Great Lakes Echo

Michigan home energy efficiency standards stalled amid homebuilders lawsuit

7 min read

By Emilio Perez Ibarguen
Michigan’s attempt to adopt new home energy efficiency standards is facing more delays because of stiff resistance from homebuilders. The new standards were supposed to go into effect in August but are on hold while a lawsuit filed in June by representatives of the construction industry plays out in court.

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Great Lakes Echo

John Ball Zoo Fights for Great Lakes’ Rarest Butterflies

6 min read

By Donté Smith 
Butterfly populations are in decline across the continental U.S., dropping by 22% between 2000 and 2020 according to a study in the journal Science. Almost a third of the 342 species studied have seen their numbers fall by more than half.  To help combat that trend, the John Ball Zoo in Grand Rapids, Michigan, launched its Great Lakes Rare Butterfly Program in 2021 to protect the region’s most threatened species.

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