By GABRIELLE AHLBORN Capital News Service LANSING – After a four-year hiatus, the Department of Natural Resources has revived its popular Facebook series “IdentiFriday.” IdentiFriday asks participants to guess the species of a plant or animal based on a small portion of a picture each Friday. The correct answer is then posted with the full photo […]
Posted inSolutions
These energy innovations could transform how we mitigate climate change, and save money in the process – 5 essential reads
By: Tracey Morford To most people, a solar farm or a geothermal plant is simply a power producer. Scientists and engineers see far more potential. They envision offshore wind turbines capturing and storing carbon beneath the sea, and geothermal plants producing essential metals for powering electric vehicles. Electric vehicle batteries, too, can be transformed to […]
Posted inUncategorized
From the Headlines- March 28 – April 1
Odor unlimited: Stellantis’s east side Detroit plant added another odor violation to its tally last week (Stellantis was formerly known as Fiat Chrysler Automobiles). Michigan’s Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) cited the Mack Avenue plant for “objectionable/paint solvent” odors after an investigator observed smells of “moderate-intensity” in neighborhoods close to the plant. At […]
Posted inCommunity
Spring into Membership with Planet Detroit!
Join today for as little as $6 per month, or $50 annually. Or choose your own amount Do you value the news and information you get from Planet Detroit? Each week, we work hard to give you local, independent nonprofit journalism focused on Detroit and Michigan’s environment and public health. This takes time and money. Please […]
Posted inClimate poems, Community, Deep Dives
Planet Detroit + Room Project want your poems on Detroit, climate change, & the environment
DEADLINE APRIL 30! It’s April! This month we celebrate Earth Day and National Poetry Month. As one of my favorite poets, Sharon Olds, said: “Writing or making anything — a poem, a bird feeder, a chocolate cake — has self-respect in it. You’re working. You’re trying. You’re not lying down on the ground, having given […]
Posted inVoices
How fast can we stop Earth from warming?
By: Richard B. Rood Global warming doesn’t stop on a dime. If people everywhere stopped burning fossil fuels tomorrow, stored heat would still continue to warm the atmosphere. Picture how a radiator heats a home. Water is heated by a boiler, and the hot water circulates through pipes and radiators in the house. The radiators […]
Posted inAccountability
Black neighborhoods will bear future flood burden
Climate change, shifting populations, and infrastructure development in risky areas compound future flood loss risk. By Kimberly M. S. Cartier Residents of New Orleans are no strangers to floods and the losses that follow. From Katrina in 2005 to Ida in 2021, Gulf Coast hurricanes have cost the people of New Orleans hundreds of billions of dollars over […]
Posted inAccountability
Study questions reporting, transparency in popular federal Great Lakes restoration program; Detroit River cleanup lags
In a January report, scientific researchers spotlight reporting limitations in the multi-billion dollar federal Great Lakes restoration program that launched with fanfare in 2010. The program’s mission is to restore the Great Lakes to a semblance of what they were before the industrial era that peaked in the 1950s and 1960s. The program, officially known […]
Posted inUncategorized
Land needed for solar farms, UM's climate goals
CO2 2022/2021 ppm / 418.1 ppm TAKE OUR READER SURVEY HERE! Real estate: DTE Energy is looking for 20,000 to 35,000 acres of land for solar arrays over the next 10 to 15 years, while Consumers Energy wants to acquire 40,000 to 56,000 acres by 2040. The search highlights the need for significant amounts of […]
Posted inAccountability
Detroit River dock collapse fallout: City in court with property owner, storage company to cease operations
The city and owner of a controversial dock that collapsed twice during the last three years are in court-supervised negotiations over bringing the property into compliance with local laws. The negotiations come after the city temporarily shut down the company in December, Revere Dock, and a second business, Detroit Bulk Storage, that leased the property. […]