Clean Energy Advocates Call on DTE to be Accountable to Michigan Shareholders & Ratepayers

Thursday, May 2, 2013 

Clean Energy Advocates Call on DTE to be Accountable to Michigan Shareholders & Ratepayers 

Michigan shareholders and ratepayers hold press conference outside DTE Headquarters to represent Southeast Michigan’s missing voices from DTE shareholder meeting in NYC 

DETROIT – Dozens of ratepayers and shareholders gathered in front of DTE Energy’s headquarters today as Michigan’s largest utility held its annual shareholder meeting in New York City, far from its ratepayers and those affected by its corporate policies. The clean energy advocates raised concerns about DTEs dependence on coal, which poses a health risk for residents and a financial risk for shareholders. Clean Energy Now members spoke to an empty chair, symbolizing DTE CEO Gerry Anderson and the board who refused to face concerned shareholders in the utility’s hometown. The group delivered thousands of comments and petitions from DTE’s ratepayers across Southeast Michigan calling on DTE to support clean energy and energy efficiency as well. 

“Ratepayers and shareholders are paying a heavy price as a consequence of DTE’s dependence on dirty energy. Michigan ratepayers shouldn’t have to shoulder the burden of the utility’s risky business decisions,” said Frank Zaski, a DTE shareholder and ratepayer from Franklin.  “Instead of investing in aging infrastructure to continue to burn dirty coal or building an unneeded and extremely costly nuclear plant, DTE has the opportunity to earn returns on large capital investments in clean renewable energy, unleashing innovation and creating thousands of jobs for Michigan workers in new industries.” 

Southeast Michigan is home to DTE Energy’s dirty and outdated coal plants, which emit enormous amounts of sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxides, mercury, soot, smog and particulate matter. Recent studies have linked these contaminants to numerous health problems, including: heart disease, childhood asthma, lung disease and neurological impairment, particularly in infants.  Currently, almost every coal plant owned by DTE has been cited for environmental violations, with several lawsuits against the company by environmental agencies and organizations pending.   

“My kid deserves better, and so do all of the children of southeast Michigan,” said Nicole O’Brien, a concerned mother and ratepayer in Beverly Hills. “It’s shameful DTE is avoiding listening to parents who have kids with health problems. We know these plants are making people sick, yet DTE continues to rely on coal as our major energy source. I’m encouraging DTE to do the right thing and to open their ears to the voices of concerned Michigan residents. It’s long overdue we transition away from coal and embrace renewable energy alternatives to clean up our state and to prevent pollution from harming our kids.”

Douglas Myers, resident of River Rouge who deals with pollution from DTE’s River Rouge coal plant daily, traveled to the New York City annual meeting and said he “felt it necessary to make our voices heard during DTE’s shareholder meeting in NYC for the future of the Downriver Area as well as others that have been at risk for quite sometime due to the dependency of DTE's use of  antiquated coal-fired power plants.” 

According to the U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA), electric rates in Michigan are higher than in 38 other states and are among the highest in the country. Michigan rates were up eight percent last year, compared to rates across the country that were up one percent. By transitioning away from expensive, dirty coal to renewable sources like wind and solar power and by maximizing energy efficiency, DTE could save ratepayers money.  DTE has not made significant investments or commitments to bolster energy efficiency and renewable energy sources beyond the minimum required by state law, publicly stating that no further decisions on clean energy mandates should be made until after the current ones expire in 2015.

In 2012, DTE spent more than $11.8 million to defeat a referendum to raise Michigan’s renewable energy requirements to the same level as found in several neighboring states, despite private acknowledgement that the increased renewable requirement would not harm the company financially.  DTE is also artificially limiting its energy efficiency programs though they are the cheapest form of power. The shareholders and ratepayers at the event today called on DTE to embrace clean energy to help lower costs for ratepayers and to protect Michigan’s air and water.

