Floodwaters flowing from the Tittabawassee River into the lower part of downtown Midland on May 20, 2020 in Midland, Michigan. Thousands of residents have been ordered to evacuate after two dams in Sanford and Edenville collapsed. Gregory Shamus / Getty Images
Around 10,000 people were forced to evacuate their homes in central Michigan after heavy rain prompted what the National Weather Service called "catastrophic failures" at two dams.
<p>The Edenville and Sanford dams collapsed Tuesday night, threatening to drench the town of Midland, Michigan under nine feet of water, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-flood-michigan/michigan-governor-declares-emergency-after-dams-collapse-idUSKBN22W071" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>. The <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> comes as Michigan suffers one of the nation's worst <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/coronavirus" target="_self">coronavirus</a> outbreaks, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/20/us/michigan-flooding-dams-midland.html" target="_blank">The New York Times pointed out</a>. It currently has 53,009 confirmed cases, according to <a href="https://coronavirus.jhu.edu/map.html" target="_blank">Johns Hopkins University data</a> as of Thursday morning, the seventh highest total in the U.S.</p><p>"It's hard to believe that we're in the middle of a 100-year crisis, a global pandemic, and we're also dealing with a flooding event that looks to be the worst in 500 years," Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer said, as The New York Times reported.</p>
<div id="75598" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="dfc9460186b20166593cfef9d16e3a22"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1262933097437372417" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">.@GovWhitmer declared a state of emergency for @midlandcountymi after the Edenville & Sanford Dams breached. “If yo… https://t.co/TH05rXRSOe</div> — Michigan.gov (@Michigan.gov)<a href="https://twitter.com/migov/statuses/1262933097437372417">1589941689.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>Much of the town of Midland, Michigan, which has a population of 42,000, was inundated with record flooding Wednesday, <a href="https://www.wunderground.com/cat6/aging-dams-changing-climate-a-dangerous-mix" target="_blank">Weather Underground reported</a>. The Tittabawassee River gauge at Midland measured a water level about one foot above the previous record of 33.89 feet as of 2 p.m. local time. The river was expected to crest in the afternoon and evening, the National Weather Service said.</p>
<div id="6142b" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="f6ce12aef87db2e2bda5299bc964dd08"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1263149334079500289" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Extremely dangerous flooding continues across Midland County along the Tittabawassee River! Anyone near the river s… https://t.co/MnY20AFEGh</div> — NWS Detroit (@NWS Detroit)<a href="https://twitter.com/NWSDetroit/statuses/1263149334079500289">1589993244.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>No deaths or injuries have been reported, according to The New York Times, but the event puts further pressure on residents and businesses already reeling from the impact of the coronavirus.</p><p>"It's disastrous," evacuee Sue Baranski from neighboring Sanford told The New York Times. "Between the devastation from the flooding and the virus and the small-business owners trying to make their way through that, it's just too much."</p>
<div id="0740a" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5231ecadb26980033bcd7532add825b0"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1263117939315814405" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">These photos of Midland County were captured this morning by MSP Aviation. @CityofMidlandMI @midlandcountymi… https://t.co/JcGiGtzQab</div> — MSP Bay Region (@MSP Bay Region)<a href="https://twitter.com/mspbayregion/statuses/1263117939315814405">1589985758.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>The flooding is the result of two environmental crises and may be the author of a third.</p><p>First, there's the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change/" target="_self">climate crisis</a>. Warming temperatures are expected to increase precipitation in northern midlatitudes and lead to more intense periods of rainfall in many places, including the U.S., as Weather Underground pointed out. In Michigan, this process is already underway. 2019 was its wettest year on record, and Midland is 1.35 feet of rainfall away from its wettest May on record. Its rainfall total for Monday and Tuesday was its third highest on record.<br></p><p>Then there's the state of one of the dams that failed. Federal regulators had warned for more than 20 years that the spillways at the Edenville Dam were not up to handling a major flood, <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/05/20/politics/ferc-edenville-dam-midland-michigan-flooding/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. However, they waited more than 13 years to crack down on the private company that operated the dam when it failed to comply, finally revoking its license in 2018. Oversight of the dam also passed from the federal government to the state of Michigan that year. Whitmer has promised an investigation of dam operator Boyce Hydro.</p>
<p>"This incredible damage requires that we hold people responsible," Whitmer said, as <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/michigan-governor-warns-floods-peak_n_5ec569b6c5b6ea08c805eaeb?ri18n=true" target="_blank">HuffPost reported</a>. "This was a known problem for a while and that's why it's important that we do our due diligence and take action."</p><p>The flood also has the potential to cause lasting environmental damage as Dow Chemical confirmed Wednesday that flood waters were "commingling with on-site containment ponds," <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/05/20/859333402/catastrophic-dam-failures-in-michigan-force-thousands-to-evacuate" target="_blank">NPR reported</a>. The flood also reached a Superfund site caused by a Dow release of dioxins, according to CNN.</p>
<div id="b21c1" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="089435121e83028de50619583832e24d"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1262935856857395200" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Midland, Michigan is home to Dow Chemical, one of the world's largest chemical companies.
Dow's facilities appear… https://t.co/468UwgO8UQ</div> — Meghan Schneider (@Meghan Schneider)<a href="https://twitter.com/meghanloisann/statuses/1262935856857395200">1589942347.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p>"[T]this has the potential to be a major environmental disaster. Climate Power communications director Meghan Schneider tweeted.</p>
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The Canadian company Enbridge is moving forward with plans to build a $500 million oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac. doug4537 / E+ / Getty Images
The Canadian company Enbridge is moving forward with plans to build a $500 million oil pipeline in the Straits of Mackinac, which runs between Michigan's upper and lower peninsulas. The oil transportation company said it would go ahead with plans despite an ongoing lawsuit with Michigan, according to Kallanish Energy.
<p>Enbridge Inc. has hired two companies to build the pipeline, which will run beneath the channel that links Lake Huron and Lake Michigan. The construction will replace twin pipes that have been under the Straits of Mackinac in Northern Michigan since 1953, as <a href="https://apnews.com/4495eb45bee93dbb079e03fe5d006b4c" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a> reported.</p><p>Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel, a Democrat, has appealed to the state's Court of Appeals to stop the construction. A lower court decided in October that an agreement between Enbridge and former Republican Governor Rick Snyder was legal and could proceed. The Michigan Court of Appeals decided not to halt the project while it considers the case, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/4495eb45bee93dbb079e03fe5d006b4c" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>.</p>
<p>Despite the existing lawsuit, Enbridge says it expects construction to start next year and for a new tunnel to be in service by 2024, according to <a href="https://www.uppermichiganssource.com/content/news/Enbridge-picks-2-contractors-for-tunnel-project-in-Straits-of-Mackinac-568554041.html" target="_blank">WLUC</a> in Michigan.</p><p>The pipeline drew criticism from some of the Democratic presidential candidates. Last summer, Bernie Sanders <a href="https://twitter.com/BernieSanders/status/1154477042680901635" target="_blank">tweeted</a> that the Line 5 tunnel should be shut down, noting that Enbridge's 6B pipeline spilled 1.2 million gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River a decade ago. "Today, with the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-crisis" target="_self">climate crisis</a> worsening, we must <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ShutDownLine5?src=hashtag_click" target="_blank">#ShutDownLine5</a> pipeline in Michigan and ban all new fossil fuel infrastructure. What we need is a Green New Deal," Sanders added to his tweet.</p><p>At the end of February, prior to dropping out of the race, Elizabeth Warren also recognized the threat the Enbridge construction posed, <a href="https://twitter.com/ewarren/status/1232776960742449154" target="_blank">tweeting</a> "Michigan's Line 5 pipeline is a threat to millions who rely on the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/great-lakes" target="_self">Great Lakes</a> for clean water and a healthy economy." She added, "Let's #ShutDownLine5 and build a 100% clean energy future."</p>
<p>Enbridge said that its success in court so far gave it the confidence to move forward with the project. "We feel like it's time now for Enbridge and the state to work together and keep the project moving," said Ryan Duffy, an Enbridge spokesman.</p><p>The Line 5 tunnel carries 23 million gallons of crude oil and natural gas liquids every day between Superior, Wisconsin, and Sarnia, Ontario. A near 4-mile segment divides into two pipes that run beneath the Straits of Mackinac, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/4495eb45bee93dbb079e03fe5d006b4c" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>.</p><p>Besides the Kalmazoo River spill ten years ago, an Enbridge gas pipeline exploded in spectacular fashion two years ago. That pipeline in British Columbia exploded from stress and corrosion. As <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-canada-pipeline-enbridge-inc/corrosion-caused-2018-enbridge-gas-pipeline-blast-canadian-agency-idUSKBN20R2M3" target="_blank">Reuters</a> reported, "Police photos from a helicopter showed a nine-meter-deep crater and dozens of scorched evergreen trees at the site."</p><p>Enbridge claims that it has done a thorough study of the sediment under the Straits of Mackinac and that it will be able to build the Line 5 tunnel safely and efficiently, according to <a href="https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/enbridge-provides-update-on-line-5-project-expected-to-start-construction-in-2021" target="_blank">Up North Live</a>.</p><p>However, critics of the project do not agree with Enbridge's assessment.</p><p>"We recommend that the authority looks at Line 5 holistically at the entire pipeline infrastructure in Michigan," said Ashley Soltysiak, policy and program coordinator at the advocacy group Tip of the Mitt Watershed, to <a href="https://upnorthlive.com/news/local/enbridge-provides-update-on-line-5-project-expected-to-start-construction-in-2021" target="_blank">Up North Live</a>. "The four miles in the Straits of Mackinac can't be separated from the rest that poses a risk to citizen's public health and safety."</p><p>For Love of Water, an advocacy group, argued that Enbridge did not seek authorization for the project through the Great Lakes Submerged Lands Act as required under a common-law doctrine, according to <a href="https://apnews.com/4495eb45bee93dbb079e03fe5d006b4c" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>.</p><p>Bypassing those laws is "one of the most egregious attacks on citizens' rights and sovereign public trust interest in the Great Lakes in the history of the state of Michigan," said Jim Olson, the group's president, to <a href="https://apnews.com/4495eb45bee93dbb079e03fe5d006b4c" target="_blank">The Associated Press</a>.</p>
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People participate in a national mile-long march to highlight the push for clean water in Flint Feb. 19, 2016 in Flint, Michigan. Bill Pugliano / Stringer / Getty Images
The Supreme Court made a decision Tuesday that means Flint residents can sue state and local officials over the water crisis that leached lead into their water and resulted in at least 12 deaths.
