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/.

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.

Read more ...

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.

Read more ...

Detroit Environmental Justice Leader Unjustly Incarcerated for Defending Family from Assault

Siwatu-Salama Ra Sentenced to Two Years in Prison During High-Risk Pregnancy

Monday, April 2, 2018

Contact: 

April Thomas, 206.321.3850, april.thomas@sierraclub.org

Detroit, MI -- Earlier this month, Siwatu-Salama Ra, Co-Director of the East Michigan Environmental Action Council (EMEAC), was sentenced to two years in prison for defending herself and her young child from an attacker. Siwatu is a member of the Sierra Club family, the daughter of Rhonda Anderson, a Sierra Club organizing manager in Detroit with nearly twenty years experience. Siwatu’s leadership at EMEAC has helped build community power through environmental justice education, youth development, and collaborative relationship building -- and Siwatu has emerged as a national and international environmental justice leader, participating in numerous conferences like COP21 in Paris.

Siwatu is 26, the mother of a 3 year old, and is 7 months pregnant. She came into contact with the criminal justice system because of an incident in which an attacker threatened to strike Siwatu, her three-year-old daughter and her mother with a car. Siwatu showed her legal, permitted, unloaded handgun in an attempt to scare off the attacker, as allowed by Michigan’s Stand Your Ground law. She did not fire the unloaded gun and no one was harmed.

Siwatu was unjustly arrested, tried and convicted of felony gun charges and sentenced to two years in prison. She is now experiencing a high-risk pregnancy in prison, and could be forced to deliver her child while incarcerated.

In response, Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club released the following statement:

“Siwatu-Salama Ra is a powerful and inspiring leader in the Michigan environmental justice community, and a member of the Sierra Club family who has been unjustly incarcerated for defending herself and her family as should be permitted by law. Siwatu has spent her life fighting environmental injustice and pushing back against the big polluters who are violating the law to poison her community. She does this difficult work against the backdrop of a legal system and society that disproportionately oppress people of color, particularly Black women, at every turn. In this case, it does not appear that she is being afforded the protection of the law she deserves, as is all too often the case for women of color dealing with our criminal justice system. Black women are incarcerated at a rate four times higher than white women, and Siwatu’s case is a tragic example of this injustice.

“Her unjust incarceration during a high-risk pregnancy  is just one example of the racism people of color in our country experience every day. Her story underscores the reality that our struggles are all deeply connected - from environmental justice to the fight against racialized oppression in the criminal justice system. That’s why we join the voices across the country urging Siwatu’s sentence be commutated or that she be released on an appeal bond so that she can have a healthy pregnancy, raise her children, and exercise her rights free from injustice as everyone in this country should have the opportunity to do.”

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You can donate to her legal defense fund via You Caring and see FreeSiwatu.org

Sierra Club Statement on White Supremacist Terrorism in Charlottesville, Virginia

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

August 12, 2017

Contact: Trey Pollard trey.pollard@sierraclub.org

View as webpage

Sierra Club Statement on White Supremacist Terrorism in Charlottesville, Virginia

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Sierra Club’s Executive Director Michael Brune released the following statement after violence at a white supremacist rally in Charlottesville, Virginia left at least three people dead and 19 injured.

“The Sierra Club condemns this act of white supremacist terrorism in the strongest possible terms. Our thoughts are with those injured and killed and our hearts are with those who are peacefully speaking out to stop hate from gaining another inch in our country and those who are living in fear because of that hate. No one who took to the streets of Charlottesville fueled by bigotry and brandishing the symbols of fascism that so many Americans fought and died to tear down has any claim on the mantle of patriotism. Instead, it is more important than ever that they be called out for exactly what they are: vile and unacceptable racists preaching division and hatred that stands in opposition to the values of equality and justice that must drive our nation forward. Hatred and racism have long played a disgraceful part of American history, but there can be no doubt that those who spew white supremacy feel empowered right now when they see allies in the corridors of power. These bigots must be condemned, not coddled, and we are in solidarity with those elected officials, residents of Charlottesville, and people all over this country who are speaking out for an America that pushes forward toward justice, not slides backward into hatred and fear.”

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About the Sierra Club

The Sierra Club is America’s largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization, with more than 3 million members and supporters. In addition to helping people from all backgrounds explore nature and our outdoor heritage, the Sierra Club works to promote clean energy, safeguard the health of our communities, protect wildlife, and preserve our remaining wild places through grassroots activism, public education, lobbying, and legal action. For more information, visit www.sierraclub.org.

