Michigan

Michigan experts warn of worsened air quality after Trump climate move

Published

3 weeks ago

February 15, 2026

Michigan experts warn of worsened air quality after Trump climate move

Washington — Experts warn air quality will worsen because of the Trump administration’s repeal of the legal basis for federal climate rules, despite a top federal regulator saying the move “does not change regulations on traditional air pollutants and air toxics.”

U.S. Environmental Protection Agency head Lee Zeldin made that statement Thursday in the Oval Office as he and President Donald Trump touted the major deregulatory action. They both suggested the change would boost the U.S. auto industry.

“This EPA is committed to providing clean air for all Americans,” Zeldin said. “Powering the great American comeback is based on the singular focus of providing clean air, land and water for all Americans, while harnessing the greatness of the American economy.”

It is true that repealing the Obama-era EPA’s 2009 “endangerment finding” will leave intact federal rules meant to limit harmful emissions of criteria air pollutants identified more than 50 years ago in the Clean Air Act. Those pollutants include noxious gases like sulfur dioxide, nitrogen dioxide and carbon monoxide that cause asthma, lung issues and neurological damage.

The mass introduction of catalytic converters on new motor vehicles in the 1970s helped drastically curtail emissions of those gases over the next two decades, and the devices will surely remain on gas-powered cars and trucks to ensure they continue meeting federal standards. (Electric vehicles, notably, do not have converters because they have no tailpipe emissions.)

Experts disagreed, however, with Zeldin’s suggestion that there would not be “clean air” implications from the move to wipe out a generation of climate-focused regulations.

“Carbon dioxide pollution and other greenhouse gases are correlated with the production of other air pollutants like particulate matter and nitrogen oxides,” said Erik Nordman, director of the Institute for Public Utilities at Michigan State University.

“Measures that reduce carbon dioxide and greenhouse gases often reduce those other pollutants. That’s a co-benefit of these greenhouse gas regulations. So by removing or lowering standards for greenhouse gases, we would expect those other pollutants that are tightly correlated with greenhouse gases to increase,” he said in a phone interview.

Catalytic converters are one example of the link between what Zeldin called “traditional” pollutants and greenhouse gases.

The devices work by causing chemical reactions that transform highly toxic criteria pollutants into less harmful — or in some cases harmless — gases and substances. One byproduct is harmless water vapor. Another primary one is carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that causes climate change in the long term but is not instantly poisonous to humans at low ambient levels.

But even as converters have become more effective over time, academic research shows, they still do not block all of the most air-quality-harming pollutants. And because vehicles that use more fuel have higher emissions, the risk for worsened air quality is greater.

Nordman said the Trump administration’s endangerment finding repeal “kind of locks in a lower standard, so that will result in cars that are less fuel efficient than they might have been otherwise. That will result in greater pollution than we would have seen otherwise.”

The environmental policy expert added that those impacts will play out most over the longer term because “energy and transportation infrastructure that we’re building today will be more polluting than it otherwise could be, and we’re going to lock in that pollution for decades.”

He said other Trump administration actions — like the order to keep a coal plant open in Michigan — will have more immediate impacts on air quality.

Jeff Holmstead, who was an EPA official under former President George W. Bush, said Thursday he expected little near-term impact in air quality from the federal policy change, noting that automakers “have very long planning cycles.”

But Tom Luben, a senior research scientist at the University of Michigan School of Public Health and former air pollution researcher at the EPA for almost 20 years, was blunt in condemning the Trump administration’s repeal of the endangerment finding.

The action, Luben wrote ahead of the announcement, “would threaten the health of millions of Americans.”

“An increase in ground-level ozone concentrations has been linked to respiratory health problems ranging from decreased lung function and asthma exacerbations to increased emergency department visits and hospital admissions,” he added, similarly raising air quality concerns.

Luben continued: “Certain parts of the population are especially vulnerable to these effects, including children, older adults, pregnant people, and individuals with pre-existing health conditions.”

Beyond air quality, the research scientist also lamented climate-related impacts of the policy change.

“In addition to increased air pollution, the proliferation of extremely hot days, floods, storms, droughts, and fires linked to a changing climate will impact the health of the American people.”

In announcing the repeal move, however, Trump dismissed climate-change concerns: “… this has nothing to do with public health. This was all a scam.”

gschwab@detroitnews.com

@GrantSchwab

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Michigan

Michigan to distribute marijuana tax revenue: What your city will get

Published

53 minutes ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

Michigan to distribute marijuana tax revenue: What your city will get

The Michigan Department of Treasury will distribute tax revenue collected from marijuana sales to municipalities and counties.
The government entities will get about $54,000 per retail store or microbusiness, based on nearly $94 million collected.
Detroit, once again, will receive the most money of any municipality.

