“FLOW is responsible for the major success we’ve had so far as a movement in halting the Line 5 pipeline that crosses the Straits of Mackinac,” said FLOW senior policy advisor Dave Dempsey in this testimonial about the impact we’ve had during the past decade.
In recognition of the critical importance of the Great Lakes and the rule of law, citizens and communities battling the existential threat of climate change won an important victory when the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) announced June 23 they will conduct an environmental impact statement (EIS) for Enbridge’s proposed Line 5 oil tunnel.
On the heels of the “once in 100 years” flooding event in 2014, nearly seven inches of rainfall overwhelmed the City of Detroit’s wastewater treatment facilities on Friday, June 25, and the following morning. As a result, rain and sewer water flooded basements all across the city. As soon as neighbors began reporting flooded basements, organizers with SW Detroit Community Care (SWDCC), a mutual aid coalition operating within Southwest Detroit, sprang into action, recruiting volunteers through social media to clean basements for whomever needed it.
Author Timothy Mulherin’s new book, Sand, Stars, Wind, & Water: Field Notes from Up North, sees the Grand Traverse region through the eyes of a frequent visitor who has fallen in love with its natural beauty and character. In this interview with FLOW, Mulherin talks about what inspired him to write the book—and the good and bad he sees on his saunters along the shoreline.
FLOW Board member Bob Otwell and his wife Laura have on several trips to the American southwest observed how water is undersupplied and overused. These experiences reminded him about one of the primary reasons he joined FLOW’s Board—to help ensure that Great Lakes water stays in our watershed and is not diverted to dry, Southwestern and Western states.
“It was 10 years ago that I first met Jim Olson, and I invited him to be a guest speaker for Green Elk Rapids,” recalls Royce Ragland, the organization’s co-founder and a founding FLOW board member. “He talked about his favorite thing—the public trust. I was just so taken with the idea. It’s an old thought. It combines everything from policy to stewardship to theology to philosophy. I loved it.”
Childhood friends William Wright and Chris Yahanda wanted to do their part to protect the Great Lakes and to urge Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer to shut down the Line 5 oil pipelines under the Straits of Mackinac. So they decided to paddle board from the governor’s mansion on Mackinac Island to the governor’s residence at the State Capitol in Lansing.
Dire Straits: A damaged portion of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac shown in this June 2020 photo provided to the State of Michigan by Enbridge. By Nora Baty Do you remember the last time Line 5 shut down? This week marks the one-year anniversary of Line 5’s closure following significant damage to an… Read more »
Revenues from one of Michigan’s most successful environmental laws, the 10-cent bottle and can deposit, are at risk of being diverted from public to private uses. This bill is being rushed through the Michigan Legislature, so we ask you to take action today by asking your State Senator to vote NO on HB 4443 and HB 4444.
Last week, the Board of Commissioners of the Metropolitan Water Reclamation District of Greater Chicago (MWRD) unanimously approved a resolution affirming water as a human right and expressing concern about the trend toward treating water as a commodity. The resolution also affirms that “the water of the Great Lakes … shall remain in the public trust for the people of the Great Lakes region.” This resolution promises to be a milestone in the looming controversy over the creation of water futures markets.
