Michigan Lcv Newsletter – Winter 2007

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Michigan League Update

Winter 2006/2007

Michigan League of Conservation Voters ● 213 W. Liberty, Suite 300, Ann Arbor, MI 48104 ● Phone: 734.222.9650 ● Fax: 734.222.9651

Photograph of Michigan’s State Capitol Building by Phillip Hofmeister

High Hopes for the 2007 Michigan Legislative Session The Energy Issue Inside: New Year & Outlook Great Lakes Economy Energy Savers Recent Donors

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Make sure to visit our NEW website!:

Renewable energy and regional water protection are high on this year’s priority list. Christmas came early this year for environmental voters and conservationists in Michigan. The results of the November elections have Lansing offices, hallways, and corridors buzzing with the potential that Michigan voters created at the polls this past election. We now have an environmental majority in the Michigan House of Representatives, a Governor who understands the importance of leading on environmental and public health issues, and a mandate from the people for our state’s leaders to make bold strides on the issues of renewable energy, Great Lakes water protections, and the conservation of parkland and natural features across both of our peninsulas. Michigan is at a crossroads right now. We are at a place in our state’s history where we have a chance to embrace newer, cutting-edge, renewable energy technology that will bring high tech jobs to Michigan while reducing our dependence on old, dirty, polluting forms of carbon based fossil fuels. Or, we can continue to do business as usual, by building more outdated coal burning power plants, which pollute the air we breath, deepen our dependence on the importation of fossil fuels into the state, and do nothing to bring newer, technologically advanced jobs to our state. The choice is clear: a new way of doing business that promotes clean energy and high tech jobs, or the same old way which will not create new job growth in Michigan but continue to pollute our air, land, and water.

www.MichiganLCV.org The Michigan LCV Education Fund is working closely with lawmakers and Www.MichiganLCVEdFund.org environmentalists across the state to push for a strong and reasonable renewable portfolio standard (RPS) for the state of Michigan. This RPS would for the first time require a specific percentage of our state’s energy to come from renewable Learn more about energy sources, such as wind and solar. With your help, we will continue to work environmental issues with the legislature in Lansing to draft and pass legislation that represents what people in Michigan have asked for: a bold new vision for Michigan that includes Find out about innovative energy policies and the establishment of strong standards for protecting upcoming Michigan our state’s water from the threat of those who would like to ship our water away in the name of making a profit. LCV events

Discover volunteer opportunities with Michigan LCV

For the first time in decades, leaders in Lansing appear truly interested in re-establishing Michigan as the leader it once was in conservation and stewardship of our natural features. Michigan LCV is looking forward to a new vision for Michigan that ties a healthy environment to a healthy economy and plans to protect the beauty of Michigan for generations to come.

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2 2006 Michigan LCV Board of Directors Shari Pollesch President Irene Cahill Vice President Mike Newman Secretary Tony Infante Treasurer John Austin William Farr Marcia Gershenson Elizabeth Goodenough Michael Griffin Dr. Daniel Luria Robert Matthews

Happy New Year and Thank You! Thoughts from our Executive Director Lisa Wozniak

2007 is here and we have much to look forward to given the November 2006 elections! For the first time in a long while there is a renewed sense that lawmakers in Lansing are ready to work for a brighter future for us all. Many thanks to all of you who helped support Michgian LCV’s work throughout the fall, work that ensured that environmental issues were elevated in the context of the elections and that good candidates were elected to office!

Lana Pollack G. Hans Rentrop William Stough Chris Yates Michael Moore Director Emeritus Joan Wolfe Director Emeritus John Carver Director Emeritus Govenor and Helen Milliken Honorary Co-Chairs

2006 Michigan LCV Education Fund Board Mark Richardson President James Clift Vice President Tony Infante Secretary Tim Eder Treasurer Shari Pollesch

In addition to our elections-related work in 2006, we overhauled and updated our communications system, beginning with our Michigan LCV and Michigan LCV Education Fund websites: www.MichiganLCV.org and www.MichiganLCVEdFund.org. These new sites provide Michigan legislators, media and the general public information on the Michigan’s key environmental challenges, and provide us with a more effective way to communicate with you. Michigan LCV members such as you are unique: you understand the importance of protecting Michigan’s water and natural resources and how that protection is directly linked to the legislative and electoral processes. Many of you were raised swimming in lakes, fishing in rivers, and exploring neighborhood streams. You know that the Great Lakes define us as a state and are key to our economic well-being. We work here at Michigan LCV to ensure that these values are communicated to our elected officials and that they

