Climate
Climate report sheds light on Great Lakes shipping challenges
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A recent federal climate report indicates decreasing ice coverage on the Great Lakes that could lead to more evaporation, lower water levels and costlier shipping.
Climate
Other Great Lakes states fix potholes, why not Michigan?
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Michigan and nearby Great Lakes states might share road funding concerns, but the Mitten might not have access to the same solutions.
Michigan’s road funding is unique because of its comparatively low gas and diesel taxes, lower taxes for diesel than gas and an unusual funding formula that sends a disproportionate amount of money to rural areas.
Air
China’s environmental concerns could be GM’s problem too
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You’ve probably seen the pictures of the Chinese smog problem, including shots from Shanghai or Beijing that show buildings disappearing in what appears to be a thick, brown, fog. There are a number of things that cause smog, but one of them is the increasing numbers of cars and that has implications for U. S. automakers like General Motors, which counts China as its biggest market.
Land
Michigan rail boosters push for more trains
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Train ridership has reached all-time highs and President Barack Obama has proposed a big boost in federal aid to transportation. Advocates want more direct routes, an increase in the frequency of trains and schedules that better accommodate business travelers. They say paying for public transportation is far cheaper than expanding and maintaining highways.
Land
Light rail plans would serve downtown Detroit and connect city to Ann Arbor, Traverse City
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By Adam DeLay
Nov. 15, 2009
LANSING, Mich. — Southeast Michigan officials are pushing for a commuter rail connecting Ann Arbor and Detroit, as well as a light rail running between downtown Detroit and the New Center area along Woodward Avenue. Kirk Steudle, director of the Department of Transportation, said the projects have the potential to offer better options to travelers in the area. “Gas prices hit $4 a gallon last year and will go up again,” he said.
Energy
Fuel-efficiency needed for economic engine
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By Vince Bond Jr.
Nov. 1, 2009
LANSING, Mich. – It’s tough to keep an old champ down. Even though the auto industry has seen better days, some analysts believe it’s too early to count out the region’s once-formidable economic backbone. Meanwhile, new data suggests there are still signs of life.
Echo
Oakland should opt in to SMART resolution
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(MI) Detroit Free Press – Transportation is an inherently regional issue. Everyone enjoys the economic, social and environmental benefits of a good mass transit system, whether they ride it themselves or not. (Skeptical? Ask employees at local grocery stores, hospitals and coffee shops how they got to work.) The best way to ensure that benefit is to put every community in a service area on board. But that’s not how it works in southeast Michigan, where communities in Wayne and Oakland counties are allowed to opt out of SMART, the suburban bus system.
Echo
VIDEO: Physical barrier, rapid response to fight Great Lakes invasive species may be years away
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Editors note: This story is part of a series relevant to the International Joint Commissions biennial meeting next Wednesday and Thursday in Windsor. Two approaches to keep ravenous carp and other invasive species out of Lake Michigan are gaining ground, but both could be years from completion. Electrical barriers in the Chicago Sanitary and Ship Canal are the only obstacles keeping silver carp and other aquatic invasive species from entering the lake. The carp could harm native Great Lakes fish that use similar resources. And silver carp can injure boaters when they jump out of the water.
Land
Detroit, Oakland stall transit plan
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(MI) Detroit Free Press – Macomb County commissioners last week took the lead on transit — and regional cooperation — by approving a road map for a Regional Transit Authority. Unfortunately, Oakland County Executive L. Brooks Patterson and Detroit Mayor Dave Bing are still largely MIA. Foot-dragging seems to be the one thing Michigan’s richest county and largest city can do in lockstep. While hardly unprecedented, their inaction in this instance is putting all of southeast Michigan at risk. More
Energy
Met Council gets $1.1 million for gas hybrid electric buses
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(MN) Minneapolis Star Tribune – Two green transit projects in Minnesota are among 43 nationwide receiving $100 million in funding from the Economic Recovery Act, the Obama administration announced Monday. About $1.1 million is going to the Metropolitan Council to replace diesel buses with gas hybrid electric buses in the Twin Cities area. More