For June 12, 2014

 

1- How does a proposed federal Climate Action Plan affect Michigan?

Earlier this month, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency proposed a related Clean Power Plan to curb pollution from power plants. The plan would help cut carbon emissions from the power sector by 30 percent below 2005 levels.

According to an EPA analysis, the proposal would require Michigan to develop a plan to lower its carbon pollution to meet a carbon dioxide emission rate goal of 1,161 pounds per megawatt hour.

Right now, Michigan’s power sector emits about 535 more pounds per megawatt hour. The Midland Gogeneration Venture and the J.C. Weadock plant in Bay County would both be covered by the rule.

Michigan would be able to choose how to meet the goal through various measures.

Strategies include efficiency programs, improving power plant operations, and renewable energy standards. Michigan’s current renewable energy standard of 10 percent expires in 2015.

Power plants are the largest source of carbon pollution in the U.S. About half of Michigan’s energy comes from coal.

 

2 – Just in time for the summer, there’s an action plan for addressing debris in the Great Lakes.

We’re talking about plastics and litter, abandoned vessels, and old fishing gear.

The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration has released a first-of-its-kind Great Lakes Land-based Marine Debris Action Plan.

The Plan focuses on debris generated on land, which is often blown, swept, or washed out into the lakes.

The action part involves work that partners will undertake in the next five years, through 2019.

One objective is to remove 200 tons of land-based marine debris from Great Lakes environments.

Backers say there’s a role for everyone in the plan, from the citizen who picks up litter from beaches and watersheds; to organizations that support a wide range of activities like cleanup, research, education, and outreach.

— Mr. Great Lakes is heard at 9 a.m. Fridays in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Q-90.1 FM NPR.