A Line 5 shutdown would create a full-blown economic and energy crisis, which are risks Michigan manufacturers simply cannot afford — neither can the customers who rely on the products we create. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221205-commentary-line5
The Alliance for the Great Lakes Board of Directors held their annual retreat November 18-19 in Chicago. At the meeting, the board elected two new Directors and a slate of officers, while saying farewell to six term-limited directors.
Dr. Sri Vedachalam is Director, Water Equity and Climate Resilience, at ECT, Inc., where he works with communities to address their water quality and access challenges. He is a water policy specialist, and his work has covered national water issues such as affordability, aging infrastructure, extreme weather impacts, financing, public trust, and non-point source pollution. Prior to this role, he set up and grew the water program at the Environmental Policy Innovation Center, turning it from a one-person operation to a national powerhouse. During his stint as researcher at the Cornell University-based New York State Water Resources Institute, he experienced first-hand the beauty of the Great Lakes region.
He currently serves on the advisory board for the communications nonprofit Water Hub, and is a member of Blue Accounting’s Drinking Water work group facilitated by the Great Lakes Commission. Dr. Vedachalam is also the Editor for Urban Water at Global Water Forum, a resource for evidence-based, accessible, and open-access articles on freshwater governance. He was named a 2022 Top 10 Young Professional by Water & Wastes Digest. He holds a Ph.D. from The Ohio State University and lives with his wife and two kids in the Washington, DC metro area.
Dr. Wren Montgomery is Assistant Professor of Sustainability & General Management at Western University’s Ivey Business School in London, Ontario, and a Faculty Affiliate at the University of Michigan’s Erb Institute for Global Sustainable Enterprise. Her research, teaching, and impact work focuses on environmental and social organizing, how it changes norms and institutions, and how it interacts with corporations. She is primarily interested in unique forms of collaboration and unconventional coalitions with the potential to overcome obstacles to solving many of the world’s most pressing challenges. Dr. Montgomery focuses on the intersections of climate change, water crises, soil degradation, and social justice. Her multi-year research project on water access and affordability – with a focus on Detroit – has received several prestigious honors.
Dr. Montgomery is deeply committed to doing research that has both academic significance and a more immediate impact on the world around us. She does this by helping students to understand the roots of problems and identify leverage points for change, by working with organizations to raise awareness of these challenges, by highlighting successful approaches and tools, by engaging and working collaboratively with impacted communities, and by serving on government and corporate boards. She is also an experienced management consultant and senior government policy analyst.
Jo-Elle Mogerman was re-elected as Board Chair. Susan McDermott was elected to a second term as Treasurer. Tom Langmyer was elected to his first term as Nominating Committee Chair. Vanessa Tey Iosue was elected to her second term as Vice Chair of Policy.
The board also said farewell to six directors who are term-limited after six years of service: Aaron Fershee, Adrienne Dziak, Claire Castleman, David Schmahl, Lauren Bigelow, and Sue Conatser.
“Thank you to all of our board members – past and present – for their dedication and leadership,” said Joel Brammeier, the Alliance’s President & CEO. “Our work would not be possible without their time and expertise. They are integral to the Alliance’s successes in protecting and restoring this resource we all cherish. We look forward to the contributions of our newest board members and share all our gratitude to those saying farewell.”
For a complete listing of Alliance for the Great Lakes directors and officers, visit our Board of Directors page.
The post Alliance for the Great Lakes Welcomes New Board Members, New & Returning Officers appeared first on Alliance for the Great Lakes.
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
News - Alliance for the Great Lakes
https://greatlakes.org/2022/12/alliance-for-the-great-lakes-welcomes-new-board-members-new-returning-officers/
NCEI News Feed
https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/news/climate-change-context-paleoclimate
A recent report from WalletHub, “2022’s Greenest Cities in America,” ranked Buffalo, Madison, Cincinnati and Milwaukee among the Great Lakes region’s best for engaging in cleaner, more sustainable habits.
