Higher Fees for Electric and Hybrid Cars and Discouraging Net-Metering Rates for Residential Solar Roofs

Thanks to Governor Snyder and some other Republican lawmakers Michigan will soon be the joke of this nation that finally starts to wake up to reality. Instead of increasing incentives for people to move towards more sustainability in face of undeniable man-made global warming, they are planning to punish people to do the right thing. It is almost unbelievable and follows a very crooked logic to increase registration fees for cars that use less fuel like electric and hybrid cars. In all reality, people who own cars that are less efficient than 45 miles per gallon should be penalized for polluting our environment more than necessary by paying higher taxes and fees - not the other way around. This almost unbelievable and unethical stupidity follows the same lines as a proposal to allow utility companies to buy electricity from net-metering owners of rooftop solar panels at wholesale rate but sell them the energy back at retail rate. To even come up with such an absurd double-standard is mind-bugling. It is like - wait a minute where am I - in the dark middle-ages?

Update: I reached out to several electric car and hybrid car groups but nobody seems to care to object this INSANE, MAD and BACKWARDS ruling on cars that should be paying less!
For the solar panels, the proposal is not yet signed into law - there is a petition, which you all can sign to show our lawmakers that we will not take this false signal and discouragement to do the right thing. You can find the petition here:

https://www.change.org/p/michigan-state-house-michigan-state-senate-michigan-governor-michigan-stop-the-attack-on-rooftop-solar

Stories of Hope

Dear Tom, Guardian readers have asked us to report more often on stories of hope -- and so we have turned to Africa. From Morocco to South Africa, we've covered some of the communities and governments who have turned to solar power – not just as a way to fight climate change, but to bring some people electricity for the first time. As Erick Kabendera found in Tanzania, solar is not just helping health centres and on the way to lighting up 1m homes, but it's keeping snakes away too.  In Burundi, despite civil unrest and violence, one of the continent's most ambitious solar projects is moving ahead on 17 hectares of land in Mubuga village. David Smith heard how it'll change lives, as well as creating hundreds of jobs. On an even bigger scale is Morocco, where Arthur Neslen visited the edge of the Sahara desert to find out more about plans for a mega solar plant. Once complete, it will be the largest concentrated solar power (CSP) plant in the world. We're not the only ones to find these projects hopeful. So do leading figures such as former UN secretary general Kofi Annan, who calls lack of access to electricity as "intolerable, avoidable and profoundly unfair" for Africans. He believes solar holds the answer.  Please continue to share your reporting requests with us. Just reply to this e-mail with ideas.  Best, Adam Vaughan, online environment editor You are receiving this email because you opted to receive Keep it in the ground emails from Guardian News & Media Limited. Click here if you do not wish to receive Keep it in the ground emails from the Guardian News and Media. Guardian News & Media Limited - a member of Guardian Media Group PLC.  Registered Office: Kings Place, 90 York Way, London, N1 9GU. Registered in England No. 908396

BREAKING VICTORY: President Obama has rejected the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline!!!

350.org

This is a historic victory that sets the standard for climate action by keeping millions of tons of carbon underground. And it's a victory for the people: the President's courage today is a reflection of the courage of thousands of people who stood up to fight this project.

We want to thank everyone who fought to make this victory happen. Add your name to the Keystone XL Movement Thank You Card to help celebrate making history:http://350.org/thankyou

David W. Orr to speak at Siena Heights University

The Sustainable College Committee of Siena Heights is delighted to present David W. Orr as our Fall 2015 William Issa Endowment Speaker on Wednesday, November 11, 2015 at 7:00 p.m. at the Dominican Hall (Rueckert) Auditorium in Adrian, Michigan. You can find a campus map and directions at: http://sienaheights.edu/About/CampusMap.aspx

David is “Counselor to the President” of Oberlin College. He is the author of seven books, including Down to the Wire: Confronting Climate Collapse (Oxford, 2009) and co-editor of three others. His eighth book, Dangerous Years: Climate Change and the Long Emergency will be published in 2016. He has authored over 220 articles, reviews, book chapters, and professional publications. In the past twenty-five years he has served as a board member or adviser to ten foundations and on the Boards of many organizations including the Rocky Mountain Institute and the Aldo Leopold Foundation. Currently he is a Trustee of the Bioneers, Alliance for Sustainable Colorado, and the WorldWatch Institute. He has been awarded eight honorary degrees and a dozen other awards including a Lyndhurst Prize, a National Achievement Award from the National Wildlife Federation, leadership awards from the U.S. Green Building Council (2014) and from Second Nature (2012). He has lectured at hundreds of colleges and universities throughout the U.S., Europe, and Asia. He headed the effort to design, fund, and build the Adam Joseph Lewis Center, which was named by an AIA panel in 2010 as “the most important green building of the past thirty years,” and as “one of thirty milestone buildings of the twentieth century” by the U.S. Department of Energy. He is founder and Chair of the Board of the Oberlin project and a founding editor of the journal Solutions.