 

“DTE needs to answer to Michigan residents instead of hiding in New York,” says Dan Marcin, shareholder and PhD candidate in economics from Ann Arbor. “We're calling on DTE to embrace clean, renewable energy to save ratepayers money, and to protect the health and well-being of middle class Michigan families. Let’s launch DTE out of the past and into a cleaner, brighter future. We can only move forward together if DTE’s CEO Gerry Anderson will listen to our collective concerns, and together we are rallying for change.”

Groups that delivered petitions and public comments on Thursday included: Clean Water Action, Ecology Center, Progress Michigan, Sierra Club and Union of Concerned Scientists  .

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Clean Energy Now is a collaboration of nearly 50 non-profit organizations in Michigan working to move our state toward a clean energy future.

Michigan Ranks Ninth Nationally for Solar Job Creation

News from Clean Energy Now

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Michigan Ranks Ninth Nationally for Solar Job Creation

Advocates say stronger renewables policies would produce even more jobs and make state a world leader in clean-energy manufacturing

LANSING - Members of the Clean Energy Now (CEN) coalition are applauding a report that shows Michigan ranks 9th in creating new clean energy jobs related to the solar industry.

The report comes from The Solar Foundation (TSF), which also released its State Solar Jobs Map, a web-based tool providing the first-ever solar jobs number for every state in the country (www.solarstates.org). The report shows that, as of late last year, the U.S. solar industry employed 119,016 Americans. The figure represents a 13.2-percent increase in employment over 2011. During the same time, employment in the overall economy grew only 2.3 percent.

Clean energy advocates are urging policymakers to help accelerate the state’s transition away from power generated by aging, dirty coal plants to energy efficiency measures and renewable energy sources like wind and solar. Wind power and energy efficiency are now cheaper ways to meet demand than building new coal or gas-fired plants.

Meanwhile, solar manufacturing and installation prices are falling sharply, and already are a bargain for utilities on hot days, when they must purchase “peak” power far more expensive than solar to meet ramped-up demand.

The advocates also say efficiency, wind, and solar create good-paying, non-exportable jobs.

"Energy efficiency and clean energy are just the shot in the arm Michigan’s economy needs, and we’re thrilled to have still more statistics proving it," said Jim Dulzo with the Michigan Land Use Institute. "By investing in fuel-free options like efficiency, wind and solar, we can rein in the energy price increases we’re seeing, and expand our state’s clean energy manufacturing base. With good state policies, Michigan would quickly become a global renewables manufacturing powerhouse, while cutting harmful, climate-changing emissions. This win-win protects Michigan’s families, their pocketbooks, and natural resources."

Clean energy advocates are encouraging the public to speak out in support of clean energy, and have the opportunity to do so at Governor Snyder’s final  energy forum in Traverse City on April 22nd. For more information, you can go here xx.

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About Clean Energy Now: CEN is a coalition of groups that supports policies that will move Michigan beyond coal power toward greater use of renewable energy sources and energy efficiency as a way to protect the environment and build prosperity. Follow the campaign at CleanEnergyNowMI.org.

DTE Energy Sued in Federal Court for More Than 1,400 Clean Air Act Violations at Four Michigan Coal Plants

DTE’s Aging Coal Plants Pose Major Public Health Threat to Michigan Communities

 
Contact: Emily Rosenwasser, Emily.Rosenwasser@sierraclub.org, 312-251-1680 x119


DETROIT - Today, the Sierra Club filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Michigan against DTE Energy Company and its subsidiaries, DTE Electric Company and Detroit Edison Company. The complaint cited more than 1,400 violations of the federal Clean Air Act from emissions at DTE’s Belle River, River Rouge, St. Clair and Trenton Channel coal-fired power plants. Each of the coal plants listed in the suit threatens the health and safety of Michigan families across the state by emitting dangerous pollutants, including particulate matter, mercury, sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide.