<p>City officials and state regulators argued that they had "qualified immunity" from being sued, but lower courts rejected this argument. By refusing to hear two cases related to the matter, the Supreme Court has upheld those rulings, <a href="https://www.npr.org/2020/01/21/798331185/supreme-court-allows-flint-water-lawsuits-to-move-forward-officials-not-immune?utm_term=nprnews&utm_campaign=npr&utm_source=facebook.com&utm_medium=social&fbclid=IwAR3rbYErj3gDnSE4UNtsMESyYg3i2bgjACmY3OSeq5jKpHmy-OhViFgfOWc&t=1579682782022" target="_blank">NPR explained</a>.</p><p>"It's time for the people of Flint to start feeling like they are going to get their day in court," lawyer Michael Pitt told <a href="https://www.michiganradio.org/post/major-court-victory-flint-residents-suing-over-water-crisis" target="_blank">Michigan Radio</a>. "This just moves the entire process closer to that day."</p><p>Pitt is a co-lead counsel on a class action lawsuit filed by thousands of Flint residents seeking damages in the wake of the water crisis. The case which triggered the Supreme Court decision was filed by two Flint residents including mother Shari Guertin, who said she and her child were exposed to lead, <a href="https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-court-flint/us-supreme-court-lets-flint-michigan-residents-sue-over-water-contamination-idUSKBN1ZK1S5" target="_blank">Reuters reported</a>.</p><p>The crisis began In 2014 when an emergency manager appointed by then-Michigan Gov. Rick Snyder <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/flint-water-crisis-5-years-2635520065.html?rebelltitem=1#rebelltitem1" target="_self">switched</a> the city's water supply to the Flint River. The improperly treated water leached lead and bacteria from the pipes, contaminating water and causing a deadly outbreak of Legionnaires' Disease. More than 25,000 Flint residents were harmed by exposure to lead or other contaminants, according to court records reported by Reuters. More than 5,000 of those individuals were children under the age of 12. No level of lead exposure, which can harm children's cognitive development, is considered safe.</p>
<p>Government officials at first said the contaminated water was safe, but admitted 18 months later that it was not, according to NPR. The city's water supply was finally switched to Lake Huron. The supply did not meet federal safety standards until late in 2016.</p><p>"They have been denied justice," Pitt told Michigan Radio of his clients.</p><p>The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals had previously ruled that the officials were not immune from lawsuits.</p><p>"Knowing the Flint River water was unsafe for public use, distributing it without taking steps to counter its problems, and assuring the public in the meantime that it was safe is conduct that would alert a reasonable person to the likelihood of personal liability," the lower court ruled, as <a href="https://edition.cnn.com/2020/01/21/politics/supreme-court-flint-michigan-lawsuit-water-crisis/index.html" target="_blank">CNN reported</a>. "Any reasonable official should have known that doing so constitutes conscience-shocking conduct prohibited by the substantive due process clause."</p><p>The officials had argued they should be immune because they could not have known they would be sued for doing the best they could with the information they had, according to Reuters.</p><p>"Allowing the <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2019/01/flint-water-crisis-lawsuit-allowed-to-move-forward-after-appeal.html" target="_blank">Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals' ruling</a> to stand (means the Supreme Court decided the lower court's) reasoning was strong, appropriate and well-researched," Guertin's lawyer Paul Geske told <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/flint/2020/01/attorney-says-supreme-court-decision-on-flint-water-brings-federal-trial-closer-to-reality.html" target="_blank">Michigan Live</a>.</p>
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Air Force Refuses to Clean PFAS Contamination at Former Michigan Base
30 January 2019
Health + Wellness
Fire Training Area #2 at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base, Michigan. Breanne Humphreys/ Air Force
The U.S. Air Force is refusing to comply with the state of Michigan's request to expand cleanup of PFAS contamination near the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base in Oscoda, MLive reported.
PFAS, or poly- and perfluoroalkyl substances, are a group of controversial chemicals that includes PFOA, PFOS and GenX. The substances can be found in a vast array of products, from non-stick cookware to firefighting foams, and may have found its way in the drinking water for up to 110 million Americans nationwide.
<p>In Michigan, there are <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/pfasresponse/0,9038,7-365-86511---,00.html" target="_blank">40 known sites</a>, including active and former military bases, that have confirmed PFOA and PFOS in groundwater. Michigan's Department of Environmental Quality (MDEQ) became aware of PFAS contamination at the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/pfasresponse/0,9038,7-365-86511_82704_83952---,00.html" target="_blank">way back in March 2010</a> after sampling confirmed its presence at a fire training area on the base.<br></p><p>
So in October as MLive's Garret Ellison reported, the MDEQ issued a <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/documents/flintwater/Letter_from_DEQ_Seidel_to_USAF_Marrs_dated_101918_636685_7.pdf" target="_blank">violation notice</a> to the U.S. Air Force for "far exceeding the 12 nanograms per liter PFOS water quality standard" in areas near Clark's Marsh, which borders the former Wurtsmith Air Force Base where personnel had used PFAS-containing firefighting foam for fire training exercises.
</p><p>
The Air Force's response? They wrote back in a Dec. 7, 2018 letter saying the state that doesn't have the authority to regulate federal facilities.
</p><p>
A senior Air Force official said MDEQ "lacks the jurisdictional authority" to force compliance. </p><p>The federal government "has not waived sovereign immunity with regard to the state regulation on which the (violation notice) is premised," the official continued, adding that the Air Force "is hereby informing you that it will not be taking any new remedial actions at this time."</p><p>
Basically, as Ellison <a href="https://twitter.com/garretellison/status/1090271766801346560" target="_blank">tweeted</a>, "The Air Force is telling Michigan to take its 12-ppt regulatory limit on PFAS in surface water and shove it."
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="78a9c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="03L04F1576662568"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1090271766801346560" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The Air Force is telling Michigan to take its 12-ppt regulatory limit on PFAS in surface water and shove it. https://t.co/nzzSilOFjY</div> — Garret M. Ellison (@Garret M. Ellison)<a href="https://twitter.com/garretellison/statuses/1090271766801346560">1548776020.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>
This exchange is the latest in a years-long saga between Michigan and the Air Force ever since PFAS was detected at Wurtsmith in 2010.
</p><p>
<span></span>The chemicals have since spread to ground and surface water, Clark's Marsh, the AuSable River and is now threatening Lake Huron, according to <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2019/01/30/air-force-scolds-michigan-tough-tone-wurtsmith-contamination/2713116002/" target="_blank">The Detroit News</a>. </p><p>Although the Air Force has installed filtration devices and monitoring wells around the area, it has been slow to take full responsibility of the contamination, the publication said.
</p><p>PFAS exposure has been linked to linked to "adverse human health effects," the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency <a href="https://www.epa.gov/pfas/basic-information-pfas" target="_blank">says</a>, adding that tests have showed they can cause reproductive and developmental, liver and kidney, and immunological effects in laboratory animals.</p><p>The news comes as <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/trump" target="_self">Trump</a> administration reportedly <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/drinking-water-trump-epa-chemicals-2627509683.html" target="_self">refuses to limit such toxic chemicals in drinking water</a>.</p><p><span></span>The Air Force has not issued a comment on the reports from MLive and The Detroit News.
