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.
U.S. Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Menominee) has warned Governor Granhom that delays in approving permits for a proposed petroleum coke-fired power plant in Rogers City could threatened federal funds associated with the project.
State environmental officials have been considering an air permit application by Wolverine Power since Sept. 2008. Last year in a February executive order Governor Granholm instructed state environmental officials and the Michigan Public Service Commission to consider whether new power plants are necessary and feasible.
In a Sept. 2009 report the MPSC stated that Wolverine had failed to demonstrated that it needed the additional generating capacity and that it had failed to consider other ways of meeting its power needs.
Despite these developments, in a Feb. 19 letter to Granholm, Stupak said that he supports the project and he urged the governor to work to get an air permit issued for the plant.
The initial $2.7 million grant for Wolverine’s [carbon capture and sequestration] CCS demonstration project could allow Michigan to be at the forefront of CCS development in the United States. An additional $147 million in DOE funding is potentially available if the air quality permit is approved by March 31, 2010. In addition to its environmental benefits, the CCS project would also enhance oil drilling in northern Michigan, which could result in up to several hundred million dollars in state revenue, and several hundred new jobs at a time when Michigan badly needs both.
As you are aware, this important project will remain in limbo until the Michigan Department of Natural Resources and Environment approves the required air quality permit. Thanks in large part to your leadership, Michigan is positioned to be a leader in our nation’s energy future, and projects like Wolverine Power’s innovative CCS project are key to that goal. I strongly support Wolverine Power’s proposal , and I respectfully request that your office work with Michigan Department of Natural Resources to promptly approve the pending air quality permit.
Tom Karas, a clean energy advocate who has been fighting the Wolverine proposal for years, said he is disappointed with Stupak’s support for the planned power plant.
“How come the guardian of the Great Lakes is all about putting 42 more pounds of mercury into Lake Huron?” Karas said. “In a time where this state is suffering economically how is our Democratic congressman able to sleep at night knowing that he is going to double the rates for over 200,000 rate payers for 100 or fewer jobs?”
In 2008 Karas directed the Michigan Energy Alternatives Project which commissioned an economic impact study of the Wolverine Power project.
That study by T.R. Rose Associates found that Wolverine has underestimated the costs of building the proposed plant by between 25 percent and 75 percent.
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