“DTE’s coal fleet is outdated and out of compliance, and southeast Michigan families deserve better than dirty air in our communities,” said Patrick Geans, Sierra Club Beyond Coal campaign organizer in Detroit. “According to a Michigan Environmental Council report, Michigan families pay $1.5 billion in health costs associated with burning coal, including asthma attacks, heart disease, and cancer. Every resident in our state has the right to clean air, and DTE’s dependence on coal-fired power robs Michigan families of that right.”

DTE Energy, the largest utility company in Michigan, draws 80 percent of its electricity from coal-fired power plants. Three of the four coal plants cited in the lawsuit are more than 50-years-old, lacking modern pollution controls as required by federal law. According to a report from the Clean Air Task Force, the Belle River, River Rouge, St. Clair and Trenton Channel coal-fired power plants contribute to 267 deaths, 434 heart attacks, and 4,180 asthma attacks each year collectively.[1]

According to a 2012 Summer Energy Appraisal by the Michigan Public Service Commission (MPSC), DTE consumers were the hardest hit by rising energy costs, with their monthly bills rising from an average of $67.81 to $76.97 – a 13.5 percent increase over last year. The rate increase comes as a result of the increased cost of importing coal from other states.

“Today's legal action is the latest in our campaign to hold DTE Energy accountable for skirting their legal obligations and operating one of the nation’s oldest coal fleets,” said Tiffany Hartung, Beyond Coal campaign representative for the Sierra Club in Michigan. “When coal-dependent utilities like DTE realize that they can no longer pollute Michigan communities for free, the burden of operating old coal plants causes their outdated business model to crumble. Smart utility companies are preparing ahead for a transition beyond coal. When it comes to DTE, we must push them to do right by Michigan communities.”

While the rising cost of coal in Michigan has already directly impacted ratepayers, clean sources of energy like wind have become a more viable and affordable energy choice for Michigan families. A 2013 MPSC report demonstrated that the cost of a new renewable energy project is now cheaper than a new coal fired power plant, and that the state’s current renewable energy standard has generated at least $1.8 billion in economic activity through 2012.[2] Michigan’s burgeoning clean energy job sector ranks fifth nationally in terms of job growth.[3]  

“Michigan communities are ready to leave coal in the past and move forward to exciting, job-creating developments in efficiency and clean energy,” said Geans. “DTE is a bad neighbor to southeast Michigan, and it is time for the company to embrace clean energy. It is DTE’s responsibility to collaborate with community members, public officials and important local stakeholders to build a responsible transition away from coal in southeast Michigan.”

The basis for the violations is data collected by DTE at its own facilities using electronic continuous opacity monitoring systems. DTE reports data from its monitoring systems quarterly to the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ). In an effort to investigate and protect Michigan’s air, the Sierra Club requested the data from MDEQ, which revealed egregious violations of the Clean Air Act by exceeding opacity limits allowed in pollution permits on numerous occasions between 2007 through 2011.

To view the complaint filed to U.S. District Court, please click here: http://sc.org/DTEComplaint

Michigan Senate Criticized for Passing Anti-Science, Anti-Conservation Bill

Casperson bill attacks MDNR’s management for biodiversity

March 5, 2013
Contact: Anne Woiwode, (517) 974-2112, anne.woiwode@sierraclub.org

LANSING – Sierra Club condemned the MI Senate passage today of Senate Bill 78, which proposes to block the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR) from designating and managing Michigan lands using scientific principles of biodiversity*. SB 78, sponsored by Senator Tom Casperson (R - Escanaba), attempts to remove biodiversity as a management option for the MDNR. The bill has been roundly criticized by Michigan's top scientists as "ridiculous," a threat to forest health, and a reversal of almost 100 years of conservation stewardship of Michigan's public lands.

“SB 78 would prevent Michigan’s public land managers from using the most up to date scientific knowledge about Michigan’s habitats and ecosystems to manage and restore the lands that belong to all the people of Michigan” said Anne Woiwode, State Director of Michigan Sierra Club. “This legislation would hurt our state’s wildlife and natural resources, will diminish the value of Michigan’s public lands in the future, and sets a dreadful precedent of allowing the DNR to ignore science. The Senate should be ashamed of themselves for passing this anti-science bill.” 

