UPDATE: We successfully garnered enough support to stop this bill moving forward. Thank you to our Great Lakes Senators! The United States Senate is poised to vote on the Coast Guard Authorization Act as early as this week. In its current form, the bill exempts ballast water pollution from Clean Water Act protections. Ships […]
Read MoreScroll down for a sample message and the comment form link. Aquila Resources is developing an open pit gold-zinc sulfide mine (named the Back Forty mine) in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula 150 ft from the Menominee River—the U.P.’s largest river and a tributary of Lake Michigan. To build the mine, Aquila is requesting a permit to […]
Read MoreLANSING, MI — On November 20th, Michigan Governor Rick Snyder announced his appointment of Dr. Eden Wells to lead a new Public Health Advisory Council. Dr. Wells is Michigan’s chief medical executive and one of fifteen current and former government officials facing prosecution for their role in the Flint water crisis. Wells was in court […]
Read MoreThe Wisconsin State Senate passed a bill yesterday (November 7th, 2017) that rescinds the state’s “Prove It First” law. Passed in 1998 with overwhelming bipartisan support (29-3 in the Senate and 91-6 in the Assembly), “Prove It First” was a reaction to high-profile cases of pollution from sulfide mines (gold, silver, copper, etc.). In what […]
Read MoreTake Action — Tell Governor Snyder to VETO HB 5095 Lawmakers in Michigan recently passed a bill that would weaken Michigan’s ballast water pollution standards, sending it Governor Rick Snyder. House Bill 5095 would effectively repeal the standards passed in 2005 with near unanimous bipartisan support, and leave us to rely exclusively on weaker federal […]
Read MoreClick here to find your Senator and tell them to vote no on the Senate’s version of House Bill No. 4205. The Michigan state House voted in May 57 to 50 in favor of a bill (HB-4205) designed to restrict the ability of state agencies to create regulatory rules that are stronger than federal standards. If passed […]
Read MoreMany Michigan families know what it’s like to wake up after a thunderstorm to find their homes flooded with rainwater and raw sewage. The cleanup is costly and time consuming, and because it’s almost always the result of outdated city infrastructure, homeowners can’t prevent it. A new bill in the Michigan House leaves home and […]
Read MoreOpen-pit sulfide mines expose sensitive sulfide rock formations that release devastating and long-lasting pollution when mixed with water. Wisconsinites—tell your legislators to vote no on repealing “Prove It First.” Wisconsin State Senator Tom Tiffany (R-Hazelhurst) introduced a bill that would effectively rescind the state’s “Prove It First” law. This landmark legislation requires mining corporations to […]
Read MoreTell Prime Minister Trudeau, Ontario Premier Wynne, and Minister McKenna (Environment and Climate Change) to reject the proposed nuclear waste site on the shore of Lake Huron. Take action here (U.S.) and here (Canada). Ontario Power Generation’s (OPG) much maligned and delayed plan to build a nuclear waste depository near the shore of Lake Huron hit […]
Read MoreWisconsin residents — contact your legislators and ask them to preserve long-standing environmental protections. Tell them to resist the call to approve this deal before all of the risks and opportunities it presents are fully researched and understood. Foxconn—maker of iPhones and electronic components—recently announced plans to construct a sprawling facility in southeast Wisconsin. This […]
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