Protect Michigan’s Working Families, Vote Yes on Proposal 2 on November 6th

MEDIA CONTACT: Erin Bzymek, erinb@bluegreenalliance.org, 202-706-6916

Environment Leaders, Local Workers Stand Up for Collective Bargaining Rights and Clean, Safe Workplaces

GRAND RAPIDS, MI --Joining a broad coalition of supporters who are backing better wages and safer working conditions, environmental leaders and local workers today spoke out in support of Proposal 2 in Michigan. On the ballot this November 6th, Proposal 2 ensures that future generations benefit from basic rights that give workers a say when it comes to protecting their health, as well as negotiating and enforcing agreements between themselves and their employers.

“Collective bargaining means safer workers, safer communities and better jobs for all of us. Workers who can collectively bargain not only protect themselves, they also safeguard our neighborhoods, our communities and our environment, and raise up the wages and benefits for all of us,” said Michael Brune, Executive Director of the Sierra Club.

“It’s important that we pull together to build on that progress and give working families the opportunity to provide better lives for their children, and Prop 2 does just that,” Brune added. 

Proposal 2 protects collective bargaining rights and prevents attempts to weaken these protections in the future.

“Everyone who values clean environments and safe, secure and prosperous communities should support this critical ballot initiative,” said Anne Woiwode, State Director for the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter. “The rights secured by Proposal 2 are essential for strengthening and protecting the hardworking, middle-class families who are the backbone of Michigan communities.”

Event participants spoke specifically to the protections that make the middle class strong by ensuring workers have a voice in their workplace and in the nation’s policies, advocating more equitable wages, humane work conditions, and improved benefits.

“Some Michigan lawmakers are doing everything they can to abolish workers’ rights to organize and collectively bargain,” said Mark Schauer, National Co-Chair of the BlueGreen Alliance’s Jobs21! initiative. “But, giving Michigan’s working families a voice to negotiate for fair wages, benefits and working conditions that are good for them and safe for our communities and our environment is as important today as it ever has been.”

“We can and we must protect the rights of working people in Michigan,” said Kevin Riley, a meat cutter at Meijer in Grand Rapids. “Putting these rights in our constitution is something the politicians and corporations cannot take away, and it will benefit future generations of Michiganders, both economically and environmentally. We must stand together to protect the right to negotiate for good jobs with cleaner, safer and healthier workplaces.” 

“We cannot afford to go back to a time when corporations could make up the rules as they go along, regarding working conditions, workplace safety, environmental protection and worker pay,” said Ben Scheid, an AT&T worker. “Michigan’s workers and families can’t afford it, that’s why I support Proposal 2.”

The supporters said that without collective bargaining rights our environment is endangered and workers face more risks on the job.

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Paid for by the BlueGreen Alliance for Michigan Jobs and Energy.

The BlueGreen Alliance is a national partnership of labor unions and environmental organizations dedicated to expanding the number and quality of jobs in the green economy. Launched in 2006, the strategic partnership now brings together major U.S. labor unions and America's most influential environmental organizations and unites more than 15 million members and supporters in pursuit of good jobs, a clean environment and a green economy. Visit www.bluegreenalliance.org.

DNR Proposes to Double Daily Limit for Brook Trout Despite Opposition by Fisheries Division and UP Anglers

Sierra Club Calls for Public Input and Proposal Put on Hold

 

Media Contact: Marvin Roberson, marvin.roberson@sierraclub.org, 906-360-0288

The Sierra Club Michigan Chapter today called on Michigan Department of Natural Resources Director Keith Creagh to put a hold on a proposed doubling of the limit for brook trout in 10 streams in the Upper Peninsula.  The agency announced a proposal to change designation of the streams to a new category that would allow the taking of 10 brook trout per day per person. The current limit of five per person in the both the Upper and lower peninsula has been in place for more than a decade.

The DNR proposal comes even though its own Fisheries Division repeatedly indicated to the Natural Resources Commission that they were opposed to changing the limit.  In addition, a large majority of the Coldwater Resources Steering Committee voted to support the Fisheries Division position in their August meeting. This committee is comprised of various stakeholder groups and charged with advising the DNR on coldwater fisheries-related matters.

In addition, a DNR survey of UP anglers last summer indicated strong support for keeping the limit at five. The department asked anglers to rate their level of support for the existing five brook trout daily possession limit and the proposed 10 fish daily possession limit --  55% of respondents indicated they supported the existing limit, compared to 17% that opposed the five fish limit. By comparison, 28% of anglers supported and 53% opposed the 10 fish daily possession limit.

