Detroit’s most vulnerable residents face inequalities like toxic air, lead poisoning, and water shutoffs. Now they’re fighting back

The blackest city in the US is facing an environmental justice nightmare

Detroit’s most vulnerable residents face inequalities like toxic air, lead poisoning, and water shutoffs. Now they’re fighting back.

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Struggling to breathe in 48217, Michigan’s most toxic ZIP code

This is the first in a series of stories exploring environmental racism in Michigan.

Carmen Garrison avoids the outdoors because she's certain the air is poisoning her.

As a kid, she often threw up and had a headache after walking to school in southwest Detroit. More than three decades later, her eyes burn, her throat hurts, and her nose runs if she takes even a short stroll down the road.

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Sierra Club Michigan highlights benefits of fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards for air, land and Great Lakes

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Wednesday, September 6, 2017

CONTACT: Mike Berkowitz, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter, (248) 345-9808

Sierra Club Michigan highlights benefits of fuel efficiency and carbon pollution standards for air, land and Great Lakes

EPA urged to maintain current standards ahead of this week’s Washington hearing

LANSING ­– Sierra Club Michigan Chapter today called on the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to maintain current fuel economy standards that protect our air, land and Great Lakes. Under the Trump Administration, the EPA is reconsidering previously finalized clean cars standards that reduce tailpipe carbon pollution, improve fuel economy, and combat climate change.

“By reconsidering these critical clean air protections, President Trump and EPA Administrator Scott Pruitt have once again clearly demonstrated they don’t care about the future of Michigan’s air, land and Great Lakes,” said Mike Berkowitz, political director at Sierra Club Michigan. “Today’s strong federal clean vehicle and fuel economy standards have sparked innovation and investment while reducing pollution in the air we breathe, and any attempt by the Trump Administration to roll back these crucial policies would be a massive step backward for Michigan families and for the health of our environment.”

A recent Chicago Tribune report detailed how exhaust from tailpipe pollution, diesel engines and factory smoke stacks already causes excessive smog in many areas throughout the Great Lakes region. Berkowitz said vehicle efficiency and carbon pollution standards, which combat climate change, are one important strategy to prevent air quality from further worsening.

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Washtenaw County Road Commission Accuses Nexus Pipeline of “Bullying” Tactics

Complaint submitted to FERC urges denial of Nexus application

August 11, 2017

Contact:  Nancy Shiffler, (734) 971-1157  nshiffler@comcast.net

Lansing, MI – Just as a US Senate confirmation vote re-established a quorum on the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission (FERC), the Washtenaw County Road Commission Managing Director, Roy Townsend, submitted a comment letter to FERC urging the commission to deny the current application for the Nexus natural gas pipeline.  The proposed pipeline route runs through Ohio and into Michigan’s Lenawee, Monroe and Washtenaw County.

The letter notes Nexus’ refusal to honor the County’s safety, operational, and maintenance concerns for the numerous roads the pipeline would cross: “Nexus also insists on creating driveway access points at improper, unsafe locations, even where nearby, safe locations exist, and in violation of all published safety standards.”   While noting the company’s claims that a FERC certificate would allow it to pre-empt and override local regulations, Townsend states, “Nexus repeatedly and vastly overstates the breadth of pre-emption, to the point of literally claiming Nexus can do whatever it wants, whenever it wants.”  The full text of the letter can be found at
http://elibrary.FERC.gov/idmws/file_list.asp?accession_num=20170807-5069

The Road Commission is not alone in receiving this kind of treatment from Nexus.  Kathy Schoen, owner of Washtenaw County farmland along the proposed pipeline route, states, “This is the same kind of arrogant and dismissive treatment landowners and local communities have received for their safety and property concerns.  Nexus does and says whatever it takes to get what they want.”

The Road Commission letter also addresses the issues of road clean up and repair:  “Most shockingly, Nexus has refused any responsibility even to assure that our public roads are cleaned up and repaired after Nexus’ construction is completed.”  The Road Commission’s concerns about road damage are well founded considering the collapse of M-50 in Lenawee County during Energy Transfer Partner’s construction of the Rover pipeline.

