Heatwaves and blackouts: A new study examines the risk for concurrent blackouts and heatwaves in Detroit, Phoenix, and Atlanta, finding that power failures have increased by more than 60% since 2015. “A widespread blackout during an intense heatwave may be the deadliest climate-related event we can imagine,” said Brian Stone Jr., a professor at the School of City & […]
Posted inCommunity
PARKS REPORT: Fishing of the avian and human kinds at Henderson Park and Marina
View on Instagram >>> Erma Henderson Park Henderson Park and Marina is nestled between the historic Whittier Manor and the towering Jeffersonian Houze Apartment complex located at 8800 E. Jefferson. The park takes its name after Erma Henderson, who was the first Black woman to serve on the City Council. As a distinguished social servant, […]
Posted inSolutions
Michigan’s energy activists start to see decade of work pay off in Highland Park
Republished with permission from Energy News Network. Soulardarity is increasingly finding a seat at the table in official conversations about Highland Park’s energy future — a contrast with its early days when city leaders largely dismissed them as noisemakers. In 2011, the streets of Highland Park, Michigan, went dark. DTE Energy repossessed around 1,000 streetlights […]
Posted inAccountability
COVID-19 revealed Detroit’s public and environmental health inequities. Here’s how.
Thomasenia Weston and her two grandchildren don’t get much protection from the truck traffic and air pollution inundating her neighborhood at the intersection of West Vernor Highway and Livernois. “My house does not feel like my home,” Weston told Planet Detroit. “My house feels like I’m on the freeway.” Weston points to the Marathon Refinery, […]
Posted inCommunity
PLANET DETROIT SPRING FUNDRAISER: Support local, independent, nonprofit environmental journalism
Will you help support our local, independent, nonprofit environmental newsroom? YES! I’ll make a one-time donation of the amount of my choice! YES! I’ll join as a member! Friend $5/month or $49 year Sustainer $10/month or $99 year Sponsor $15/month or $149 year
Posted inUncategorized
From the Headlines – April 26 – 30, 2021
East side climate focus: Times are changing on the east side of Detroit where the 37-year-old Eastside Community Network (ECN) and other organizations are increasingly focused on sustainability initiatives to create economic opportunity, improve quality of life and deal with stormwater problems made worse by climate change. “Every time there’s a heavy rain, and the rains are heavier […]
Posted inUncategorized
PARKS REPORT: Stoepel Park
View on Instagram >>> Find your way to this park! Stoepel Park Coming to Stoepel Park, visitors will notice the prevailing theme of baseball and unity which is captured beautifully in the mosaic tile murals constructed by Hubert Massey. Massey has crafted various murals in Metro Detroit and his work here will inspire the next […]
Posted inSolutions
Travis Peters’ ‘Green Boots’ feeds the community, provides horticultural therapy for disabled veterans
On Juneteenth 2020, a coalition of Black farmers banned together in a major way to form the Black Farmer Land Fund. The Detroit Black Community Food Security Network ), along with Keep Detroit Growing and the Oakland Avenue Urban Farm, launched a GoFundMe campaign intending to raise $5,000 to help Black local farmers buy land. In just one week, they raised more than […]
Posted inUncategorized
From the Headlines – April 19-23, 2021
Emissions matter: Environmental activists and Enbridge Energy expressed approval for aspects of a decision by the Michigan Public Service Commission concerning the company’s plans to relocate a portion of its Line 5 pipeline into a tunnel under the Straits of Mackinac. The MPSC will not consider whether or not there is a need for the project, but they […]
Posted inSolutions
Reactivating Scout Hollow, Detroit’s only campground
For 19-year old Uriel Llanas, it was the starry, quiet night and clean air on a camping trip with Detroit Outdoors back in 2019 that continues to draw him into nature today. “I felt very calm and very at peace when I first went there,” Llanas told Planet Detroit. “Living my entire life (in Detroit), […]