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.”
Great Lakes
House Democrats reintroduced legislation Thursday to expand protections for Michigan’s freshwater supply and close a loophole in state law allowing corporations to bottle Michigan’s water and ship it elsewhere.
WSV’s Dan Robinson writes, “May we take up that responsibility and declare a season of reconciliation and healing along the Dnieper River in Ukraine, the rivers of the Great Lakes, and waterways around the world.”
WSV’s Dan Robinson writes, “Whether it’s a moment along the banks of the St. Joseph River, a stop by Lake Michigan’s shore, or even virtually with this photo essay, it’s good to reflect on what in your life needs rest and what potential you have waiting to spring forth.”
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.
The Biden Administration announced Monday newly accelerated efforts to prevent and mediate pollution from per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of “forever chemicals” known to cause harm to human health.
WSV’s Dan Robinson sat down with Dr. Christopher Fici in November 2020 to discuss his Michigan upbringing, and the practical and spiritual connections we have with water.
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.”
The U.S. House Natural Resources Committee late Thursday approved its first piece of Democrats’ sweeping $3.5 trillion spending blueprint on a party-line 24-13 vote. Here are four pieces of the Natural Resources Committee’s bill that could have a major climate impact if they’re passed into law.
As the Senate gears up to pass a $1 trillion bipartisan infrastructure package, Michigan’s senators say it would be a big shot in the arm for Great Lakes restoration efforts, broadband access, roads, bridges, highways and electric vehicle expansion.
Rick Haglund dissects whether Michigan can “grow its blue economy while being good stewards of the state’s most important natural resource.”
Senior Policy Advisor at FLOW (For Love of Water) Dave Dempsey asks the State of Michigan to stop neglecting Michigan’s groundwater which according to Dempsey is “increasingly under threat.”
U.S. Sen. Gary Peters (D-Bloomfield Twp.), who has come out in favor of shutting down the Canadian Line 5 oil pipeline in the Mackinac Straits, has been selected to lead the Senate panel responsible for overseeing the pipeline’s federal regulators.
Federal and state officials signed nearly 400 treaties with tribal nations in the 18th and 19th centuries. Threatened by genocidal violence, the tribes signed away much of their land. But they secured promises that they could continue to hunt, fish and gather wild food on the territory they were giving up. In 1836 a treaty was signed in which tribal nations ceded more than a third of the territory that would become Michigan in exchange for the right to hunt and fish on the land in perpetuity. An oil spill from the Line 5 pipeline would destroy the state’s ability to honor that right, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer said.