Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/capital-news-service/page/27/)
Capital News Service is a wire service at Michigan State University covering state government - issues and personalities.
Proposed legislation in Michigan may encourage the use of small-scale clean-energy devices by exempting them from property taxes.
Local governments say they must weigh clean energy’s impact on economic development against the loss of property tax revenue.
Municipalities throughout Michigan are focusing on street lighting to save money and reduce energy consumption.
Some communities may overhaul street light systems to more energy-efficient ones. Others may reduce the time the lamps are lit.
A number of Michigan counties have fewer healthy food outlets than the national average, a new study shows.
The overall percentage of counties’ access to healthy foods in the state is 73 percent, while the national benchmark is 92 percent, according to County Health Rankings, complied by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and University of Wisconsin Population Health Institute.
Product stewardship, a concept which puts environmental responsibility on consumers and producers, is one of the focuses of this year’s round of pollution prevention proposals to the Department of Environmental Quality (DEQ), which will award $50,000 to the winning community to implement its initiative.
More than 60 companies in Michigan are participating in the federal BioPreferred Program to boost the manufacture and distribution of biobased products.
The federal initiative aims to increase the development, purchase and use of biobased products. They are renewable and environmentally friendly or organic products made from agricultural, forestry or marine materials. Products range from bed linens and towels to greases and cleaners.
Many people are looking to wildflowers and native plants for environmental and economic reasons.
Jean Weirich, treasurer of the Wildflower Association of Michigan, said education about wildflower planting and seeding has recently become popular.
A lot has changed since the Michigan Nature Association (MNA) started creating nature preserves in 1960, says Steve Kelley, the organization president.
Just more than 50 years since MNA bought its first property, the Louis Senghas Memorial Nature Sanctuary in St. Clair County, its holdings have increased to more than 10,000 acres across the state.
The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality’s mission to guarantee clean and safe recreational water resources includes an assessment plan to make the public aware of problems.
DEQ said it has five related goals: 1) enhance recreational waters, 2) ensure edible fish, 3) protect and restore aquatic ecosystems, 4) ensure safe drinking water and 5) protect public safety.
A new state effort is targeting the shrinking amount of habitat land for grassland birds in the Lower Peninsula by focusing on pheasant restoration.
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Are you tired of sitting in a classroom to learn about the environment? Why not go outside to touch and feel nature?