That is the legacy of tar sands oil in Michigan. And it’s a tragic one for wildlife.

On July 25, I’m joining hundreds of others in Battle Creek, Michigan to remember the fifth anniversary of the rupture of Line 6B, where pipeline giant Enbridge spilled approximate one million gallons of sticky tar sands oil into Talmadge Creek and then the Kalamazoo River. And I’ll also celebrate real progress made possible through the leadership of Michigan Governor Rick Snyder and Michigan Attorney General Bill Schuette.

This Saturday we’ll gather to remember this horrible event and recommit our efforts to make sure we never have an accident like this again.

Here are reasons we must take measures to stop tar sands expansion and protect wildlife in the Great Lakes region.

1. Tar Sands Oil Spills. Since Canadian producers have increased the pumping of thick, heavy tar sands, we have had at least two major tar sands spills, the biggest being the Kalamazoo River spill. But another major spill in Arkansas has forced the abandonment of an entire neighborhood while fouling nearby wetlands and habitat areas.
2. Tar Sands Sinks. Unlike regular oil, heavy tar sands sinks when it spills, attaching itself to the river, stream and wetland bottoms. As such, EPA has determined that it is nearly impossible to clean up. Oil still churns up in many sections of the Kalamazoo River despite extensive – and expensive – clean-up efforts.
3. Stronger Safety Regulations Needed (And Pipeline Companies Can’t be Trusted). When company actions are compared to the Keystone Kops and safety regulations are called inadequate by the National Transportation Safety Board, you know dangerous tar sands oil is not being properly regulated. Since the NTSB raised these alarming concerns, the federal agency charged with protecting us from tar sands oil spills has responded by doing nothing, even after being urged by over 60 groups, individuals and state leaders to make rules stronger. In the Kalamazoo spill, Enbridge allowed oil to be pumped for 17 hours after the rupture occurred, apparently failing to notice the breach. In the recent Santa Barbara spill, which fouled a 9 mile stretch of ocean, the company didn’t have basic shut off equipment installed. And in a massive spill just days ago in Alberta, a supposed failsafe system did not detect a tar sands spill into a sensitive bog system in Alberta, where tar sands are mined.
4. Tar Sands Oil Contributes to Global Warming. When we’re seeing more climate change impacts like algal blooms and too warm streams harming wildlife, we need to be decreasing, not increasing, carbon emissions from our fuels. But tar sands oil is at least 17% more carbon intensive (and perhaps up to 37% more intensive) than regular oil. Wildlife can’t afford more warming, or more tar sands oil.
5. Tar Sands Oil Destroys Habitat. To get this sticky oil out of the ground, vast, productive habitat areas in Canada in an area the size of Florida must be stripped mined or drilled. Many of the songbirds and waterfowl – like wood ducks, teal and loons – we hunt and enjoy in the Great Lakes region rely on this habitat. If tar sands oil industry expansion plans move forward unchecked, it could mean tens of millions of bird will be impacted or killed over the coming decades.

There is some good news. A taskforce in the State of Michigan led by Republican Attorney General Bill Schuette and Michigan Department of Environmental Quality Director Dan Wyant, who serves under Republican Governor Rick Snyder, moved to ban tar sands oil from moving through Line 5 under the Straits of Mackinac.

This marks continued momentum in the region against tar sands oil. Michigan’s future could be made even safer if Secretary of State John Kerry and President Obama can say no to more tar sands oil in the Great Lakes.  

Tell State Department: DO NOT allow expansion of the Alberta Clipper tar sands pipeline!

Hope to meet some of you on Saturday.

Early Saturday morning I was abruptly woken up by a neighbor knocking on the door. He actually then opened a window, saying “Don’t drink the water! Don’t let the kids drink the water!”

My first thought was algal blooms, as already this summer, these blooms were growing in Western Lake Erie. Last September, Carroll Township in Ohio had to shut down their water system for four days because of algal blooms. Now it was happening to my town, Toledo.

I looked online, and, sure enough, the local newspaper had a flash at 2 a.m. that the City of Toledo issued a warning of microcystin in the water. Microcystin is the worst product of an algal bloom—it’s a toxin that induces vomiting, diarrhea and liver damage. An incident down in Brazil with contaminated water killed 75 people.

Algal Blooms and Wildlife

National Wildlife Federation has been engaged in this issue for years. Not only can algal blooms contaminate drinking water supplies (this one left 500,000 people in the Toledo area without clean water), but it causes major damage to ecosystems.