</p><p>
MDEQ spokesperson Scott Dean told MLive the agency is aiming for a "full remedy" in Oscoda.
</p><p>
"The slow response by the Air Force to the Wurtsmith contamination is having an increasingly negative impact on the people, wildlife and environment in Oscoda," he said. "Although Michigan seeks to work cooperatively with the Air Force, slow response to PFAS contamination is not acceptable."</p>
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Produced water from gas drilling in the Marcellus shale. Tara Lohan
By Tara Lohan
We're living beyond our means when it comes to groundwater. That's probably not news to everyone, but new research suggests that, deep underground in a number of key aquifers in some parts of the U.S., we may have much less water than previously thought.
"We found that the average depth of water resources across the country was about half of what people had previously estimated," said Jennifer McIntosh, a distinguished scholar and professor of hydrology and atmospheric sciences at the University of Arizona.
<p>McIntosh and her colleagues—who published a <a href="http://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/aae6d8/meta" target="_blank">new study</a> about these aquifers in November in <em>Environmental Research Letters—</em>took a different approach to assessing groundwater than other research, which has <a href="https://grace.jpl.nasa.gov/applications/groundwater/" target="_blank">used satellites</a> to measure changes in groundwater storage. For example, a <a href="https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/2015WR017349" target="_blank">2015 study</a> looked at 37 major aquifers across the world and found some were being depleted faster than they were being replenished, including in California's agriculturally intensive Central Valley.</p><p>McIntosh says those previous studies revealed a lot about how we're depleting water resources from the top down through extraction, such as pumping for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/agriculture">agriculture</a> and water supplies, especially in places like California.</p><p>But McIntosh and three other researchers wanted to look at groundwater from a different perspective: They examined how we're using water resources from the bottom up.</p><p>The study may help close the gap about what we know and don't know regarding how much water is available deep underground, as well as its quality.</p><p>It also rings some alarm bells.</p><h2>A Different Approach</h2><p>Instead of examining how fast water tables were falling, as in previous studies, the researchers looked at water chemistry to determine how deep underground you could drill for freshwater or brackish water before that water became too salty to use.</p><p>"We looked at the bottom limit of groundwater resources," said McIntosh.</p><p>The researchers used information from the U.S. Geological Survey on the quality of groundwater across the country and looked specifically at salinity—how salty the water is. "We looked basin by basin at how that depth of fresh and brackish water changes across the United States," said McIntosh.</p><p>The results were about half as much usable water as previous estimates. That means that deep groundwater reserves are not nearly as plentiful as we'd thought in some places.</p><p>That's important because when shallow groundwater reserves become depleted or polluted, the strategy so far has been to drill deeper and deeper wells to keep the water flowing.</p><p>But we may not always be able to drill our way out of water shortages. "Tapping into these deep waters works for now, but the long-term prospects for using these waters are quite concerning," said the report's lead author, <a href="https://www.usask.ca/water/about/profiles/people/grant-ferguson.php" target="_blank">Grant Ferguson</a>, an associate professor in the department of Civil and Geological Engineering at the University of Saskatchewan.</p><p>The problem isn't evenly distributed across the country. While a number of aquifers in the West have deep freshwater reserves, the water in parts of the eastern and central U.S. becomes salty at much shallower depths. "Drilling deeper water wells to address groundwater depletion issues represents no more than a stopgap measure in these areas," the researchers concluded in their paper. One area of particular concern the researchers noted was in the Anadarko and Sedgwick basins underlying parts of Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas, which has particularly shallow freshwater reserves.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA4NTMwMS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxOTY3NDI1OX0.1hRXCMwTh5LNWxenwTgxkUtSnvsKF4piq2hWCexqGpw/img.jpg?width=980" id="814bf" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="1c96c3e74348404bebd73ad293444387" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Depth to water with total dissolved solids (a) <3000 and (b) <10 000 mg l−1 based on median values in 100 m bins. (c) TDS distribution relative to the 50th and 95th percentile of water well depths</small></p><h2>Oil and Water<br></h2><p>The study looked at a total of 28 sedimentary basins across the U.S. that were chosen because they're known to contain oil and gas reserves.</p><p>The researchers found that the oil and gas industry uses fresh and brackish water, both of which are drawn from the bottom up. And that's another element of the research that could raise concern.</p><p>In some cases the industry pumps out brackish water as part of its drilling operations. Industry waste is then injected back underground into deep aquifers. As a result, water reserves are depleted from pumping and possibly contaminated during re-injection, the researchers found.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA4NTMwMi9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MTE1MzI1MX0.GzKF-FX4rccOvkqWOdcUe3wSVKPEC38p6G4s8bHmXaQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="884c8" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="faf292e10b4f91901e815a3c4c1bd9a1" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="Add Photo Caption...">Deep groundwater resources can be threatened by oil and gas production or injection wells.</small></p><p>The depth between oil and gas activities and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water">drinking water</a> reserves varied greatly across the country. Wyoming and the Michigan basin were two places where oil and gas activities are relatively shallow and in close proximity to fresh and brackish water, which could increase the chances of contamination of water resources. Water contamination from <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/29032016/fracking-study-pavillion-wyoming-drinking-water-contamination-epa" target="_blank">oil and gas activity</a> has already been documented in Pavillion, Wyoming.<br></p><p>The authors suggest that carefully monitoring for potential contamination or overexploitation of water reserves may be crucial in these areas with minimal separation between groundwater and oil and gas wells used for either production or disposal.</p><h2>The Future Is … Saltier </h2><p>While brackish water can be used for some types of agriculture and by oil and gas activities, it hasn't been used much yet for drinking because it requires desalination (although not as intensively as seawater). But as water resources become more constrained, particularly in the arid West where some communities and farms rely exclusively on groundwater, brackish water may be a more valuable future resource and a larger part of the water supply.</p><p>"I think of it in terms of water security. Both fresh and brackish aquifers are part of our potential water source into the future," said McIntosh.</p><p>But further utilizing these deep-water resources will have "all kinds of policy and economic consequences because they aren't going to be replenished as quickly as other waters" closer to the surface, said Ferguson. And that may mean better monitoring of oil and gas activity is needed in those regions, along with a possible rethinking of how we permit and manage drilling into those deep waters. "That would change the nature of how we're using water in a lot of places," he said.</p><p>While this research adds to our growing knowledge of groundwater resources, there is still a lot we don't know about the chemistry of these deep aquifers beyond just salinity, said McIntosh. Addressing that knowledge gap, she said, will be important as we work to match water resources to our varying needs for drinking, industry and agriculture.</p><p>"This 'bottom up' approach is a novel one and will find great utility, but it does depend upon the availability of deep groundwater data," said <a href="https://aquadoc.typepad.com/waterwired/" target="_blank">Michael Campana</a>, a professor and hydrogeologist at Oregon State University who did not participate in the study. And the deeper we go, the less data we have, said Ferguson.</p><p>Both the researchers and outside experts suggest that more research is needed. This is particularly true in areas not associated with oil and gas activity that weren't part of the study, Campana points out. But the authors say their results may still show the need for important changes on policy or behavioral levels regarding how we use our nation's groundwater.</p><p>"There was this idea that deeper groundwater would be more pristine, and it is to a point, but there are all kinds of natural salinity and hydrocarbon problems once you get into deeper and deeper groundwater systems," said Ferguson. "So we're working with that idea that maybe the window of freshwater is not as big as we thought and it's probably getting even smaller in a lot of areas."</p><p>In an age of <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a>, that's something that may play out sooner rather than later.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="d7408" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="SCBYAH1576779568"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1058448717865455619" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">An Aquifer From the #IceAge Becomes a Battleground in New Mexico https://t.co/Sco9rnOlqA @greenpeaceusa @Sierra_Magazine</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1058448717865455619">1541188814.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><em>Tara Lohan is deputy editor of The Revelator.</em><br></p><p><em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://therevelator.org/shrinking-groundwater/" target="_blank">The Revelator</a>.</em></p>
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Wind farm with solar panels in southern California. 4kodiak / E+ / Getty Images
By Jeff Deyette
Despite the Trump administration's ongoing attempts to prop up coal and undermine renewables—at FERC, EPA and through tariffs and the budget process—2018 should instead be remembered for the surge in momentum toward a clean energy economy. Here are nine storylines that caught my attention this past year and help illustrate the unstoppable advancement of renewable energy and other modern grid technologies.
