For May 25, 2018

1 – A ballot initiative drive is ending after utilities agreed to bring more clean energy to Michigan residents.

More clean energy down the road. Credit: Timothy Eberly on Unsplash

Clean Energy, Healthy Michigan had been gathering signatures for the November ballot.

Last week, the group announced an agreement with Michigan’s energy companies that it says “will make the state a leader in clean energy.”

Clean Energy, Healthy Michigan joined DTE Energy and Consumers Energy in announcing that the energy companies will target a goal of at least 50 percent clean energy by 2030.

This is to be achieved through a combination of investments in at least 25 percent renewable energy, and the remaining through energy efficiency. Current state law requires 15 percent renewable energy by 2021.

Ballot initiative organizers say that, as a result of the agreement, they will not submit more than 350,000 signatures they’ve collected.

2 – Memorial Day is the unofficial start of summer in Michigan.

It’s also when county health departments start testing the water at public beaches to make sure it’s safe to swim.

But is it warm enough to swim? 

Michigan Sea Grant has a website that provides estimates of surface water temperatures in the Great Lakes. The numbers are generated from satellite-derived sensors.

You can click on a lake to view surface temperature maps.

For Lake Huron, the maps showed a temperature of about 57 degrees for the beach at the Bay City state park on Wednesday. In Caseville, the water was about 58 degrees.

To view the temps and find out more information, go online to coastwatch.msu.edu.

There also are links there to information on wind and wave forecasts, animated surface currents and water speed and direction.

– Mr. Great Lakes is heard at 9:30 a.m. Fridays in Bay City, Michigan, on Delta College Q-90.1 FM NPR. Follow @jeffkart on Twitter #MrGreatLakes