The title of David’s talk is "What's One to do in a Hotter World?” - Education and the Long Emergency"
David Orr does not convey the message that "all is lost" but he sees our call in higher education is to tell the truth as best as we can see it. The science of climate change is sobering and it gives us little time to make adjustments. David understands that the role of education is to engage students in the creation of solutions. At Oberlin he led the effort to design and build the Adam Joseph Lewis Center, which is still the only entirely solar powered building on an US college campus (it's also zero discharge). In addition, he is further promoting the Oberlin Project, and he is striving to equip students with the analytical skills and habits needed to solve environmental problems. He beliefs firmly that hope is indeed a verb with its sleeves rolled up.

The Talk and associated events (program below) are free for the public. We would appreciate if you could help us spread the word and forward this announcement to everybody that may be interested.

See You at SHU!

Tom
---------------------------------------
Thomas Wassmer, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Biology
Chair, Sustainable College Committee
Siena Heights University
1247 E. Siena Heights Dr.
Adrian, MI 49221
517-264-7637

EPA Water Quality Assessment Status for Reporting Year 2012 River Raisin in Adrian

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Waterbody Quality Assessment Report

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On This Page

• Causes of Impairment
• Probable Sources Contributing to Impairments

State: Michigan
Waterbody ID: MI041000020206-01
Location: Includes: South Branch River Raisin
State Waterbody Type: 
EPA Waterbody Type: 
Water Size: 
Units: 
Watershed Name:

Waterbody History Report

2012 Waterbody Report for Rivers/Streams in HUC 041000020206

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Water Quality Assessment Status for Reporting Year 2012

Description of this table

Designated Use	Designated Use Group	Status
Agriculture	Agricultural	Good
Cold Water Fishery	Fish, Shellfish, And Wildlife Protection And Propagation	Not Assessed
Fish Consumption	Aquatic Life Harvesting	Impaired
Industrial Water Supply	Industrial	Good
Navigation	Other	Good
Other Indigenous Aquatic Life	Fish, Shellfish, And Wildlife Protection And Propagation	Good
Partial Body Contact Recreation	Recreation	Impaired
Public Water Supply	Public Water Supply	Not Assessed
Total Body Contact Recreation	Recreation	Impaired
Warm Water Fishery	Fish, Shellfish, And Wildlife Protection And Propagation	Good

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Causes of Impairment for Reporting Year 2012

Description of this table

Cause of Impairment	Cause of Impairment Group	Designated Use(s)	State TMDL Development Status
Escherichia Coli (E. Coli)	Pathogens	Partial Body Contact Recreation, Total Body Contact Recreation	TMDL needed
PCB(s) in Fish Tissue	Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)	Fish Consumption	TMDL needed
Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)	Polychlorinated Biphenyls (PCBs)	Fish Consumption	TMDL needed

Original page at: http://ofmpub.epa.gov/tmdl_waters10/attains_waterbody.control?p_au_id=MI041000020206-01&p_cycle=2012

Similar results for 2008 and 2010. This has history and NOTHING HAPPENS because the little bit of business for a few seems to be more important than the health of the majority of people in Lenawee County and the integrity of the environment!
(2010: http://ofmpub.epa.gov/tmdl_waters10/attains_waterbody.control?p_au_id=MI041000020206-01&p_cycle=2010
2008: http://ofmpub.epa.gov/tmdl_waters10/attains_waterbody.control?p_au_id=MI041000020206-01&p_cycle=2008)

BTW Also ignored by the local government and the County Health Department!

Not only the South Branch of River Raisin is bad - check out the entire watershed at:
http://ofmpub.epa.gov/waters10/attains_watershed.control?p_state=MI&p_huc=04100002&p_cycle=2010&p_report_type=A

Red/pink is BAD!!!

Now where does this shit (literally) come from? Take a good guess where so much boop may come from????

