Michigan residents flock to Lansing to urge Snyder, lawmakers to act now on straits pipeline

Michigan residents flock to Lansing to urge Snyder, lawmakers to act now on straits pipeline

Citizen lobbyists deliver 8,500 letters to governor urging action on aging Enbridge Line 5

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Feb. 23, 2016

Media Contacts:  Lynna Kaucheck, Food & Water Watch, (586) 556-8805 | lkaucheck@fwwatch.org
Sean McBrearty, Clean Water Action, (616) 516-7758 | smcbrearty@cleanwater.org

LANSING—A growing wave of public concern about Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac brought dozens of citizens from across Michigan to Lansing Tuesday to urge lawmakers and the Snyder administration to act now to protect the Great Lakes from a disastrous oil spill. 

The day of action comes as communities around Michigan are raising their concerns about the pipeline and calling for immediate action. To date, more than 20 local units of government have passed resolutions urging Gov. Rick Snyder to use his authority to shut down Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac or demanding other state action to prevent an oil spill.

“It’s clearer now than ever that people and communities throughout Michigan will not tolerate the huge risk Line 5 continues to pose to our environment, economy and drinking water,” said Lynna Kaucheck, Food & Water Watch. “Business owners, environmentalists, tribal leaders and other Michiganders from all walks of life are united in our determination to stop the flow of oil through the Great Lakes. Our efforts today should make it unmistakably clear to our political leaders that inaction is not an acceptable option.”

Citizen lobbyists met with 22 state lawmakers on behalf of the Oil & Water Don’t Mix campaign and asked them to support a resolution before both chambers that calls on the governor to terminate Enbridge’s easement of Great Lakes bottomlands and shut down Line 5 in the straits.Participants also dropped off some 8,500 letters at Gov. Snyder’s office calling on him to shut down the pipeline. 

“I think the huge stack of letters we’re delivering today is a sign of how passionately Michigan residents care about our Great Lakes and how urgent a threat we believe Line 5 poses to our water and way of life,” said Sean McBrearty, Clean Water Action. “Every day the governor allows Enbridge to pump oil through the Straits of Mackinac is another roll of the dice, with the world’s greatest freshwater resource at risk. Let’s quit gambling with the Great Lakes.”

The 2010 Kalamazoo River disaster—the worst inland oil spill in U.S. history—was one of more than 800 oil spills Enbridge was responsible for in the U.S. and Canada from 1999 to 2010. Today the company is working to skirt public review processes and expand its GXL pipeline network in the Great Lakes region to carry 1.1 million barrels per day of tar sands crude—a significantly greater volume than was proposed for the Keystone XL pipeline—according to a report issued last week by several environmental groups. Line 5 is part of the GXL network, and carries Canadian petroleum products from Superior, Wis., to Sarnia, Ontario.

“It’s time for Michigan’s leaders to stand up to Enbridge and make it clear that we will not allow the company to continue putting our Great Lakes at risk by using them as a shortcut from Canadian oil fields to Canadian refineries,” said Mike Berkowitz, legislative and political director for the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter. “The public’s concern about Line 5 could not be clearer. The Snyder administration must assert its authority before another disaster tarnishes our fresh water and our state’s reputation.”

###

Shame on Gov. Snyder for caving to AG Schuette, corporate polluters

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

Tuesday, February 16, 2016

Contact: Mike Berkowitz, (248) 345-9808

Sierra Club: Shame on Gov. Snyder for caving to AG Schuette, corporate polluters

LANSING—Mike Berkowitz, Legislative and Political Director of the Michigan Chapter of the Sierra Club, issued the following statement regarding Gov. Rick Snyder’s decision to pull the plug on a plan to reduce carbon pollution in Michigan:

“When it comes to actually leading Michigan’s transition away from dirty, expensive coal, we’ve seen nothing from Gov. Snyder but relentless, positive inaction. His decision to pull the plug on a common-sense plan to reduce carbon pollution in Michigan is shameful and is just another example of his failure to lead and protect Michigan’s families and natural resources. Once again, Snyder has caved to corporate polluters and Attorney General Bill Schuette’s political antics.”

###

Sierra Club Program Educates Citizens about Redistricting

Help Us Put People Back in Democracy

Government is supposed to be of, by, and for the people, but did you know that democracy in Michigan has been hi-jacked through a process called gerrymandering? Our state legislature, like many around the country, has drawn voting districts in which lawmakers choose their voters rather than designing competitive legislative districts where voters make the decisions. The public is cut out of a process that is used by those in power to protect their power and insulate themselves from accountability to their constituents.

When elected officials are less accountable to the people they represent, it makes it more difficult for Sierra Club to have an impact. To address this, we've been raising awareness this year among Michigan residents about the negative effect of redistricting on our democracy. We need your help!