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Press Release: Sierra Club Legislative Scorecard

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 30, 2016

Contact: Mike Berkowitz, (248) 345-9808, mike.berkowitz@sierraclub.org

Sierra Club: State Lawmakers Get Low Marks

Latest Scorecard Shows House Members Get a “D” and Senate Receives a Failing Grade On Key Environmental Votes

LANSING - The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter today released its Legislative Scorecard, which tracked environmental voting behavior of state House and Senate members during the 2015-16 legislative session. The Michigan Senate scored a failing grade of 58 percent, with the House receiving a narrow passing grade of 62 percent. While the Scorecard generally showed that Democrats voted to maintain or strengthen environmental protections- more disturbingly - it showed Republicans generally voted to weaken or eliminate environmental protections.

“The 2015-2016 state Legislature was regressive when it comes to environmental protection, rolling back many of the safeguards we’ve had in place for decades, while also attacking our democracy. It’s extremely frustrating that the environment has become a partisan political issue,” said Mike Berkowitz, the Michigan Legislative Director for the Sierra Club. “Environmental protections are a no-brainer for all Michigan residents. Our members find it hard to believe that so many of our elected officials are voting against clean air, clean water, and public health. We hope that when lawmakers return from their summer recess, they will see our scorecard and be motivated to get rid of this anti-environment attitude.”

The Sierra Club’s Scorecard calculated the results based upon 11 roll call votes in the House and Senate for the 2015-2016 legislative session. According to the Scorecard, House Democrats scored an average of 95 percent, while House Republicans scored an average of 37 percent. Senate Democrats scored an average of 96 percent, while Senate Republicans scored an average of 42 percent. 41 lawmakers scored a perfect 100 percent. A full list of “Environmental Champions” (91-100 percent), “Environmental Stewards” (80-90 percent), and “Pollution Promoters” (zero-36 percent) is included at the end of this release. Sterling Heights state Sen. Tory Rocca (R-10) was the highest scoring Republican with a 100 percent, second highest in the GOP was state Sen. Rick Jones (R-24) from Grand Ledge at 73 percent, and third highest was Troy state Rep. Martin Howrylak (R-41) at 64 percent. Representatives Charles Brunner (D-96) and Scott Dianda (D-110) were the lowest scoring House Democrats, receiving a 73 percent, and Virgil Smith (D-4) in the Senate with a 63 percent. The full scorecard is available here. A full description of the bills included in the scorecard is available here.

“Our legislature has the wrong priorities when it comes to protecting Michigan’s environment” said James D’Amour, a member of Michigan Sierra Club’s Political Committee who was once an active member of the Republican Party. “Clean air and clean water should not be partisan issues. We used to be leaders in making conservation a top priority, but no longer. This overall direction the GOP has been taking is disappointing and disheartening for people like me who care about the environment.”

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The Sierra Club is the nation’s largest grassroots environmental organization, with over 80,000 members and supporters in Michigan.

Michigan Senate

Environmental Champions (91-100%)

District	Name	Party	Score (%)
1	Coleman Young II	D	100
2	Bert Johnson	D	100
3	Morris Hood III	D	100
5	David Knezak	D	100
6	Hoon-Yung Hopgood	D	100
10	Tory Rocca	R	100
11	Vincent Gregory	D	100
18	Rebekah Warren	D	100
23	Curtis Hertel Jr.	D	100
27	Jim Ananich	D	100
9	Steven Bieda	D	91

Environmental Stewards (80-90%)

None

Pollution Promoters (36% and below)

District

Name

Party

Score (%)

12	Jim Marleau	R	36
13	Marty Knollenburg	R	36
14	David Robertson	R	36
15	Mike Kowall	R	36
17	Dale Zorn	R	36
21	John Proos	R	36
25	Phil Pavlov	R	36
26	Tonya Schuitmaker	R	36
28	Peter MacGregor	R	36
29	Dave Hildenbrand	R	36
30	Arlan Meekhof	R	36
33	Judy Emmons	R	36
34	Goeff Hansen	R	36
35	Darwin Booher	R	36
36	Jim Stamas	R	36
37	Wayne Schmidt	R	36
16	Mike Shirkey	R	27

