Critics say the Air Pollution Control Exemption is outdated, poorly enforced, and subsidizes companies for doing what they’re already legally required to do — even when they violate pollution laws.
Jena Brooker
A guest author for Bridge Magazine.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
A law meant to clean Michigan’s air now costs the state billions with little oversight
A 1965 law exempts facilities that install air pollution control equipment from property taxes.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
How a dam removal is helping revive Michigan’s sacred wild rice
Follow a manoomin harvest on the Au Sable River, where new rice beds now grow. The wild rice was once abundant across the Great Lakes region. Efforts are underway to bring it back.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Groups fight to preserve future of Michigan’s indigenous wild rice
To aid in restoration across the state, the Michigan Wild Rice Initiative, comprising tribes indigenous to the Great Lakes region, state officials, and academic experts, created a stewardship plan.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
U-M gives AI assistant to every student. Environmental worries follow
In September, the school gave personal AI assistants to the more than 50,000 students at the University of Michigan.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Detroit's approval of concrete mixing plant questioned
It’s the latest example of the city allowing special dispensations for heavy industry operations nestled in majority-Black neighborhoods.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Michigan plans big spending to insulate homes. But can it find contractors?
Making homes more energy-efficient saves money and helps combat climate change. But while Michigan is flush with cash to weatherize low-income homes, it struggles to find workers who install insulation and seal air leaks.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Detroit’s ‘ghost’ streams can be a threat in the present
Research shows Detroit’s buried streams disproportionately impact redlined neighborhoods.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
Feds give $31.7 million to convert ex-coal plant in Detroit to clean energy
The facility is planned for the former Detroit Edison site in Southwest Detroit’s Delray neighborhood, and promises 277 jobs.
Posted inMichigan Environment Watch
First came the floods. Then, the toxic mold. Get used to it with climate change
The majority of Detroit homes that flood face an equally insidious threat in the aftermath: black mold.