understand we expect broad and continued protection of our beautiful state. In addition, we work to reach out to the thousands of other Michiganders who share these values. To this end, we were proud to collaborate with the Michigan Environmental Council and many of their member groups on the publication of the 2007-08 Michigan Environmental Briefing Book. This agenda-setting document outlines the environmental and conservation community’s top priorities, which include defending the Great Lakes, building a clean energy future for Michigan, and protecting children from toxic chemicals. Please take a peek at: www.MichiganLCVEdFund.org. We encourage you to download a copy or call our office and we’ll mail you one. Then, make an appointment with your elected official to talk about the key issues. They need to hear from concerned citizens like you, and we’d be more than happy to help with any of the arrangements. Finally, we encourage you to invite your friends, neighbors, and relatives to join our efforts. With member support and our improved communications methods, we will continue our non-partisan work with legislators in Lansing and work for the strongest possible protections of our air, land, and water. As the mother of two small boys, I realize daily that the good work we do today is essential for generations to come.

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Recent Brookings Institute Report Focuses on the Future of the Great Lakes Brookings Institute Non-Resident Senior Fellow and MI LCV Board Member John Austin reports on why our region should push for a common economic agenda

The Great Lakes region—the eight Mid-western states that rim the lakeshores and line the Ohio and upper Mississippi watersheds— plays a central role in our nation’s economy. This region led America’s agricultural and industrial revolutions and has pioneered global, social and economic innovations—from the automobile to the Internet—which have literally changed the world. With its traditional manufacturing base now challenged by new global economic competition, the states of the Great Lakes region are struggling in a transition from the industrial era, in which it dominated, to leadership in the knowledge age. The Brookings Institution, joined by business, civic, education and philanthropic partners in the region, is spearheading a Great Lakes Economic Initiative to promote and realize a winning economic agenda for the Great Lakes region. This cutting edge initiative gives policy recommendations for the region’s civic and political leadership, Governors and Congressional Delegation, as well as the aspirants for President in the wide-open 2008 Presidential race, which will be decided by swing states like ours. Alongside recommendations that improve education levels and fuel innovation and entrepreneurship in the region, the report notes that our

region is poised to lead the way in the clean energy and transportation technologies of the world. With over one fifth of the world’s freshwater captured in the Great Lakes watershed (an increasingly scarce and valuable commodity in the world) and significant industrial infrastructure, the region is also a sturdy platform for sustainable national growth, unlike the fastgrowing coastal regions of the U.S. which are prone to natural disasters, and many sunbelt areas which are facing serious sustainability issues due to lack of water and exurban sprawl. In addition, the region’s 10,900 miles of Great Lakes coastline—along with abundant rivers, forests, lakes, and recreation areas—are significant contributors to the quality of life here and offer sustainable opportunities for water-based development. The Brookings report makes a strong economic argument for enhancing Michigan’s Great Lakes shoreline— our “North Coast”—with a federal/ regional commitment to following through with cleaning the Great Lakes by preserving water, funding recreation, and protecting natural features and environmental assets. The bottom line is that Michigan is at the center of a vital region poised for growth, and that our economic growth in many ways hinges on our commitment to protecting our region’s precious natural resources. The full report is available at www.brookings.edu/metro.

Michigan LCV and LCV Education Fund Staff Brian Beauchamp Communications and Campaigns Manager [email protected] Pam Bierzynski Office & Special Projects Manager [email protected] Jim Carey Financial Systems Analyst [email protected] Joe Coburn Intern [email protected] Nell Dority Finance Director [email protected] Kerry Duggan Program Specialist [email protected] Sarah Neville Special Projects Assistant [email protected] Elizabeth Palazzola Special Projects Assistant [email protected] Ryan Werder Website Assistant [email protected] Lisa Wozniak, Executive Director [email protected]

Board Member Mike Newman chats with Michigan LCV member Debra Lord at a fall fundraiser in Ann Arbor

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Not Your Grandfather’s Kind of Mine Metallic-sulfide mining on the Yellow Dog Plains is a threat to Michigan’s water and is just not worth the risk

There is a new kind of mine being proposed in Michigan and it has many people very concerned about the threat that it poses to nearby waterways, the local community, and wildlife populations.