Michigan municipalities and counties that allow recreational marijuana dispensaries are set to receive far less money this year than last in their annual portion of tax revenue collected from cannabis sales.

Sales declined in 2025 for the first time since legal recreational marijuana sales started in December 2019.

A total of 114 cities, 39 villages, 81 townships, 75 counties and four tribes will receive payments from the Marijuana Regulation Fund, according to a March 3 news release from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency. They will get about $54,000 per retail store or microbusiness, based on nearly $94 million collected.

Last year, each eligible government entity received a little more than $58,000 per business based on a total of nearly $100 million in marijuana tax revenue.

Detroit, once again, will receive the most money of any municipality. There are 61 active retailer licenses in Detroit, so the city will get nearly $3.3 million in tax revenue.

State law determines how the money is split. The Michigan Transportation Fund gets 35% of the revenue, which is used for the repair and maintenance of roads and bridges, and another 35% goes to the School Aid Fund to be used for K-12 education. The other 30% is split between municipalities, counties and tribes.

The payments come from revenue collected from the 10% recreational marijuana excise tax. This tax is separate from a new 24% wholesale tax that went into effect Jan. 1. The revenue from that tax will go to fixes for local roads.

Sales at recreational marijuana dispensaries declined by 3% last year to $3.17 billion, down from $3.28 billion in 2024, according to figures from Michigan’s Cannabis Regulatory Agency, leading to the smaller payouts. More government entities also split the revenue compared with last year.

Payments to municipalities could get smaller if sales continue to decline. Recreational marijuana sales in Michigan plunged nearly 16% in January compared with December as heavy snow, cold temperatures and fears of higher prices due to the new 24% wholesale cannabis tax kept consumers at home.

While recent trends indicate a cooling period, a February report from Headset, a cannabis market intelligence firm, said the market — one of the largest in the country — has shown resilience over the last two years.

Below are the municipalities that received the most tax revenue:

Detroit: $3.3 million
Grand Rapids: $1.5 million
Lansing: $1.4 million
Ann Arbor: $1.2 million
Kalamazoo: $1 million
Flint: $648,000
Traverse City, Hazel Park and Adrian all will receive $594,000.

For a full list of municipalities, counties and tribes that will receive marijuana tax revenue, go to www.michigan.gov/treasury.

Contact Adrienne Roberts: amroberts@freepress.com

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Michigan

“Trustworthy” AI consortium focused on ethics, security launches in West Michigan

Published

13 hours ago

March 5, 2026

Press Room

“Trustworthy” AI consortium focused on ethics, security launches in West Michigan

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping everything from classroom conversations to social media, and leaders at Grand Valley State University (GVSU) say West Michigan is positioning itself to help determine how the technology is used, responsibly.

The university’s College of Computing is launching the West Michigan Trustworthy Artificial Intelligence (AI) Consortium, aimed at helping businesses, researchers and the community better understand how to use artificial intelligence.

Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along the Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public.

The effort is aimed at helping West Michigan industries adopt AI that fits their specific needs, while problem-solving for security, bias, privacy, and ethical concerns.

Right in the heart of Grand Rapids, along Medical Mile, the consortium will meet at the Daniel and Pamella DeVos Center for Interprofessional Health (DCIH) every week, with quarterly meetings open to the general public. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)

Marouane Kessentini, Ph.D, Dean of the GVSU College of Computing told News Channel 3 that a wide range of companies in the region are bringing forward questions of where, and how, to ethically integrate artificial intelligence into their practices.

“Here in West Michigan, we have a high concentration of many industries, health, manufacturing, and of course high-tech companies,” said Kessentini. “The first questions are about security, privacy, ethics and bias. It’s not just about deploying tools. It’s about deploying them responsibly.”

Kessentini said the consortium will focus on training, research and community education, with a heavy emphasis on data privacy, cybersecurity and misinformation.

“There are many examples where AI systems were trained on data that wasn’t diverse,” he said. “That can lead to inaccurate results. That’s why testing and training are critical.”

The consortium will bring together faculty researchers, students, and industry leaders, with weekly meetings planned to develop guidance for using AI at scale.

The goal is to help companies validate AI outputs, clean and manage data, and identify bias before systems are put into real-world use, especially in high-risk industries like healthcare and manufacturing.

Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated.

Some projects will involve software design, others will focus on creating public data sets that are reliably sourced, but anonymized for safe use, and many more are yet to be ideated. (Abigail Taylor/WWMT)

The initiative is backed by $1,031,000 in federal support, through the Community Project Funding (CPF) process, resources that U.S. Representative Hillary Scholten (D-MI-03) said she advocated for among members of congress in Washington.

“West Michigan should be leading the way in how artificial intelligence is developed and used, and that starts with investing in people and institutions we trust,” said Rep. Scholten. “This funding will help GVSU bring together educators, industry, and public partners to build AI systems that are ethical, secure, and transparent while preparing students for good-paying jobs and strengthening our region’s economy. I’m proud to support this work and to continue delivering federal investments that ensure West Michigan remains at the forefront of responsible innovation.”

It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe…

GVSU also launched an online certificate portal that is open for community members interested in learning about ethical AI use, for free.

Kessentini said the training is for the general public to learn how to navigate the technology, including the risks and limitations.

“It’s important that AI is useful, but also safe,” said Edgar Cruz, master’s student with a badge in cybersecurity.

Cruz is currently researching how AI systems can be attacked or manipulated with poisoned data, specifically as it relates to vehicle-to-vehicle communication, where AI helps self-driving cars exchange information like speed and position.

“We want to ensure that the system is robust and safe,” he said. “Because obviously people are involved.”

Kessentini said the consortium is designed to be a public resource, not just an academic project.

Quarterly community meetings will be open to the public, and training materials are available online through the College of Computing website.

“This is innovation with purpose,” he said. “We want to start here in Grand Rapids, but we want to make a global impact.”

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Michigan

New Michigan O-line coach Jim Harding has one goal for spring practice

Published

1 day ago

March 4, 2026

Press Room

New Michigan O-line coach Jim Harding has one goal for spring practice

Jim Harding, Michigan’s new offensive line coach, has one goal coming out of spring practice: he wants to have a set starting five plus a solid sixth lineman for good measure.

Michigan begins spring practice March 17 and concludes with the spring game on April 18.

Harding, appearing on the Michigan in-house podcast, “In the Trenches” hosted by Jon Jansen, joined new Michigan head coach Kyle Whittingham’s staff from Utah, where Whittingham was head coach the last 21 years. Harding spoke about a number of topics, including returning to the Midwest — he grew up in Maumee, Ohio, and his wife is from Farmington Hills — and his love for the Detroit Tigers, but most important was his discussion about building the Wolverines’ offensive line.

“I’d like to establish the starting five where you feel good that when you go into fall camp,” Harding said on the podcast that posted Wednesday. “Those are the guys that are working together immediately from Day 1.”

Harding said he uses a sixth lineman — he terms that player the “rhino” — quite a bit and would like to have at least two ready to go. The Wolverines also need depth at center considering only Jake Guarnera has snapped in a game.

“And then just having that physicality, nastiness of the offensive line,” Harding said. “Just kind of develop that.”

Since arriving earlier this year at Michigan, Harding said he’s been impressed by the linemen and their desire to work hard on conditioning and developing their craft by asking questions and wanting feedback. They have gone to dinner as a group to get to know each other away from the facility, and Harding has enjoyed the process.

“The things that you can’t measure right now is our physicality or our toughness, things like that,” Harding said. “I’m confident that it won’t be an issue, but that’s kind of the next step once we get pads on, (finding out) who are kind of the Alpha dogs in the room that are going to set the tone for the unit, and then, obviously, the offense. But really pleased with what I’ve seen so far.”

Harding shared offensive coordinator Jason Beck’s approach to installing the offense.

“The way (Beck) runs it, everything’s on the table Day 1 in practice,” Harding said on the podcast. “So we’ll get a script with, if you count red zone, probably 60 or so plays, and any play can be called. It’s really unique, and I’d never done it this way, but Coach Beck, actually calls it like he does in the game. There are no scripts, and so we’ll just move the ball down the field, and if it’s a third play and it’s third and 3, well he’s going to call a third-and-3 call.

“So you really have to have the kids prepared for all 60 of those. And then the next day there’ll be maybe different formations and things like that once we get the concepts down in the O-line room for the run game. Now it’s just a matter of dressing up different things. It’s a lot of stuff early on, because every run scheme we have could be called on that first day, every pass protection we have could be called on that first day. So it’s a front-loaded installation.”

achengelis@detroitnews.com

@chengelis

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