“There is little biological evidence regarding how many brook trout can be kept without harming sustainable population levels,” says Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Forest Ecologist. “There is absolutely no scientific reason that these limits should be different in the UP from the Lower Peninsula.”

For many years, the fishing regulations for keeping brook trout have been simple--five fish per day per person--but recently, a small but vocal minority of UP residents including the two Natural Resource Commissioners began agitating for the limit to be raised to 10 fish per day per person in the UP only.

With no notice to the public, the Coldwater Resources Steering Committee or stakeholders, the DNR announced on Oct. 15 a proposal to designate 10 streams in the UP in a new category allowing 10 brook trout per day per person. The decision is proposed for Nov. 8, a little more than 3 weeks after the announcement, with no opportunity for public comment.

“To make matters worse, the proposal indicates research on the effects of the regulations will commence after the regulations are changed,” said Roberson. “The DNR has no data on current conditions, and consequently will have no ability to assess conditions and effects after the new regulations.”

Sierra Club Michigan Chapter urges DNR Director Keith Creagh to put this proposal on hold until there can be a meaningful public input and dialogue process, and until baseline data for the streams proposed can be collected and success/failure criteria developed.

The Chapter also urges concerned citizens to contact Creagh at DNR-Director@michigan.gov  or 517-373-2329 and DNR Fisheries Chief Jim Dexter at  dexterj1@michigan.gov or 517-373-3375. Tell them to put this proposal on hold until such public input and research needs are met!

Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Statement on Statewide Screenings of Last Call at the Oasis

Documentary to Show in Six Cities Across Michigan Oct. 22

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

Last Call at the Oasis, a documentary about the global water crisis featuring the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter’s Lynn Henning, will screen in six theaters across Michigan on Monday, Oct. 22. The film will play at the Quality 16 in Ann Arbor; Saginaw 12 in Saginaw; Bay City 8 in Bay City; Kalamazoo 10 in Kalamazoo; Grand Haven 9 in Grand Haven; and Jackson 10 in Jackson. (Contact individual theaters for showtimes.)

Produced by Participant Media (makers of An Inconvenient Truth, Food, Inc. and Waiting for “Superman”) Last Call at the Oasis spotlights Lynn’s work tracking animal factory pollution in Michigan, which has gained international recognition, earning her the International Goldman Environmental Prize in 2010 and a spread in the November 2011 issue of O Magazine.

For details about the film visit www.lastcallattheoasis.com.

In response to the Oct. 22 screenings, Lynn Henning made this statement:

“I am honored to be a part of Last Call at the Oasis.  For more than a dozen years, the Michigan Chapter has been fighting to stop pollution from animal factories, also known as CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations), which are poisoning our water, air and food. The Chapter supports sustainable agricultural practices that are cleaner, healthier, more energy efficient, and produce many environmental and social benefits.  

CAFOs are a huge environmental and public health risk in Michigan. There are 234 in Michigan, and more than 58 have received environmental fines and penalties totaling over $1.6 million to the State of Michigan, yet they continue to receive federal farm bill subsidies.  The Michigan Department of Environmental Quality has documented groundwater contamination from animal factories including arsenic, manganese, iron and possibly copper and traced infectious cryptosporidium and giardia in drinking water back to cattle. 

CAFOs reduce our quality of life by causing beach closings, dead zones from algal blooms, fish kills from oxygen depletion, contaminated drinking water, and polluted air.  People living near them are exposed to high levels of nitrogen, phosphorus, dust, mold, and poisonous gases, leading to chronic bronchitis, sinusitis, heart attacks, fatigue, anxiety, and depression.  Even urban and suburban residents are at risk—rivers used for recreation and drinking water in cities often originate in agricultural areas affected by CAFOs.

The time has come for Michigan to hold polluting CAFOs accountable under federal and state laws. I hope my appearance in this film helps educate people about what’s really happening to their water because of CAFOs and motivates them to take action.”

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To learn more about a new campaign targeting animal factories the Michigan Chapter will launch in 2013 and how you can get involved, visit www.farmswithoutharm.org  and follow Lynn Twitter @CAFOCrusader.

