Echo
Monday Memes Gallery
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Echo
Paint-stripping chemicals linked to 8 deaths in Great Lakes states, 13 total
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Paint-stripping chemicals are to blame for at least 13 bathtub-refinishing deaths in the U.S. since 2000, according to Michigan State University researchers. Methylene chloride is a colorless, toxic chemical used to degrease and strip the paint off of surfaces. Michigan State University’s Division of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, which studies work-related deaths, linked the chemical to deaths in people refinishing bathrooms after finding three such cases in Michigan in the past decade. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a report this week on the investigation. Already a known hazard for furniture strippers, the chemical’s danger to bathroom refinishers was not known.
Echo
Michigan looks to eliminate red tape by slashing environmental rules
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Michigan’s Office of Regulatory Reinvention has proposed 77 environmental rule changes to cut red tape but enviros don’t agree with all of them.
Echo
Michigan farm program that mitigates environmental impacts may expand
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The Michigan Agriculture Environmental Assurance Program is a voluntary program to make farms economically and environmentally sustainable. And may expand.
Echo
Chicago teams to play green games in April
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When players hit the ice or the court, arenas buzz with electricity. Hot dog machines, enormous flat screens and thousands of light bulbs suck off the grid for hours before, during and after the game. Two Windy City teams will offset their energy haul by partnering with an energy producer and distributor to play a couple “green games.”
In a build up to Earth Day on April 22, the Chicago Bulls and Blackhawks will both play one game each sponsored by Constellation Energy Group, which will buy renewable energy certificates matching the amount of electric used for the day’s game at the United Center where both teams play. The Blackhawks will play their sponsored game on April 1 and the Bulls will play theirs the next day. Renewable energy credits are not real energy.
Echo
Monday Memes: Introducing Great Lakes memes
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We’re usually up to our elbows in writing traditional Great Lakes news stories, so it’s nice to take a break. Let’s take a moment to escape deep into the Internet — and bring the Great Lakes with us. Introducing, Great Lakes Memes. Confused Cougar
Lovesick Lamprey
Algae Party
Internet memes are ideas, lingo or pictures sent through the Internet. You’ve probably seen them passed around Facebook and Twitter.
Echo
Great Lakes sewers, beaches are losers in proposed 2013 federal budget
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The Great Lakes seem to get a nice slice of the proposed 2013 federal budget with $300 million set aside for restoration. But other regional environmental programs took a hit.
Echo
Great Lakes conservation agencies adapt to increasingly absent landowners
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Landowners who don’t physically live on their land are proliferating in Great Lakes states. The shift is changing the way conservation officials reach out and educate people on sustainable land management.
Echo
Refuse may power robots of the future
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You know you’re a Great Lakes reporter when… the words “fecal matter” pique your interest instead of gross you out. Which is why so many waste-related stories get passed around the Echo newsroom. Here’s the latest: Human waste-powered robots may be the future of machines. Apparently robots of the future will be self-sustaining and will refuel by grazing on organic matter like human waste. Don’t ask me where they have to scavenge to recharge.