<h3>1. California Goes All-In for Carbon-Free Electricity</h3><p>In late August, California—the world's 5th largest economy—committed to the target of fully decarbonizing its power sector by 2045. The <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/news/press_release/california_cements_climate_leadership" target="_blank">landmark legislation</a> also strengthens the state's renewable portfolio standard (also known as a renewable energy standard, or RES) from 50 to 60 percent by 2030. What's more, at the bill signing, Governor Jerry Brown signed an <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/adrienne-alvord/even-more-than-100-clean-californias-audacious-net-zero-carbon-challenge" target="_blank">executive order</a> that establishes a goal of achieving carbon-neutrality across all sectors of California's sprawling economy by 2045, cementing the state's place as a global leader in climate action.</p><h3>2. Several States Strengthen Their RES Requirements</h3><p>State-level renewable electricity standards continued to be a primary driver of new renewable energy development in 2018. In addition to California, legislatures in <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2018/04/12/nyregion/new-jersey-renewable-energy.html" target="_blank">New Jersey</a> (50 percent by 2030), <a href="https://www.ct.gov/deep/cwp/view.asp?Q=603448&A=4965" target="_blank">Connecticut</a> (40 percent by 2030) and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/massachusetts-2018-clean-energy-bill" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> (35 percent by 2030) all adopted stronger targets for renewable energy, accelerating their states' transitions away from <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a>. In addition, voters in <a href="https://www.renewableenergyoutlook.com/2018/11/15/nevada-voters-approve-50-renewable-portfolio-standard-by-2030/" target="_blank">Nevada</a> overwhelmingly approved a measure to increase their state's RES to 50 percent by 2030 (the measure must be approved again in 2020 to officially become law).</p><h3>3. Clean Energy Champions Win Gubernatorial Races</h3><p>One of the bright spots in November's election results was the number newly elected governors who campaigned on aggressive clean energy and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change">climate change</a> agendas. Newly elected governors in at least 10 states, including California, Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Maine, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, New Mexico and Wisconsin, have pledged to accelerate clean energy and carbon reductions in their states by supporting U.S. commitments to the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement">Paris agreement</a>, joining the <a href="https://www.usclimatealliance.org/" target="_blank">U.S. Climate Alliance</a> and/or calling for renewable energy targets of 80 to 100 percent. These election results demonstrate the widespread support for greater investments in renewable energy and signal the push for even stronger clean energy policies in the coming year.</p><h3>4. Record Low Prices for Renewables</h3><p>Innovation, growing economies of scale and attractive financing continued to drive the costs down for renewables in 2018. Power purchase agreements for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/wind">wind</a> and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/solar">solar</a> projects in states like Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, Kansas, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas have reportedly ranged between $20 to $30 per megawatt-hour, well below the cost of natural gas generation—and the technologies are positioned for further cost reductions to continue to be low-cost options even as federal tax incentives change. What's even more exciting is that the many of these low-priced projects also include energy storage components, increasing their value to the grid.</p>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTI4Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY1MjgyNzU1Mn0.bI6IPqCaQ5lv0mfn_9olwTo7DYY7JmCQBif5_Z4oFTc/img.jpg?width=980" id="39255" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="4a938f5634f4bb6b30e00b8c7bcad51b" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p>
<h3>5. Major Utilities Commit to Low-Carbon Portfolios</h3><p>Earlier this month, <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/joseph-daniel/xcel-commits-to-100-carbon-free-energy" target="_blank">Xcel Energy</a> became the first major utility to commit to a completely carbon-free electricity supply across the eight states it operates in. In doing so, it joins a <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/jeremy-richardson/utilities-look-toward-a-clean-energy-future-yet-the-administration-keeps-looking-back" target="_blank">growing number of utilities</a> that are committing to phasing out their use of coal and transitioning to substantially lower carbon energy portfolios. Also this year, both <a href="https://www.apnews.com/f876e5b74bc941fcadea30a99760aa59" target="_blank">Consumers Energy</a> in Michigan and <a href="https://nawindpower.com/indianas-nipsco-plots-coal-phaseout-transition-to-renewables" target="_blank">NIPSCO</a> in northern Indiana announced plans to phase out coal generation and utility giant <a href="https://www.powermag.com/aep-american-power-giant-sets-goal-to-slash-carbon-emissions-80-by-2050/" target="_blank">American Electric Power</a> announced a goal of reducing its carbon emissions 80 percent by 2050. What's especially exciting about these utility actions is that they are <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/sam-gomberg/trump-clean-energy" target="_blank">driven primarily by economics</a>, clearly demonstrating the competitiveness of clean energy technologies.</p><h3>6. Corporate Renewable Energy Purchases Keep Growing</h3><p>Low renewable energy prices continue to attract major corporations looking to save money and achieve ambitious <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sustainability">sustainability</a> goals. As a result, direct corporate purchases of renewable energy have become a major driver of renewable energy deployment. In 2018, the Rocky Mountain Institute <a href="https://rmi.org/press-release/corporate-renewable-energy-procurement-continues-to-break-records-in-2018/" target="_blank">reports,</a> corporate renewable energy purchases—led by companies like Facebook, Walmart, ATT and Microsoft—reached more than 6.4 gigawatts (GW). The <a href="https://www.rmi.org/our-work/electricity/brc-business-renewables-center/" target="_blank">number of corporations</a> investing in renewables expanded at a record pace this year as well, with nearly two-thirds of Fortune 100 and nearly half of Fortune 500 companies now having set ambitious renewable energy goals.</p><h3>7. Offshore Wind Moves Forward</h3>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTM3Ny9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyMTIzNDE0N30.RlIl9Xnj7vZN7eXZ1QHJBJ4L53CBh31jzs7OBcTRPuQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="75b83" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0d7ba97e1e4be27bc1bcb37140ad7ada" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Kim Hansen / Wikimedia Commons</small></p>
<p>While no new <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-wind">offshore wind</a> projects came online in the U.S. this year (the next project—off the Virginia coast—is scheduled for 2020), the industry did take some big leaps toward becoming a major player in the nation's power supply. For example, the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/low-price-offshore-wind-massachusetts" target="_blank">winning bid</a> for Massachusetts' first request for offshore wind proposals to help meet the state's offshore wind requirements passed in 2016 went to an 800-megawatt project from Vineyard Wind at a shockingly low price of about 6.5 cents per kilowatt-hour. In addition, the latest U.S. Bureau of Ocean Energy Management <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/derrick-jackson/auction-sets-america-on-course-for-offshore-wind" target="_blank">auction</a> for leasing parcels of water for future projects resulted in 11 bidders and $405.1 million in winning bids, both smashing previous records. And strong state policies, including <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/offshore-wind-massachusetts-rhode-island-new-jersey" target="_blank">new offshore wind requirements in New Jersey</a> and elsewhere, mean that there's a lot more action to come.</p><h3>8. Storage Steps Into the Spotlight</h3>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xOTA0NTM4NS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNTAwNTg5N30.omEye9FYOO3TjOiWQPO-XImBKe0VJ1zpdcEeUfHDWW4/img.jpg?width=980" id="7f379" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7046e6104690287c1e001ebc573fbec9" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Lithium-ion batteries for advanced energy storage</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Argonne National Laboratory / Flickr</small></p>
<p>Once a fringe player in the electric power sector, the energy storage industry is quickly emerging as a game changer in the transition to a clean energy economy as a tool for integrating much higher levels of renewable energy. In 2018, the pipeline for new storage projects doubled to nearly 33 GW as more utilities are investing in the technology thanks largely <a href="https://www.lazard.com/perspective/levelized-cost-of-energy-and-levelized-cost-of-storage-2018/" target="_blank">rapidly falling prices</a> and growing support from state policies. While California has led the nation in storage deployment to date, <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-york-psc-sets-states-energy-storage-target-at-3-gw-by-2030/544371/" target="_blank">New York</a> recently established the strongest storage requirement in the country at 3,000 MW by 2030. Earlier this year, <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/new-jersey-sets-aggressive-target-2-gw-by-2030-for-energy-storage/524422/" target="_blank">New Jersey</a> set an ambitious storage target of 2,000 MW by 2030 and <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/john-rogers/massachusetts-2018-clean-energy-bill" target="_blank">Massachusetts</a> significantly increased its storage requirement to 1,000 megawatt-hours by 2025. At the federal level, the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission issued <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/ferc-order-opens-floodgates-for-energy-storage-in-wholesale-markets/517326/" target="_blank">Order 841</a>, which directs regional grid operators to set market rules that allow energy storage to participate on a level playing field in the wholesale energy, capacity and <a href="https://www.logicenergy.com/what-are-ancillary-services-and-why-do-power-grids-need-them/" target="_blank">ancillary services</a> markets.</p><h3>9. PG&E Turns Down the Gas With Storage and Renewables</h3><p>In one particular sign of what's to come in 2019 and beyond in terms of how these technologies fit together to displace fossil fuels, one of the most exciting <a href="https://www.utilitydive.com/news/storage-will-replace-3-california-gas-plants-as-pge-nabs-approval-for-worl/541870/" target="_blank">regulatory decisions</a> I saw this year was the California Public Utility Commission's approval of PG&E's plan to use energy storage to replace retiring gas generators. One of the key barriers to fully transitioning to a carbon-free economy is replacing natural gas generation and the ancillary services they provide to the power grid. This decision, which marks the first time a utility will directly replace power plants with <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/battery-storage/">battery storage</a>, should spur <a href="https://www.ucsusa.org/clean-energy/ca-and-western-states/turning-down-gas" target="_blank">many more similar projects</a> to move forward in California and across the country and open the door for integrating much higher levels of renewable energy onto the power grid.</p><p>These nine stories are just a sampling of what occurred in 2018 to further the clean energy transition. As the year comes to a close, UCS will continue to work hard to keep up the clean energy momentum in 2019.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="5dfb0" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="EBO0FK1576662462"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="952909011506139136" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">All Renewables Will Be Cost Competitive With Fossil Fuels by 2020 https://t.co/QectZLGqOF #renewables @350… https://t.co/9rc89HJlCz</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/952909011506139136">1516026187.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
<p><em>Jeff Deyette is the director of state policy and analysis at the <a href="https://blog.ucsusa.org/jeff-deyette/9-clean-energy-stories-from-2018" target="_blank">Union of Concerned Scientists</a>.</em><br></p>
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Mackinac Bridge from Straits of Mackinac. Gregory Varnum / Wikimedia Commons
Michigan's outgoing Gov. Rick Snyder signed legislation on Wednesday that creates a new government authority to oversee a proposed oil tunnel in the Straits of Mackinac to effectively allow Canadian oil to keep flowing through the Great Lakes.
