Great Lakes Echo (https://greatlakesecho.org/tag/environmental-politics/page/8/)
(MI) Detroit Free Press – In a cost-cutting move praised by environmental groups and blasted by the state’s farm bureau, Gov. Jennifer Granholm announced Thursday she would combine Michigan’s Department of Natural Resources and Department of Environmental Quality next year. The new agency is to be called the Department of Natural Resources and Environment, and the move takes effect Jan. 17. More
(OH) Cleveland Plain Dealer – A Senate version of controversial and far-reaching federal climate-change legislation is expected Wednesday with initial hearings possible later in the week and throughout October. As passed by the U.S. House of Representatives in June, the so-called cap-and-trade law would remake American industry and change everyday life in ways that neither critics nor supporters have probably imagined. More
(NY) The New York Times – It’s important to understand that claims of immense economic damage from climate legislation are as bogus, in their own way, as climate-change denial. Saving the planet won’t come free (although the early stages of conservation actually might). But it won’t cost all that much either. How do we know this? First, the evidence suggests that we’re wasting a lot of energy right now.
(MI) Traverse City Record Eagle- There are a dozen variations — “shoot first and ask questions later,” “it’s easier to ask forgiveness than it is to get permission,” etc. We’ve heard them all. In some building and developer circles the intent is the same even if the wording is a little different; it could be “bulldoze now, get a permit if you have to.”That’s pretty much what happened in Elk Rapids about a decade ago. Developer Bill Clous started carving up a wetlands area to build a subdivision. He had permits from Antrim County and local officials but after environmentalists raised the roof, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers grudgingly agreed that the wetland in question was tied to nearby Lake Michigan, which meant Clous needed a federal permit.
(NY) The New York Times – The Obama administration called Thursday for a comprehensive national system for regulating the use of federal waters along the nation’s marine and Great Lakes shores, now administered by a hodgepodge of federal, state or other agencies with often-conflicting goals. The recommendation, outlined in an interim report by a panel appointed in June by President Obama, said regulators should consider marine regions as a whole when issuing rules rather than, say, regulating fishing one species at a time. More
By Andrew Norman
namronwerdna@gmail.com
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 21, 2009
Supporters of a climate change bill targeted members of Congress from the eight Great Lakes states with campaign cash to get the measure through the House last June. On average they gave $215,920 to each representative in the 125-member Great Lakes delegation since 2003, according to the Center for Responsive Politics, a non-profit and non-partisan research group that tracks money in U.S. politics. That’s substantially higher than the $188,938 average for all of Congress. Great Lakes delegates who voted against the bill received $41,000 more on average than their national counterparts; the region’s delegates who supported the bill received $15,000 more on average.
By Sarah Coefield
coefield@msu.edu
Great Lakes Echo
Sept. 15, 2009
A run on guns and ammo in the wake of President Barack Obama’s election last year may be a boon to Great Lakes wildlife. A federal tax on the manufacture and import of firearms, ammunition, bows and arrows is distributed to states for wildlife conservation and hunter education programs.
And those tax collections are climbing fast. Background checks for gun purchases hit record levels in November and corresponded with significant gun and ammunition sales. Gun enthusiasts say they’re stocking up because they fear interference in gun rights by the Obama administration.
(MI) The Muskegon Chronicle – West Michigan residents should get behind a Saugatuck Township lawmaker’s effort to save Michigan’s wetlands protection program, which will end on Oct. 1. Sen. Patricia Birkholz last week introduced a bill to keep the program, which Gov. Jennifer Granholm wants to eliminate as a cost-savings measure, running for at least two more years while new funding sources are sought. More
(DC) NOAA – A physical oceanographer who worked with satellites to generate climate, weather, and water products for operational and research use, will be the director of NOAA’s Great Lakes Environmental Research Laboratory in Ann Arbor, Mich. Marie Colton, Ph.D., who has been acting director since January, takes the permanent position on October 11. “Our Great Lakes laboratory plays a major role in helping NOAA and the nation address freshwater issues, including climate change, water resource management, invasive species, and human health. So we looked for someone with a broad range of experience and we were delighted that Dr. Colton was eager to continue,” said Richard W. Spinrad, Ph.D, NOAA assistant administrator for oceanic and atmospheric research. More
(MI) The Mudpuppy – The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency is taking comments on future priorities for its national enforcement program. The feedback is being taken online through Dec. 1. The agency’s current enforcement priorities focus on pollution from stormwater runoff, air toxics, concentrated animal feeding operations and mineral processing. More