1) We need folks to table at events this summer and fall to distribute fliers with two simple survey questions for people to answer. We need volunteers to attend high traffic events and help us recruit people to answer these surveys and collect them for the Chapter.

2) Also, we can set you up for calling people to ask those survey questions by phone from the comfort of your own home. Click here to sign up: http://tinyurl.com/fixdemocracy

We need lots of volunteers for this to succeed! If you have just a few hours to spare to talk with fellow Michiganders, you can help. It’s extremely easy to do, using a short script with two simple questions to ask folks either on the phone or at public events. For details or to volunteer, email cecilia.garcia@sierraclub.org.

Gift cards are available for people who collect over 200 signatures!

Contact cecilia.garcia@sierraclub.org for more information.

Sierra Club Challenges Permit for Fish Farm in Au Sable River

Sierra Club Challenges Permit for Fish Farm in Au Sable River

Hearing Before DEQ Administrative Law Judge Starts February 8

For More Information, including copies of the DEQ-issued Permit and Sierra Club Contested Case Petition challenging it, contact:

Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Forest Ecologist:  (906) 360-0288   marvin.roberson@sierraclub.org

LANSING--The Sierra Club announced the commencement of a Contested Case Hearing against the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality. The hearing is regarding a challenge to the Michigan DEQ issuance of a permit to operate the old Grayling Fish Hatchery, situated within the Au Sable River, as an industrial fish farm. The Au Sable is a world famous trout stream, and a destination for thousands of anglers annually.

The DEQ issued the permit to Harrietta Hills, Trout Farm, LLC, to operate the facility on July 1, 2014. The Sierra Club challenged the DEQ permit on August 11, 2014. The challenge was issued under the MDEQ Contested Case procedure, which is similar to a court trial, but held in front of an Administrative Law Judge. Sierra Club is asking the Administrative Law Judge to overturn the permit which allows the facility to operate.

According to Marvin Roberson, Sierra Club Forest Ecologist, the permit conditions are so lax as to pose a grave danger to the Au Sable ecosystem. “The DEQ issued a permit to operate an industrial scale fish farm right in the Au Sable River. This permit contains absolutely no limits on  the discharge of live fish, dead fish, fish parts, or fish parasites, pathogens, or diseases," said Roberson.

The Sierra Club contends that it is simply not possible to operate a commercial fish farm safely in a location such as the Grayling Hatchery. 

“This facility sits within the flow of the Au Sable. It is an incontrovertible fact that when fish farms are connected to natural bodies of water, animals and diseases move from the farm to the natural water body," said Roberson. 

“This permit seems to bode poorly for the future of safe aquaculture in the state of Michigan” Roberson said, in reference to a major push by the state to increase aquaculture in Michigan. “If the state is willing to allow unlimited live, dead, and diseased fish into a system as small and delicate as the Au Sable, imagine what they will allow into the Great Lakes”.

The hearing begins Monday, February 8 in Lansing, and is scheduled to conclude by Thursday, March 3. Anglers of the Au Sable, based in Grayling, have also filed a petition challenging the permit, and are also plaintiffs in the Contested Case proceeding.

 ##

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow To Headline Event Honoring Michigan Sierra Club’s Pioneering Leader Anne Woiwode

NEWS MEDIA ADVISORY

For Saturday, January 23, 2016

U.S. Sen. Debbie Stabenow To Headline Event Honoring 

Michigan Sierra Club’s Pioneering Leader Anne Woiwode

Media Contact:   David Holtz 313-300-4454/david@davidholtz.org

Senator Debbie Stabenow will join other prominent environmental and public officials Saturday from 4pm to 6pm in Lansingfor an event honoring Anne Woiwode, the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter Director who is retiring after 35 years of pioneering major environmental achievements for the Great Lakes State.

Who:	Sen. Debbie Stabenow, state Sen. Curtis Hertel, Sen. Gary Peters (staff), Michigan Sierra Club  and other environmental leaders and Honoree Anne Woiwode
What:	Special Reception celebrating Anne Woiwode’s historic career with Sierra Club and her accomplishments, including establishing Michigan’s 90,000 acres of wilderness under the Michigan Wilderness Act
When:	Event begins at 4pm to 6pm with speakers scheduled at 4:45pm
Where:	Greater Lansing Housing Coalition, 600 West Maple Street, Lansing, MI

Background

After serving as Sierra Club’s Michigan Chapter Director since 1985, Anne Woiwode retired this month.  A former Meridian Township trustee, Woiwode was instrumental in the establishment of 90,000 acres of wilderness under the Michigan Wilderness Heritage Act in 1987.  Woiwode, who received national recognition in 2014 for her work, spearheaded Sierra Club’s efforts to protect rural families and farms from industrial agricultural pollution and is a nationally recognized expert on environmental policy and law.  She has testified on hundreds of environmental bills and is the foremost expert in Michigan on natural resource issues.   In recent years, Woiwode led the Sierra Club’s successful fight to halt the construction of nine proposed coal-fired plants in Michigan and to move the state away from reliance on polluting fossil fuels and toward clean energy.  Woiwode began her environmental work in Michigan as a Sierra Club volunteer leader in 1980.  On Saturday she will return to that volunteer role when she is expected to be appointed Sierra Club Michigan Chapter’s Conservation Committee Chair. 