Most Michiganders would rather this proposed mine never see the light of day. But Kennecott has deep pockets and is pushing for a permit that would allow them to move forward with their business plan, which would likely leave a legacy of pollution in It has been over three years since an some of Michigan’s most pristine wild international company named Rio areas in return for a handful of temTinto via its subsidiary, Kennecott porary jobs. Mining Company, came to Michigan and declared they were eying a You can help! Make your voice nickel deposit embedded in sulfide heard by going to our on-line petition ore at the heart of the Upper asking the Michigan DEQ to deny this Peninsula. The Michigan Department permit: of Environmental Quality has recently moved forward with approval of this http://www.ipetitions.com/petition/ nosulfidemining/ mine, but local citizens and people across the Upper and Lower To learn more about this issue, visit us Peninsula’s are standing in opposition. You see, metallic-sulfide online at: www.MichiganlLCVEdFund.org. mining has never been done safely anywhere in the world because it creates a highly toxic solution known Or, contact our Ann Arbor office for the most recent updates on action at as “Acid-Mine Drainage”, which is the state and local levels. essentially sulfuric acid runoff that devastates fish populations and kills rivers.

Using renewable energy sources will minimize ugly smokestacks

Energy Savers

Make sure your home is correctly insulated by caulking windows and doors, installing weather strips and sweeps, and by investing in new insulation. Reduce use by unplugging unused chargers and appliances and buy Energy Star certified. Turn down your water heater and vacuum your refrigerator coils. Compact fluorescent light bulbs consume one quarter the energy of incandescent bulbs, and last about eight times as long. Replacing 25% of the light bulbs in your house with compact fluorescent bulbs will cut your lighting energy bill in half. Buy recycled products to close the energy loop! Recycling is not enough if you don’t buy the end products! Call your energy provider for a free energy audit! Most energy companies will provide either free audits or links on their websites to show you how to conduct your own.

A view from the shore of Lake Superior, which lies directly downstream from the proposed mine site

Find these tips and more: www.northernoptions.org www.glrea.org/

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Our Greatest Appreciation to Our Most Recent Donors! Cathy Allen Representative Kathy Angerer John B. Aoun Jon and Mary Armstrong Edgar Balcueva George Ball Jay Barnhart Lois DeBacker Thomas and Sue Blandford Robert Borak Richard Borer Will and Joyce Bottje Theresa Brennan Mary and Donald Brown Kenneth Burchfield Robert and Patricia Carrico Fred Charbonneau Judith Clark Suzanne Clinton Michael and Rebecca Cottrell Ed and Ellie Davidson Brian Duggan Wendell Dunbar Steve and Janine Easter Jeff and Lou Ann Eder Robert Eleveld Obiefune Ezekoye William and Kay Farr Molly Flanagan Barbara and Nelson Fuller Beverly M.Ghesquiere Christopher and Elaine Graham Leigh Greden Judy Griffin Chris Grubb R.E. and Patricia Haan Noah and Jennifer Hall Michael P. Hatty John and Laura Herold Rick Hoff Phillip Hoffman, Jr. John Hunting Dana Hurst and Jospeh Ziolkowski Joan Kauffman William Kemner

Sybil Kolon LuAnne Kozma James and Barbara Kurbel Marlene Leistico Debra Lord Dan Luria and Janet Loesche Robert Matthews Jeremy McCallion Hugh McDiarmid Jr. Fred McLane Richard and Shirley McNally Sarah Neville Joan Newberry Thomas and Jill Newhouse Mike Newman Sharon and Charles Newman Gerhard and Margaretha Olving Robert Oneal Dan and Mary Lee Orr Elizabeth Palazzola William and Shirley Patterson H. Rhett and Jeralyn Pinsky Lana and Henry Pollack G. Hans Rentrop Mark Richardson Heather Robinson David and Patricia Rogers Kenneth Rosenman June Rusten Norris and Faith Sanders Liz Schuh Mary Stadel Kate Stewart David and Alison Swan Dennis Swanson Kate VanerVeen Tanner John and Mary Lou Tanton Nathan Triplett Peter M. Wege Gregory Wetstone Tom and Anne Woiwode Warren and Shirley Wolfe Will and Joan Wolfe Richard and Constance Zimmermann

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Contact Us! Ann Arbor Office: 213 W. Liberty Street Suite 300 Ann Arbor, MI 48104 Phone (734) 222-9650 Fax (734) 222-9651

Please become a member of Michigan League of Conservation Voters

E-mail: [email protected] Website: www.MichiganLCV.org www.MichiganLCVEdFund.org

Address Change? Please help us stay updated by sending any mailing or e-mail address changes to [email protected]

MICHIGAN LEAGUE OF CONSERVATION VOTERS 213 W. LIBERTY, SUITE 300 ANN ARBOR, MI 48104

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