Blog Posts

Blog posts by FLOW team and guest writers

Lifelong Sport Fisherman and Former FLOW Board Member Tom Baird Joins the Michigan Natural Resources Commission

May 24, 2021

FLOW is proud that one of our own, former founding board member, Tom Baird, has been appointed by Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer to serve on the Natural Resources Commission (NRC) and is officially confirmed as of Monday, May 24. The NRC, which oversees the state Department of Natural Resources, has exclusive authority to regulate the taking of game and sport fish in Michigan, and to establish seasons. Its meetings are a forum for a myriad of natural resources concerns.

Environmental Justice and Climate Justice Movements a Powerful Force for Good

May 20, 2021

The Groundwork Center’s Michigan Clean Energy Conference and Michigan Climate Action Network’s (MiCAN) Climate Action Summit are joining forces this year to present the virtual Michigan Climate & Clean Energy Summit, May 24-27. FLOW spoke with MiCAN director Kate Madigan about the summit, climate change in the Great Lakes, the environmental justice movement, and what gives her hope for the environmental movement.

Eviction Day for Enbridge Line 5

May 19, 2021

May 13 marked an inflection point in our water and climate work to shut down Line 5. It was a day of action and a show of force to evict Enbridge as a foreigner occupier—a rogue pipeline company pumping oil through our public waters and lands of the Great Lakes. It was a day highlighting the power of community and solidarity and the power of indigenous leadership in protecting the source of all life: water.

FLOW Business Partner Beth Price’s Innate Connection to Water

May 13, 2021

In this week’s installment of FLOW’s business supporter spotlight, Development Specialist Calli Crow connected with Beth Price Photography to talk about Beth Price’s love of water, passion for Great Lakes protection, and ongoing partnership with FLOW.

Reckless and Defiant, Enbridge Won’t Defuse Its ‘Ticking Time Bomb’ in the Great Lakes at Today’s Deadline to Shut Down Line 5

May 12, 2021

Despite the well-documented and lasting economic and ecological harm of oil pipeline disasters across the globe, we are witnessing intense, orchestrated opposition from Canada’s Enbridge and its allies to shutting down a clear-and-present danger to Michigan’s waters and way of life. A Line 5 oil spill would be an unprecedented ecological and economic disaster in the Great Lakes, threatening 84% of North America’s surface fresh water and some 20 percent of the planet’s fresh surface water, devastating coastal communities, and causing billions of dollars of damages to the environment and local and regional economy.

Take it from a Fifth Grader: Shut Down Line 5 Now

May 10, 2021

The Line 5 pipelines at the Straits of Mackinac—which Michigan Governor Gretchen Whitmer has called on Enbridge to shut down by May 12—pose a multigenerational threat to citizens of the Great Lakes. Take it from Sage, an 11-year-old from Oxford, Michigan, who chose to do her 5th grade final project on Line 5. “My love for the Great Lakes,” Sage opens her essay.

3M and PFAS: An Attack on Public Health and Michigan’s Drinking Water Rules

May 10, 2021

It’s not often that two high-ranking officials in Michigan’s state government lash out at a company in strong language. But that’s what happened May 7 when Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel and Liesl Clark, the director of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy (EGLE) slammed 3M.