For more on the Michigan Chapter’s work on the CAFO issue, visit http://www.michigan.sierraclub.org/issues/greatlakes/animalfactorypollution.html

Mason Tract and Au Sable River Protected from Oil and Gas Drilling

Sierra Club and Anglers of Au Sable Win Nine-Year Battle

For the first time in nearly a decade, a rare, truly wild stretch of the Au Sable River is free from the threat of a proposed oil and gas drilling project that would have endangered the state’s premier trout stream and one of its most spectacular old growth forests.

In 2003, a Traverse City oil and gas exploration company sought a permit to place a drilling pad in an old growth area of Huron-Manistee National Forest next to the Mason Tract, a wild piece of land hugging the Au Sable River. This week that company, Savoy Energy, told the US Forest Service (USFS) that it is abandoning its nine-year effort to drill in the so-called South Branch area. 

“This is a victory for everyone— the environment, Michigan and the people who enjoy and appreciate the beauty of the Au Sable River,” said Anne Woiwode, Michigan Chapter director.  “It’s also a victory for the Sierra Club and Anglers of the Au Sable which remained vigilant about this ill-advised proposal and the federal approval process all these years.”

The Mason Tract was designated “Forever Wild” by the Michigan Department of Natural Resources fifty years ago and boasts spectacular fishing, hunting, canoeing, cross-country skiing and hiking.  The drilling pad would have been located near the Mason Chapel, an open-air, non-denominational space beloved by fisherman and other river users.

The reason for Savoy Energy’s application withdrawal isn’t clear, but the involvement of the Sierra Club and the Anglers of the Au Sable in opposing the proposal no doubt played a significant role, said Woiwode.

Nine years ago, Nancy Shiffler, a long-time Sierra Club member and volunteer, first noticed that the proposed well was on national forest land designated as old growth in 1986, and adjacent to the Mason Tract.  She alerted the Michigan Chapter’s forest policy specialist, Marvin Roberson, who tracked the project to determine if correct procedures for approval of an application to the USFS were followed.

They weren’t, and the Sierra Club with the Anglers of the Au Sable actively fought the proposal, using tactics that included a successful lawsuit against the Huron-Manistee National Forest after the USFS failed to adequately assess all viable alternatives to the proposed siting of the well pad.  The Sierra Club had submitted a suggestion for another location to the USFS that would have kept the Mason Tract safe from the impacts of drilling, according to Roberson, but that alternative was rejected.

Ultimately, a federal judge agreed with the conservation groups and remanded the case to the USFS, requiring a full Environmental Impact Statement be conducted, a year-long process the agency was finishing up when it received the withdrawal letter from Savoy earlier this week.

“This is a perfect example of why the Sierra Club has been around for 45 years in Michigan and 120 years in the nation,” said Roberson.  “We have a vast network of dedicated, vigilant volunteers and knowledgeable staff who know what to do and have the willingness to stay in the fight until it’s won.”

Woiwode agrees. “The Sierra Club is the only organization in Michigan with the policy expertise in matters like this to have made this happen. Marvin is among the very few people who understands how the sometimes complicated federal and state approval process works,” she said.

Parts of the Mason Tract were originally owned by Bill Durant, the founder of General Motors, who built a grand home dubbed Durant’s Castle in the 1930s that burned down before he could live in it. Soon after, George Mason, the president of American Motors, purchased the rest of the properties on either side of the south section of the Au Sable River.  He willed the piece to the state when he died, and it became the largest wild stretch of river in Michigan’s lower peninsula.

“The combination of Sierra Club’s policy expertise coupled with the extensive on-the-ground knowledge of Anglers of the Au Sable made for a terrific partnership,” Roberson said. “The Mason Tract is safe for now but we have to stay vigilant and hope that this sets a precedent so other companies won’t try to drill foolishly near our few remaining precious pieces of wilderness.”

For an in-depth look at the story behind the protection of the Mason Tract and Au Sable River, click here.

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Clean Energy Advocates Pan DEQ Awards To 3 Coal Plants

Contact: Tiffany Hartung, 231.747.7489, tiffany.hartung@sierraclub.org

Push for DEQ to protect Michiganders’ health, stop phony awards

LANSING – Clean energy advocates are speaking out after DTE Energy, Consumers Energy and Holland Board of Public Works coal plants today received “Neighborhood Environmental Partners Awards” from the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The advocates want to know why the DEQ is patting bad actors and notorious polluters on the back and letting its mission to protect the health and safety of Michigan residents fall to the wayside.

