Catch the latest updates on what’s happening with PFAS in the Great Lakes region. Check back for more PFAS news roundups every other week on our website.
On January 29, Lee Zeldin was sworn in as 17th Administrator of the U.S.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/zeldin-to-head-epa-sparking-debate-over-pfas-regulation-and-industry-influence/
By Peter Blanchard and Jenna Watson, 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.
Every week for the past 10 years, Aaron Thomas has brought his recycling to the city’s dropoff location in Garfield Park.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/why-indy-wont-have-curbside-recycling-until-at-least-2028/
By Jake Bittle and Zoya Teirstein
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
When Joe Biden first became president, some found it hard to believe that he cared very much about climate change.
With a global pandemic raging, the former vice president and longtime senator pitched his 2020 campaign as a return to normalcy and a referendum on the erratic leadership of Donald Trump.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/joe-biden-was-americas-first-climate-president-did-it-matter/
By Emma McIntosh, The Narwhal
Photography by Christopher Katsarov Luna
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public 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/2025/01/life-on-the-frontlines-of-ontarios-critical-mineral-boom/
Candidates for president of the United States address many issues on the campaign trail as they criss-cross the country pitching their policy agendas.
The economy, healthcare and immigration were among the leading topics in the runup to the 2024 election. However, it’s uncommon for a candidate to talk about the availability of water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2025/01/trumps-aggressive-water-statement-riles-unites-canadians/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/local-governments-appeal-state-implementation-of-renewable-siting-law/
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 Tom Grotewohl, a resident of Wakefield Township in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula and founder of the Protect the Porkies campaign.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/waves-of-change-meet-protect-the-porkies-founder-tom-grotewohl/
Melting ice. Wildfire smoke. Crop losses. Climate change is already having an impact on the Great Lakes region. According to a 2022 report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, in order to limit global warming to 2 degrees Celsius, humanity would have to reach net-zero emissions by the 2070s.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/environmentalists-industry-divided-over-energy-permitting-bill/
By Matt Simon
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
During his first time around as president, Donald Trump rolled back a bevy of environmental rules, withdrew from the Paris Agreement, and boosted the fossil fuel industry.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/hell-try-but-trump-cant-stop-the-clean-energy-revolution/
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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/can-environmental-law-move-beyond-bedrock-1970s-legislation-while-adapting-to-current-and-future-challenges/
By Gautam Jain, Columbia University
is an independent and nonprofit source of news, analysis and commentary from academic experts.
As the U.S. prepares for another Trump administration, one area unambiguously in the incoming president’s crosshairs is climate policy.
Although he has not released an official climate agenda, Donald Trump’s playbook from his last stint in the Oval Office and his frequent complaints about clean energy offer some clues to what’s ahead.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/trump-climate-policy-impact/
By Native News Online Staff, Native News Online
This article originally appeared on Native News Online. Founded in 2011, Native News Online reaches millions of Native and non-Native readers annually including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and others interested in Native American concerns.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/national-park-service-issues-landmark-order-for-tribal-consultations/
By Fatima Syed, The Narwhal
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public 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/2024/11/4-things-to-know-about-a-youth-led-court-case-against-ontarios-climate-plans/
By Tik Root, Grist
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
Donald J. Trump will once again be president of the United States.
The Associated Press called the race for Trump early Wednesday morning, ending one of the costliest and most turbulent campaign cycles in the nation’s history.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/trump-wins-planet-loses/
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.
In Gogebic County, on the western end of Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, towering old-growth evergreens carpet the landscape as it rolls down toward the deep blue of Lake Superior.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/public-hearing-draws-on-big-questions-about-upper-peninsula-copper-mining/
By Emily Jones and Gautama Mehta, Grist
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
The U.S. power grid is at a critical crossroads. Electricity generation, like every other industry, needs to rid itself of fossil fuels if the country is to play its role in combating the climate crisis — a transition that will have to happen even as energy providers scramble to meet what they claim is an unprecedented spike in electricity demand, attributed to the rise of AI.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/the-race-for-clean-energy-is-local/
This article was republished here with permission from Great Lakes Echo.
By Isabella Figueroa, Great Lakes Echo
Student researchers from Michigan State University and the University of Wisconsin are among the winners of an Environmental Protection Agency contest for innovations in sustainability.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/11/students-at-michigan-state-and-wisconsin-win-epa-funding-for-environmental-health-innovations/
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 Rebeka Ndosi, founder of the Maji ya Chai Land Sanctuary, a Black-led healing sanctuary just outside of Two Harbors, Minnesota.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/waves-of-change-meet-maji-ya-chai-land-sanctuary-founder-rebeka-ndosi/
By Marianne Lavelle and Dan Gearino, 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.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/competing-visions-for-u-s-auto-industry-clash-in-presidential-election-with-the-ev-future-pressing-at-the-border/
By Zaria Johnson, Ideastream Public Media
This story was originally published by Ideastream.
As election day approaches, presidential candidates Donald Trump and Kamala Harris continue to campaign on issues that are top of mind for many voters like the economy, crime and immigration.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/ohio-environmental-advocates-weigh-in-2024-presidential-candidates-stance-on-climate-change/
By Brett Walton, 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/election-state-and-local-voters-consider-tax-increases-for-water-protection/
By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio
This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.
Outside a September rally with Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz at the University of Wisconsin-Superior, Ashland business owner and Democrat Will Pipkin set up signs with a cavalcade of slogans, including “Another cat lady for democracy” and “Without a healthy climate, there’s no freedom.”