The post Great Lakes region is resource rich, so why aren’t cities ‘greener’? first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/12/05/great-lakes-region-is-resource-rich-so-why-arent-cities-greener/
Green Bay, WI
https://www.weather.gov/www.weather.gov/crh/skywarnrecognition
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12641DA0E8D8.SpecialWeatherStatement.12641DA19BC0WI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12641DA0902C.SpecialWeatherStatement.12641DA12690WI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12641D9FEFA0.SpecialWeatherStatement.12641DA12C6CWI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
Current Watches, Warnings and Advisories for Brown (WIC009) Wisconsin Issued by the National Weather Service
https://alerts.weather.gov/cap/wwacapget.php?x=WI12641D932054.SpecialWeatherStatement.12641D9FF3ECWI.GRBSPSGRB.3b77a733acfe35fc01f412b80021d336
The Apostle Islands National Lakeshore in Bayfield, Wisconsin, has made significant changes to improve accessibility to the shoreline in recent years. Through its “Access for All” campaign, the Friends of the Apostle Islands National Lakeshore group wants to continue these efforts by adding a 520-foot-long accessible ramp at Meyers Beach so people can better access the kayak launching area. Read and listen to the full story by WXPR – Rhinelander, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-accesible-shorefront
A lake effect snowstorm hit parts of Jefferson and Lewis counties, New York, causing waves of 15 to 20 feet and winds over 50 miles per hour. The high winds caused some commercial vessels to anchor on Wednesday on both ends of the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River portion of the Great Lakes Seaway and storm damage to the town of Cape Vincent. Read the full story by WWTI-TV – Watertown, NY.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-storm-damage
Enamored with the wild from childhood, Canadian photographer Trevor Pottelberg learned to brave the extreme storm season of Lake Erie to get hold of awe-inspiring images of water in motion, several of which can be viewed in this article. Read the full story by The Epoch Times.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-wave-photographs
The Northeast Wisconsin shipwreck of the Sidney O. Neff was added to the National Register of Historic Places on November 7 following its listing on the State Register of Historic Places in September. The Wisconsin Historical Society says the wreck allows historians and archaeologists to study the construction of early converted wooden steambarges in the Great Lakes lumber trade. Read the full story by WLUK-TV – Green Bay, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-historic-shipwreck
In St. Joseph, Michigan, the US Army Corps of Engineers awarded a contract to King Company of Holland, Michigan to dredge the St Joseph Harbor of debris in the water that has severely limited traffic over the last five weeks. Due to bad weather causing rough waves and high winds, it could take even longer for the harbor to be fully operational again. Read the full story by WWMT-TV – Kalamazoo, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-dredging-delay
An analysis released by a coalition of activists and conservation groups in Michigan finds that high water rates force many families to live in unsafe conditions, putting elders and children at risk. The report proposes that state officials adopt a water-affordability strategy that supports low-income Michiganders and does not harm residents who can afford their utilities. Read the full story by WSJM – Benton Harbor, MI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-water-affordability
Energy storage is a priority for several Great Lakes states including Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Pennsylvania. By using iron, salt, and water, the Great Lakes region can create a green energy future with the technology of iron-flow batteries. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-energy-storage
In 1972, the same year the Clean Water Act was passed, the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point created the Water and Environmental Analysis Lab (WEAL). Over its 50 years, communities, student employees and hundreds of thousands of residents have benefited from its water testing programs, educational outreach and five decades of data collected from groundwater sources across the state and the nation. Read the full story by Point/Plover Metro Wire.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-water-lab-anniversary
After more than 100 years of industrial use and environmental contamination, a new, cleaner life is in the future for Grand Haven’s Harbor Island – but it will take at least six years to get there. Before redevelopment can occur, a massive effort to clean up contamination must be mounted. Read the full story by MLive.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-contamination-cleanup
The Wisconsin DNR reminds anglers that the opening of Lake Superior’s lake trout season is December 1, running until September 30, or until the harvest cap is met. Anyone looking to harvest lake trout must purchase a Great Lakes trout and salmon stamp in addition to their fishing license. Read the full story by WEAU-TV – Eau Claire, WI.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221202-trout-season
When we were thinking about a new museum devoted to one of the most beautiful and interesting things on our planet – ice – we had to think hard about how best to display and preserve this delicate substance. So welcome to the Museum of Ice, Michigan’s largest museum, open daily (weather permitting) between December and March. Just step outside anywhere in the state and you’re in the museum.