The problem for wildlife isn’t so much the toxin (which is still harmful) as the algae itself. The threat comes from hypoxia of water, as algae die and then consume oxygen during decomposition, oxygen which is needed by fish to survive. That drives fish elsewhere, adds to their stress and disrupts reproduction.

In addition, birds (and especially waterfowl) are susceptible to the microcystin. High levels in Lake Erie might lead to liver lesions, and similar blooms in the Chesapeake Bay and Gulf of California were linked to the deaths of great blue herons and California brown pelicans.

The City of Toledo draws its water from an intake structure 2 miles out in Lake Erie, which unfortunately is centered right in the heart of the algal bloom. Wind and current had bulls-eyed the algal bloom right at the intake out in the Western Basin.

Surveying the Damage

National Wildlife Federation President and CEO Collin O’Mara traveled with reporters on a boat tour to the intake site yesterday. He said the situation is part of a larger issue:

“There’s a systematic challenge we face here in the Great Lakes region that’s much bigger than the current water crisis in Toledo,” Mr. O’Mara said, referring to climate change and how scientists believe it has exacerbated algae blooms in recent years. “If we don’t get our arms around it, we will see property values decline, tourism decline, and wildlife impacted, too. I encourage everyone to consider the broader issues.”

A Long-Term Problem

Algal blooms happen because of farming practices, how we put our fertilizer on our lawns, stormwater runoff and discharge from municipal wastewater systems. Toledo also feels the impact of Detroit pumping their wastewater into Lake Erie up-current from our shores. All these things exacerbated something that, fundamentally, has been going on for a few years now.

Add to this, climate change, which is the threat multiplier for all those vectors, fueling extreme weather events. The Great Lakes region is experiencing much more frequent and extreme precipitation events. The largest watershed in the Great Lakes has had a 37 percent increase in heavy precipitation, and more rainfall and snow is pushing nutrients and pollution into streams and into Lake Erie.

This event happened in the middle of the night, but it didn’t happen overnight. The lake is reaching a tipping point from all this phosphorous and pollutants. The water is getting warmer and more polluted, and threatening wildlife and habitat.

To protect birds and their Ohio habitat, we must do all we can to confront climate change—including replacing dirty fuel sources with renewable energy.

Currently, Ohio has clean energy standards that address climate change and reduces the pollution that threatens our birds, fish and wildlife. The state’s strong commitment to renewable, clean and advanced energy sources is a huge success thanks to years of advocacy by the National Wildlife Federation and supporters like you.

But, some members of the Ohio legislature are attempting to turn back the clock on clean energy standards. Senate Bill 310, currently in the Senate Public Utilities Committee, would dismantle our current energy standards and erode the consumer protections that help reduce electricity costs. The Ohio Senate bill would halt any further progress on investments from renewable energy and energy efficiency projects in the state.

If we allow the legislature to move forward with this legislation, we risk Ohio once again being left behind as the next generation of jobs emerges elsewhere. The bill would lock in higher electricity bills for Ohio’s consumers at a time when they can least afford it, expose our population to harmful emissions, and cast aside our commitment to preserve our natural habitats for generations to come.

Speak Up for Clean Energy

Tell lawmakers in Ohio to reject attacks on clean energy.

The stakes couldn’t be higher for the Great Lakes and treasured ecosystems across the country.

Carbon pollution was just measured at the highest levels in human history. The costs of inaction are already apparent: more destructive and deadly extreme weather; rising global temperatures; life-threatening diseases; and skyrocketing costs for disaster recovery.

Support for Action on Climate Change

Americans support action to face these risks.  In a recent Hart poll, nearly two-thirds of voters (65%) support “the President taking significant steps to address climate change now.”

Many utilities have made investments in cleaner forms of energy and away from the dirtiest fossil fuels like coal.  Asking the laggard utility companies to clean up their dirty coal-fired power plants is just common sense. Just as we ask our elected officials to protect our health from arsenic, mercury and lead, we should work to protect our health and future from dangerous carbon pollution.

Climate Action Benefits to Americans

In fact, the EPA could cut carbon pollution from America’s power plants by a quarter (26 percent) by 2020, saving Americans between $26 to $60 billion in saved lives, reduced illnesses, and climate change avoided, for less than $4 billion. And most of that $4 billion would be invested in new technologies and clean energy, putting Americans to work.

