"Lamenting that the 'oil and gas industry has gotten its way,' Ohio Supreme Court Justice William M. O’Neill has tongue-in-cheek visions of drilling rigs rising amid the homes of Upper Arlington. By a 4-3 vote, the justices ruled that the state has 'exclusive authority' and that cities and counties can neither ban nor regulate fracking through zoning laws or other restrictions."
"Indiana utilities are pressing state lawmakers to let them charge a monthly fee to customers who sell excess power from solar panels under a bill that has become a focal point in a battle between traditional and renewable energy companies."
"The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has selected a plan to clean up dioxin contaminated properties along the Tittabawassee River floodplain and work is expected to start this year."
"A woman and two men from Southwest Michigan are facing up to five years in federal prison after pleading guilty in what investigators say may have been the largest release of asbestos in Michigan since the material was declared a hazardous air pollutant in 1971."
"President Obama’s budget proposal for 2016 includes a significant cut in funds for the Great Lakes Initiative, and some groups have responded by calling the president’s proposal a ' non-starter.'"
"Farmers in Ohio, Michigan and Indiana are being asked to be part of the solution in fixing the algae problem in Lake Erie. Federal officials on Friday outlined a program that will make $17.5 million available to farmers who take steps to reduce the pollutants that wash away from the fields and help the algae thrive."
"An invasive snail in the Great Lakes may pose a larger threat to waterfowl than previously thought."
"Though partisan gridlock is the political buzzword of the day, it's another kind of grid that's making political sparks fly in Michigan. There, two powerful utility companies — Consumers Energy and DTE Energy — control the lion's share of the electric grid and appear to be behind a new advocacy effort that coincides with the start of a new legislative session."
"Researchers have found that pharmaceuticals and personal-care byproducts persist at low levels miles from sewage discharge pipes in Lake Michigan. And a study from the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee shows that the most prevalent drug in the lake — the Type 2 diabetes medication Metformin — changes the hormonal system of fish exposed to it."
"Reducing phosphorus levels in Lake Erie is a worthy goal but not necessarily a cure-all for one of the lake's biggest environmental hazards: "dead zones" with oxygen levels so low that fish can't survive, scientists said Tuesday."
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