The post December: A Visit to the Museum of Ice first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/12/02/december-a-visit-to-the-museum-of-ice/
From lead pipes to PFAS, drinking water contamination is a major issue plaguing cities and towns all around the Great Lakes. Cleaning up contaminants and providing safe water to everyone is an ongoing public health struggle.
Keep up with drinking water-related developments in the Great Lakes area.
Click on the headline to read the full story:
Illinois:
This fall, the towns and rural farmsteads along the Mississippi River received alarming news about their drinking water.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/12/drinking-water-news-roundup-report-michigan-water-affordability-strategy-191-million-target-minnesota-water-projects/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; 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/2022/12/michigan-hunters-say-252000-deer-killed-firearms-season-new-rules/
By Mike Stobbe, AP Medical Writer
NEW YORK (AP) — Philadelphia and Oakland County, Michigan, are joining the small list of U.S. localities that are looking for signs of polio infections in sewage, U.S. health officials said Wednesday.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said the communities will test for polio in sewage for at least four months.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/12/ap-officials-say-more-places-will-test-sewage-polio/
Lost golf balls are responsible for a large amount of microplastics that are introduced into waterways. A new company is looking to change that by creating biodegradable golf balls.
The post Biodegradable golf balls are on the upswing first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/12/01/biodegradable-golf-balls-are-on-the-upswing/
Iron-flow batteries cold be the technology that helps pave the way for the Great Lakes region’s green energy future.
The post Iron, salt and water could change the grid first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/12/01/iron-salt-and-water-could-change-the-grid/
MADISON, Wis. (AP) — A federal judge has ordered energy company Enbridge Inc. and an American Indian tribe to come up with an emergency plan to prevent potential spills from an aging oil pipeline running across the tribe’s reservation.
The Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa sued Enbridge in federal court in 2019 to force the company to remove a section of the Line 5 pipeline that runs across the tribe’s reservation in northern Wisconsin, arguing the nearly 70-year-old line poses an unreasonable risk to health and safety.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/ap-judge-orders-enbridge-tribe-form-emergency-plan/
After 22 years of being in a state of largely self-imposed bureaucratic limbo, Ohio has learned that its effort to shift oversight of CAFO-generated manure discharges away from state environmental regulators has been denied by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Read the full story by The Toledo Blade.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-manure-discharge
The Enbridge Line 5 pipeline was one of few environmental issues to take center stage this campaign season. Despite the outcome of the election, the battle for the pipeline’s future lies mostly in federal courts and international diplomats’ negotiating rooms. Read the full story by Great Lakes Now.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-line-5
For the first time, a genome sequence has been developed for an unfamiliar species of harmful algae that’s been blooming in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-algae
Invasive European water chestnut was first spotted in the Welland River in Ontario in 2020. Staff from the Invasive Species Centre worked this summer to eradicate the invasive plant from the river but warn that the fight isn’t over yet. Read the full story by the Welland Tribune.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-invasive-plant
After detection approximately two decades ago, an area of contaminated groundwater in Sturgis Township, Michigan, continues to improve. Three wells in 2021 and four wells in 2022 were replaced, changing out from deep wells to shallow units. Read the full story by the Sturgis Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-pollution
At roughly 60,000 acres, Porcupine Mountains Wilderness is Michigan’s largest state park. It sits on the Lake Superior shoreline and was ranked the “most beautiful” state park in the United States according to a recent study by Travel Lens. Read the full story by MLive.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-porkies
In the age of COVID-19, birdwatching has taken off in Northeast Ohio, drawing new, young bird enthusiasts to the hobby. And it doesn’t slow down during winter, when the snowy owl arrives on Lake Erie. Read the full story by Cleveland Magazine.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-snowy-owl
In Alpena, Michigan, special microbial mat systems in Lake Huron sinkholes are helping scientists search for extraterrestrial life. Read the full story by Great Lakes Echo.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-sinkholes
Lake-effect snow typically happens in the late fall and early winter when the lakes are ice-free and the water is still relatively warm. Read the full story by the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-lake-effect-snow
There’s no plaque that indicates who crafted the wooden model of the U.S. Brig Niagara on display at the Erie County Courthouse in Pennsylvania. An Erie resident hopes to get recognition for her grandfather who made the model in the 1930s. Read the full story by the Erie Times-News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221130-model-ship
By Steve Karnowski, Associated Press
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Supreme Court will hear arguments on an attempt by environmental groups to cancel a key permit for a long-stalled copper-nickel mine.