And, as Tom Henry, a respected environmental journalist at The Blade, in Toledo, sees it, the Great Lakes could benefit the most from science-driven climate change policies.

Great Lakes “I Will Act On Climate” Tour

Please join us for one of the upcoming stops of the I Will #ActOnClimate bus tour.

The bus tour is helping to bring national attention to President Obama’s new plan to tackle change through limits on carbon pollution—and we need you there to show the strong local support for climate action. New limits on carbon pollution are critical to protecting wildlife from migratory warblers in Ohio to native walleye in Lake Erie and polar bears in Alaska.

The events will feature a mix of federal, state and local officials, economic development leaders, clean air and clean water experts and activists, faith and labor leaders, and other responsible Americans who trust science over rhetoric bought and paid for by the dead-end holdouts within the fossil fuel industry.

Events:

Chicago – Saturday, August 3rd – 11:00am – Apostolic Church of God, 6320 S. Dorchester Avenue

Muskegon, Michigan – Monday, August 5th – 11:00am

Detroit, Michigan – Monday, August 5th – 3:00pm

Columbus, Ohio – Tuesday, August 6th – 3:00pm – Grass Skirt Tiki Bar, 105 N. Grant Ave.

Cincinnati, Ohio – Wednesday, August 7th – 10:00am – Cincinnati Museum Center, Union Terminal, 1301 Western Ave.

Dayton, Ohio – Wednesday, August 7th – 1:30pm – Dayton International Peace Museum, 208 West Monument Ave.

Toledo, Ohio – Thursday, August 8th – 10:00am – Cullen Park Boat Launch, 4500 N. Summit Street

Cleveland, Ohio – Thursday, August 8th – 2:00pm – Trinity Cathedral, 2230 Euclid Ave.

Let us know if you can attend by emailing info@nwa.org! 

You can add your voice too, to fight pollution—the time to take action has never been more urgent.

Brenda’s leadership has not gone unnoticed. U.S. Sen. Thomas Carper (D-Delaware), chair of the Senate Clean Air and Nuclear Safety Subcommittee, asked Brenda to testify before his panel this Tuesday. She shared her story recently with the Petoskey News and in our new report, which focuses on the devastating impact of warming winters on America’s outdoor traditions.

Brenda—and the 1.7 million Michigan hunters and anglers she represents—are faced with hundreds of fish consumption advisories every year due to high levels of mercury and other toxins, commonly put into the air from coal-fired power plants both within Michigan and from neighboring states. And with increasingly warm winters, the ice on the upper Midwest lakes doesn’t get thick enough often enough to sustain cherished family ice-fishing traditions, nor 46,000 tourism and recreation jobs across the state.

Fortunately, the Obama Administration, Sen. Carper, Michigan’s Sens. Debbie Stabenow (D) and Carl Levin (D) and others in Washington are not putting the interests of big polluters ahead of public health, food safety, fishing traditions and local economies. The U.S. EPA’s Mercury and Air Toxics standard, and the Carbon Pollution standard, put into place protections passed by a bipartisan Congress in the early 1990’s, and signed into law by President George H.W. Bush.

Brenda is traveling a long way from Cheboygan to protect sturgeon, family fishing traditions, and local economies. But we also need you to stand up too.

Take Action to Combat Pollution Today

Take action today by adding your comment during the EPA’s 60-day public comment window, which actually started April 13th. Share this link via Facebook, Twitter or other social media as well.

Details on Tuesday’s hearing…good luck Brenda!

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New Mercury Limits to Coal-fired Plants

I’m struck by the power and potential the Obama Administration has this week when they finally issue standards (21 years in the making) that limit emissions of mercury and other hazardous pollutants from coal-fired power plants.

The new limits on mercury and other toxic air pollution will make the air that that my kids breathe cleaner as we explore the Great Lakes.

Bay Shore Power Plant Spews Toxics, Kills Fish

Hundreds of thousands of pounds of toxic chemicals are being released into the air and land. As the wind blows, the toxic pollution is carried into surrounding freshwater and neighborhoods.  Obviously, as a parent, I am quite concerned about the impact on my kids and everyone else – and the new limits on mercury shouldn’t have taken 21 years to take effect.

But this coal-fired power plant isn’t simply a deterrent to my family’s fun in the sun.  In fact, Bay Shore is costing our community plenty.  The plant sits at the mouth of what is arguably the most biologically productive river in the entire Great Lakes basin, the Maumee, and kills small fish by the millions every year.  A study conducted in 2010 estimates that Bay Shore’s fish kills cost Northwest Ohio’s recreational and commercial fishing economy $29.7 million every year.  Mercury from coal-fired power plants kills wildlife across the Great Lakes.

