By Phil McKenna, 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.
LUDINGTON, Mich.— Boarding the S.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/lake-michigan-coal-ferry-transition-to-clean-energy/
By Daniel Wanschura
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Theresa Eischen would visit her grandparents every summer.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/points-north-a-new-hope-for-anishinaabemowin/
Two Michigan State University (MSU) scientists were recently awarded grants to address per- and polyfluorinated substances (PFAS) in agriculture. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) awarded Hui Li $1.6 million, and the Michigan Department of Agriculture and Rural Development (MDARD) awarded Cherly Murphy $1.75 million to measure livestock bioaccumulation and plant uptake of PFAS.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/pfas-roundup-over-3m-awarded-to-msu-scientists-to-address-pfas-in-agriculture-wisconsin-tackles-pfas-during-hunting-season/
By John McCracken, Investigate Midwest
Investigate Midwest is an independent, nonprofit newsroom. Our mission is to serve the public interest by exposing dangerous and costly practices of influential agricultural corporations and institutions through in-depth and data-driven investigative journalism. Visit us online at www.investigatemidwest.org.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/wisconsin-towns-are-trying-to-limit-cafo-growth-big-dairy-is-fighting-back/
By Mike Shriberg, University of Michigan
is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
If history holds true to form, I expect the presidential campaigns of Donald Trump and Kamala Harris to begin touting their support for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative as Election Day approaches.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/swing-state-voters-along-the-great-lakes-love-cleaner-water-and-beaches-%E2%88%92-and-candidates-from-both-parties-have-long-fished-for-support-there/
A dozen Ohio counties are currently under a quarantine for transporting plant material as the state works to get a handle on its growing spotted lanternfly problem.
The invasive spotted lanternfly is being spread primarily by hitchhiking. The quarantine aims to stop by putting in place requirements for businesses that ship goods across county lines, Ohio Department of Agriculture Division of Plant Health Chief Dan Kenny said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/ohio-department-of-agriculture-is-working-to-stop-the-spread-of-the-spotted-lanternfly/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
From a distance, I caught a glimpse of a relatively small elongated furry animal moving along the shoreline of the Detroit River.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/great-lakes-moment-mink-thriving-along-the-detroit-river/
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.
MINNEAPOLIS—A record amount of federal aid will soon flow to states to help fix, replace or demolish their aging dams, many of which are under increasing pressure as climate change fuels more frequent and severe extreme weather events.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/midwest-dam-safety-projects-funding/
Midwestern convenience store giant Kwik Trip is breaking into the charging business. The chain, known for its gas and grocery offerings, will install electric vehicle chargers at “a strategic number of its stores” through its new Kwik Charge program. The announcement comes a few months after Kwik Trip received about $23 million in federal funds aimed at establishing a statewide EV charging network in Wisconsin.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/energy-news-roundup-kwik-trip-goes-electric-as-federal-funds-flow-in/
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/michigans-new-rules-to-protect-water-from-manure-attacked-by-lawmakers/
By Nina Elkadi, 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.
The aquifer from which Joliet, Illinois, sources its drinking water is likely going to run too dry to support the city by 2030—a problem more and more communities are facing as the climate changes and groundwater declines.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/joliet-illinois-lake-michigan-drinking-water/
Waves of Change is an online interview series highlighting the diverse faces and perspectives shaping the environmental justice movement throughout the Great Lakes region.
This month, we spoke with Ashley Williams, executive director of Just Transition Northwest Indiana, or JTNI, a grassroots environmental justice organization representing the northwest region of Indiana — one of the most industrialized zip codes in the country.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/waves-of-change-meet-just-transition-northwest-indiana-executive-director-ashley-williams/
How fish adapt to life in large urban rivers, like the Chicago River, is one of the questions Dr. Austin Happel is trying to answer at the Shedd Aquarium.
“Knowing where different fish species are hanging out, we can look around that area and kind of understand what that habitat looks like and what it’s providing for them,” Happel said.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/how-do-fish-survive-in-large-urban-waterways-like-the-chicago-river/
By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WBEZ and Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for WBEZ newsletters to get local news you can trust.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/chicagos-beach-season-is-over-or-is-it-lake-michigan-temps-are-breaking-records/
“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A Grand Portage Ojibwe direct descendant, she lives in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her nonfiction books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and the children’s story “A Family Tree” in 2024.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/nibi-chronicles-the-gift-of-manoomin/
By Daniel Wanschura
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Kathleen Knight was doing some research in a forest in Ohio.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/points-north-the-last-to-leave/
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.
Environmental advocates have long focused on how coal harms the climate and environment.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/traverse-city-lawyer-national-recognition-for-making-an-economic-arguments-against-coal/
In the early 2000s a movement to address the plight of the heavily polluted and long neglected Great Lakes started to gain traction.