Opponents of PolyMet Mining Corp.′s project say state regulators should have included “end-of-pipe” limits on discharges of mercury, sulfates and other pollutants in the water quality permit.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/ap-mine-opponents-minnesota-supreme-court-void-permit/
Universities across the globe are monitoring wastewater on their campuses for viruses like COVID-19. It is a practice that has raised some medical privacy concerns, although researchers say there is no way to link the detection of the virus in wastewater with an individual who is sick.
The post Don’t hide your poo — and here’s why first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/11/30/dont-hide-your-poo-and-heres-why/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; 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/2022/11/michigans-outdoor-recreation-boom-business-boom/
By Kelly House, Bridge Michigan
The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan; Circle of Blue; Great Lakes Now at Detroit Public Television; and Michigan Radio, Michigan’s NPR News Leader; 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/2022/11/why-line-5-likely-remain-open-despite-democratic-control-lansing/
Special microbial mat systems in Alpena, Michigan, are helping scientists search for extraterrestrial life. They could also lead to advances in other scientific fields, such as evolutionary biology and medicine.
The post Exploring Lake Huron sinkholes may help find life on other planets first appeared on Great Lakes Echo.Great Lakes Echo
http://greatlakesecho.org/2022/11/29/exploring-lake-huron-sinkholes-may-help-find-life-on-other-planets/
The Superior Watershed Partnership announced it has used funding awarded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Marine Debris Program to host coastal cleanups, beach hikes, and diving events this past summer for the city of Marquette, Michigan plus the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community and the Bay Mills Indian Community. Read the full story by the Mining Journal.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221128-marine-debris
The Great Lakes Lore Maritime Museum in Rogers City, Michigan organizes annual bell-ringing ceremonies to recognize sailors past and honoring those who still serve. Read the full story by the Alpena News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221128-bell-ringing
The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has awarded nearly $1.5 million in federal funding to projects focused on combatting harmful algal blooms in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by the Fulton County Expositor.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221128-erie-funding
A brand-new degree program is coming to Northwestern Michigan College next fall. The program, an associate of applied science in water quality environmental technology, will focus on training a workforce supporting the direct monitoring and cleanup of waters within the Great Lakes watershed. Read the full story by The Ticker.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221128-nmc
Ontario’s minister of the environment said Hamilton, Ontario must audit its entire sewage infrastructure and create a remediation plan after the city revealed it discovered sewage has been leaking into Hamilton Harbour, which is part of Lake Ontario, for the past 26 years. Read the full story by CBC News.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221128-hamilton-harbour
The crew of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Mackinaw motored down Lake Michigan this past weekend to Chicago, where its load of more than 1,200 Christmas trees will be used to recreate the holiday spirit of Michigan’s ill-fated Christmas Tree Ship, which sank in late November 1912. Read the full story by MLive.com.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221128-christmas-ship
Love staring at a map and discovering something interesting? Then “Mapping the Great Lakes” is for you. It’s a monthly Great Lakes Now feature created by Alex B. Hill, a self-described “data nerd and anthropologist” who combines cartography, data, and analytics with storytelling and human experience.
Great Lakes Now
https://www.greatlakesnow.org/2022/11/mapping-the-great-lakes-pumpkin-production/
While a lot of attention is paid to the amount of plastic pollution in the oceans, the Lake Huron Centre is planning a multi-program campaign to address plastic pollution in the Great Lakes. Read the full story by CKNX – Wingham, ON.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221128-lake-huron-centre
The Traverse City, Michigan-based Conservation Resource Alliance plans to rebrand Black Friday as Green Friday to kick off its participation in the new Forest to Mi Faucet program. The primary focus is to make a link between forest cover and clean drinking water. Read the full story by the Traverse City Record-Eagle.
Great Lakes Commission
https://www.glc.org/dailynews/20221128-green-friday