Sierra Club President Blackford encourages Sierra Club members, supporters and staff to join the events being held in solidarity with those in Charlottesville tonight and tomorrow.  

http://act.indivisibleguide.com/event/stand-in-solidarity-with-charlottesville/search/

Groups Call on Feds to Investigate Possible Civil Rights Violations in Flint and Detroit

Representatives from Flint and Detroit, as well as state-wide and national groups, are calling on federal agencies, including the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to review whether the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) and Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) are violating civil rights laws that prohibit actions and policies that discriminate on the basis of race, national origin or disability.

In a letter released this morning, the groups called on the EPA Office of Civil Rights and HHS Office for Civil Rights to review whether MDEQ and MDHHS are in compliance with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, which bar the use of federal funds for activities that have an unjustified, unequal impact on the basis of race, color, national origin or disability.

The letter asked federal agencies to require the Michigan state agencies to institute policies designed to comply with Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973.

The groups asked the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) to coordinate the interagency investigation.
"The federal government, including the EPA’s Office of Civil Rights, HHS and the DOJ, have a duty to ensure that Michigan comply with the law and stop taking actions that imperil the health and well-being of the state’s residents of color, immigrants and people with disabilities who have the same rights as other Michigan residents," said Earthjustice attorney Marianne Engelman Lado, who helped draft the complaint letter on behalf of Flint and Detroit-based community organizations as well as state-wide and national groups and individuals.

In the letter the groups say MDHHS and MDEQ have been failing to comply with these federal civil rights laws. "The Flint water crisis is the tragic result of the chronic refusal of MDEQ and MDHHS to comply with their civil rights obligations," the letter states.

Groups signing the letter include The ACLU of Michigan, Community Development Organization, Crossing Water, Food & Water Watch, Genessee County Hispanic Latino Collaborative, IHM Justice, Jesus People Against Pollution, Michigan Voice, Michigan Coalition for Human Rights, Peace and Sustainability Office, Michigan Faith in Action, NRDC, Ocean Future, Original United Citizens of Southwest Detroit, Sierra Club, St. Francis Prayer Center, Southeast Michigan Synod of the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America, Sugar Law Center for Economic and Social Justice, Water You Fighting For, West End Revitalization Association, and Yemen American Benevolent Association.

The groups claim both agencies exacerbated the crisis in Flint.

"MDEQ demonstrated callous and unjustifiable indifference to the concerns of Flint's residents – most of whom are African American – before, during and after the switch to Flint River water," the letter states. "Despite noting the poor quality of water in the Flint River, MDEQ disregarded the complaints of residents and failed to take the most basic steps to protect their health."

"I do think race is a factor," said Nakiya Wakes, a Flint mother of two, who is among those supporting this effort. "Flint is a majority black city. The two highest lead levels found were in majority African-American areas," she added.

Wakes, who volunteers with Michigan Faith in Action and Flint Rising, said lead levels in her home were determined to be 1,100 parts per billion, which is more than 70 times EPA’s actionable standard when lead levels are considered to be unsafe.

Wakes had a miscarriage while she was pregnant with twins last year before news of the Flint water crisis broke, when she was unaware of the toxins in the water. Her two children, who had extremely high lead levels in their blood, have serious emotional difficulties and visit therapists. They’ve had problems in school and behavioral issues.

"I do believe lead contamination had something to do with the loss of my twins. The lead prevented them from forming," said Wakes. I lost one at five weeks and the other once in the second trimester."
Lead causes physical and mental impairment. It can cause miscarriages in expectant mothers and has been linked to ADHD and impulsivity.

San Juana "Juani" Olivares, president of Genesee County Hispanic Latino Collaborative, Inc., saw the disadvantages that people with limited English proficiency faced in Flint.

"Huge failures by Michigan’s Department of Environmental Quality and the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services led to the Flint Water Crisis but that crisis was compounded when access to help was not provided in languages that people can understand well," Olivares said.

When public health advisories went out about water filters and bottled water, many people had no knowledge that such help was available and continued to consume toxic water. These state agencies are failing and causing disparities if they do not communicate to people who have limited English proficiency."

Vincent Martin, an executive board member with Original United Citizens of Southwest Detroit, said the complaint is necessary "to be protected from institutional racism."
"The environmental decisions that are made nationally are targeted towards communities such as 48217 and Flint." Zip code 48217 is the most polluted zip code in Michigan and predominantly African American.

