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.
Rep. Fred Upton continues to use his tenure as chairman of the House Energy and Commerce Committee to attempt to strip the Environmental Protection Agency’s ability to regulate toxic substances that threaten the environment.
His committee is considering a new bill that would strip the EPA’s authority to regulate the handling of coal ash, a by-product of coal energy production that can contain a wide range of toxic metals and chemicals including arsenic, lead, chromium, and selenium.
In December, 2008, a massive retaining pond containing coal ash sludge broke through a retaining wall, spilling a billion gallons of toxic sludge flowing over 300 acres and all but destroying two rivers near a Tennessee Valley Authority coal plant.
Upton put out a statement in favor of the bill and one particular section jumped out:
My own state of Michigan takes pride in its rigorous but fair enforcement in these areas, so we were sure to make clear—in this case—that states may make their coal ash regulatory program even more stringent than federal standards. Michigan officials tell me that this provision is important to them, and I am glad that they are pleased with it and with the whole bill.
Coincidentally, the Republican-controlled state legislature is currently trying to pass a bill that would forbid the state from passing any regulations that are more strict than federal standards. If that bill passes it would cancel out one of Upton’s main arguments in favor of this federal bill.
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