The goal was to bring the gravitas of the federal government to the issue and in 2004 President George W. Bush signed an executive order declaring the lakes a “national treasure.” An interagency task force was established to bring together the disparate efforts of various federal programs who had been working independently on Great Lakes issues.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/groundwater-whos-in-charge/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Anna Barnes, Great Lakes Echo
The Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is banking on public oversight of the largest Great Lake to help gauge the threat of increasingly common algal blooms.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/wisconsin-officials-ask-the-public-to-report-algal-blooms-in-lake-superior/
By Kathryn Peiman, The Narwhal
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/a-tiny-endangered-fish-lies-on-the-path-of-highway-413-canada-has-a-plan-but-no-new-power-to-protect-it/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Public
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/retirements-by-water-and-wastewater-plant-operators-are-leading-to-workforce-shortages/
By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WBEZ and Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for WBEZ newsletters to get local news you can trust.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/trying-to-build-a-more-climate-resilient-chicago-one-balloon-at-a-time/
Experts now say “climate havens” are not places immune from climate change, but areas where adequate preparation is implemented to account for a drastically different climate than anticipated.
Great Lakes cities, like Chicago, are generally considered to be at a lower risk for extreme climate impacts such as wildfires and tropical storms.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/chicago-reveals-climate-havens-dont-exist-they-must-be-created/
Plastic is the dominant source of beach trash in the Great Lakes region.
That’s the finding by the Chicago-based non-profit Alliance for the Great Lakes in a recently released report that analyzed beach litter picked up by its volunteers over the past 20 years.
“Twenty years of data collected by volunteers shows that 86% of the trash was either fully or partially made from plastic,” the Alliance said in a press release.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/after-10-million-pieces-of-beach-trash-chicago-advocates-push-for-sustainable-packaging/
There’s a whole lot of energy stuff happening in Michigan.
The push to restart the Palisades nuclear reactor in the southwestern part of the state is gaining steam. So is the opposition. The plant, which shuttered in 2022 amid competition from cheaper energy sources, is now set to receive more than $2.4 billion in public subsidies.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/energy-news-roundup-michigan-michigan-michigan/
By Erica Hobbs, Planet Detroit
This article was republished with permission from Planet Detroit. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s weekly newsletter here.
Wetlands don’t often come to mind when thinking about major metropolitan cities like Detroit. Bogs, marshes, vernal pools, and swamps contrast starkly with the city’s skyscrapers, roads, and industrial plants, and up to 90 percent of the area’s wetlands along the Detroit River have been lost since European settlement.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/who-working-to-preserve-and-restore-wetlands-in-metro-detroit/
By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio
This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court will hear a case that could have sweeping effects on state environmental regulators’ authority to force businesses to clean up PFAS pollution under the state’s spills law.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/wisconsin-supreme-court-to-hear-case-with-broad-implications-for-pfas-cleanup/
By Zaria Johnson, Ideastream Public Media
This story was originally published by Ideastream.
In Northeast Ohio, composting is becoming more common due, in part, to local organizations sharing knowledge, resources and the benefits of composting for the planet.
Leftovers often end up in the trash rather than in our stomachs.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/northeast-ohio-composters-reduce-emissions-from-food-waste-one-pile-at-a-time/
I Speak for the Fish is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor Kathy Johnson, coming out the third Monday of each month. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit Public Television.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/i-speak-for-the-fish-a-sturgeon-goes-to-wisconsin-and-a-michigan-muskie-visits-new-york/
By Morgan Springer
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Growing up, Nic Theisen thought farming was a terrible way to make a living.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/points-north-labor-mixed-emotions/
By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, WBEZ
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WBEZ and Grist, a nonprofit, independent media organization dedicated to telling stories of climate solutions and a just future. Sign up for WBEZ newsletters to get local news you can trust.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/major-federal-funding-aims-to-speed-transition-to-clean-energy-in-the-rural-midwest/
Six states were selected by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), to be awarded $5 million in order to test residents for environmental chemical exposures — like PFAS. Four out of the six states are located along the Great Lakes including Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and New York. These biomonitoring grants start September 2024 and go until 2027.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/pfas-roundup-four-great-lakess-states-selected-to-test-residents-annually-for-environmental-chemical-exposure/
By Izzy Ross, Grist
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership with Grist and Interlochen Public Radio in Northern Michigan.