"When a majority white community has environmental issues, they are resolved with haste. For communities of color, decisions are delayed with excuses and finger pointing. Environmental racism has damaged communities of color for generations. Decisions made are killing off our population."

The groups say the discriminatory origins of the crisis are clear. "MDEQ and MDHHS would never have treated a white, affluent city with the callousness that characterized their approach to Flint. This fundamental injustice has caused Flint residents, and especially Flint’s children, irreparable harm," the groups state.

The groups argue that the federal agencies could help bring Michigan into compliance with federal civil rights laws, eliminate some of the systematic failures that led to the crisis, and help Michigan start on the road toward regaining the trust of its citizens.

David Holtz, the chair of Sierra Club Michigan, which also signed the letter, said the Flint Water Crisis is an issue of fairness and equity.

"Every family, regardless of skin color, has the right to expect that the air they breathe is clean, that the water they drink is safe, and that their government will treat them with fairness and equality," Holtz said. "In　Flint, that clearly wasn't the case. There are serious questions about whether the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality was following the law and it's the federal　government's responsibility to find out."

The groups offered numerous examples of MDEQ and MDHHS actions in Flint and Wayne County that have had a disparate impact on the basis of race, national origin and disability.

In Flint, the groups charge, MDHHS repeatedly failed to offer information about emergency services in languages other than English, which created a barrier to accessing services for those with limited English proficiency. Flint’s immigrant community experienced additional barriers to services when MDHHS announced that officials at water distribution centers would ask for a form of government-issued photo identification. An estimated 1,000 immigrants in Flint are undocumented and government-issued identification is not available to them. As a  result, many continued to consume unsafe water.

The groups also state that the emergency response has failed people with disabilities that limit their ability to access centers where water and filters are provided. Because they were not provided with services in their homes, these individuals have been forced to either rely on the efforts of volunteers or continue to drink and use contaminated water.

The groups state that discriminatory practices at MDEQ are not confined to Flint. In Wayne County, Michigan, MDEQ has demonstrated a pattern and practice of ignoring the disproportionate burden of pollution borne by the local community when making permitting and enforcement decisions.

"MDEQ has recurrently granted emissions limit increases and other permit expansions in overburdened communities of color; entered weak enforcement actions when industrial sources repeatedly violated their permit limits; and ignored the communities’ health concerns, despite comments from community groups consistently raising concerns about the disproportionate health impacts on low-income immigrant communities and communities of color," the letter states.

Some Facts About Disparate Environmental Impact in Michigan

• A portion of Wayne County, zip code 48217, in Southwest Detroit, is 79.5 percent African-American (only 12 percent white) and University of Michigan scientists found it to be the most polluted zip code in the state.
• Neighboring Dearborn is approximately half Arab American, eighty percent of Dearborn residents speak a language other than English, and 40 percent have incomes that fall below the poverty line
• The Michigan Department of Community Health has referred to Detroit, a predominantly black city, "as the epicenter of the asthma burden in Michigan."
• That same agency found that the prevalence of asthma among adults was 50 percent higher than the statewide average.Ninety-two schools in Wayne County are in areas that violate federal environmental protection laws.The Flint crisis had numerous impacts including: an outbreak of Legionnaire’s disease that resulted in at least 10 deaths and lead exposure for an unknown number of the city’s children, who have now sustained permanent neurological damage.

The groups note that the disparities in health and environmental protections continue.

"Though disparities in environmental protection in Wayne County have not been the focus of national attention, children of color in Wayne County and across Michigan are saddled with health burdens at an early age because MDHHS and MDEQ similarly refuse to protect them," the groups state.

The groups are asking the federal government to take the following actions, among others:

• Conduct a thorough compliance review of MDEQ and MDHHS and, particularly, the actions, policies and practices that gave rise to the Flint Water Crisis and, also, the concentration of polluting sources in Wayne County.
• Require MDEQ and MDHHS to evaluate, in consultation with affected populations, whether a decision will have a "disproportionately high and adverse effect" on the basis of race or national origin and, if so, create mechanisms to ensure that it will only be carried out if further mitigation measures or alternatives that would avoid, minimize, or mitigate the disproportionately high and adverse effect are not practicable.

