Amid a push toward renewable energy in Michigan, taxpayers are subsidizing technology to turn animal feces into fuel. Opponents say it further subsidizes the growth of an industry responsible for widespread water pollution problems.
Declining hunting participation isn’t the only reason deer populations are skyrocketing. Blame suburban sprawl, a lack of hunting land in southern Michigan, a century-worth of predator suppression and the newer threat of climate change.
Ahead of a gathering to assess the health of Lake Erie, the state acknowledges it won’t meet a 2025 deadline to cut phosphorus runoff into Lake Erie by 40 percent. The goal is to protect Lake Erie and Michigan’s small farms.
Once a largely city and suburban issue, school choice is now a statewide and rural phenomenon. That’s good news for many parents, but it’s causing financial problems and headaches for school officials.
The industry grew faster than the state’s overall economy, as it continued benefitting from a pandemic-era resurgence in camping, hiking, boating and the like. But there are challenges, and some argue the state must do more to bolster the industry.
‘You just can't come in and take our weapons away without giving us a fighting chance to stand up for ourselves,’ Holton Township Supervisor Alan Jager says.
Southern Michigan is being overrun by deer, and a series of steps to reduce herds have not helped. So state game managers are urging hunters this fall to forgo big bucks for does to lower birth rates. Not every hunter is on board.
State regulators are ratcheting down the number of fish anglers can keep in some rivers, citing fears that the fish could be in trouble. State scientists disagree.
In a party-line vote, the Senate passed bills that establish statewide permitting rules for large renewable energy developments, an end-run around local efforts to block wind and solar proposals in Michigan. Gretchen Whitmer is expected to sign the legislation.
Michigan farmers, looking to expand crop insurance and research funding, are pushing to see their needs recognized as the federal Farm Bill moves along on the congressional agenda.
The claim that clean energy and agriculture are natural allies overlooks a fundamental reality: the substantial land requirement for renewable energy projects.
Passed along party lines, the legislation would end local governments’ authority to approve or deny projects. Proponents say the change would end local controversies and jump-start clean energy. Foes say it’s anti-farm and heavy-handed.
A 136-turbine wind project in Isabella County is generating millions of dollars in revenue for the district, giving it access to the kinds of resources and amenities small rural school districts typically can’t afford.
Clean energy bills, aimed at combating climate change, are short on scientific research and dismissive of the rights of local residents and townships, making them deeply undemocratic.
Clean energy opponents seek to portray wind and solar projects as an attack on rural communities. That’s not true. Renewable energy sites are helping to save farmland so families can pass properties to future generations.