Since its founding in 1921, the MDNR has used biodiversity principles in management for restoration and protection of state lands. Without this authority, the MDNR would not have been able to successfully restore habitat and wildlife following the land clearing and the devastating wildfires that devastated Michigan in the late 19^th and early 20^th century.

Scientists, researchers, and ecological experts largely oppose this legislation as well. “Senate Bill 78 is lacking in common sense, ecologically literacy, and vision; it is divisive, counterproductive,  mean-spirited; couldn't be worse” said Dr. Burton Barnes, emeritus professor in the School of Natural Resources & Environment of the University of Michigan. Dr. Barnes continued, “Biodiversity has become a huge economic force and opportunity throughout the world. It is a vital and inseparable part of ecosystem services provided by the lands managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).”

Testimony on this bill from other scientists, researchers, and ecological experts is included below.
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The Sierra Club is the nation’s largest grassroots environmental organization, with over 170,000 members and supporters in Michigan.

What Do The Experts Say About SB 78?

Dr. Brad Cardinale - Associate Professor, School of Natural Resources & Environment

Testified on 2/21/2013                                                                      University of Michigan

                                   

“There are several scientific inaccuracies in this bill.”

“Senate Bill 78 would directly hamper the DNR’s ability to manage public lands for invasive species, pests and disease, and thus, the productivity and sustainability of wood.”

Burton V. Barnes - Professor Emeritus, School of Natural Resources & Environment

Testified on 2/14/2013                                                                             University of Michigan

                                

“Senate Bill 0078 is lacking in common sense, ecologically literacy, and vision; it is

divisive, counterproductive, mean-spirited; couldn't be worse. As Mark Twain said of a

book he reviewed—it is a cemetery.”

“Biodiversity has become a huge economic force and opportunity throughout the world. It is a vital and inseparable part of ecosystem services provided by the lands managed by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources (MDNR).”

Dr. J. Michael Vasievich - Retired Research Scientist for the USDA Forest Service

Testified on  2/14/2013                                       Masters and Ph.D in Forestry, Duke University

                                   

“Severely restricting the DNR from considering biodiversity takes away an important element of scientific forest management.”

Judy Kelly - President of the Michigan Botanical Club, Biology Professor

Testified on 2/14/2013                                                                        Henry Ford Community College

“We oppose Senate Bill 78 because it is environmentally harmful in ways that ultimately diminish both our economy and quality of life in Michigan.”

“We must make wise decisions based upon the best science, which includes recognizing the elemental value that biodiversity supports in the health of our ecology and economy.”

Kim Herman - Former National President of the Natural Areas Association

Testified on 2/14/2013                  Masters in Botany/Plant Ecology, Michigan State University

“To pass this bill will further endanger already imperiled ecosystems and species and immeasurably hurt the health of our state forests and wildlife lands.”

“To pass SB 78 is analogous to spending all the capital in our savings accounts. To manage our state forests and all our state lands sustainably, including biodiversity conserves our capital and grows interest for today and future generations.”

Last Call at the Oasis and Lynn Henning at Allegan Theater March 10

The 2nd Annual Allegan Green Film Fest runs throughout March, and on March 10, they're featuring Last Call at the Oasis, a documentary about our dwindling clean water resources that features the Michigan Chapter's Lynn Henning!  Details below.  Lynn will be at the screening to answer questions afterwards. Please join us!                           

Last Call at the Oasis
Sunday, March 10,  4 p.m.Allegan Regent Theatre, 211 Trowbridge St., Allegan
Admission: $5
RSVP to mary@honorhealnurture.com

Last Call at the Oasis presents a powerful argument for why the global water crisis will be the central issue facing our world this century. Illuminating the vital role water plays in our lives, the film exposes the defects in the current system and depicts communities struggling with its ill-effects. Featuring activist Erin Brockovich and such distinguished experts as Peter Gleick, Alex Prud’homme, Jay Famiglietti and Robert Glennon, it also showcases the work of Michigan farmer and Sierra club activist Lynn Henning.

