Great Lakes Now

Energy News Roundup: Bad news for rooftop solar customers

3 min read

Energy News Roundup: Bad news for rooftop solar customers

Customers who paid Sun Badger Solar for installations that never came won’t get a refund — at least for now. The Wisconsin-based company’s limited remaining assets will instead be used to cover a fraction of its employees’ unpaid wages. The Wisconsin Department of Workforce development expects to receive about $126,000 to go toward employee compensation.

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Great Lakes Now

Energy News Roundup: Line 5’s potential reroute plus mining permits stoke fears of contamination

3 min read

Energy News Roundup: Line 5’s potential reroute plus mining permits stoke fears of contamination

Wisconsin officials put a controversial pipeline reroute one step closer to construction last week when they issued permits for Enbridge Energy, a Canadian oil company, to move a section of Line 5 off of Tribal land in the far northern part of the state. Construction and agricultural industry groups cheered the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ decision.

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Great Lakes Now Michigan

Local governments appeal state implementation of renewable siting law

7 min read

Local governments appeal state implementation of renewable siting law

By Izzy Ross, Interlochen Public Radio

This coverage is made possible through a partnership with IPR and Grist, a nonprofit independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future.

More than 70 townships and several counties are suing the Michigan Public Service Commission, challenging whether the commission went through the right process to put in place a law giving the state authority to approve those projects.

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Great Lakes Now

PFAS Roundup: Minnesota votes to continue conservation and PFAS cleanup, Indiana ends firefighter foam collection program

3 min read

PFAS Roundup: Minnesota votes to continue conservation and PFAS cleanup, Indiana ends firefighter foam collection program

Over 77% of voters in Minnesota approved an extension of the Environmental and Natural Resources Trust Fund (ENRTF), that will continue to pay for conservation efforts for another 25 years. Funding for this casts a wide net, from outdoor education and trail investments, to invasive species and PFAS removal. The ENRTF was approved as an amendment to the Minnesota Constitution of the State in 1988, and generates funding from the Minnesota State Lottery. 

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Great Lakes Now Michigan

New Federal Funds Aim to Cut Carbon Emissions and Air Pollution From US Ports

7 min read

New Federal Funds Aim to Cut Carbon Emissions and Air Pollution From US Ports

By Kristoffer Tigue, Inside Climate News

This article originally appeared on Inside Climate News, a nonprofit, non-partisan news organization that covers climate, energy and the environment. Sign up for their newsletter here.

Raquel Garcia has been fighting for years to clean up the air in her neighborhood southwest of downtown Detroit.

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Great Lakes Now Michigan

Can environmental law move beyond bedrock 1970’s legislation, while adapting to current and future challenges?

9 min read

Can environmental law move beyond bedrock 1970’s legislation, while adapting to current and future challenges?

A 2022 report titled Promises Half Kept at the Half Century Mark, by the Environmental Integrity Project, released on the Clean Water Act’s 50th anniversary said the law is “falling short of its original goals.”

Michigan, for example, has the 4th largest number of impaired lakes, reservoirs and streams assessed for water contact recreation in the U.S.

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