Michigan lawmakers are considering bills to give tax breaks for energy efficient buildings.

The requirements also considers the construction process. Raw materials must be made within 300 miles of the builiding site.

And a certain percentage of discarded material must be recycled.

The city of Mason, Mich. may be 70 miles from the nearest Great Lake, but that’s not stopping them from drafting a resolution supporting Asian carp control. Here’s what the city can expect if their words aren’t heeded:
Thanks to Christie Bleck for the submission. Do you have a picture that could use a hulking invasive fish in it? Here’s how to get in on the action.

There’s a lot of talk about stopping climate change. But the climate is already changing and even the most ambitious mitigation plans still predict some warming.

Some forward thinkers in Wisconsin are helping brace the state for what’s ahead.

Way to go Whole Foods, you’ve pissed off the foodies.
There is currently a swirl of controversy on discussion groups, listservs and news articles, and probably grocery store aisles surrounding Whole Foods’ recent decision to discontinue offering raw milk in four states. Raw milk is milk that has not been pasteurized or homogenized, and to many, it is considered a much healthier alternative to processed dairy. The natural and organic grocery store that was once a haven or heaven for the regular purchasers of wheat germ, kale, and organic dog food, …

The first Great Lakes Restoration Initiative-backed grants are lining up. Michigan and Ohio announced their plans to use $2.9 million to buy 1,600 acres of Great Lakes coastal wetlands, sand dunes, forests and beaches.
That $2.9 million comes from $4.75 million in GLRI funding funneled through the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration’s Coastal and Estuarine Land Conservation Program. The other $1.8 million will go to Wisconsin for land acquisitions in Houghton Falls and Mashek Creek.
Here’s the breakdown:

Bete Grise Wetlands Acquisition, Michigan: $1.7 million
Houghton Falls, Wisconsin: $1.4 million
Kelleys Island Monagan Road Preserve, …

Video: Great Lakes resource managers are turning to biological controls to deal with garlic mustard, a woodland invader that smothers native plants and poisons the soil in forested areas, campgrounds and backyards.

A University of Rhode Island scientist may have developed a way to solve the impending Asian carp crisis in the Great Lakes: Pump up the natives. Check out this University of Rhode Island video.

Read more here.

The rules were explicit: “There will be no women or whining, blogging or Tweeting.
“There will be whiskey, blood, rocks, fires, snot rockets, swearing, heavily peppered meats, and probably a night or two of freezing our tails off,” the e-mail read.
Can four well-domesticated, NPR- listening, chair-swiveling journalists, pushed until they bust like cheap jump drives, turn into steel filing cabinets?
It took two planning sessions at local dive bars, dozens of e-mail conversations and online chats before we set out to see. We did it under the auspices of the newly formed …

Warmer temperatures may be the cause of declining moose populations in northeast Minnesota.

A model by the state’s natural resources department shows moose numbers dropping by 15 percent each year over the long-term.

Most people love Lake Michigan.
The 17th century German mapmaker Herman Moll isn’t most people. His depictions of Lake Superior and Lake Huron dwarf the region’s favorite in a 1711 map of “ye North Parts of America.”
The historical map is one of many offered by greatlakesmaps.org, a collaborative project of Wisconsin’s Water Library, the University of Wisconsin Sea Grant program and other Wisconsin institutions.
The 1711 map may not be geographically accurate — last time I checked Lake Huron wasn’t heart-shaped — but it’s revealing. The …