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Climate change integrators come to Michigan

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Climate change integrators come to Michigan


This isn’t about Bill Gates, Jeff Bezos, multinational investors or corporate raiders buying huge land tracts in western states and upending communities. In Michigan, it could be companies like Ceres, the foreign Hancock Timber and Farmland Fund, Bowman Family Holdings or even smaller, local groups. 

My brother and I are among the many centennial farm owners here in Lenawee County. We inherited land, buildings, other assets and tax breaks. Some here inherited wealth others can only imagine.  

There’s no birthright to lifelong land ownership. Choices are made, consequences follow. 

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At some point, there might not be anybody in the family to take over or to lease to another farmer. Others might decide to grab that brass ring and cash out. Then what? 

One choice is to sell, breaking up large holdings into smaller parcels. Young farmers here want to buy or lease, others want to expand or continue renting. But land (and lease) prices have to be affordable. Rising rents and land prices aren’t the only barriers to entry; higher township property values increase taxes, which hurts others who can’t afford them. 

While getting multiple unsolicited offers from different companies over the past 18 months to buy or lease our farm in Riga Township for different energy options, I checked into them. Their websites are filled with high production value, emo-greenwashy stuff and seemingly unrelated business interests. Some promise “in perpetuity” (at least until they sell the parcel or go out of business). 

Let’s call these companies climate change integrators. 

Maybe you like factory farms, corn, soy, biodigesters, biodiesel and ethanol. Maybe you like clearcutting trees, whether they’re fencerows between fields, along streams or in forests, for biofuel feedstock or clearance for solar arrays and wind turbines. Maybe you like mega wind and solar and the accompanying battery farms. Maybe you like pollinators, carbon sequestration and cover crops. Maybe you like renewable natural gas (RNG) produced by incinerating plastics and CAFO sewage biodigesters. Maybe you think carbon dioxide injection wells for storing captured CO2 from faraway industrial smokestacks and piped here are terrific. Or maybe you like some of these and dislike others. 

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That doesn’t matter to some of these companies. It’s their choice once they own or lease land. It can be a surprise to landowners (not to mention the neighbors) who consoled themselves about selling or leasing inherited land with visions of pollinator flowers blooming, bees buzzing “in perpetuity” to suddenly learn there’s going to be a mega solar installation or a battery farm or livestock waste on that newly cleared woodlot or extensively tiled farmland. 

It’s important to talk to an experienced lawyer about any arrangements. 

Once ownership of Michigan’s ever-shrinking, food-production-quality acreage is concentrated into a few hands, what happens to food prices? What happens to energy rates and reliability after this land ownership consolidation, and to promised community benefits should something go awry with their payments in lieu of taxes (PILTs) as it sometimes does? 

Michigan’s new renewable energy standard (P.A. 235) was written for climate change integrators and access to taxpayer largesse. It has little to do with climate change or environmental protection. If it did, it would be much different. The loss of local control over utility solar and wind siting was an extra kick. Some Michigan environmental groups aligned with fossil fuel companies, Michigan’s large utilities, solar and wind special interests and some Michigan Democrats to push this through. I didn’t foresee Democrats and environmentalists greasing the way for a private equity and investment fund farmland and energy takeover, but it’s a topsy-turvy world sometimes. 

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I remain on Team Local. I’ve watched the slow death of our small, rural towns over the past 50 years. We value our land, our renter’s family and kids who are newer farmers, and our neighbors’ quality of life. I hope voters will join me in choosing candidates who prioritize local people and healthy food production instead of boondoggles and self-dealing. 

— Pam Taylor is a retired Lenawee County teacher and an environmental activist. She can be reached at ptaylor001@msn.com. 



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Michigan

Storms possible amid excessive heat in Metro Detroit: What to expect

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Storms possible amid excessive heat in Metro Detroit: What to expect


4Warn Weather – Heat and humidity will affect the area through the week.

An excessive heat warning remains in effect for Wayne, Oakland and Macomb counties through 8 p.m. on Friday. The remaining outlying areas are under a heat advisory for the same time frame.

We will be back into the 90s on this Tuesday with heat indices near or above 100 degrees.

There will be periodic chances for thunderstorms each day this week. The heat and humidity could bubble up a few showers and storms in the heat of the afternoons, so keep an umbrella nearby.

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Scattered thunderstorms are possible each day this week, mainly in the afternoon and evening. Any thunderstorm that does develop will be capable of producing heavy rain, frequent lightning, and wind gusts up to 60 mph.

Tonight’s sunset is at 9:13 p.m.

A prolonged period of heat and humidity will continue through the week into Saturday.

High temperatures will be in the low 90s each day this week. Peak heat indices of 95 to 100 degrees are possible each afternoon. We expect little to no overnight relief, with lows staying above 70 degrees all week.