The controversial tunnel will encase a replacement segment for Enbridge Energy's aging Line 5 pipelines that run along the bottom of the Straits, a narrow waterway that connects Lakes Huron and Michigan.
<p>
The new law creates a three-member Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority that is required to enter an agreement with the Canadian oil company on the construction and operation of the tunnel before the end of the month.
</p><p>
<span></span>Snyder signed <a href="http://www.legislature.mi.gov/(S(oxa2fpcx5vzuwkkrdo14hey0))/mileg.aspx?page=getObject&objectname=2018-SB-1197" target="_blank">Senate Bill 1197</a> just a day after the GOP-controlled Michigan Legislature approved the bill—a move seen as a lame-duck rush before Democrats Gretchen Whitmer and Dana Nessel take over as governor and attorney general respectively, as the <a href="https://www.freep.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/12/12/snyder-enbridge-line-5-tunnel-bill/2288251002/" target="_blank">Detroit Free Press</a> noted.
</p><p>Both Whitmer and Nessel made campaign promises to shut down Line 5 over fears that the 65-year-old twin pipelines could spill and contaminate the Great Lakes, a source of drinking water for tens of millions of people. Line 5 has spilled <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/enbridge-line-5-spills-2379938636.html" target="_self">1.1 million gallons of oil</a> along the right of way since 1968.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5741c1fb57a5afe07c706ce892dee1e0"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ZiWWkg7UufQ?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">Dana Nessel for Michigan Attorney General- SHUT DOWN LINE 5!</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZiWWkg7UufQ" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>
Environmentalists say Snyder's move has effectively allowed Line 5, which pumps up to 23 million gallons of oil and liquefied
<a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/natural-gas" target="_self">natural gas</a> a day, to run for another decade while the tunnel is being built.
</p><p>
Under the new plan, the existing pipelines will be replaced with a new tunneled pipeline under the bedrock of the Straits of Mackinac. The project will take seven to 10 years to complete and cost as much as $500 million. Enbridge will foot the bill.
</p><p>
"We are deeply disappointed Gov. Snyder approved legislation that will keep oil pumping through the damaged Line 5 Pipeline for another decade or more," Lisa Wozniak, executive director at the Michigan League of Conservation Voters, said in an
<a href="https://michiganlcv.org/news/michigan-lcv-gov-snyders-line-5-tunnel-continues-threat-of-disastrous-oil-spill/" target="_blank">online statement</a>.
</p><p>
"On Nov. 6, the people of Michigan made their position clear by electing candidates who pledged to keep oil pipelines out of our Great Lakes and protect our drinking water. We will continue to advocate, communicate and fight to protect our water and oppose oil pipelines in the Great Lakes as the new administration takes office," Wozniak added.
</p><p>
<a href="http://www.michiganradio.org/post/new-poll-says-most-michigan-voters-want-line-5-shut-down" target="_blank">A recent poll</a> by Lansing-based EPIC-MRA poll found 54 percent of Michigan voters want Line 5 shut down.
</p><p>
Snyder also appointed three members to the new Mackinac Straits Corridor Authority, Geno Alessandrini, Tony England and Michael Zimmer, who will each serve six-year terms.
</p><p>
No more than two members from the same party may serve on the panel. Snyder said both England and Alessandrini are Democrats. Zimmer is a Republican, according to the Detroit Free Press.
</p><p>
"We all understand the importance of bringing certainty to removing Line 5 from the waters in the Straits of Mackinac," Snyder said in an online
<a href="https://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-57577_57657-485290--,00.html" target="_blank">statement</a>. "By working together, they helped garner bipartisan support to ensure we are protecting the Great Lakes while securing better energy infrastructure for Michigan."
</p><p>
Enbridge spokesman Ryan Duffy said the company looks forward to working with the new authority.
</p><p>
"Replacing the Straits segment of Line 5 in a tunnel deep under the lake bed makes a safe pipeline even safer while ensuring a reliable and affordable energy supply to Michigan and the region," Duffy said in a statement, as quoted by
<a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/local/michigan/2018/12/12/snyder-signs-bill-creating-line-5-tunnel-authority-appoints-3-members/2288225002/" target="_blank">The Detroit News</a>.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b652c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="0NUXK11576662606"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1048223369538232325" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Great Lakes 'At Risk' From Plan to Replace Aging Enbridge Pipelines, Environmentalists Argue https://t.co/etUxGvlp0x</div> — The YEARS Project (@The YEARS Project)<a href="https://twitter.com/YEARSofLIVING/statuses/1048223369538232325">1538750901.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><em>Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly said that Line 5 has spilled 1.1 million gallons of oil "into the lakes" since 1968. The pipeline has never spilled into the lakes itself, but along the right of way. </em></p>
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With her win, Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez became one of four Democrats heading to Congress to push for a Green New Deal. Rick Loomis / Getty Images
Results from the U.S. midterm election are mostly in, and, when it comes to what they mean for the environment, they're a real mixed bag.
