Part of an ongoing series profiling Detroiters of color leading environmental justice work in the city. In 2004, Detroiter Michelle Martinez was in Central America, riding a bus on the coastal route from Guatemala to Honduras. She had just graduated college. While traversing through small pueblos in the extreme heat and humidity of the tropics, […]
Posted inSolutions
How Detroiters contribute to local nature study through citizen science
Every year September through November, a small group of avid nature-lovers spend hundreds of hours near the southern edge of the Detroit River doing a remarkably straightforward task: counting hawks. Members of the Detroit River Hawk Watch sit for up to seven hours a day at the Lake Erie Metro Park counting as the birds […]
Posted inAccountability
Less coal, more natural gas coming for DTE Energy customers
In 2023, we can expect to see less coal and more natural gas powering Metro Detroit as DTE Energy is set to retire three of its coal plants as part of a settlement agreement with the Sierra Club and the EPA announced in May. The three plants represent 20% of DTE’s power capacity. Currently, DTE’s […]
Posted inAccountability
Will Detroit be returning to mass water shutoffs in the middle of a pandemic?
Updated June 9 With Governor Whitmer’s emergency order for the COVID-19 pandemic set to expire on June 19, the Detroit Water and Sewerage Department (DWSD) could begin shutting off people’s water again, a practice that has affected over 140,000 Detroiters since 2014. Shutoffs had been banned and reconnections ordered for all water customers in the […]
Posted inCommunity
Why EcoWorks’ ED Justin Schott is resigning to end 25 years of straight white male leadership
Justin Schott was always a little unsettled about his position as executive director for Detroit environmental nonprofit EcoWorks. Being the latest in an unbroken chain of white male executive directors of a nonprofit dedicated to serving the energy and sustainability needs of mostly poor people of color in Detroit never sat right with him. At […]
Posted inAccountability
How safe are Metro Detroit’s dams? We broke down the data
It shouldn’t have been a surprise when two dams in mid-Michigan dams failed on May 19th—they are two of hundreds of dams across Michigan that have “high” hazard potential ratings from the National Dam Inventory, meaning that “failure or misoperation… will probably cause loss of human life.” Dam safety—like the safety of much of our […]
Posted inCommunity
Do you have a question? Ask Planet Detroit!
Do you have questions about your air, water, soil, food, energy, and health? We’re here to help answer your questions and information needs about your local environment and health. You can ask your questions by clicking the blue button below OR you can TEXT Planet313 to 73224. Ask Planet Detroit OUR GOALS ARE TO: 1. Understand […]
Posted inAccountability
Join ‘Detroiters Do Science’ in June for a BioBlitz with iNaturalist
Are you a Detroiter who wants to do science? Send us your email and we’ll send you more info! * indicates required Email Address * Programs Detroiters Do Science Climate Storytellers Are you a Detroiter who likes science? Are you curious about what’s growing in your backyard, what’s in your water, and how climate change […]
Posted inAccountability
‘Tiger Dams’ provide Jefferson Chalmers with flooding solution — for now
“A little bit unattractive, but it’s better.. than the sandbags.” That’s how Detroit General Services Department Project Manager Crystal Perkins described the water-filled ‘Tiger Dams’ that are now being installed throughout Jefferson Chalmers in an attempt to control floodwaters. At a Wednesday press conference, Perkins said the city was about 85% percent finished with the […]
Posted inAccountability
Sierra Club, DTE agree to retire 3 coal plants by 2022
The Sierra Club filed a settlement agreement in federal court Friday committing DTE Energy to retire three of its five coal-fired plants by 2022. The agreement also secured $2 million for community investment in addition to the $5.5 million in mitigation funds announced in the settlement last week between DTE and the Environmental Protection Agency. […]