Great Lakes Commission launches restoration database

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You can now track progress on restoring the Great Lakes at a new database provided by the Great Lakes Commission. It focuses on conservation plans implemented by the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative over the past three years, and includes several projects in each of the eight Great Lakes states. The initiative, which is managed by the Environmental Protection Agency, has received more than $220 million since 2010 for wildlife restoration. It has led to hundreds of different environmental endeavors ranging from turtle protection research in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula to a dam removal in eastern New York. The database contains fact sheets on all work from the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative.

Echo

Researchers map Great Lakes needs, services

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The idea is to find the best places to get the most value from investing in environmental restoration.

The project examines the intersection of multiple problems with their impact on the services provided by the environment.

One finding: The places most valued by people are the most at risk.

Echo

Researchers discover what makes the best environmental citizens

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Researchers have found what they believe to be the traits that make the very best environmental citizens. Patient, confident, and persistent people make some of the best environmental citizens, according to Kyle Whyte and Matt Ferkany, researchers at Michigan State University. Friendliness, wit, self-confidence, humility, fairness, patience and dependability are other traits they discovered associated with environmental interest. Ferkany is an assistant professor of teacher education; Whyte is a visiting professor of philosophy. “(When one) has a lot of confidence and not inclusive they think they are always right,” Ferkany noted.

Echo

Special Report: Cleaning Coal

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The Great Lakes states are home to 155 coal-fired power plants that discharge wastewater into local lakes and streams.  That wastewater can carry heavy metals and other dangerous contaminants, and has gone largely unregulated for the past 27 years.  Now the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is preparing to step in with new rules to fend off environmental concerns. Join the Great Lakes Echo for a four-day series unpacking the problems with power plant wastewater in the Great Lakes. Day 1. Great Lakes states spotty on coal limits; some water contaminants ignored. Day 2.

Air

Burning cars: Flames aren’t the worst environmental hazard

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By Thea Neal
Dec. 1, 2009

Salvaged cars aren’t the only ones producing dangerous byproducts. A simple spark at an accident can turn cars into environmental health hazards. Burning cars often emit dangerous toxic gases, said Bill Peters, owner of East Lansing Automotive Center. “So many toxins are released, especially cyanide gas.

Echo

Environment agencies in Great Lakes states reorganize, downsize

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By Allison Bush, bushalli@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
July 3, 2009

Some cash-strapped state agencies charged with protecting the Great Lakes environment are merging and reorganizing to do more with less. Michigan’s Senate could vote next week to combine that state’s Department of Environmental Quality with the Department of Natural Resources. The House of Representatives approved a similar measure recently. Other states are considering similar moves. Ironically, the functions of both of Michigan’s agencies had once been combined.

Echo

Making a Case for the Environment and the Bottom Line

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(NY) The New York Times – DVD packaging is getting 20 percent lighter, reducing the impact on the environment and corporate bottom lines. Warner Home Video, by far the world’s largest distributor of television and movies on DVDs, has started releasing all of its new and library titles in cases that have 20 percent less plastic, a spokeswoman said. In some instances, the cases feature a thin layer of plastic; others have cutouts in the walls. Lightening the load on the environment was the primary motivator, says Warner, which said the effort will reduce its home entertainment division’s carbon emissions by 31 percent.  More