URGENT: Your Neighbors Need Your Help During This Pandemic!

Dear Friend,

Most Americans will soon receive a check from the government as part of a federal stimulus package to alleviate some of the economic pain caused by the COVID-19 pandemic . It's not a fix-all, but I'm glad that many Michiganders -- especially those hit hardest by this unprecedented crisis -- will get some relief. 

If you need your stimulus check, I am thankful you will be getting this support. However, if you’re fortunate enough to not need this federal support to get through the next few weeks or months, I have an urgent request for you: 

Please consider donating your portion of the federal stimulus to support the tireless efforts of the front line groups that are helping Michigan residents at greatest risk during this pandemic. If you’re lucky enough to earn too much to receive a federal check, please consider donating anyway to help your fellow Michiganders through this very difficult time.

The organizations below already work daily to address the many challenges faced by our most vulnerable neighbors across the state, but their help is needed now more than ever.

Brightmoor Connection Food Pantry provides food and water to those in need due to the economic toll of the crisis. Pictured is director Rev. Roslyn Bouier with donated water.

We the People of Detroit delivers water where it's needed, including homes that have faced water shutoffs.
 

Michigan Welfare Rights offers an array of services to residents in poverty.
 

Flint Rising, born out of the Flint Water Crisis, is still working to secure clean water for all -- especially now. 

I will be donating my stimulus check to these organizations, because I want to see these funds go where they can do the most good. In Michigan, that's Detroit, where COVID-19 infection rates are accelerating faster than elsewhere, as well as Flint and other communities where poverty and related health issues put people of color— especially African Americans -- at greater risk.  In addition, years of residential shutoffs in these cities also mean thousands have no access to water in the middle of this pandemic. Native American tribes are also experiencing the impacts of the virus.

 

Imagine not having water to wash your hands, food containers and surfaces in your home, despite a steady drumbeat of warnings from government and health officials to do just that to stop the spread of the virus. 

Recently, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer finally took concrete steps  to get water turned back on to all Michigan residents during this crisis. We’re glad that Gov. Whitmer is a responsive leader who listened to these frontline groups, and now we’re supporting these same organizations as they hold officials accountable to ensure Whitmer’s Executive Order is carried out. 

Please join me in standing in solidarity with these organizations and the Michiganders they serve and turn your federal check into a stimulus for hope and a better future for everyone. Thanks. We’re all in this together.

Sincerely,

Gail Philbin, Chapter Director

P.S. To learn how to help neighbors in your community and other regions of Michigan, visit this link for statewide information from Michigan COVID-19 Community Response. To learn more about how to support Michigan tribes, visit https://www.itcmi.org/.

Sierra Club and Earthjustice Send Letter to MPSC to Address Coronavirus Crisis

April 3, 2020

Michigan Public Service Commission

7109 W. Saginaw Highway

Lansing, MI 48917

Via Electronic Mail (mpscedockets@michigan.gov)

Re:      Seeking MPSC Leadership to Address Key Impacts of the Coronavirus Crisis 

Dear Commissioners Talberg, Scripps, and Phillips:

We write on behalf of Sierra Club and its more than 23,000 members in Michigan, and Earthjustice, to urge you to take immediate action to ensure all residents have access to essential utility services as the state confronts a public health emergency. We echo the concerns raised by the DTE Works for Me coalition in its letter of March 25, 2020, as well as those raised by the Michigan Energy Efficiency for All coalition’s letter to Governor Whitmer on the same date [1]. Although DTE Energy and Consumers Energy have enacted certain voluntary measures, a Commission order would provide needed clarification as to the duration and scope of this relief and would extend to customers served by other utilities, such as the state’s municipalities and co-ops. 

In addition to issuing an emergency order to immediately address utility shut-offs and reconnections, the Commission should prioritize affordability issues across its dockets, and should open a new docket to specifically address the impacts of the COVID-19 crisis. As jobless rates soar, affordability will become paramount for an increasing percentage of each utility’s customers. Moreover, social distancing and stay-at-home orders both increase residential energy use while making energy efficiency work to bring down bills more challenging, or even impossible, during the current emergency. Finally, as stakeholder meetings cannot be held in person at this time, the Commission should develop procedures for robust online or phone-based alternatives that are as inclusive as possible, and that should be used by the Commission and utilities until such time as public health conditions allow for in-person meetings and hearings to safely resume. The Commission must take a leadership role in navigating each of these issues to protect the public interest.