For a complete listing of films in the Allegan Film Fest, visit www.honorhealnurture.com.

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Panel Featuring Food Fight Author Dan Imhoff to Explore Disconnect in Our Food System Mar. 21

National Author, Michigan Farmers and Advocates Focus on Safe Food 

Contact: Gail Philbin, 312-493-2384, gail.philbin@sierraclub.org

East Lansing, Mich.—Michigan consumers seeking safe, locally-grown, healthy food at farmers markets and other outlets are currently forced to subsidize corporate agricultural giants through taxpayer subsidies. An expert panel sponsored by a new sustainable agriculture coalition, Less = More, will address the situation and opportunities to change the food system and the federal Farm Bill to better serve consumers.

What: PanelDiscussion:  Less = More: Restoring the Balance to Our Food System

Who:  Daniel Imhoff, Food Fight author/farmer; Gail Hansen, Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming; Joe Maxwell, The Humane Society of the United States; Lynn Henning, 2010 Goldman Environmental Prize winner and Sierra Club activist, and Maynard Berry, Michigan sustainable livestock farmer. Note: Panelists are available for interviews. Contact Gail Philbin for details.

When:  7:00 pm, Thursday, March 21, 2013

Where:  B119 Wells Hall, Michigan State University, East Lansing (Wells Hall is at the corner of North Shaw and Red Cedar Roads)

Nationally known author and farmer Daniel Imhoff joins other farmers and experts to explore the disconnect in our food system and how to begin to create a fair playing field for sustainable livestock farmers in the discussion, Less=More: Restoring the Balance to Our Food System.  The event is free and open to the public.  RSVP by Mar. 18 to gail.philbin@sierraclub.org or 312-493-2384.

Background

Most industrial livestock ‘farms’ operate like a factory and confine animals in warehouses or crowded feedlots with no vegetation. Although they generate millions of gallons of waste, these facilities receive substantial taxpayer subsidies even when they pollute the water, air and land through poor disposal of that waste, violating state and federal environmental laws. Meanwhile, farmers with good practices that produce healthy, clean food and don’t harm our natural resources struggle to survive.

Less=More: Restoring the Balance to Our Food System will look at the economic, environmental and health impacts of polluting livestock factories and how taxpayer subsidies perpetuate their existence. The panel, hosted by a new sustainable agriculture coalition called Less=More, will also look at ways to address the unfair advantage these subsidies give factory farms over sustainable livestock farms, including recommendations from the coalition’s recently released report, Restoring the Balance to Michigan’s Farming Landscape, available at www.MoreforMichigan.org.

          

Panelists

Daniel Imhoff, Co-founder of Watershed Media and an author and farmer—Imhoff will discuss the economics of factory farms and the Farm Bill. He is an author, publisher and small-scale farmer in California who has focused for more than 20 years on issues of food, agriculture and the environment. Co-founder of Watershed Media and Wild Farm Alliance, he has written many articles, essays, and books, including Food Fight: The Citizen's Guide to the Next Food and Farm Bill; CAFO: The Tragedy of Industrial Animal Factories, and Farming with the Wild.

Gail Hansen, Senior Officer and Staff Veterinarian, Pew Campaign on Human Health and Industrial Farming, Pew Charitable Trusts—Hansen looks at the role factory farms play in antibiotic resistance and other health impacts. Hansen served as the state epidemiologist and state public health veterinarian for 12 years with the Kansas Department of Health and Environment where her work centered on infectious diseases and developing public health policy. Prior to that, she was a principal investigator and coordinator of blood borne pathogen studies at the Seattle and King County Department of Public Health. She has served on or chaired numerous state and federal infectious disease committees, served as a scientific advisor for national and international conferences and is adjunct faculty at Kansas State University College of Veterinary Medicine. 

