The Environment Report

Proposal 3 would require utilities to get 25-percent of their electricity sales from renewable sources by the year 2025.  The campaigns for and against the proposal are debating how we would meet that goal.  The second part of our two-part series on Proposal 3.

We’ll take a closer look at Proposal 3.  It would amend the state Constitution to require utilities to get 25 percent of their electricity sales from renewable sources by 2025. The campaigns for and against the proposal have been debating how much it’ll cost.  Renewable energy and your utility bill.

Republican state lawmakers have made a number of changes to land use in Michigan.Some of the lawmakers say they’re striking back against a United Nations report called Agenda 21. They say it threatens private property rights.

Republican Dan Benishek and Democrat Gary McDowell are vying for Michigan’s northernmost Congressional seat. Benishek wants Michigan to set more of its own rules for the Great Lakes. But McDowell thinks leaving things to the states could hurt the Lakes. The close race for Michigan’s 1st Congressional district.

We take a look back at the strange weather we’ve had this year.  Heat, drought and other climate curveballs in Michigan.

We’ll ride along with a dive team that believes they’ve found the oldest shipwreck in the Great Lakes.It’s a French ship that disappeared in 1679... with a mythical animal carved on the stern: half lion and half eagle. 

The Eagle Mine near Marquette has been controversial.  The company just agreed to pay for independent testing of the mine by a non-profit group.  We’ll hear why the company agreed to more monitoring.

The federal agency that regulates nuclear power plants released more information about a leak over the summer at the Palisades plant near South Haven. The plant has one of the worst safety ratings in the U.S. after a number of problems last year.  We’ll hear about the preliminary results of the regulators’ inspection into that leak.

There's a new water leak at the Palisades Nuclear Power Plant... and the state Department of Natural Resources can set aside land to make sure biodiversity is preserved. But new legislation seeks to limit that authority.

Enbridge Energy is replacing one of its pipelines that runs through lower Michigan.  They’re replacing Line 6B. It’s the same pipeline that broke in Marshall two years ago. Enbridge says many people who own land along the pipeline route have signed contracts with Enbridge to let the company use more of their land.  But Enbridge is taking people who refuse to sign contracts to court.

 There are thousands of underground tanks across the state that are used to store gasoline and other liquids.  But they can leak... and there are thousands of documented leaks in Michigan that have not been cleaned up.  We’ll hear about the backlog in the state's program to clean up these leaky storage tanks. 

When you're deciding what trees and shrubs to plant in your yard, you might consult the USDA Plant Hardiness Zone Map.  We'll hear from a researcher who says even though the USDA just updated that map, climate change is already making the map out of date.  We'll also hear from the state climatologist and an MSU horticultural expert to get advice on what to keep in mind when you're choosing trees for your yard.

Venture capitalists and fishermen want to make money by selling Asian carp to China. We’ll hear why some critics say markets for carp are not as promising as they seem.

We’ll take a look at the places scientists expect Asian carp to do the best if they make a home in the Great Lakes... especially western Lake Erie.

We continue our look at Asian carp this week.  We’ll visit the place that’s considered the 2nd highest risk route for Asian carp into the Great Lakes and hear why a chain-link fence on dry land is intended to stop the carp.