Pipkin said he’s backing Vice President Kamala Harris and Walz in the presidential race because they’re the most progressive choice, and he thinks they would continue President Joe Biden’s work on green initiatives and climate change.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/climate-change-isnt-a-top-issue-in-this-election-some-wisconsin-voters-say-it-should-be/
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
Helene and Milton, the two massive hurricanes that just swept into the country — killing hundreds of people, and leaving both devastation and rumblings of political upheaval in seven states — amounted to their own October surprise.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/the-climate-stakes-of-the-harris-trump-election/
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/2024/10/the-nations-first-commercial-carbon-storage-plant-is-in-illinois-it-leaks/
Great Lakes Now, Ideastream Public Media, Native News Online, Planet Detroit, Wisconsin Public Radio, and Grist held a discussion last week about the national, regional and statewide climate implications of the upcoming election.
Great Lakes Now Host Anna Sysling moderated a panel of journalists as they spoke about the big topics they are covering and thinking about in advance of voting day.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/virtual-town-hall-what-does-election-mean-for-great-lakes-climate-and-environment/
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/2024/10/michigan-a-top-winner-of-climate-funds-trump-wants-to-revoke/
By Danielle Kaeding, Wisconsin Public Radio
This article was republished here with permission from Wisconsin Public Radio.
Some Wisconsin groups are urging the Biden administration to do more to protect mature and old-growth forests under its proposal to conserve those trees as logging interests are pushing back against changes.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/10/environmental-groups-and-industry-at-odds-over-plan-to-conserve-old-growth-forests/
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/
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/
In a few months, many products with “forever chemicals” will be officially banned in Minnesota. Known as Amara’s Law, starting January 1, 2025 resident’s won’t be able to sell or distribute products with intentionally added PFAS from cookware, cosmetics, dental floss, juvenile products, menstruation products, textile furnishing, ski wax, upholstered furniture, cleaning products, or carpets and rugs — accirding to Vice Magazine.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/09/pfas-roundup-minnesota-pfas-regulation-said-to-be-the-strictest/
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/
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/
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/
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 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 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/
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/
By Juanpablo Ramirez-Franco, Grist
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.
This coverage is made possible through a partnership between WBEZ and Grist, a nonprofit environmental media organization.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/08/chicago-teachers-demand-climate-solutions-in-their-next-contract/
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/missed-calls-forgotten-instructions-inside-an-oil-spill-cleanup-on-toronto-waterways/
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/2024/07/containment-breached-how-an-oil-spill-in-northwest-toronto-made-its-way-to-lake-ontario/
For Detroit’s Sen. Stephanie Chang, the long and winding road to statewide drinking water affordability legislation continues with the finish line, hopefully, in sight.
Chang, a Democrat representing Michigan’s 3rd district, first focused on the affordability issue as a newly minted representative in 2015. At the time, she heard stories about the effects of water shutoffs and related health issues.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/detroit-legislator-takes-the-long-view-on-michigans-water-affordability-struggles/
By Native News Online Staff, Native News Online
This article originally appeared on Native News Online. Founded in 2011, Native News Online reaches millions of Native and non-Native readers annually including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and others interested in Native American concerns.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/seneca-nation-sues-city-for-more-than-450000-gallons-of-wastewater-overflow/
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 Regina Strong, Environmental Justice Public Advocate at the Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE).
For anyone in Michigan, there are two important timely things to note from the interview:
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/07/waves-of-change-meet-regina-strong/
By Anna Clark, photography by Sarahbeth Maney
This story was originally published by ProPublica.
ProPublica is a Pulitzer Prize-winning investigative newsroom. Sign up for The Big Story newsletter to receive stories like this one in your inbox.
When Gretchen Whitmer campaigned for Michigan governor in 2018, she took aim at Michigan’s bottled water industry — and the state policy that gave it unfettered access to free water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/06/michigan-bottlers-still-get-free-water-despite-governors-tough-talk/
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 Monica Lewis-Patrick, activist and president and CEO of We the People of Detroit.
Listen to the full interview
We the People of Detroit is a grassroots organization that works to empower Detroiters around key issues in the city, including access to clean water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/waves-of-change-meet-activist-and-we-the-people-of-detroit-president-monica-lewis-patrick/
By Native News Online Staff, Native News Online
This article originally appeared on Native News Online. Founded in 2011, Native News Online reaches millions of Native and non-Native readers annually including American Indians, Alaska Natives, Native Hawaiians and others interested in Native American concerns.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/new-interagency-agreement-supports-water-tribal-water-and-sanitation-projects/
By Maria Parazo Rose
This story was originally published by Grist. Sign up for Grist’s weekly newsletter here.”
This story is published as part of the Global Indigenous Affairs Desk, an Indigenous-led collaboration between Grist, High Country News, ICT, Mongabay, Native News Online, and APTN.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/05/indigenous-peoples-rush-to-stop-false-climate-solutions-ahead-of-next-international-climate-meeting/
By Tammy Webber, Associated Press
FLINT, Mich. (AP) — Their childhood memories are still vivid: warnings against drinking or cooking with tap water, enduring long lines for cases of water, washing from buckets filled with heated, bottled water. And for some, stomach aches, skin rashes and hair loss.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/children-of-flint-water-crisis-make-change-as-young-environmental-and-health-activists/
In yet another shakeup in the Ohio energy bribery saga that first came to light in 2020, a former state utility regulator was found dead by suicide last week. Sam Randazzo, 74, a longtime lobbyist who was appointed by Gov. Mike DeWine to chair the Ohio Public Utilities Commission, had been charged with taking a $4.3 million bribe from FirstEnergy Corp.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2024/04/energy-news-roundup-key-figure-in-ohio-bribery-scandal-dead-by-suicide/