Joe Maxwell, President of Outreach and Engagement at The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS)—Maxwell examines the lives of animals and farmers in the factory farm system. He grew up on a family farm in the small town of Rush Hill, Mo., the son of a hard-working family farmer. In his role at The HSUS, he works directly with family farmers, helping them organize into producer groups to open direct markets for their own products. Maxwell is a former president of the Association of Family Farmers, an organization associated with the Agriculture of the Middle Project, and a member of the Organization for Competitive Markets and the Missouri Farmers Union.

Lynn Henning, Sierra Club Water Sentinel—Henning will discuss the relationship between environmental pollution and farm subsidies in Michigan. She received the 2010 Goldman Environmental Prize for North America for more than a decade’s worth of work tracking environmental abuses at factory farms around her small family farm in south central Michigan. Her painstaking research is the basis of the Less=More report, Restoring the Balance to Michigan’s Farming Landscape. She’s been featured in O Magazine and the 2013 water documentary Last Call at the Oasis and appeared on Real Time with Bill Maher in 2012.

Maynard Beery, Beery Farms of Michigan-- Beery raises grass-fed beef and goats in Mason, MI and will give the perspective of a sustainable livestock farmer on how the lopsided subsidy system affects his ability to compete with industrial livestock operations. A former large-scale livestock confinement operator, he switched to humane, environmentally friendly farming more than a decade ago. He uses the Argentine grazing style of a diverse array of perennial grasses and summer-winter annuals to meet year-round forage needs of the animals, and his farm is in transition to organic certification.

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The Less=More Coalition is a group of organizations engaged in various aspects of our food system who seek to level the farm field for sustainable farmers in Michigan. They include: Beery Farms of Michigan, LLC, the Center for Food Safety, Crane Dance Farm, LLC, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan, Food & Water Watch, Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council, Groundswell Farm, Zeeland, The Humane Society of the United States, Michigan Farmers Union, Michigan Voices for Good Food Policy, Michigan Young Farmers Coalition, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter and Socially Responsible Agricultural Project.  Learn more at www.MoreforMichigan.org.

Taxpayer Subsidies Reward Polluters, Promote Industrial Mega-Farms

New Sustainable Agriculture Coalition Calls for Reforms of Funding Priorities for Michigan Farm Subsidies

Feb. 15, 2013                                        

Media Contact: Gail Philbin, 312-493-2384

Lansing, Mich.—Taxpayers are providing millions of dollars in government subsidies to industrial mega-farms in Michigan under policies that unfairly favor corporate agricultural giants while ignoring massive pollution and health risks, and undermining safe, sustainable farms that are growing in consumer popularity, according to a report released today by a new sustainable agriculture coalition.

Restoring the Balance to Michigan’s Farming Landscape, a report issued by Less=More, a new coalition supporting sustainable farming in Michigan, offers a window into the bias of one specific federal Farm Bill program, the Environmental Quality Incentive Program (EQIP).  Since 1995, under this program Michigan factory farms (also known as Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations or CAFOs), have raked in millions of dollars of tax subsidies that are inaccessible to sustainable and organic livestock operations. This inequity keeps prices for factory farm products artificially low compared to healthier, locally grown meat, dairy and egg products, and increases threats to health and the environment by encouraging more massive, concentrated livestock facilities.

“Families and businesses that support local, sustainably grown foods deserve to know that millions of dollars of our federal taxes are supporting polluting factory farms here in Michigan,” said Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter director. “That hurts our environment, the public’s health and Michigan farmers who work hard to provide us with clean, healthy food,”

Most CAFOs look and operate more like a factory than a farm, confining livestock in warehouses often for their entire lives or in crowded, open feedlots with no vegetation. These mega “farms” receive substantial taxpayer subsidies even when poor disposal practices of the millions of gallons of chemical- and contaminant-filled wastes they generate lead to pollution of water, land and air, and violations of state and federal environmental laws.