Last year, Michigan became one of the latest states to adopt a clean energy standard, passing sweeping legislation that calls for utilities there to use 100 percent clean electricity by 2040 and sets targets for renewable energy development, among other requirements.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/michigans-ambitious-clean-energy-laws-face-peninsula-sized-hurdle/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/palisades-nuclear-relaunch-gets-more-subsidies-in-michigan-more-backlash/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Public
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/tribal-nations-in-michigan-get-grants-totaling-more-than-38-million-to-reduce-greenhouse-emissions/
By Enrique Saenz, Mirror Indy
Mirror Indy is a part of Free Press Indiana, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to ensuring all Hoosiers have access to the news and information they need.
The first thing Patti Daviau sees when she opens the front door of her home on South Harris Avenue every morning is a thick bunch of weeds reaching through a 500-foot stretch of chain link fence across the street.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/25-years-after-major-toxic-lead-cleanup-westside-neighbors-still-dont-feel-safe/
By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio
This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.
For at least the last decade, Dustin Soyring and his family have struggled with wolves on their farm in the northern Wisconsin town of Maple.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/farmers-turn-to-predator-proof-fences-to-deter-wolves-in-northern-wisconsin/
Great Lakes Now’s Anna Sysling spoke with Cheryl Porter, Chief Operating Officer of Water and Field Services at the Great Lakes Water Authority and the first African American president of the American Water Works Association (AWWA).
With 28 years of experience in the water sector, Porter shares her inspiring journey from junior chemist in Detroit to leading the AWWA.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/cheryl-porters-vision-for-the-future-of-water/
By Brian Allnutt, Planet Detroit
This article was republished with permission from Planet Detroit. Sign up for Planet Detroit’s weekly newsletter here.
Michigan environmental advocates are hailing a “groundbreaking” settlement to a civil rights complaint filed with state regulators over the expansion of a hazardous waste facility in Detroit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/michigan-advocates-hail-groundbreaking-settlement-to-civil-rights-complaint-over-hazardous-waste-facility/
This story is a part of “A Year in the Wild Kitchen of the Great Lakes,” a series in partnership with expert forager Lisa M. Rose, with the mission of nurturing a deeper connection with the natural world through foraging. To get started with your foraging journey, begin here with our “Framework to Sustainable and Safe Practices.”
Autumn brings with it a bounty of fruits and nuts that often go unnoticed in our modern culinary landscape.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/foraged-fruit-and-nuts-wild-apples-abundant-acorns/
Great Lakes Moment is a monthly column written by Great Lakes Now Contributor John Hartig. Publishing the author’s views and assertions does not represent endorsement by Great Lakes Now or Detroit PBS.
The Great Lakes Way is an interconnected set of greenways and water trails stretching from Port Huron, Michigan (at the head of the St.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/great-lakes-moment-ten-natural-wonders-of-the-great-lakes-way/
By Ellie Katz, Interlochen Public Radio
Points North is a biweekly podcast about the land, water and inhabitants of the Great Lakes.
This episode was shared here with permission from Interlochen Public Radio.
Peter Quakenbush’s big dream in life is a little different.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/points-north-a-natural-ending/
By Emma McIntosh, The Narwhal
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/these-are-not-your-lands-to-give-away-6-first-nations-take-ontario-to-court-over-mining-law/
Editor’s Note: “Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A direct descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe, she lives and works in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her two books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and she is at work on a children’s story.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/nibi-chronicles-conversation-about-ojibwe-history-in-fur-trade-nation/
By Jessica Eise, Indiana University
is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
Climate change has been in the news for more than 40 years. It’s typically covered as a scientific or political issue. However, social scientists like me have found that feelings and values are what drive people toward broad, collective change – not charts, graphs or images.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/americans-love-nature-but-dont-feel-empowered-to-protect-it-new-research-shows/
By Elinor Epperson, Michigan Public
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/southeast-michigan-facility-will-soon-house-waste-from-the-manhattan-project/
By Keith Schneider, Circle of Blue
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/u-s-movement-to-limit-cafo-pollution-emboldened-by-michigan-court-ruling/
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.
Michigan’s new climate laws require utilities to transition to entirely “clean” electricity sources by 2040.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/michigan-aims-to-tackle-clean-energy-goals-in-upper-peninsula/
By Lester Graham, Michigan Public
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; Michigan Public, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/cleaning-up-pollution-and-removing-crumbling-dams-help-to-restore-michigan-rivers/
By Peter Blanchard, Mirror Indy
Mirror Indy is a part of Free Press Indiana, a nonprofit news organization dedicated to ensuring all Hoosiers have access to the news and information they need.
Despite concerns from environmentalists — and support from 23 city-county councilors — Mayor Joe Hogsett is so far declining to allocate funds in the 2025 city budget to acquire urban forests for conservation.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/advocates-urge-hogsett-to-save-indys-at-risk-urban-forests/