<p>On the plus side, the Democrats took the House of Representatives, which, as <a href="https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-46067264" target="_blank">BBC News pointed out</a>, means that President <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/donald-trump" target="_self">Donald Trump</a> can't pass any more major legislation without their approval. Since big legislative pushes in the Republican controlled House over the past two years included an <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/endangered-species-act-republicans-2586332924.html" target="_self">attack</a> on the Endangered Species Act and a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/farm-bill-anti-environment-policy-riders-2582389975.html" target="_self">Farm Bill</a> that would have limited controls on toxic pesticides and water pollution, this can only be an improvement.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b3823" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="KYY06Z1576662090"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1060089995078365185" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">The latest US election results: Democrats have won their 218th House seat, securing their majority and setting up a… https://t.co/xEe718OY0x</div> — Financial Times (@Financial Times)<a href="https://twitter.com/FinancialTimes/statuses/1060089995078365185">1541580125.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>On the minus side, the Republicans increased their majority in the Senate. Since the Senate is the body that confirms all of the president's judicial and political appointments, there will still be nothing blocking Trump from appointing more judges like Brett Kavanaugh with a <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/kavanaughs-environmental-record-2610220986.html" target="_self">dubious environmental record</a>. They will also be able to sign off on whoever Trump finally chooses as <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/scott-pruitt" target="_blank">Scott Pruitt</a>'s permanent replacement at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (<a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/epa" target="_self">EPA</a>). The House is more likely now to investigate corruption-prone, industry-friendly Interior Secretary <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/ryan-zinke" target="_self">Ryan Zinke</a>, but the Senate could go right ahead and confirm a replacement equally likely to sell out <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/public-lands" target="_self">public lands</a> to <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels" target="_self">fossil fuel</a> interests.<br></p><p>When it comes to the environmental implications of individual races and ballot measures, the night was about equally full of gains and losses. But it's important to remember that no matter who wins, popular movements can always make a difference. So whether your favorite candidate won or lost last night, you can and should continue fighting to halt <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/climate-change" target="_self">climate change</a> and ensure a healthy, thriving environment for all life on earth.</p><p>That said, here are a few of the key takeaways from last night.</p><p><strong>1. Big Oil's Big Spending Paid Off</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-proxy-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vbWVkaWEucmJsLm1zL2ltYWdlP3U9JTJGbWVkaWElMkZEclgyeUV4VkFBRW11elouanBnJTNBbWVkaXVtJmhvPWh0dHBzJTNBJTJGJTJGcGJzLnR3aW1nLmNvbSZzPTk0NiZoPWZmNDVhMjg3MzRhYThlNjZlYjMwOWVlODhmMzQzNjhjZTFmYzMxYmIwNjI1MDk1YzBiNDA5YmQxYzY2Njc4ZjMmc2l6ZT05ODB4JmM9OTQ1MTk3NjY0IiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0ODA0Mjk5OX0.-X-2nrVyWzI_WcIkEf99DusQZiOaUCPuc3ZKiXmQQ2g/img.jpg" id="ddafc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7a0e4dd5257c851e2194534ee7509b14">
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">A graphic showing the results of Washington state's voting on I-1631</small><small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://pbs.twimg.com/media/DrX2yExVAAEmuzZ.jpg:large" target="_blank">pbs.twimg.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>Probably the most disappointing result from a climate change perspective is the fact that Washington's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/washington-carbon-tax-big-oil-2616808725.html" target="_self">Initiative 1631</a>, which would have created the nation's first fee on carbon emissions, was defeated in the polls. Colorado's <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/colorado-fracking-homes-2608344422.html" target="_self">Proposition 112</a>, which would have banned oil and gas drilling on 85 percent of the state's land, also failed. The fossil fuel industry put more than $73 million into defeating the two initiatives, <a href="https://www.huffingtonpost.co.uk/entry/green-new-deal-progressive-democrats_us_5be26f5be4b0769d24c6a954" target="_blank">the Huffington Post reported</a>, so in this case money power was sadly stronger than people power.<br></p><p>In terms of the other ballot measures <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/environmental-ballot-measures-to-watch-2618270364.html" target="_self">EcoWatch was tracking</a>, Arizona's Proposition 127, which would have upped the state's <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/renewable-energy/" target="_self">renewable energy</a> target to 50 percent by 2030, <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Arizona_Proposition_127,_Renewable_Energy_Standards_Initiative_(2018)" target="_blank">was also defeated</a>, as <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Alaska_Ballot_Measure_1,_Salmon_Habitat_Protections_and_Permits_Initiative_(2018)" target="_blank">was Alaska's Ballot Measure 1</a>, which would have imposed new restrictions on projects that threaten <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/salmon" target="_self">salmon</a> habitat. Florida's unusual Amendment 9, banning both <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/offshore-oil-drilling" target="_self">offshore oil drilling</a> and indoor vaping, was the <a href="https://ballotpedia.org/Florida_Amendment_9,_Ban_Offshore_Oil_and_Gas_Drilling_and_Ban_Vaping_in_Enclosed_Indoor_Workplaces_Amendment_(2018)" target="_blank">only one to succeed</a>. </p><p><strong>2. Climate Change Tipping Point</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="e05e7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="OOHBCD1576662090"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1060004940414926848" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Carlos Curbelo didn't lose, @DebbieforFL won.
This race was fought on climate change and won on climate change.
T… https://t.co/hc6DMi0XSc</div> — Eric Holthaus (@Eric Holthaus)<a href="https://twitter.com/EricHolthaus/statuses/1060004940414926848">1541559846.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p>Climate change was also a campaign issue in several key races, and, while it's hard to pinpoint what issue tipped a candidate over the edge to victory, there were some wins where it might have made a difference.<br></p><p>Before the election, <a href="https://grist.org/article/midterms-2018-climate-election-map/" target="_blank">Grist</a> assembled an analysis of five hotly contested races in districts where more than two-thirds of residents were worried about climate change. Turns out, all of the Democrats in those races won or are currently leading in the polls, according to <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2018/11/06/us/elections/results-house-elections.html?action=click&module=Spotlight&pgtype=Homepage" target="_blank">The New York Times</a>.</p><ul class="ee-ul"><li>Anti-pipeline and offshore drilling Democrat Tom Malinowski beat Republican incumbent Leonard Lance in New Jersey's seventh district.</li><li>Democrat Colin Allred, who wants to rejoin the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/paris-agreement" target="_self">Paris agreement</a>, defeated incumbent Republican Pete Sessions, who wants to scale back the EPA. This is in Texas' 32nd district, which saw unusually deadly storms and <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/flooding" target="_self">flooding</a> this fall. </li><li>Also in Texas, Republican incumbent John Culberson lost to Democrat Lizzie Pannill Fletcher in the seventh district that includes parts of Houston deeply impacted by <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/hurricane-harvey" target="_self">Hurricane Harvey</a> last year. </li><li>Florida's 26th district is its southernmost point, already grappling with tidal flooding due to <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/sea-level-rise" target="_self">sea level rise</a>. Republican incumbent Carlos Curbelo <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/gop-new-carbon-tax-bill-2590411558.html" target="_blank">was not a climate denier</a>, and in fact founded the bipartisan Climate Solutions Caucus. But Democrat Debbie Mucarsel-Powell promised more environmental action and won.</li><li>The race between Republican incumbent Dana Rohrabacher and Democratic challenger Harley Rouda for California's 48th district, which includes parts of coastal Orange County at risk from sea level rise, is still too close to call. But Rouda, who opposed offshore oil drilling and promised clean energy, is leading. </li></ul><p><strong>3. Rise of the Green New Deal:</strong></p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="074dea21725eace9c13bc3895d6fd7d7"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/zcQZtpbgVoY?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
<small class="image-media media-caption" placeholder="add caption...">The Green New Deal: fixing climate and the economy?</small>
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">
<a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zcQZtpbgVoY" target="_blank">www.youtube.com</a>
</small>
</p><p>The brightest glimmer of hope to come out of the midterms is the fact that there are now four Democrats in the House who are calling for a Green New Deal, a massive government push to turn away from fossil fuels and build renewable energy infrastructure, The Huffington Post reported.<br></p><p><a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/alexandria-ocasio-cortez-climate-2581756053.html" target="_self">Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez</a> confirmed her win after her surprise primary victory in New York's 14th district this summer, and she is joined in championing the issue by the first two Muslim women in Congress: Ilhan Omar in Minnesota's 5th District and Rashida Tlaib in Michigan's 13th. Antonio Delgado beat Republican John Faso in New York's 19th district to round out the group. </p><p>While some influential champions of the idea, like Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum, lost their races, Penn State University climate scientist Michael Mann said it was important that the idea was gaining ground given the <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/climate-change-ipcc-report-2610866229.html" target="_self">dire warnings</a> of the most recent <a href="http://www.ipcc.ch/" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> report on limiting global warming to 1.5 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. </p><p>"This is the sort of bold and audacious thinking that we need when it comes to confronting the ever-pressing challenge of averting catastrophic climate change," Mann told the Huffington Post.</p>
<p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="bd989" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="FMEBFV1576662090"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1055421267803746304" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">New Green Strategy: Change the Electorate, Not the Election #ClimateVoter #VoteOnClimate #IVoted https://t.co/JGhLvyxC3Z</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/1055421267803746304">1540467013.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p>
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Mackinaw Bridge, Michigan. Deb Nystrom / CC BY 2.0
By Douglas Bessette
A deal involving an aging oil pipeline in Michigan reflects the complex decisions communities across the country need to make to balance the needs for energy and safety with efforts to deal with climate change.
Gov. Rick Snyder and Enbridge, a Canadian company, have reached an agreement over a leak-prone pipeline that runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac, the four-mile-long waterway that divides Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.
<p>
Rather than shut the 65-year-old pipeline down altogether, as <a href="http://flowforwater.org/line5/" target="_blank">environmentalists are demanding</a>, or conduct routine maintenance, as <a href="http://www.enbridge.com/Line5" target="_blank">Enbridge desired</a>, Snyder is requiring Enbridge to <a href="https://www.michigan.gov/snyder/0,4668,7-277-57577_57657-479938--,00.html" target="_blank">replace the pipeline</a> at an estimated cost of up to $500 million without a deadline.
</p><p>
While the lakes, beaches and livelihoods vulnerable to harm from a potential spill are perhaps unique to Michigan, the question of what to do about a host of aging <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/pipelines">pipelines</a> across the U.S. is not. <a href="http://insideenergy.org/2014/08/01/half-century-old-pipelines-carry-oil-and-gas-load/" target="_blank">Nearly half</a> of the nation's pipelines currently operating were built before 1960.
</p><p>
Amid <a href="https://www.eia.gov/outlooks/steo/" target="_blank">rising oil and gas production</a>, there are hard compromises to make between ensuring an adequate energy supply, protecting public safety, and reducing the nation's reliance on <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fossil-fuels">fossil fuels</a>—a <a href="https://theconversation.com/the-us-natural-gas-industry-is-leaking-way-more-methane-than-previously-thought-heres-why-that-matters-98918" target="_blank">key contributor to climate change</a>. But <a href="https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=kIZnIqgAAAAJ&hl=en" target="_blank">my research</a> suggests that there may be a straightforward way for both decision-makers and the public to make these choices.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODczMzc0MS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYyNjMyNzU0N30.SBSrSKL8tOsfFW0rld94GuFy0A2fWABDEB3ERrclEyQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="807cc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="7bd87b3efff085477d4e954317566385" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p><strong>Millions of Miles</strong></p><p>
Approximately <a href="http://www.pipeline101.org/Where-Are-Pipelines-Located" target="_blank">3 million miles</a> of pipelines move crude oil, natural gas and other hazardous liquids across the U.S. Most crude oil pipelines traversing the center of the country transport oil from western Canada and North Dakota southward to refineries in Texas and Louisiana.
