Lon Johnson, the former Chair of the Michigan Democratic Party, has made shutting down Enbridge Oil’s notorious Line 5 oil pipeline the center of his primary bid for Michigan’s 1st Congressional District seat. The controversial pipeline runs under the Straits of Mackinac and the horror of it rupturing is nearly too horrible to contemplate. Imagine that it fails in the […]

The following guest post was written by Denny Green of Clean Water Action – Michigan. Enjoy. Anytime you hear that something or someone’s days are numbered, you get the idea that it’s a matter of grave significance — certainly something to be regarded with the utmost concern and action. Well, it’s been more than 140 days since Michigan Attorney General […]

Earlier this year, the group Clean Energy Now created a website that allows Michigan energy consumers to choose the sources for their energy needs and to compare those choices to what they have now. The new site, PicMyEnergyMix.com, is interactive, allowing the user to make choices about the mix of sources that power their lives. When you have completed the […]

This past weekend, protesters from around the state gathered at the Mackinac Bridge to call for the shutdown of Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline. The pipeline (actually TWO pipelines) are 62 years old and were built in a time when regulations were far more lax than they are now. Had the Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act been in place when the […]

While stumping in Nevada last week Rand Paul once again indicated that if he becomes President he will sell off some of the national parks and public lands that are currently owned by all Americans. He tied this notion of private ownership to the nation’s development in the 1800’s when the government sale of lands in the West raised money […]

Earlier this month I wrote about a truly horrible piece of legislation passed by Michigan Republicans that would have compelled county clerks to issue concealed weapons permits to stalkers & spouse abusers. Today, Gov. Rick Snyder used his veto pen to send it to the rubbish bin of history where it belongs: Gov. Rick Snyder today vetoed a controvhttp://www.legislature.mi.gov/documents/2013-2014/billanalysis/House/pdf/2013-HLA-0789-6F92BDA1.pdfersial bill […]

In a 2011 paper published in the journal Nature, Elsa Cleland studied the impact of biodiversity on ecosystems. Her study concluded with this summary: Evidence from multiple ecosystems at a variety of temporal and spatial scales, suggests that biological diversity acts to stabilize ecosystem functioning in the face of environmental fluctuation. Variation among species in their response to such fluctuation […]

Unfair as it may be, there are certain things we northerners think of when you think of southern states. The first is bigotry and intolerance. Another is a near worshipful devotion to guns and anything related to guns. Hunting is part of it but just walking around with a big weapon strapped to your body is a much bigger part […]

Could this be the end of Pure Michigan? The following guest post was written by Janis Bobrin, Washtenaw County Water Resources Commissioner from 1989 to 2012. The Pure Michigan advertising campaign is so compelling because it touches on a fundamental Michigan value – the sense of place fostered by the state’s majestic waters, lands, fish and wildlife. No one who […]

NRDC Action Fund, the 401(c)(4) arm of one of the largest environmental organizations in the country, has selected the Top 20 #DirtyDenier$ and are rolling them out over Congress’s summer break. The #DirtyDenier$ are chosen because of they “allow polluters to foul our air by casting dirty votes and accept dirty money.” In the Top 20 are two Michigan Congressmen: […]

You know we’re in the steely grip of corporatocracy when this happens: West Bay Exploration Company has no plans to cease drilling at the corner of West Delhi and Miller roads northwest of Ann Arbor. The company’s oil rig is in Scio Township, where the Board of Trustees passed a moratorium last week against oil exploration activity. West Bay Exploration […]