The Environment Report

DTE Energy is the state's largest utility. It provides electricity to more than two million people in southeast Michigan. Until very recently, DTE leaned on coal-fired power to generate about 3/4 of that electricity. But that's about to change dramatically.

Water experts say non-profit's water test in Flint lacks credibility.

A federal judge in Washington, D.C. has halted programs to reduce the number of cormorants in the Great Lakes region. The federal government and tribes in Michigan kill the birds to protect yellow perch, walleye and other fish. But the judge said the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service overstepped its bounds when it authorized killing cormorants in more than 20 states.

There's a coalition of federal and state agencies working to keep Asian carp out of the Great Lakes.

It's that magical time of year, when you need to start checking yourself for ticks. The blacklegged tick is the kind of tick we have in Michigan that can transmit Lyme disease, and it's been expanding its range in our state.

Studies suggest even low levels of lead exposure can hurt a fetus' development in the womb. And for months now, the state health department has been looking into whether the Flint water crisis caused problems with pregnancies. Meanwhile, researchers at Hurley Medical Center are investigating whether the lead in the water increased the number of miscarriages. But it turns out that trying to track miscarriages is really tough.

There's an ancient variety of squash that was largely forgotten about. But it's been rediscovered. Tribes around the Great Lakes region are sharing the seeds of this squash with each other and with small farmers.

A survey published in the journal Science earlier this year showed that most science teachers spend little time teaching climate change - just an hour or two a year. But making climate change a classroom priority doesn't always win you fans.

Going "Up North" is something a lot of people in Michigan love to do. But where exactly is "up north" & why do we love going there?

Michigan cherry farmers often buy their trees from growers in other places. But it's getting harder to get those trees. We'll hear how some cherry farmers are taking things into their own hands.

This week, two environmental groups put the U-S Fish and Wildlife Service on notice. They're planning to sue the agency. They say it's dragging its feet on protecting the monarch butterfly.

We know that burning coal produces greenhouse gases that cause global warming. But burning coal is a big source of other types of air pollution that can cause disease and even death. Around the country, dozens of coal-burning power plants are racing to comply with new EPA rules to keep mercury out of the air. In Michigan, Consumers Energy and DTE Energy are both spending roughly $2 billion dollars to comply with new air rules. Reid Frazier got an inside look at a plant in Pennsylvania that's making big changes of its own.

The week between Christmas and New Year's is typically one of the busiest times for winter tourism up north. But not this year.

Virginia Tech researchers accuse Michigan health officials of trying to "stonewall" the investigation into lead in Flint's drinking water.

It's possible to track air pollution from space. NASA scientists did that with high-resolution satellite maps. To gather the data, they used an ozone monitoring instrument on board NASA's Aura satellite. That tool tracks atmospheric gasses.