</p><p>
Much of this system dates back to the <a href="https://www.energy.gov/policy/downloads/quadrennial-energy-review-first-installment" target="_blank">economic boom</a> of the 1950s and 1960s. Indeed, <a href="http://insideenergy.org/2014/08/01/half-century-old-pipelines-carry-oil-and-gas-load/" target="_blank">roughly half</a> of the crude oil pipelines operating today are at least 50 years old.
</p><p>
More of the natural gas pipelines that span the county are concentrated around the Marcellus Shale formation, in eastern Ohio and Pennsylvania. And 60 percent of the <a href="https://cms.phmsa.dot.gov/data-and-statistics/pipeline/annual-report-mileage-natural-gas-transmission-gathering-systems" target="_blank">319,000 miles</a> of pipelines currently transporting natural gas were <a href="https://www.ingaa.org/file.aspx?id=19307" target="_blank">installed before 1970</a>.
</p><p>
A recent <a href="https://www.energy.gov/policy/downloads/quadrennial-energy-review-first-installment" target="_blank">Department of Energy</a> report suggested that replacing just the cast-iron pipelines, which are the <a href="https://opsweb.phmsa.dot.gov/pipeline_replacement/" target="_blank">oldest and riskiest variety</a>, would cost <a href="https://www.energy.gov/sites/prod/files/2015/08/f25/QER%20Summary%20for%20Policymakers%20April%202015.pdf" target="_blank">approximately $270 billion</a>.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-youtube">
<span style="display:block;position:relative;padding-top:56.25%;" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="d02ddc63d94efb7544db5392c7b380a4"><iframe type="lazy-iframe" data-runner-src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/ic9NcKtEPGs?rel=0" width="100%" height="auto" frameborder="0" scrolling="no" style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;width:100%;height:100%;"></iframe></span>
</p><p><strong>The Risks</strong></p><p>
Compared to hauling fuel by rail or truck, the <a href="https://www.nap.edu/catalog/11046/transmission-pipelines-and-land-use-a-risk-informed-approach-special" target="_blank">Transportation Research Board</a>, a nonprofit that serves as an advisory body to the White House, Congress and federal agencies, considers pipelines to be safer. Yet when pipeline accidents do occur, they are typically larger and impact the environment more directly than the alternatives.
</p><p>
When a <a href="https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2018/09/18/massachusetts-natural-gas-explosions-pressure-ed-markey-elizabeth-warren-columbia/1345591002/" target="_blank">natural gas line exploded</a> in Massachusetts, where many pipes are over 100 years old, it destroyed 80 homes and killed one person. In 2012, another pipeline operated by the same company—Columbia Gas, <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/PAR1401.pdf" target="_blank">this one built in 1967</a>, exploded.
</p><p>
That earlier accident in Sissonville, West Virginia, charred 800 feet of roadway along a nearby highway, wrecking three homes, and melted the siding on houses hundreds of feet away. Following an investigation, the <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Reports/PAR1401.pdf" target="_blank">National Transportation Safety Board</a> found many causes. Among them: corrosion and a lack of automatic or remote shutoff valves.
</p><p>
In 2010, <a href="https://www.ntsb.gov/investigations/AccidentReports/Pages/PAR1201.aspx" target="_blank">one of Enbridge's Michigan pipelines ruptured</a>, spilling 1 million gallons of oil into the Kalamazoo River. That pipeline was built in the 1960s, and made with the sorts of welding processes and protective coverings that have <a href="https://www.ingaa.org/Foundation/FDNreports/PipelineAge.aspx?source=generalSearch" target="_blank">not stood the test of time</a>. The cost to clean up that spill was more than <a href="https://www.mlive.com/news/index.ssf/2016/07/kalamazoo_river_oil_spill_time.html" target="_blank">$1 billion</a> and spurred concerns among Michiganders over the safety of the Straits pipeline.
</p><p>
A big spill in the Straits of Mackinac could result in oil polluting over 1,200 miles of shoreline, cause $1.3 billion in damage and cost $500 million to clean up, <a href="https://mipetroleumpipelines.com/document/independent-risk-analysis-straits-pipelines-executive-summary" target="_blank">Michigan Technological University</a> researchers estimate.
</p><p>
Following an <a href="https://mipetroleumpipelines.com/document/alternatives-analysis-straits-pipeline" target="_blank">independent risk analysis</a>, Snyder and Enbridge agreed that a replacement pipeline should be placed inside a tunnel and buried beneath the lakebed. Taking that step would substantially reduce the risk of a spill. But it will also take at least seven years to build. And the agreement assumes the Straits pipeline would <a href="https://insideclimatenews.org/news/04102018/oil-pipeline-shut-down-enbridge-line-5-straits-mackinac-michigan-election-snyder?utm_source=twitter&utm_medium=social" target="_blank">continue to operate</a> during the new pipeline's construction.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODczMzkyMC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYxODgyMjgzMn0.6s-ojTWRdvAAxdWuta4MU5FQA4gzADiUclodprHGuF0/img.png?width=980" id="2dc56" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="e67e2d482c10316e5a6d02f1f8dab7f3" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p>
<strong>Fracking Boom<br>
</strong>
</p><p>
There's one good reason why old and dangerous pipelines aren't being shut down: the <a href="https://stateimpact.npr.org/pennsylvania/2015/04/02/pipelines-the-new-battleground-over-fracking/" target="_blank">emergence of hydraulic fracturing</a>, or <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/fracking/">fracking</a>—the process by which water, sand and chemicals are injected underground at high pressures to crack rock and release the oil and gas trapped inside.
</p><p>
Despite concerns regarding <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/343/6172/733" target="_blank">methane leaks, water and air pollution</a> and even <a href="http://science.sciencemag.org/content/341/6142/1225942" target="_blank">earthquakes</a>, there's <a href="http://time.com/5187074/fracking-energy-oil-natural-gas/" target="_blank">no sign</a> that the fracking boom in oil and gas production over the next decade will slow.
</p><p>
The <a href="https://www.api.org/~/media/Files/Policy/Infrastructure/API-Infrastructure-Study-2017.pdf" target="_blank">oil and gas industry</a> anticipates production in places like <a href="https://bismarcktribune.com/bakken/new-natural-gas-plant-expansion-proposed-for-mckenzie-county/article_bfcb78a5-2f17-5619-b462-8a00200bce48.html" target="_blank">North Dakota</a> will keep growing over the next two decades.
</p><p>
According to the <a href="https://www.api.org/news-policy-and-issues/energy-infrastructure/oil-gas-infrastructure-study-2017" target="_blank">American Petroleum Institute</a>, building the pipelines to accommodate this increase in output would require annual investments between $12-19 billion. A 2008 report prepared for the Edison Foundation predicted that modernizing the national oil and gas transmission and distribution network would cost <a href="http://www.brattle.com/news-and-knowledge/publications/archive/2008" target="_blank">$900 billion before 2030</a>.
</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-rebelmouse-image">
<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODczMzkyNC9vcmlnaW4ucG5nIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTYwMjE3OTAyM30.5Ws1zUr0fF90N9pq-x_I5hfxnn7d6TtlxI4Di-A4uXw/img.png?width=980" id="f8c39" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="5ed9831ea3dca37c56d722800b4681ed" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
</p><p>
<strong>Some Trade-Offs<br>
</strong>
</p><p>
As the battles over the <a href="https://theconversation.com/all-the-battles-being-waged-against-fossil-fuel-infrastructure-are-following-a-single-strategy-100930" target="_blank">Keystone XL and the Dakota Access pipelines</a> have shown, opposition to new long-term fossil fuel infrastructure projects is growing. Replacing old dangerous pipelines with new ones is not easy—or fast, even if it might reduce risks and carbon emissions.
</p><p>
There is also growing evidence, such as the latest report from the UN's <a href="https://theconversation.com/ipcc-1-5-report-heres-what-the-climate-science-says-104592" target="_blank">Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change</a> that instead of a bigger and better pipeline network, the U.S. needs a <a href="https://www.jstor.org/stable/43315645?seq=1#metadata_info_tab_contents" target="_blank">new energy strategy</a>, aimed at ending reliance on fossil fuels altogether by 2050. The problem is that once pipelines are built, they typically last decades. Building new ones would further lock in dependence on fossil fuels.
</p><p>
A recent poll shows that <a href="https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/public-backs-action-global-warming-cost-concerns-muted/story?id=56549874" target="_blank">a majority of Americans support aggressive action on global warming</a>. But smaller numbers back some of the specific policies or actions that might take.
