Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/capital-news-service/page/39/)
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.
Recent battles with invasive species in the Great Lakes have prompted a call to update a 1900 federal law that governs importation of non-native plants and animals.
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.
Farmers are upbeat about a federal decision to permit the continued use of the Roundup Ready sugar beets, a genetically engineered crop.
GE crops are associated with lower production costs and higher yields. Critics say that they could cause environmental and health risks.