We request that the Commission:

(1)   Issue an emergency order pursuant to MCL 24.248 that

○       Suspends gas and electric utility shut-offs for nonpayment for all customers;

○       Orders reinstitution of gas and electric services that have already been shut off for nonpayment, whether the shut-off occurred before or after the onset of the coronavirus emergency;  

○       Requires utilities to include a bill insert in the next billing cycle noting all financial assistance or flexible payment programs available, and how the customer can access more information about such programs. The utility should also describe the specific eligibility requirements and timeframe for programs specific to coronavirus relief. Utilities should make this information accessible to all customers, whether or not they have internet access or English language proficiency. 

(2)   Pursuant to the Commission’s broad authority under MCL 460.6(1) , require each utility to submit an “affordability plan” to the Commission within 180 days that describes the steps each utility will take to address the economic hardship of residential customers resulting from the COVID-19 crisis and considers reforms to the utility’s working definition of “low-income,” the utility’s fixed charges for residential customers, its net-metering tariff and other policies affecting the affordability of distributed generation, assistance programs for low-income and senior customers, and energy efficiency assistance, with the goal of reducing the number of customers who cannot consistently pay their bills. The Commission should offer a public comment period on each plan and should hold a public hearing virtually or, if public health conditions permit, in person. Following public comment, the Commission should either approve or recommend changes to the utility’s plan. If it is a utility’s preference to file the affordability plan as part of a rate case filed within the 180-day period, the utility should be permitted discretion to do so. In such instances, the Commission should require the utility to identify and describe all the elements of the affordability plan in direct testimony.

(3)   Establish a stakeholder process to create continuity plans for energy efficiency programs, energy assistance, and the energy workforce during the crisis, as proposed to the Governor’s office by Michigan Energy Efficiency for All. As explained by MEEFA:

The energy efficiency sector, like all other sectors of the economy, has experienced severe disruption. However, as residents are being advised to stay home, it is increasingly important that the homes they are staying in are safe, comfortable, healthy and efficient. We should be planning to create continuity within the energy efficiency, weatherization and assistance programs, particularly for those who serve low-income residents. This process should also ensure continuity of energy efficiency and related program dollars flowing to workers and agencies administering and delivering energy efficiency, energy assistance and other complementary programs. That way we can ensure there is a plan in place to jumpstart this critical work once the immediate emergency has passed. The MPSC process should be inclusive and open to all interested parties.

(4)   Issue guidance with best practices for how utilities should engage with stakeholders during periods where public gatherings are not permitted. For example, Consumers Energy had intended to hold stakeholder meetings for its 2021 Integrated Resource Plan throughout the spring. The public should still be provided a meaningful and timely opportunity to participate in any stakeholder process intended to take place during the stay-at-home order. The Commission should provide an opportunity for public input on the guidance.

Thank you for your attention to these critical issues. We look forward to your decisive action to protect Michigan’s utility customers in these difficult times.

Sincerely,

Mike Berkowitz, Campaign Representative	Elena Saxonhouse, Senior Attorney elena.saxonhouse@sierraclub.org (415) 265-2943 Sierra Club
mike.berkowitz@sierraclub.org (248) 345-9808
Sierra Club
Michael Soules, Staff Attorney	Shannon Fisk, Managing Attorney
msoules@earthjustice.org (202) 797-5237 Earthjustice	sfisk@earthjustice.org (215) 717-4522 Earthjustice

cc:        Governor Whitmer (governorsoffice@michigan.gov)

            Attorney General Nessel (StaffordA4@michigan.gov)

            Kara Cook (CookK14@michigan.gov)

            Michael Moody (moodym2@michigan.gov)

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[1] https://www.energyefficiencyforall.org/updates/letter-to-governor-whitmer-from-the-michigan-energy-efficiency-for-all/

Michigan’s New Factory Farm Pollution Permit Improved, but Still Flawed

For Immediate Release: Wednesday, April 1, 2020
Contact: Gail Philbin, 616-805-3063 or 312-493-2384, gail.philbin@sierraclub.org
Rebecca Wolf, 609-649-0100, rwolf@fwwatch.org
 

Michigan’s New Factory Farm Pollution Permit Improved, but Still Flawed

Crucial issues remain unaddressed; won’t stop flow of waste

Lansing, MI – Michigan’s new permit governing how the state’s nearly 300 factory farms manage the millions of gallons of waste they generate for the next five years is an improvement over previous permits, but leaves key issues effectively unaddressed, according to Great Farms Great Lakes, a coalition of national environmental organizations including Food & Water Action, Sierra Club, and Public Justice.

