Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/author/capital-news-service/page/29/)
Capital News Service is a wire service at Michigan State University covering state government - issues and personalities.
Michigan has five operating ethanol plants and two under construction.
But just what proportion of the state’s corn should be used to make ethanol?
Corn growers insist that criticism that biofuels will increase food prices is misplaced.
Michigan’s travel agency is pushing the state’s natural resources in a bid for tourists.
Efforts are also underway to promote agri-tourism, including the use of mobile phone applications that direct tourists to markets.
Proposed legislation could keep wind turbines out of the Great Lakes, and that’s good — or bad — depending on perspective.
Of Michigan’s 19 million acres of forest land, 8.4 million have private, non-industrial owners. Those owners mostly want the land for recreation or aesthetics, but few actively manage their forests for those uses.
With more than 335 state-sponsored vanpools and escalating gas prices, the Michigan Transportation Department predicts that van commuting will gain popularity.
A new Senate bill would prohibit the state from imposing mitigation requirements on some road projects that damage wetlands.
Proponents say lower operating costs helps government free up money to help build new businesses.
Rooftop solar panels and an underground geothermal network are among the energy-saving efforts made by Farmington Hills.
Michigan lawmakers want a Nevada disposal site to start accepting nuclear waste.
The state’s waste from nuclear power plants is now stored on-site, although ratepayers have paid $760 million toward a proposed national repository.
Optimistic plans for biomass plants in the state are largely on hold, leaving the expansion of a highly publicized renewable energy source up in the air.
Proposals to add to the existing seven commercial biomass plants have faced problems ranging from public backlash to funding to concerns about fuel supplies.
As the U.S. Forest Service considers banning snowmobiling and firearm hunting in 70,000 acres of the Huron-Manistee National Forest, one study found they produce considerable economic impact.