##

Sierra Club Seeks Political Interns for Fall 2016

 Sierra Club Michigan Chapter – 2016 Political Internships

What is the Sierra Club?

The Sierra Club's members and supporters are more than 2.4 million of your friends and neighbors.  Inspired by nature, we work together to protect our communities and the planet. Founded in 1892, the Club is America's oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization. Our mission is to: (1) Explore, enjoy, and protect the wild places of the earth; (2) Practice and promote the responsible use of the earth’s ecosystems and resources; (3) Educate and enlist humanity to protect and restore the quality of the natural and human environment; and (4) Use all lawful means to carry out these objectives.

Internship Responsibilities

In this internship, you will directly assist candidates running for public office that the Sierra Club has endorsed. The Sierra Club has an extremely rigorous endorsement process and focuses on the most competitive races with the best environmentally-minded candidates. In this internship, we will train you on the basic skills of campaign organizing, educate you about environmental issues impacted by politics, and then deploy you to be part of a candidate’s campaign for two to three months. Potential responsibilities include helping organize fundraisers for a candidate, coordinating voter contact, organizing phone banks, recruiting Sierra Club members to volunteer for a candidate, canvassing, coordinating press conferences and press releases for a candidate, helping with a candidate’s earned media strategy, running social media accounts for a candidate, policy or campaign research, performing data entry and office work.

Qualifications

The ideal applicant will have an interest in politics, knowledge or interest in environmental issues, be proficient in Microsoft Office applications, and have experience with google drive, facebook, twitter, blogs, and email.  Applicants must be able to communicate effectively, take direction on projects, work independently, be flexible, and be prepared for a fun and fast-paced campaign environment.

Logistics

Internship positions are available in 2016 for the fall semester (September-November). This internship is unpaid but comes with a small stipend and can earn you class credit (you will need to work this out with your academic advisor). The internship is coordinated through our Lansing office but you will be deployed to work for a campaign that is somewhere close to where you are located. Interns must be available to attend a full-day training on Saturday, September 10^th. Internships can be arranged for between 5 to 40 hours per week with flexible scheduling.

To apply, send your resume to Mike Berkowitz at mike.berkowitz@sierraclub.org, with a brief (one-two paragraphs) statement describing your interest in this internship. The application deadline is Monday, September 5^th.

Results

People who participate in this Political Internship often go on to achieve professional and academic success. After interning, multiple interns have become lawyers, social workers, political campaign managers, Sierra Club employees, staffers for other non-profit organizations, elected officials, and professors. Many former interns also achieve leadership roles within the Sierra Club Michigan Chapter such as Political Committee Representatives, Legislative Committee Representatives, Citizen Lobbyists, and campaign leaders.

Citizens Groups Call for Expanded Voting Rights on MLK Day

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

News from Engage Michigan

January 18, 2016

Contact: Marissa Luna, 989-798-3051, marissa@engagemichigan.org

Citizens Groups Call for Expanded Voting Rights on MLK Day

Legislators should make voting more accessible

MICHIGAN – Today, in the spirit of Martin Luther King Jr., voting rights groups are calling on elected leaders in Lansing to expand citizens’ voting rights and oppose voter suppression legislation. 

Several bills were introduced and/or passed in 2015 that would negatively impact voters’ ability to participate in elections. Governor Rick Snyder signed a bill to eliminate straight ticket voting. Another bill that was introduced would put up numerous roadblocks to local officials who want to make voting more convenient and accessible in their communities.

The organizations listed below sign on to the following statement:

“Voting is our right and our responsibility. The integrity of our elections depends on every eligible citizen being able to register and cast their ballot. Martin Luther King Jr. knew that and dedicated his life to ensuring that every eligible citizen in America had the right to participate in our democracy. We continue in 2016 in carrying on his quest by urging our representatives to modernize and streamline elections in order to make voting more accessible, convenient, accurate, and fair.”

Michigan State Conference NAACP

APIAVote-MI

Sierra Club Michigan Chapter

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law

Fair Elections Legal Network

League of Women Voters of Michigan

Michigan Election Reform Alliance

Michigan Muslim Community Council

Michigan Center for Election Law

American Civil Liberties Union of Michigan

###