Michigan House

Environmental Champions (91-100%)

District	Name	Party	Score (%)
1	Brian Banks	D	100
2	Alberta Talabi	D	100
5	Fred Durhal	D	100
6	Stephanie Chang	D	100
7	LaTanya Garrett	D	100
11	Julie Plawecki	D	100
12	Erika Geiss	D	100
13	Frank Liberati	D	100
15	George Darany	D	100
18	Sarah Roberts	D	100
21	Kristy Pagan	D	100
26	Jim Townsend	D	100
27	Robert Wittenberg	D	100
28	Derek Miller	D	100
29	Tim Greimel	D	100
31	Marilyn Lane	D	100
35	Jeremy Moss	D	100
37	Christine Greig	D	100
48	Pam Faris	D	100
49	Phil Phelps	D	100
52	Gretchen Driskell	D	100
53	Jeff Irwin	D	100
55	Adam Zemke	D	100
60	Jon Hoadley	D	100
67	Tom Cochran	D	100
69	Sam Singh	D	100
75	David LaGrand	D	100
76	Winnie Brinks	D	100
92	Marcia Hovey-Wright	D	100
95	Vanessa Guerra	D	100
109	John Kivela	D	100
3	Wendell Byrd	D	91
8	Sherry Gay-Dagnogo	D	91
9	Harvey Santana	D	91
16	Robert Kosowski	D	91
17	Bill LaVoy	D	91
25	Henry Yanez	D	91
34	Sheldon Neeley	D	91
68	Andy Schor	D	91

Environmental Stewards (80-90%)

District

Name

Party

Score (%)

22	John Chirkun	D	90
4	Rose Mary Robinson	D	82
10	Leslie Love	D	82
14	Paul Clemente	D	82
50	Charles Smiley	D	82

Pollution Promoters (36% and below)

District

Name

Party

Score (%)

19	Laura Cox	R	36
20	Kurt Heise	R	36
24	Anthony Forlini	R	36
30	Jeff Farrington	R	36
32	Andrea LaFontaine	R	36
36	Peter Lucido	R	36
38	Kathy Crawford	R	36
39	Klint Kesto	R	36
40	Michael McCready	R	36
42	Lana Theis	R	36
43	Jim Tedder	R	36
44	Jim Runestad	R	36
45	Michael Webber	R	36
46	Bradford Jacobsen	R	36
47	Hank Vaupel	R	36
51	Joseph Graves	R	36
56	Jason Sheppard	R	36
57	Nancy Jenkins	R	36
58	Eric Leutheuser	R	36
59	Aaron Miller	R	36
61	Brandt Iden	R	36
63	David Maturen	R	36
64	Earl Poleski	R	36
65	Brett Roberts	R	36
66	Aric Nesbitt	R	36
70	Rick Outman	R	36
72	Ken Yonker	R	36
73	Chris Afendoulis	R	36
74	Rob VerHeulen	R	36
79	Al Pscholka	R	36
81	Dan Lauwers	R	36
84	Edward Canfield	R	36
86	Lisa Lyons	R	36
87	Mike Callton	R	36
88	Roger Victory	R	36
89	Amanda Price	R	36
90	Daniela Garcia	R	36
91	Holly Hughes	R	36
93	Tom Leonard	R	36
94	Tim Kelly	R	36
97	Joel Johnson	R	36
99	Kevin Cotter	R	36
100	Jon Bumstead	R	36
104	Larry Inman	R	36
106	Peter Pettalia	R	36
107	Lee Chatfield	R	36
80	Mary Whiteford	R	33
23	Pat Somerville	R	27
33	Ken Goike	R	27
71	Tom Barrett	R	27
77	Tom Hooker	R	27
98	Gary Glenn	R	27
105	Triston Cole	R	27
101	Ray Franz	R	18