The iconic Michigan steamship, the SS Badger, may lose its permit to dump spent coal into Lake Michigan.

MEC Development Director Andy Draheim's recent letter to his friends and family encapsulated his reasons for supporting Proposal 3, the 25x25 renewable energy standard on Michigan's ballot. We provide it here as an educational and outreach tool to YOUR friends and family who are interested in cutting through the confusing fog of television advertising and overwrought hyperbole.

Bill would have crippled state's ability to protect Great Lakes

Environmental groups blast move to strip Michigan governors of authority to protect Great Lakes and other Pure Michigan treasures

Hundreds of people from across the country, including members of the Michigan Environmental Council, are in Detroit to discuss the challenges and safeguards for the world's largest freshwater system.

When Lake Erie – or more exactly the Cuyahoga River which flows into Lake Erie – caught fire in 1969, it ignited a firestorm of public outrage over the indiscriminate dumping of sewage and industrial chemicals into the Great Lakes. But the incident was not particularly unusual.

A bill passed by the Michigan House would prohibit Michigan from adopting rules more stringent than federal standards unless authorized by statute. The Great Lakes, then, would be subject to the same rules as ponds in Arizona and creeks in New Mexico.

Michigan has the best fly fishing in the nation. Better than legendary Western destinations like Idaho, Wyoming and Montana according, to the “Best 12 States for Fly Fishing” rankings from Fly Talk, the fly fishing blog of Field & Stream magazine.

Michigan’s public transportation and passenger railroad service both got good news in May. The public transportation budget recommended by Gov. Rick Snyder and passed by the legislature retained existing funding levels—good news in a budget that otherwise cut natural resource protection budgets.

North Carolina didn’t make Field and Stream’s list of the top ten fly-fishing states, but its mountainous western flank has a wealth of tumbling streams with names like Whitewater River, Raven Fork and Rough Butt Creek.

Field and Stream magazine recently named Michigan the top fly-fishing state in the country for its smorgasbord of angling opportunities on world-class streams and its rich history in the sport. How much do you know about the Great Lakes State’s fly fishing heritage?

Proposed law would prohibit state from setting protections more stringent than Washington's without legislative approval

The right of Michiganders to sue to protect the state’s natural resources was restored by the Michigan Supreme Court in a decision made in late December with input from a Michigan Environmental Council legal brief, but the citizen rights may be short-lived if Attorney General Bill Schuette has his way.

In each issue of the Michigan Environmental Report, we celebrate accomplishments by MEC and member groups.

The first public draft of a sweeping vision for a thriving, sustainable Michigan in the year 2060 was released this fall for public input.

The Michigan Environmental Council has filed an amicus brief in a key Michigan Supreme Court case involving the right of citizens of Michigan to take legal action to protect the state’s natural resources. An amicus brief is a “friend of the court” argument filed by a party with an interest—but no direct involvement—in the court case.

Google “Asian carp,” and you’ll return 348,000 hits. Not as many as Lindsay Lohan (21.3 million) but still plenty of choices from which to glean information on the voracious fish knocking on the door of the Great Lakes.

The Vision outlines goals – and intermediate steps – to get Michigan to a year 2060 where energy needs are met cleanly and affordably; thriving centers of commerce prosper in harmony with our Great Lakes and other natural assets; and people thrive in dynamic neighborhoods that have easy access to efficient transportation options, healthy local food and cultural amenities.

The Michigan Legislature has passed restrictions on excess phosphorus in lawn fertilizer. The nutrient accelerates weed and algae growth.

A bill restricting the use of phosphorus in lawn fertilizer will help keep Michigan's lakes and ponds free from runaway algae and weed growth.

An explosion of interest in natural gas exploration in Michigan has set the stage for a new gas rush that could stimulate the economy, fund key state environmental programs and bring a measure of energy independence. But it also has the potential to contaminate drinking water, mar natural landscapes and degrade the Great Lakes ecosystem.

A prospective new natural gas boom in Michigan is rekindling old concerns and raising new environmental and public health issues.

Below is a partial list of chemicals used by hydraulic fracturing companies in Pennsylvania, according to research by that state’s Department of Environmental Protection. Companies are not required to disclose the amounts or types of chemicals used in their fracking fluids.

Phosphorus in automatic dishwasher detergents became a thing of the past in Michigan when a statewide ban took effect on July 1.

Voters intended their money to be used to keep the Great Lakes waters clean; legislators want to use it to clean up contaminated land caused by polluters.

Former Michigan Environmental Council President Lana Pollack has been appointed by President Barack Obama as nominee for Commissioner on the International Joint Commission.

Appeal expected in attempt to force regulators to protect Lake Superior and its tributaries

MIchigan—not Washington DC—will maintain control of the state’s wetlands under a deal reached in large part because of the aggressive advocacy of Michigan Environmental Council (MEC) member group Tip of the Mitt Watershed Council.

The legislature will return to Lansing today to put the final touches on a bill that will keep Michigan’s wetlands program running at the state level for an additional three years. Proposals had been made to send the program back to the federal government to operate on a limited basis.

Michigan’s environmental community today applauded efforts in the Michigan House Great Lakes and the Environment committee to preserve state-based protection of Michigan’s wetlands and Great Lakes waters.

This print and audio webinar will help you learn about Michigan’s new water withdrawal laws and how those involved with stewardship of our water resources can play a part in the water withdrawal decision making process. The workshop is designed for three audiences: 1) local water-resource advocates (watershed groups, lake associations, environmental groups, etc.); 2) local governmental planning and zoning practitioners; and 3) community/economic development officers in local governments.