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s 2020 National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) permit for factory farms goes into effect today, after a year of stakeholder meetings, public input and deliberation. The Great Farms Great Lakes Coalition encouraged over 1,200 advocates to submit comments on the draft permit to the state, and the coalition submitted its own detailed technical comments last December. 

The 2020 NPDES Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations General Permit makes a few long-overdue improvements such as a ban on the land application of animal waste from January through March, but remains largely ineffective in actually controlling water pollution related to industrial animal agriculture. The permit ignores the science concerning polluted watersheds and allows too many exceptions and “get-out-of-jail-free” cards for waste application in months where the freeze-thaw cycle is unpredictable. It also leaves the door wide open for manure-to-energy schemes.

Of greatest concern to the coalition are these gaps in the new permit:

• The permit relies on “best management practices” such as buffer strips and vegetation rather than stricter regulations to stop the flow of nutrients from liquid manure, such as the dissolved phosphorus that drives the toxic algae blooms in Lake Erie.  This ignores the reality of miles of perforated pipes known as tiles underneath farm fields that serve as direct conduits for the dissolved nutrients to nearby waterways.
• The January-March manure spreading ban still contains exceptions that allow the practice to continue at the riskiest time of year under certain conditions if “immediate incorporation” of the waste by injection takes place. Yet soil injection will only better position the waste to make its way to nearby waters via underground tiles. 
• Without established standards or water quality data to back it up, the state assumes compliance with the new permit and best management practices mean a factory farm in a federally “impaired” watershed will automatically meet total maximum daily loads (TMDLs) for nutrient pollutants such as phosphorus and nitrogen.  
• The permit ignores the many problems related to “manure digesters” that produce biogas energy but still leave waste and nutrients behind. 

Advocates have been pushing for years for a complete ban on the application of waste on frozen and snow-covered ground in Michigan as well as compliance with the US EPA’s TMDLs for pollutants allowed in designated “impaired waters,” and an end to the questionable practice of factory farm biogas production. EGLE’s stakeholder and public hearing process for the new permit held promise that Michigan would turn a corner with changes in the permit that would finally meaningfully address the nutrient pollution from animal agriculture that plagues our inland waters and Great Lakes. Unfortunately, the 2020 permit fails to guarantee that factory farms will not further impair Michigan’s waters.

Statements from Members of the Great Farms Great Lakes Coalition:
  
Gail Philbin, Director of the Michigan Sierra Club:
“After more than two decades of battling factory farm pollution in Michigan, we were encouraged by the changes proposed during the permit stakeholder and public comment process to address the huge environmental and health problems caused by large-scale livestock facilities. However, the limited steps taken in the final permit fall short of what's needed and represent a missed opportunity to add real protections to seriously address current water quality issues and set us on a course for a better environmental and economic future."

 Food & Water Action Senior Organizer Rebecca Wolf:
“While this permit is a testament to the power of people coming together and holding polluters accountable, it needed to create full protections from the most egregious forms of manure pollution. EGLE has clearly missed this opportunity, and we will continue to urge Governor Whitmer and the state legislature to take immediate and comprehensive action on factory farm pollution. This is a critical moment for the future of Lake Erie and Michigan’s waters. We’ll continue to demand a future of sustainable, pasture-based family farming--where Michigan is leading the way.”

Jessica Culpepper, Director of Public Justice’s Food Project:
“A set of regulations that leaves the door open for factory farms applying any manure in winter is not a full commitment to the health and well-being of Michiganders. Likewise, it is disappointing that factory farm biogas - a false climate solution designed to entrench the current food system at the expense of independent producers and rural communities - is not rejected outright by Michigan’s government.”  

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