</p><p>
As <a href="https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0301421518300223" target="_blank">my research</a> suggests, adopting a <a href="https://www.usgs.gov/centers/pwrc/science/structured-decision-making?qt-science_center_objects=0#qt-science_center_objects" target="_blank">more comprehensive and logical process</a> for making decisions could provide a way forward. This process helps communities identify their most important objectives first and then evaluate options according to those specific goals. It's an approach that ensures that what's most important—climate change, jobs and protecting ecosystems, for instance—gets addressed.
</p><p>
It could become handy the next time a state and a corporation tangle over whether or not to replace a big aging pipeline–even when this debate is less contentious than the one about Michigan's Straits of Mackinac.</p><p class="shortcode-media shortcode-media-twitter_embed">
</p><div id="b652c" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="87V86S1576663332"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="1048223369538232325" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Great Lakes 'At Risk' From Plan to Replace Aging Enbridge Pipelines, Environmentalists Argue https://t.co/etUxGvlp0x</div> — The YEARS Project (@The YEARS Project)<a href="https://twitter.com/YEARSofLIVING/statuses/1048223369538232325">1538750901.0</a></blockquote></div>
<p></p><p><em>Douglas Bessette is an assistant professor of community sustainability at Michigan State University.</em><br></p><p>
<em>Disclosure statement: Douglas Bessette does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond his academic appointment.</em>
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<em>Reposted with permission from our media associate <a href="https://theconversation.com/a-great-lakes-pipeline-dispute-points-to-a-broader-energy-dilemma-104537" target="_blank">The Conversation</a>.</em></p><p><em><em>Correction: A previous version of this article mistakenly stated the estimated cost to replace the pipeline to be $500 billion in the third paragraph. The correct figure is $500 million. </em><em></em></em></p><script async="async" data-counter="https://counter.theconversation.com/content/104537/count?distributor=republish-lightbox-advanced" id="theconversation_tracker_hook" src="https://theconversation.com/javascripts/lib/content_tracker_hook.js" type="text/javascript"></script>
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Great Lakes 'At Risk' From Plan to Replace Aging Enbridge Pipelines, Environmentalists Argue
04 October 2018
Energy
Part of the shoreline near the Straits of Mackinac that could be damaged by an oil spill. Mark Miller Photos / Photolibrary / Getty Images
The state of Michigan and Canadian pipeline company Enbridge announced a deal Wednesday to replace controversial aging pipelines that environmental groups worried put Lakes Michigan and Huron at risk for an oil spill, The Detroit Free Press reported.
Under the new plan, the existing 65-year-old pipelines, which are part of Enbridge's Line 5 carrying oil and liquefied natural gas between Wisconsin and Ontario, will be replaced with a new pipeline in a tunnel to be drilled into the bedrock beneath the Straits of Mackinac connecting Lakes Huron and Michigan, The Associated Press reported. The project will take seven to 10 years to complete and cost as much as $500 million. Enbridge will foot the bill.
<p>Michigan Governor Rick Snyder called the proposal "a common-sense solution" to the problem posed by the aging pipelines, saying that it would resolve "nearly every risk" of an oil spill in the Straits of Mackinac.<br></p><p>But environmental groups, who have long opposed the pipeline, disagreed that the new plan was any sort of solution. </p><p>"Today, Governor Snyder cemented his disastrous legacy for the Great Lakes and the people of Michigan," Michigan organizer for <a href="https://www.cleanwateraction.org/" target="_blank">Clean Water Action</a> Sean McBearty told The Detroit Free Press. "As his administration comes to a close, he announced a last-minute deal with Enbridge Energy that will succeed in keeping the Great Lakes at risk from a massive Line 5 oil spill for the foreseeable future."</p><p>Mike Shriberg of the <a href="https://www.nwf.org/" target="_blank">National Wildlife Federation</a> also told The Associated Press that the plan would leave the body of water vulnerable to spills for many years, and David Holtz of <a href="https://www.oilandwaterdontmix.org/" target="_blank">Oil and Water Don't Mix</a> said that Michigan's own studies showed there were better ways to provide the state with energy. </p><p>Enbridge said it would take measures to reduce the risk of an oil spill from the older pipelines during construction, including (a) conducting underwater investigations, (b) placing cameras in the straits to keep track of ship movements and enforce a no-anchor zone, and (c) making Enbridge staff available to manually shut down the pipeline during high-wave days if electric mechanisms fail.</p> <p>The Line 5 pipelines have been the subject of lawsuits and protests in recent months. The National Wildlife Federation and the <a href="http://elpc.org/" target="_blank"> Environmental Law & Policy Center</a> <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/enbridge-pipeline-great-lakes-lawsuit-2598464630.html" target="_self">sued</a> the Coast Guard in August over an inadequate oil-spill response plan, in an ultimate bid to shut down the pipeline, since one is not allowed to operate a pipeline without a satisfactory response plan in place. Also in August, <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/pipeline-protest-michigan-enbridge-2598173435.html" target="_self">indigenous activists</a> set up a protest camp in Northern Michigan to protest the pipelines.</p><p>A study in July found that an oil spill from the pipelines could damage 400 miles of Great Lakes shoreline and cost Michigan $2 billion.</p>
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</p><div id="72fdc" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="3KH3PR1576662959"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="857306496085970945" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Enbridge's Great Lakes Pipeline Has Spilled 1 Million Gallons Since 1968 https://t.co/9lFaOia3Y8 (@ecowatch)</div> — Sierra Club (@Sierra Club)<a href="https://twitter.com/SierraClub/statuses/857306496085970945">1493232771.0</a></blockquote></div>
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Judge Orders Michigan Health Director to Face Trial Over Flint Water Crisis Deaths
21 August 2018
Popular
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon, seen here speaking to the press about the Flint water crisis in 2016, will be the highest ranking official to stand trial over the public health disaster. Brett Carlsen / Getty Images
Michigan Department of Health and Human Services Director Nick Lyon will be the highest ranking official to go to trial so far as a result of an investigation into the Flint water crisis, The Associated Press reported Monday.
Judge David Goggins ruled Monday there was probable cause for Lyon to stand trial for involuntary manslaughter in the deaths of Robert Skidmore and John Snyder that prosecutors say were due to a Legionnaires' disease outbreak that Lyon was aware of a year before he alerted Michigan's governor, Michigan Live reported. Lyons is also charged with misconduct in office.
<p>"We're looking at today as the first step and the next step for justice for the moms and the dads and the kids of Flint, specifically for the families of Mr. Snyder and Mr. Skidmore," spokesperson for Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette, Andrea Bitely, told <a href="https://www.detroitnews.com/story/news/michigan/flint-water-crisis/2018/08/20/judge-nick-lyon-flint-goes-trial/1042322002/" target="_blank">The Detroit News</a>.</p><p>Schuette's office is conducting an ongoing investigation into what happened when the Flint River was used for <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/drinking-water" target="_self">drinking water</a> in Flint for 18 months in 2014 and 2015. The corrosive water was not treated and it leached <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/lead" target="_self">lead</a> from pipes into the water supply, The Associated Press summarized.</p><p> Michigan Live reported that two university studies also link the use of Flint River water to a Legionnaires' disease outbreak that The Associated Press reported killed 12 and sickened 90 in 2014 and 2015.</p><p>Lyon is the highest-ranking of 15 local or state officials charged over either the Legionnaires' outbreak or the lead contamination. Four have agreed to plea deals, and the remaining cases are proceeding slowly, The Associated Press reported.</p><p>Lyon's attorneys said there was "zero proof that there was anything Director Lyon did or did not do" that caused the deaths of Snyder and Skidmore, according to Michigan Live. </p><p>They also argued that prosecuting him would "dangerously chill" public employees, according to The Associated Press.</p><p>Special Prosecutor Todd Flood maintained he could have ordered a change in the city's water supply, Michigan Live reported. </p><p>Prosecutors also accused him of covering up the source of the outbreak by preventing researchers from investigating its cause.</p><p>"He had the chance to save lives," Flood said in a July 25 hearing, according to The Associated Press.</p><p>Goggins seemed to agree Lyon should have acted sooner. </p><p>"I find this behavior over this time period of withholding information corrupt based upon misconduct in office for probable cause standards," Goggins said, according to The Detroit News.</p><p>The case will now proceed to trial in the Genesee Circuit Court.</p><p>"It's a long way from over," Lyon told The Associated Press.</p>
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</p><div id="c60e9" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="6X79931576663908"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="983333626829066240" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Michigan Gov. Declares Flint Water Safe, Stops Free Bottled Water, But Residents Aren’t So Sure… https://t.co/2PDaAFbjjW</div> — EcoWatch (@EcoWatch)<a href="https://twitter.com/EcoWatch/statuses/983333626829066240">1523279980.0</a></blockquote></div>
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