You’d think, with the Clean Air Act of 1990 signed into law by President George H. W. Bush, all responsible utilities would have done right on behalf of their investors, employees, ratepayers and communities in the 21 years leading to this week.  Nope.  In 2008, First Energy actually led a pitched battle seeking an increase in the amount of mercury it could release at Bay Shore.  It’s remarkable, really, considering how many other utilities around the country have made better business decisions the past two decades.

Ohio 2nd Highest Polluter of Mercury in U.S.A.

The Blade, Toledo’s Pulitzer Prize-winning, 175 years and counting daily newspaper just nails it in an editorial, ‘Hold Firm on Mercury’ published today:

Regulators must hold tight to the science behind their recommendations, and keep public health ahead of politics.

Ohio is the nation’s second-largest emitter of mercury. The new controls would be expensive, but so are the hidden costs that coal-fired power plants pass on to those who ingest mercury, a potent toxin that attacks the brain and central nervous system.

Mercury is especially harmful to young mothers and children. As it falls from the sky and settles on large bodies of water, such as the Great Lakes, mercury contaminates fish. The new form created in the water is many times more acute than what comes out of smokestacks.

Expensive?  Maybe.  But some in the utility and coal industry are spending $35 million for television advertising this week to delay these rules even longer.  And, as the Center for American Progress points out, the dirtiest and most obstructive utilities are sitting on $18 billion in cash reserves.

Take Action to Keep the Clean Air Act Strong

Speak up today to protect the Clean Air Act from polluter-led attacks.

If you drive a big pick-up truck at work or when you hunt or fish, you know there are more choices when it comes to engine technology.  Recently, NWF joined industry-leader Dmax Co., union members and the BlueGreen Alliance in Moraine, Ohio to highlight the role the U.S. EPA’s heavy duty truck rule can play in driving better performance and increasing environmental benefits.  The centerpiece of the event was Dmax’s industry leading Duramax 6.6 liter V8 diesel engine, built by 416 hourly and 112 salaried southern Ohio workers at an ISO certified landfill-free facility.

TV reporter: “You don’t usually see manufacturers, the union, environmentalists sitting together singing Kumbaya?  How big is this deal?”

NWF: “It’s a hopeful opportunity.  It makes improvements to the environment as it transforms an industry at the base of our economy, spurring jobs.”

HUNTERS & ANGLERS WANT CLEAN TECH & PERFORMANCE

“If I walked into the Dmax plant right now and asked who wanted to go hunting or fishing, I bet more than half the plant would walk out with me.  Stewardship is so important to people who hunt and fish – they want to improve the environment because they take advantage of it.  If you want a truck that works, that brings greater efficiency and cuts pollution,  it’s being built right here in Dayton.” – Marc Sommer, an Ohio sportsman

LESS OIL, LESS GLOBAL WARMING POLLUTION, SAVINGS FOR BUSINESS AND DRIVERS

Released in August 2011, the U.S. EPA heavy duty fuel efficiency standard nets oil savings of 530 million barrels, reduces carbon pollution by 270 million metric tons, and saves the public $42 billion.  For trucking businesses, the net savings average $3,000 for utility trucks, $6,000 for work pick-ups and up to $73,000 for long haul tractor-trailers.  Needless to say, the compounded savings to fleet owners are very significant.

Ultimately, by working together, the EPA and the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), industry, labor and, yes, us in the environmental movement, we’ve delivered greater efficiency, greater performance, less pollution, more and better choices for consumers, more innovation yet to come, and more jobs here in Ohio and across the Midwest.

For more information, download NWF’s “Trucks that Work” report.

Just in time for Veteran’s Day weekend comes a major motion picture that shows how the world’s drivers will end their reliance on Big Oil – and, I and many others believe, stop wars fueled by our thirst for petroleum.

Revenge of the Electric Car opens in Michigan this weekend, and movie Director Chris Paine will be joining thousands of electric car believers here for the opening screenings!

“In 2006, as many as 5,000 modern electric cars were destroyed by the major car companies that built them. Today, less than 5 years later, the electric car is back… with a vengeance,” boasts the movie’s producers.

