I am writing today to announce the closure of the Michigan Messenger. After four years of operation in Michigan, the board of the American Independent News Network, has decided to shift publication of its news into a single site, The American Independent at Americanindependent.com. This is part of a shift in strategy, towards new forms [...]
An abstinence-only presentation provided to numerous school districts in Calhoun and Eaton Counties in October of this year provided false and misleading information to students about HIV, experts allege.
Two county registers of deeds filed a class action lawsuit Monday on behalf of Michigan’s 83 counties alleging that the Mortgage Electronic Registration Services owes millions of dollars in property title transfer taxes.
Despite evidence of the impact of mercury on children and public health, Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette last month joined with 24 other state attorneys general in filing a lawsuit to scuttle new EPA regulations that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.
The Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment has issued an air permit for a 36 megawatt wood-fired power plant proposed in Mancelona by Mancelona Renewable Resources, a subsidiary of the natural gas and oil company Jordan Exploration.
According to figures from the DNRE the Mancelona plant will release more particulate, more volatile organic compounds and more nitrogen oxides per unit of power generated than the Consumers Energy coal plant approved for the Karn/Weadock complex near Bay City.
Wood is considered a renewable and carbon neutral energy source under state and federal energy rules, but some warn that burning wood for power is inefficient and polluting and will damage the ability of forests to sequester carbon.
Last night in Traverse City more than 100 people gathered at the Traverse Area District Library for a presentation on the dangers of biomass power plants.
Dr. Rachel Smolker, of the UK-based group BiofuelsWatch told the crowd that wood’s renewable designation is based on an accounting error that fails to measure the carbon released by burning wood or the amount of time that would be required to recapture that carbon in new trees.
Traverse City’s municipal electric utility, which currently gets 99 percent of its energy from coal, is considering building up to four biomass plants around town.
The utility has scheduled a series of public forums for this week to gauge support for the plan.
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