Contacts

Keith Rushing, Earthjustice, (202) 797-5236, (757) 897-2147
Marianne Engelman Lado, Earthjustice, (212) 845-7393
Christine Ernst, Earthjustice, (212) 845-7385

Legal Case

Challenging EPA's Failure to Investigate Civil Rights Complaints 

Take Action

• Stop 30+ deadly riders from unraveling environmental protectionsThe U.S. House of Representatives will soon vote on an appropriations bill riddled with more than 30 riders that spell disaster for our air, water, wild lands, and species already on the brink of extinction, and for our country's progress toward clean energy and a stable climate.
• “He sort of MacGyvered the system.” – Jessica Ennis, Earthjustice legislative representative, on David Brosch's work to bring solar power to his Maryland neighborhood.
• The Stories to Read On Title VI of the Civil Rights Act

Sierra Club to lawmakers: Increased clean energy standards can’t wait

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Wednesday, March 16, 2016

Contact: Jen Flood, Byrum & Fisk Communications, (586) 531-8767

Sierra Club to lawmakers: Increased clean energy standards can’t wait

LANSING—More than 70 members of the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter today traveled from across the state to meet with lawmakers to discuss the future of Michigan’s energy policy.

“We simply cannot wait any longer to pass clean energy policy that builds on the successes of our thriving clean energy sector,” said Mike Berkowitz, legislative and political director of Sierra Club Michigan Chapter.  “Utility companies may spend millions of dollars on corporate lobbyists and television ads, but Sierra Club members today are pushing back and urging legislators to do the right thing and increase our renewable energy and energy efficiency standards.”

The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter has organized more than 400 meetings between citizen activists and lawmakers this session alone. The organization represents more than 80,000 environmentally conscientious citizens across Michigan.

“I’m proud to be a sponsor of legislation to build on the success of our clean energy sector—reducing pollution, creating jobs and launching new businesses in our state,” said State Senator Hoon-Yung Hopgood (D-Taylor), Democratic vice chair of the Senate Energy and Technology Committee. “When it comes to reducing pollution and protecting public health, we can’t afford to wait.”

The Sierra Club has been aggressively urging members of the Michigan House and Senate to increase the renewable energy standard to 30 percent by 2030 and the energy efficiency standard to 2 percent.

“I urge my colleagues to take action on our energy future,” said Rep. Julie Plawecki (D-Dearborn Heights). “Increasing our renewable energy and energy efficiency standards will provide much-needed cost savings for Michigan families and businesses. Thanks to advances in technology, the cost of renewable energy has declined drastically over the past five years. Michigan has the highest energy costs in the region and it’s crucial that we manage these costs to grow our economy and create jobs.”

Reports from the Michigan Public Service Commission show that investment in renewable energy has leveled off as the state met its goal of generating 10 percent of its energy from renewable sources.

“The right to breathe clean air should not depend on your income or skin color, which is why our legislators need to act now to increase our clean energy standards,” said Dorthea Thomas, Environmental & Climate Justice Organizer for Michigan United and Sierra Club Executive Committee Member. “Pollution disproportionately affects low-income and communities of color who are much more likely to live close to a power plant.”

“It’s time for Michigan to reduce its over-reliance on burning coal and transition to more renewable energy and energy efficiency to reduce pollution,” said Dave Errickson, R.N. and Sierra Club Central Michigan Group Chair. “Increasing our renewable energy and energy efficiency standards will reduce dangerous pollution and protect the health of Michigan families.”

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Statement On Mass Water Shutoffs Impacting Detroit Residents

NEWS from Sierra Club

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                      MORE INFORMATION:
TUESDAY, JULY 29, 2014                          DAVID HOLTZ
                                                                    313-300-4454

Statement of Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Chair

On Mass Water Shutoffs Impacting Detroit Residents

The following statement was released today by David Holtz, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Chair:

Sierra Club, the nation’s oldest and largest grassroots environmental organization, believes the waters of Michigan and all of America are held in public trust.  The public trust doctrine is the principle that water is held in common—no one made it, no one owns it—and is preserved for public use.

Detroiters—and all residents of Michigan—have a basic right to water and the mass water shutoffs in Detroit should end.  There is considerable evidence that insufficient advance notice and payment options were given prior to the water shutoffs.  Moreover, Detroiters currently pay about twice the national average for water and are among those the least able in the country to afford these rates.  It is understood that there is a cost to providing the infrastructure and delivery of water as a public service and the following actions should be taken to address the water shutoff crisis in Detroit:

• An end to water shutoffs and immediate restoration of water to all Detroit residents beyond the current 15 day moratorium.
• Detroit City Council should conduct a public hearing on the water shutoffs.
• An assessment should be made by public health officials of the impacts of mass water shutoffs on the health and mental health of those affected by the shutoffs.
• A comprehensive water affordability plan for Detroit should be adopted that includes conservation policies and a goal of providing water at rates more in alignment with Detroiters’ ability to pay.