“In Revenge of the Electric Car, director Chris Paine takes his film crew behind the closed doors of Nissan, GM, and the Silicon Valley start-up Tesla Motors to find the story of the global resurgence of electric cars. Without using a single drop of foreign oil, this new generation of car is America’s future: fast, furious, and cleaner than ever.

With almost every major car maker now jumping to produce new electric models, Revenge follows the race to be the first, the best, and to win the hearts and minds of the public around the world.”

Remember and honor all veterans this weekend, especially those of our recent wars in the Middle East.

We will defeat Big Oil, slash pollution and revive Midwestern automotive communities!

This story is so exciting someone has made a movie about it!

Opening November 11th, 2011

Detroit, MI: Landmark Main Art Theatre
**special appearance by Director Chris Paine at the November 11th 7:30pm showing**

Ann Arbor, MI: Michigan Theatre
**special appearance by Director Chris Paine at all showings on November 12th and 13th**

Visit Revenge of the Electric Car for showtimes coast-to-coast.

You can also help NWF keep up the fight by visiting Choose Your Cause .  Our activists and allies are fighting tar sands oil and the noxious Keystone XL pipeline, combating climate change, safeguarding Bristol Bay and, close to my heart, protecting the Great Lakes.

Fighting back, over 1,000 Americans rallied in defense of our children’s future at the 4^th Good Jobs, Green Jobs Conference this morning.  Autoworkers, pipefitters, teachers, environmentalists, electricians, steelworkers, sheet metal workers, service workers, laborers and so many others all gathered around one simple truth:  its not ‘good jobs’ or a ‘clean environment’, it is both, or neither.

Here is a report, just released at the conference, that says 1.5 million new jobs would be created by new EPA rules on greenhouse gas emissions alone.

To a standing ovation, EPA Administrator Lisa P. Jackson was presented with Everlast boxing gloves (today is her birthday, after all) to signal our support for her leadership in guiding us to a clean energy future.  Balanced, science-based standards have a clear history of providing certainty for business investment, growing jobs, and protecting public health, worker safety, and the land, water and air our families rely on.

Gene Sperling, from Michigan, and Chairman of President Obama’s National Economic Council, said the nation’s priority is putting people back to work in part by ensuring that the U.S. becomes the first country in the world to put 1,000,000 advanced technology vehicles on the road by 2015.  To get there, the White House will issue 7,500 competitive grants for American communities – a “field of dreams of approach” – to reward cities, towns and counties for leadership on advanced vehicle readiness, and promised businesses 100% tax write-offs for green capital investment.

Follow the Good Jobs Green Jobs 2011 conference on Twitter using the hashtag #gjgj2011

Call your Congressman and Senator and tell them to protect public health, good jobs, and our children’s future by defending the Clean Air Act and the EPA.

Three things you can count on at a big car show in Detroit: big engines, bright lights, and beautiful models.

What was really sexy, though, was taking a closer look at all the clean technology going into current and next generation automobiles that will slash greenhouse emissions and reduce our dependency on dirty fuels.

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As our video shows, the award-winning Chevy Volt was drawing a ton of attention.  Already, there are over 56,000 people who’ve signed up to buy one! And as Walter McManus said at this morning’s “Driving Michigan Forward” panel, “there is no doubt, a commitment to clean car technology will drive innovation and profit for American automobile manufacturers.”  McManus, an economist at the University of Michigan’s Transportation Research Institute, has the data to support his optimism.

NWF members and staff are not alone in wanting big increases in efficiency either.  Mark Cooper, Research Director at the Consumer Federation of America, pointed out that for the U.S. to reach its stated goal of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 80% by 2050, “it’ll require a fleet average of 100 miles per gallon.” Cooper also endorsed the GO60MPG campaign goal for new cars to achieve at least 60 miles per gallon and no more than 143 grams per mile of carbon pollution by 2025.

Danielle’s Highlight: I’ve been to the auto show many times (even once I was able to attend the prestigious Gala!), but this year was particularly wonderful.  The auto companies have a much larger focus on fuel efficiency and more proudly compete with one another about MPGs.  I think the advanced autos are a key to Michigan’s economic turnaround, and today it started to look like we are driving forward.

Frank’s favorite moment at the auto show: getting behind the wheel of a Chevy Volt, which was selected as “Car of the Year” for 2011 – “it was really exciting to sit in the Volt , but probably nowhere near as cool as actually driving it every day – saving money and cutting emissions.  I’m on the wait list to buy one!