News readers, Climate hopes are brightening, with potential new federal spending on clean energy, transmission upgrades that could bring more wind energy to the Midwest, and a new network of EV charging stations along Michigan highways. Did you know? Warming climes make great habitat […]
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Peak summer in Michigan
It's peak summer in Michigan, and we're heading to the north country for a few days of basking in Michigan's splendid wilderness. By the time we get back we will be full-speed into August, with back-to-school just around the corner. We hope you enjoy these photos of sweet summer. (At top: Queen Anne's lace blooms […]
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ICYMI: Lowering carbon emissions in MI post- WV v. EPA Supreme Court Decision
We spoke Friday with Margarethe Kearney, Senior Attorney, Environmental Law and Policy Center and Mike Berkowitz, Michigan Senior Campaign Representative, Sierra Club Beyond Coal Campaign. Topics covered: How the recent SCOTUS decision in EPA v. W. Va will and won't hamper the federal government's ability to regulate carbon emissions from power plants. Implications of the […]