“This lopsided support happens at a time when many independent, environmentally responsible farmers whose practices don’t pollute are struggling to make ends meet,” said Sandy Nordmark, vice president of the Michigan Farmers Union. “It’s also taking place at a time when Michigan consumers want more products from sustainable farmers, not less. Direct sales at farmers markets, local stores, restaurants and through community supported agriculture are one of the fastest growing sectors of the agricultural community.”

According to Restoring the Balance, 37 Michigan factory farms cited for environmental violations and unpermitted discharges over the 15 years ending in 2011 were awarded nearly $27 million in Farm Bill subsidies between 1995 and 2011.  Of these operations, 26 jointly racked up fines and penalties of more than $1.3 million for their share of these violations.

Under the Michigan EQIP program, administered by the USDA’s Natural Resource Conservation Service Michigan office, dramatic disparities in funding exist between practices used exclusively by CAFOs, such as waste lagoons, and those used by sustainable livestock operations to achieve similar goals.  The report also documents environmental problems and threats posed by factory farm practices and structures funded by EQIP, and provides case studies with real world examples of the problems.

“Michiganders should know that something can be done to fix this uneven playing field. Less support to factory farms means a more sustainable, greener Michigan,” said Sierra Club’s Woiwode. “We invite supporters of sustainable and organic, locally grown foods to join the Less=More Coalition to help bring that change about.”

Restoring the Balance explains that the State Conservationist of the Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) in Michigan, with advice from a state Technical Committee, has the needed authority to correct the system that puts farmers devoted to sustainable rearing of animals at a disadvantage while rewarding polluting industrial operations that harm the environment and threaten public health.

In a meeting with NRCS State Conservationist Garry Lee on Feb. 14, the Less=More Coalition presented its finding and urged him to take action. The coalition recommendations include:

• Require CAFO applicants to list all citations for any environmental or health-related law violation;
• Require CAFO applicants to document compliance with state and federal environmental laws, including keeping up-to-date records and Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans, which guide handling of animal waste;
• Institute accountability into the system through:

          o  Requiring an independent verification of whether or not operators complete work as funded;
          o  Withhold funds until all prior subsidized work is documented;
          o  Require testing of the effectiveness of practices, both in general and at specific sites, with
              independent scientific committee to review and approve practices authorized for subsidies;
          o  Eliminate practices from EQIP funding that do not provide environmental benefits.

• Restructure the ranking system to invest the majority of EQIP funds into practices designed to achieve program’s environmental objectives, including fully funding planning based on practices for traditional sustainable livestock and certified organic livestock farms just as factory farm Comprehensive Nutrient Management Plans are funded;
• Provide training to District and County Conservationists in sustainable practices so they can objectively assess proposed projects;
• Make it a priority for local and district conservationists to reach out to sustainable farmers in their region and educate them about the funding opportunities available through EQIP, and
• Streamline paperwork for organic farmers applying for EQIP by allowing use of some of their organic certification documentation in EQIP application.

An abstract of Restoring the Balance is attached and the full report is available at:  http://michigan.sierraclub.org//pdfs/moreformichigan/moreformichigan.htm.

For questions, contact Sandy Nordmark, Michigan Farmers Union, 269-979-3968; and Anne Woiwode, Sierra Club, anne.woiwode@sierraclub.org or 517-484-2372.

The Less=More Coalition is a group of organizations engaged in various aspects of our food system who seek to level the playing field for sustainable farmers in Michigan. They include: Beery Farms of Michigan, LLC, the Center for Food Safety, Crane Dance Farm, LLC, Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan, Food & Water Watch, Greater Grand Rapids Food Systems Council, Groundswell Farm, Zeeland, Humane Society of the United States, Michigan Farmers Union, Michigan Voices for Good Food Policy, Michigan Young Farmers Coalition, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter and Socially Responsible Agricultural Project.

Less support for factory farms means a more sustainable Michigan. Visit www.MoreforMichigan.org.                  

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