More ticks. More mosquitos. Less snowmobiling and ice fishing.
Those are just a few of the climate impacts facing Midwestern states in the coming decades, according to the just-released Fifth National Climate Assessment.
Environment
As tribes establish their own water quality standards and permitting programs, some experts believe they could play a critical role in fighting pollution and ensuring that the resources they depend on for subsistence and cultural values are preserved.
Many Three Rivers residents lost access to curbside recycling services following the recent discontinuation of Michiana Recycling and Disposal’s recycling program effective March 31.
Are there other companies offering curbside recycling to residents of Three Rivers? We did the legwork and found out.
Skyridge Church of the Brethren in Kalamazoo will be celebrating Earth Day this Saturday by hosting “One Earth, One Chance;” a workshop and discussion on environmental sustainability and social justice in the surrounding communities. The event will be led by grassroots activist David Radcliff of the Virginia-based New Community Project (NCP), and will be held April 22 from 1-3 p.m.
Despite supply-chain problems amid the lingering effects of the pandemic, 2022 saw major increases in solar and wind power in the United States, though that growth varied by state, according to a report released last month by a nonprofit focused on climate change.
“Quite simply, most coal plants are violating the law that requires toxic waste cleanup,” said Lisa Evans, a senior attorney with Earthjustice, during a Thursday media call. “Coal plants are polluting the nation’s water illegally and getting away with it.”
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) warns an increase in extreme rainfall could be on the horizon. NOAA recently released its 2022 state climate summaries that provide a state-by-state look of historical data and a projected outlook of climate conditions.
The European Green Deal seeks to increase the amount of farmland that is being managed to produce organic crops to 25% by 2030. The practice is more environmentally friendly but often produces lower yields.
Watershed’s Deborah Haak-Frost writes, “Permaculture is a way to approach things like gardens and ecosystems, but it’s equally as valuable a tool for understanding and designing community dynamics, social relationships, and one’s inner, emotional workings.”
Held between the last Sunday in April and the first Sunday in May, National Stewardship Week is a time set aside to help remind people to care for the nation’s natural resources and environmental treasures for generations to come.
Gary Street writes, “A single one-eighth–inch hole in the pipeline will release, within 19 minutes, propane equivalent to 345 pounds of TNT. What will this do to the pipeline, the tunnel, nearby residences, and any vessels traveling above? It will be an environmental and economic disaster. Even worse, there likely will be fatalities.”
While Attorney General Dana Nessel and Enbridge prepare to once again battle it out in court over the fate of the company’s controversial, nearly 69-year-old Line 5 oil pipeline, a regulatory fight is also heating up over Enbridge’s plan to eventually replace a portion of the pipeline and enclose it in an underwater tunnel.
WSV columnist Deborah Haak-Frost writes, “In this list, I share my top five Sow Good Seeds columns of 2021. My hope is that they may invite you to see yourself more deeply in the context of this planet, to consider a perspective you may not have had previously, to plant some seeds in your mind about how our lives are so intricately interwoven with the natural world.”
WSV’s Dan Robinson writes, “There’s nothing like a good question. A good question can send us down paths of discovery, or surprise us with an answer out of left field, or point the way to a different future. As I discovered during my recent conversation with Seamus Norgaard, the Host and Director of Tara’s Meadow Retreat and Education Center on Beaver Island, a good question played a role in his own spiritual journey.”
A bipartisan pair of senators on Wednesday called for Congress to approve billions in new funding for states to manage wildlife recovery work.
A recent ProPublica investigation found that people living in seven areas in Michigan could be exposed to high levels of cancer risk that the EPA labels as unacceptable.
WSV’s Dan Robinson recently spoke with Rev. Deb Hansen to discuss how Michigan Interfaith Power & Light puts “faith into action” by promoting “energy efficiency, renewable energy, and other sustainable practices that lead to a cleaner, healthier, and more just world.”
WSV’s Dan Robinson writes, “Who knew pipes and stormwater, roads and the electric grid, internet broadband access and housing would be such hot topics? With the infrastructure bills being considered by Congress, people from across the country and the political spectrum are debating these topics because they have such a direct impact on our lives. That impact can be felt in small communities like Three Rivers or in big cities like Detroit. And community-based groups aren’t waiting for government to be the only solution to problems.”