This will will be a long-duration of extreme heat that will affect people without proper cooling or hydration. Those working outdoors are urged to drink a cool glass of water every 20 minutes to stay hydrated, and to find shade whenever possible.

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Remember to download the free 4Warn weather app — it’s easily one of the best in the nation. Just search your app store under WDIV and it’s right there available for both iPhones and Androids! Or click the appropriate link below.

Copyright 2024 by WDIV ClickOnDetroit – All rights reserved.



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WR Tyler Morris’ path to Michigan, outlook for 2024

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WR Tyler Morris’ path to Michigan, outlook for 2024


Wideout Tyler Morris has 16 career receptions and is now in his third year at Michigan. With departures in the receiver room, Morris will be one of the players rising up the depth chart.

Outlook moving forward

Morris was a four-star prospect in the class of 2022 and was ranked as the No. 18 WR and No. 104 overall prospect in his class. Morris received offers from the likes of Penn State, Michigan State, Wisconsin, and Notre Dame, among others.

Morris was a high school teammate of former Michigan quarterback J.J. McCarthy at Nazareth Academy in Illinois. During Morris’ sophomore season at Nazareth with McCarthy as QB, Morris and McCarthy hooked up for 68 receptions, 1,237 yards, and 17 touchdowns.

Morris had three grabs for 25 yards during his freshman campaign at Michigan. His sophomore season in 2023 featured 13 receptions for 197 yards and one touchdown, the first of his career. The touchdown couldn’t have come at a better time — with Michigan tied 7-7 against Alabama in the Rose Bowl Morris caught a 38-yard touchdown pass where he showcased that he can be dangerous in traffic and pick up yards after the catch.

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Outlook moving forward

With Roman Wilson and Cornelius Johnson now in the NFL players such as Morris, Semaj Morgan, and Fredrick Moore will be relied upon and receive the bulk of snaps at receiver. Morris should easily set career highs in snaps and in every receiving category this fall. Morris has a bit of former Michigan wideout Ronnie Bell in his game. Morris is elusive and shifty at 5-foot-11, 185 pounds and it would be no surprise to see him have explosive plays as a junior. Morris is one of the next men up for Michigan. He waited his turn and 2024 will be his time to shine.



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Federal appellate panel sends Michigan pipeline challenge to state court

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Federal appellate panel sends Michigan pipeline challenge to state court


Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel’s lawsuit seeking to shut down part of a petroleum pipeline that runs beneath the Straits of Mackinac belongs in state court, a federal appellate panel ruled Monday.

The pipeline’s operator, Enbridge Inc., moved the case from state court to federal court more than two years past the deadline for changing jurisdictions. A three-judge panel from the 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found Enbridge clearly missed the deadline and ordered the case remanded to state court.

Enbridge spokesperson Ryan Duffy didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment.

Nessel filed the lawsuit in June 2019 seeking to void a 1953 easement that enables Enbridge to operate a 4.5-mile (6.4-kilometer) section of Line 5 beneath the straits, which link Lake Michigan and Lake Huron.

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Concerns over the section rupturing and causing a catastrophic spill have been growing since 2017, when Enbridge engineers revealed they had known about gaps in the section’s protective coating since 2014. A boat anchor damaged the section in 2018, intensifying fears of a spill.

Nessel won a restraining order from a state judge in June 2020, although Enbridge was allowed to restart operations after complying with safety requirements. The energy company moved the lawsuit into federal court in December 2021.

Nessel argued to the 6th U.S. Circuit panel that the lawsuit belongs in state court. During oral arguments before the panel in Cincinnati in March, her attorneys insisted the case invokes the public trust doctrine, a legal concept in state law in which natural resources belong to the public, as well as the Michigan Environmental Protection Act.

Enbridge attorneys countered the case should stay in federal court because it affects trade between the U.S. and Canada. Line 5 moves petroleum products from northwestern Wisconsin through Michigan into Ontario.

The judges — Richard Griffin, Amul Thapor and John Nalbandian — did not address the merits of the case.

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Enbridge filed a separate federal lawsuit in 2020 arguing that the state’s attempt to shut down the pipeline interferes with the federal regulation of pipeline safety and could encourage copycat actions that would impede interstate and international petroleum trading. That case is pending.

Enbridge also has been working to secure permits to encase the section of pipeline beneath the straits in a protective tunnel.

The pipeline is at the center of a legal dispute in Wisconsin as well. A federal judge in Madison last summer gave Enbridge three years to shut down part of Line 5 that runs across the Bad River Band of Lake Superior’s reservation. The company has proposed rerouting the pipeline around the reservation and has appealed the shutdown order to the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals. That case is pending.



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