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Michigan Required to Address Statewide Air Quality Concerns By 2015

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

June 4, 2014

Contact:

Alison Flowers, Sierra Club, 303-246-6297, alison.flowers@sierraclub.org

Brad Van Guilder, Sierra Club, 313-205-6386, brad.vanguilder@sierraclub.org

Michigan Required to Address Statewide Air Quality Concerns By 2015

Residents testify about cumulative health impacts of pollution at state hearing

LANSING, Mich. -- The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) is submitting a new plan to the EPA that must ensure that air pollution does not exceed levels established to protect public health. The state plan, due by April 2015, must prevent unhealthy levels of key dangerous pollutants -- sulfur dioxide, particulate matter, and ground-level ozone (smog) -- that contribute to diseases like asthma. At least eight counties in Michigan have levels of ozone and sulfur dioxide pollution above the federal air quality standards.

MDEQ is proposing to maintain the status quo, rather than drafting requirements that would end pollution violations by aging coal-fired plants, which are responsible for a significant portion of the emissions. More than 900 petitioners have called on MDEQ to create strong safeguards.

“There is something terribly wrong when the state of Michigan allows any of its counties to become sacrifice zones for pollution, leaving families to suffer the chronic health effects,” said Sierra Club Executive Director Michael Brune, while in Detroit for a conference. “Heavy industrial polluters like DTE Energy should not be given a free pass to violate our federal air quality standards that were created to protect residents.”

The EPA has already designated a portion of Wayne County as failing to meet the air quality standard for sulfur dioxide. Exposure to sulfur dioxide  in even very short time periods—such as five minutes—can have significant health impacts to human health, including causing decrements in lung function, aggravation of asthma, and respiratory and cardiovascular morbidity. Sulfur dioxide exposure can also aggravate existing heart disease, leading to increased hospitalizations and premature deaths.  Asthmatics, children and the elderly are especially at risk from such pollution. 

Wayne County has the highest number of pediatric asthma cases in Michigan, coupled with the highest state population living in poverty, according to a 2014 American Lung Association report. The City of Detroit and nearby downriver communities are, combined, a heavily polluted area deemed the “Epicenter of Asthma Burden” by the Michigan Department of Community Health.

According to the NAACP, DTE -- the utility that owns and operates three of Wayne County’s top sources of sulfur dioxide air pollution (DTE’s River Rouge plant, Trenton Channel plant and EES Coke at U.S. Steel) -- is one of the worst environmental justice offenders based on its plants’ impacts on low-income communities. These plants are responsible for at least 85 percent of all sulfur dioxide emissions in Wayne County.

Other Michigan counties are at risk of exceeding the same sulfur dioxide standard, including St. Clair, Macomb, Eaton, Clinton, Ingham, Ottawa, Monroe, and Marquette Counties.

The public hearing to address the state’s plan will be held today, Wednesday, June 4, at Constitution Hall (William Ford Conference Room, 2nd Floor) at 525 W. Allegan St. in Lansing.

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Sierra Club Endorses Minimum Wage Proposal

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                                More information:

Monday, May 19, 2014                                                           David Holtz

                                                                                                      313-300-4454

Sierra Club Endorses Minimum Wage Proposal

Citizens Group Says Senate Bill A Step Forward, But More Is Needed

LANSING—As the minimum wage debate in Michigan’s Legislature heats up, Sierra Club announced today it has endorsed Raise Michigan’s ballot initiative to increase the state’s minimum wage to $10.10 an hour.

“Good jobs with better wages give workers and their families the resources they need to succeed and engage in the communities where they live,” said Lydia Fischer, Sierra Club’s Conservation Co-Chair in Michigan.   “Poverty is a barrier to environmental cleanup in many local communities throughout Michigan.  Raising the minimum wage helps make environmental activism more accessible to people who live in communities where asthma, cancer and other public health hazards are everyday concerns.  

The Club endorsement of the Raise Michigan proposal by its 17-member state Executive Committee comes as the state House considers a Senate bill that would raise the minimum wage to $9.20 an hour by 2017.  