“If these were trophies for dangerous and poisonous polluters, then these companies should win hands down,” said Tiffany Hartung with Sierra Club, “but they should not be honored for being neighborhood environmental partners. There is evidence that these coal plants are pouring toxins into nearby waterways, harming Michigan residents. The DEQ should be giving out awards to clean energy leaders, instead. Clean energy is cheaper to produce, creates good jobs in Michigan, and, most importantly, does not endanger our health. Families should be the winners here, not polluters."

The three DEQ honorees are Consumers Energy’s J.R. Whiting coal plant, DTE Energy’s Monroe coal plant, and the Holland Board of Public Works’ James DeYoung plant. According to the DEQ, the Neighborhood Environmental Partners program was developed to recognize facilities for “work on local projects that benefit their communities and the environment.”

Topping the award list is one of the state’s biggest polluters, the DTE Monroe coal plant. The plant is the largest emitter of toxic mercury pollution in Michigan; in 2010 the US Environmental Protection Agency took DTE to court for failing to install modern pollution controls.  

Holland’s DeYoung power station sulfur dioxide pollution threatens Holland residents with emissions that are 3.5 times the public-health based ambient standard; while Consumers’ Whiting facility is one of the coal ash sites in the state that already has been shown to cause damage to the environment.

“DEQ should stop handing out shoddy awards to big polluters and prioritize creating a healthy Michigan by protecting communities and our natural resources,” said Susan Harley with Clean Water Action. ”Dirty energy extracts a price too high for Michiganders to shoulder. These dirty coal plants are hurting our families, our children and, most importantly, our future.”

The Michigan Environmental Council recently reported that Michigan’s coal plants cost a family of four an average of more than $500 a year in health expenses and damages, including hospital admissions, premature death, asthma treatments, respiratory problems, cardiovascular problems and more. The total price tag, MEC research revealed, is about $1.5 billion annually in health care costs.

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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 www.cleanenergynowmi.org.

Sierra Club's Environmental Justice Program Makes a Difference in Detroit

By Ryan Stock, Environmental Justice Intern

As a graduate student pursuing a degree in Environmental Justice at the University of Michigan, I grew increasingly enraged by the disproportionate burden of toxic substances that low-income and ethnic/racial minority communities in Detroit must endure. When Sierra Club’s Rhonda Anderson shared her work with downriver communities to my school, I instantly approached her for an internship!

Since May, we’ve:

• compiled data for each specific community we work in, combining toxic release data from industrial facilities with public health data;
• pressed the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality and the Environmental Protection Agency to establish cumulative impact consideration for these communities;
• drafted a blueprint for clean energy downriver;
• worked with Blue-Green Alliance to leverage cleaner operations for US Steel and Severstal Steel;
• begun the process of drafting new Environmental Justice legislation for Michigan;
• wrote a State of the Environment Report for Detroit that details industry contributions to pollution, climate change, poverty and negative public health outcomes.

The list goes on and on. However, what I am most proud of is working side-by-side with Rhonda. Never in my life have I had a supervisor who respected me as an equal, with such a precise moral compass and clairvoyant vision. Now I’m scared I will never find a job this rewarding!

For more information about the Sierra Club's  Environmental Justice program in Detroit, visit http://www.sierraclub.org/ej/programs/mi.aspx.

Clean Energy Advocates Applaud Public Comments Extension

News from Clean Energy Now
Thursday, September 6, 2012

Holland Residents Can Now Address Study’s Shortcomings,
As Their Energy Future is Determined

HOLLAND, MI - After two days of hearings and nearly three dozen local voices highlighting severe deficiencies in Holland Board of Public Works (HBPW) commissioned study, Holland residents were encouraged to see that the Board extended the public comment period on future electric generation options. Most of the residents who testified at the hearings raised extensive concerns about the Board's failure to seriously consider clean energy options like efficiency and renewable sources. Clean air and clean energy advocates still question whether HBPW will provide substantive responses to the comments submitted, including directing the consulting firm to run additional scenarios that reflect the goals of the Community Energy Planning process that thousands of Holland residents participated in and what was expected to help guide future decisions by HBPW.

“The Holland Board of Public Works has the clean energy future of Holland in their hands, and all Holland residents deserve a seat at the table. We applaud the Board for finally allowing the public to comment, but their work isn’t done,” said Jan O’Connell with Sierra Club. “Transitioning Holland to clean, renewable energy sources is a common sense solution that will create jobs and save families money.  Renewable energy and energy efficiency haven’t been seriously examined, and there has been an unnecessary push for a large gas-fired power plant. Holland families deserve a serious discussion over the possibilities of renewable energy."