BREAKING: Bill to Keep Fossil Fuels in the Ground Launched in Congress

Friends,

Today, a game-changing climate bill was introduced in the U.S. Congress by Sens. Jeff Merkley and Bernie Sanders, along with five of their colleagues.¹

It's game-changing because it's the first bill to cut to the heart of the issue and keep fossil fuels underground, by cutting off all sales of coal, oil and gas from publicly owned lands. That's 450 gigatons of carbon that would be kept underground -- half of the fossil fuels in the entire United States, representing enough carbon to take us past major climate tipping points.

Because the climate movement has fought tirelessly for years to stop projects like Keystone XL, fracking, and Arctic drilling, Senators are lining up to demand that we keep fossil fuels in the ground. This is the new measure of climate leadership.

It's crucial that we show that movement energy is turning the tide in Washington. Can you share this announcement on Facebook and help us spread the good news?

Click here to share this image on Facebook.

In short, this bill says that if it is wrong to wreck the planet, it is wrong for our government to be in the business of digging up coal, oil and gas from publicly-owned land. It also lays down a marker for both President Obama and whomever ends up being the next President: if you want to be a climate champion, keep fossil fuels in the ground.

Most climate legislation nibbles at the edge of the fossil fuel industry's power -- making them pay a little more here, financing some clean energy there. This one clearly states the scientific reality that we must keep 80% of fossil fuel reserves underground to avoid climate disaster. If we are going to avoid the worst effects of climate change, we need to keep publicly-owned fossil fuel reserves off-limits.

As this bill starts to make its way through Congress today, it's important to note that President Obama has the power to make this happen too. An executive order would accomplish the same goal -- banning fossil fuel extraction on public lands, and keeping all that carbon in the ground. The President could show his climate leadership and support for this bill by taking executive action now. 

Keeping fossil fuels in the ground wasn’t even acceptable to talk about just a few short years ago; now it’s a bill in Congress with a long list of co-sponsors. A lot more is suddenly possible, and politicians everywhere should be taking note.

Keeping publicly owned fossil fuels off-limits would be an enormous victory, and the fact that it's even on the table is an enormous testament to our movement's growing power.

Let's keep it up,

Jason

P.S. Want to keep that movement momentum growing on the international stage? At the end of this month, there’s a huge global mobilization to send a message to UN climate negotiators sitting down to meet in Paris. Keeping 80% of fossil fuels in the ground should be on the international agenda too.Click here to find or start an action on the weekend of November 28th-29th.

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 1. "Keep It In the Ground" Bill co-sponsors: Sen. Barbra Boxer - CA, Sen. Ben Cardin - MD, Sen. Kristen Gillibrand - NY, Sen. Patrick Leahy - VT, Sen. Jeff Merkley - OR (Lead Sponsor), Sen. Bernie Sanders - VT, Sen Elizabeth Warren - MA

BREAKING: TransCanada asks for KXL application "suspension"

Letter from Bill McKibben 350.org

Dear friends,

Well, somewhat astonishing news tonight. Transcanada—the company that was so sure it would be building the Keystone Pipeline that it mowed the 1700 mile route and stockpiled the necessary pipe across the Midwest—tonight said it wanted to suspend its application.

This is—make no mistake—a massive victory for people power. You emailed, you phoned, you marched, and in record numbers you went to jail. That’s what it took to persuade the arrogant oil industry they simply couldn’t prevail in their plan to pump the world’s filthiest oil across the heart of the continent.

They’re clearly pursuing a gambit—knowing they’ve lost, they’re trying to ask for some extra innings from the umpire, on the theory that they’ll re-submit a new route for the pipeline after the next election. President Obama shouldn’t give it to them. He should finally break his silence on Keystone and say the most important thing: it fails the climate test that he laid out. It will help cook the planet. It’s a bad idea no matter what route it takes, because it’s a fuse to one of the planet’s nastiest carbon bombs.

If President Obama rejects this pipeline once and for all, he’ll go to Paris with boosted credibility—the world leader who was willing to shut down a big project on climate grounds. Truthfully, though, we know it was a movement that shut it down: First Nations and Indigenous Peoples, climate scientists, farmers and ranchers, ministers and rabbis, young people and old people.

Tell President Obama not to let TransCanada play for time. It’s time to reject this pipeline once and for all.

They told us it was a done deal. We are an inch away from undoing it completely. And in the process, we’ve helped build a movement ready to take down hundreds of other fossil fuel projects and keep fossil fuels where they belong—underground.

Thank you all for your relentlessness. Let's not stop now.

Onward,

Bill, Sara, Jason, Rae, Jamie, Deirdre and the rest of 350.org's KXL team