A grassroots Michigan group declared victory on behalf of the state’s water resources in July after a protracted nine-year battle with an international corporation’s water bottling operation in West Michigan. Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC), an MEC member group, stopped Nestlé Waters North America from pumping more water from a stressed stream in Mecosta County as part of a settlement agreement announced July 7.

An undeveloped stretch of the Au Sable River—revered by fly fishermen and solitude seekers—will remain that way after a huge victory over oil and gas developers by MEC member groups Anglers of the Au Sable and the Sierra Club.

The legal battle of Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation (MCWC) v Nestlé has taken another turn.

The Great Lakes Health Banner—a powerful documentary of the work of Great Lakes and Michigan organizations concerned about the health effects of toxins and the lack of effective action by elected officials—is making a comeback.

The proposed Kennecott nickel mine that would threaten the headwaters of several Lake Superior tributaries with acid mine drainage contamination is not a done deal by any means, according to Upper Peninsula groups working to safeguard the region’s water resources.

Congressional passage of the Great Lakes Compact provides important new protections from large-scale water diversions and a framework for strengthening state water laws, a coalition of Michigan environmental groups said today.

A bipartisan agreement announced today establishes important and concrete protections for Michigan’s streams and makes water conservation an integral part of the state’s water stewardship efforts.

Michigan’s House and Senate approved the eight-state Great Lakes Compact in mid-May, but protection for the state’s majestic waterways was still uncertain at press time as key additional protections remained in limbo.

The grandeur of Michigan’s waters is the theme of a new book by prolific author and Michigan Environmental Council advisor Dave Dempsey and photographer David Lubbers.

A controversial proposed nickel mine in the Upper Peninsula (UP) faces administrative appeals and a lawsuit after it received approvals from both the Michigan departments of Environmental Quality and Natural Resources.

Volunteers throughout Michigan are being recruited to monitor marsh bird and amphibian populations as part of a unique bi-national research program.

The Great Lakes, Great Michigan coalition continued to push for strong water withdrawal legislation and approval of the Great Lakes Compact throughout the fall and winter. Negotiations with key legislators and stakeholders were continuing at press time.

Volunteers galore hit the water the weekend after Labor Day for the Anglers of the Au Sable’s 13th annual River Cleanup, scouring more than 90 miles of stream.

About one million gallons of untreated waste from toilets and drains are leaking from septic systems each day in Kent County, fouling streams, endangering human health and driving up costs for homeowners and taxpayers, according to a report released in July by Clean Water Fund.

Strong legislation to protect the Great Lakes from water diversion and the harmful impacts of water withdrawals and to commit Michigan to the eight-state Great Lakes Compact was introduced in early July. The Michigan Environmental Council and key allies are watchdogging this legislation as it begins its journey through the committee process, trying to garner bipartisan support and the strongest possible package to protect the state’s water-dependent heritage, economy and way of life.

Records of ballast water uptakes and discharges by international vessels in the Great Lakes are received and processed by the United States Coast Guard and the Smithsonian Institution.

Recreational boaters cannot stop international vessels from dumping Asian or European ballast water into the lakes they treasure. But they can take steps to prevent the spread of the invasive organisms that come with the ballast.

Congress currently has before it many initiatives that could protect and restore our water resources. Your help is needed to make these initiatives become reality. Contact your members of Congress and urge them to support the following bills:

After six years enduring intense smells and numerous discharges of maraschino cherry wastewater from the Williamsburg Receiving & Storage Co. (WRS), a group of neighbors, supported by the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council (NMEAC), reached a settlement in Grand Traverse County Circuit Court earlier this year.

The blatant bulldozing of a Lake Michigan coastal wetland by a Traverse City resort has again focused public attention on the “beach grooming” controversy as the summer of 2007 approaches.

Machine gun training spewing unregulated amounts of toxic lead into Great Lakes sediment was halted—then shelved indefinitely—by the U.S. Coast Guard after a chorus of objections from across the region.

A proposed Upper Peninsula nickel mine that would create dangerous toxic acid and endanger a pristine ecosystem got preliminary approval in January from Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s administration.

Stormwater runoff carries pollution straight into Michigan’s lakes, rivers, and streams. In Michigan’s coastal regions, development patterns impact the quality, quantity and velocity of stormwater runoff entering the Great Lakes. New federal requirements based on the Clean Water Act require communities to address this increasing problem. Many Michigan communities are establishing plans to address stormwater runoff, today and into the future.

Repulsive, potentially toxic clumps of algae are likely to reappear this summer to plague swimmers and beachcombers from the bays of Grand Traverse to the shores of Lake Erie. The troubling return of algae is a throwback to the days when rampant pollution of the Great Lakes led researchers to declare Lake Erie "dead" in the 1970s. And it is a warning that the state can not afford to ignore, concludes a report released by the Michigan Environmental Council. "Something's Amuck: Algae blooms return to Michigan shores" illustrates how invasive species, combined with legal loopholes that encourage phosphorus pollution, have opened the door for algae's comeback.

Polluted stormwater runoff is one of the nation's leading threats to clean water. Rain and snowmelt running over parking lots, roofs, over-fertilized lawns and open construction sites wash dirt, chemicals and bacteria into the water we drink. Communities across Michigan are developing plans to comply with federal stormwater reduction requirements. Smart Growth tools can help Michigan communities find their own, unique ways to address the water quality impacts of land use changes, development and stormwater runoff.