The bipartisan Senate bill is an important step in the right direction, but should be improved by House lawmakers, said David Holtz, Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter Chair.   Holtz said House lawmakers should increase the minimum wage rate to $10.10 an hour and remove barriers to democracy in the Senate bill that would keep voters from having the option of enacting the Raise Michigan proposal.  The Republican-sponsored Senate bill includes a repeal of the current minimum wage law, the effect of which would be to kill the Raise Michigan ballot proposal. 

“The Senate’s bipartisan proposed minimum wage increase is significant and would never have happened if it weren't for citizens putting pressure on lawmakers to act," said Holtz.  “The proposed legislation, however, still falls short of what workers really need.  The fact that Senate Republicans authored a legislative trick to disenfranchise voters is politics at its worst and this provision should be rejected by the House.”

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Sierra Club is a volunteer-led environmental organization with 160,000 members and supporters in Michigan.

Groups Join DOJ to Halt Serious Air Pollution from DTE Coal-burning Power Plants

Plants lack modern pollution controls that protect human health

Contact:
Shannon Fisk, Earthjustice, (215) 717-4522
Tiffany Hartung, Sierra Club (248) 933-2451

Detroit-Conservation groups took legal action late last week to support the Department of Justice (DOJ) efforts to clean up several of Detroit Edison’s coal-burning power plants in Southern Michigan by requiring them to comply with the Clean Air Act.

Sierra Club, represented by Earthjustice, amended its complaint in the case of US v. DTE Energy Company, to clean up Detroit Edison’s River Rouge, Trenton Channel, and Belle River coal-fired power plants. Earlier last week, DOJ amended its complaint to add the same claims on Trenton Channel, River Rouge and Belle River, and additional claims against the Monroe coal plant.

According to the Clean Air Task Force, these additional three coal-burning plants collectively contribute to 157 deaths, 254 heart attacks, and 2,480 asthma attacks each year.

“The River Rouge and Trenton Channel coal plants are aging dinosaurs that Detroit Edison continues to operate without readily available and legally required pollution control technology,” said Shannon Fisk, an Earthjustice attorney handling this case.  “It is far past time for Detroit Edison to protect public health and create jobs by cleaning those plants up or retiring and replacing them with affordable clean energy resources.”

The violations stem from Detroit Edison’s major, multi-million dollar modifications at those plants without installation of the legally-required modern pollution controls that would help protect public health.  As a result of these violations, Detroit Edison’s coal plants have emitted hundreds to thousands of tons of additional harmful air pollutants every year.

Emissions from coal-burning plants include dangerous pollutants like carbon dioxide, nitrogen dioxide, sulfur dioxide and mercury. High levels of exposure to these emissions can cause irritation of the throat and lungs, leading to difficulty breathing, increased asthma symptoms, more respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular disease, and premature death.

“When I think about clean and renewable sources of energy, I think about the infinite possibilities of creating jobs and powering Michigan through cleaner sources like wind and solar power,” said Douglas Myers, River Rouge resident and Sierra Club member. “If DTE were to focus on forward thinking in the problem areas we could remove a lot of the dirty and harmful elements being emitted through their current facilities.”

This case was initially filed in 2010 by the U.S. Department of Justice and U.S. EPA as an enforcement action regarding an illegal modification at Unit 2 of Detroit Edison’s Monroe coal plant.  Sierra Club intervened in that proceeding.   While the federal district court initially ruled against DOJ and Sierra Club, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit earlier this year reversed the district court decision.  As a result, DOJ and Sierra Club’s case against Monroe Unit 2 continues, and both plaintiffs are seeking to expand their claims to address legal violations at other Detroit Edison coal units.

 When Congress enacted the Clean Air Act of 1970, thousands of power plants, refineries, and other facilities were emitting large volumes of various air pollutants. The act required new facilities to be equipped with the most modern and efficient pollution-control technologies available. Many existing plants were let off the hook on the theory that they would be taken out of service fairly rapidly and replaced with new, clean plants.   The coal industry lobbied congress and the EPA to be allowed to continue running these old plants without adding modern pollution controls.  As a result, many of these aging, polluting facilities are still operating today, over 40 years later.

The law did, however, include important provisions addressing the older plants: If and when they make changes that increase emissions, they are required to retrofit with up-to-date technologies.  This is a key part of what the law calls the New Source Review (NSR) program. 

“Big coal has fought against NSR with respect to existing plants ever since the program was created,” continued Fisk.  “It has filed many lawsuits to challenge the program and simply refused to abide by it.”

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

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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