Kirk Heinze took Greening of the Great Lakes on the road to Ann Arbor to attend the Michigan Environmental Council’s 18th Annual Environmental Awards Ceremony, this year honoring the achievements of two, outstanding environmental leaders: Flint’s Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha (Milliken Distinguished Service Award) and Pam Taylor (Petoskey Prize for Environmental Leadership).
First Kirk talks with Chris Kolb, president of the Michigan Environmental Council. Kolb details the accomplishments of both Hanna-Attisha and Taylor that led to them being honored with these awards. And he tells Heinze about MEC’s mission.
The MEC provides a collective voice for the environment at the local, state and federal levels. Working with its 70+ member groups and their collective membership of more than 200,000 residents, MEC attempts to address the primary assaults on Michigan’s environment; promoting alternatives to urban blight and suburban sprawl; advocating for a sustainable environment and economy; protecting Michigan’s water legacy; promoting cleaner energy; and working to diminish environmental impacts on children’s health.
Pam Taylor is the recipient of the Michigan Environmental Council’s “Petoskey Prize for Environmental Leadership.” She is a full-time volunteer for the Environmentally Concerned Citizens of South Central Michigan, an ardent champion of not only the Great Lakes, but all of our waterways-and a passionate foe of large, confined animal feed operations.
Taylor tells Heinze about the work of the ECCSCM and about her own work—tracking nutrient run-off from large livestock operations in and around the lower Great Lakes.
What she does is monitor and track the connections between the manure CAFOs produce and the harmful algae blooms that form in western Lake Erie. Michigan does have fewer of these than Ohio or Indiana, she told Kirk, but she doesn’t want to let those responsible off the hook by saying, as some do, “this is an Ohio problem.”
Click here to hear the Heinze/Taylor conversation.
Dr. Mona Hanna-Attisha, (better and more widely known as simply Dr. Mona) is director of the Michigan State University and Hurley Children’s Hospital Pediatric Public Health Initiaitve and also serves as the director of the pediatric residency program at Flint’s Hurley Medical Center. For her commitment to children’s health and her extraordinary efforts with respect to the disclosure and official acknowledgement of the Flint water crisis (and now to helping solve the myriad associated problems), she has been named one of Time magazine’s 2016 100 most influential people in the world.
Dr. Mona received the Milliken Distinguished Service Award.
Hanna-Attisha tells Heinze about the inextricable links between environment and human health and about the goals and mission of the Pediatric Public Health Initiative. And she provides the latest details on the ongoing Flint water crisis.
Dr. Mona’s medical training and environmental justice background prepared her to analyze health records and discover a doubling of blood-lead levels after Flint switched its drinking water source. While Hanna-Attisha insists that she was simply doing her job, few would have shown the resolve to stand by her data and continue spreading the word in the face of attempts by state officials to discredit her.
When the state at last admitted she was right, Hanna-Attisha spoke on behalf of the city’s kids with the authority of a doctor and the passion of a parent, testifying before Congress, speaking with countless journalists and appearing on TIME’s 100 Most Influential People list. She helped to launch a new fund dedicated to the healthy development of Flint children and is leading an innovative public health program to give them the tools they need to succeed.
Click here to hear the Heinze/Hanna-Attisha conversation.
In concluding the show, Heinze welcomes back to the show frequent guest James Clift, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council to discuss some issues of immediate concern:
The appointment of Heidi Grether as the new head of the Michigan Department of Environmental Quality.
Reaction to the announcement of the two firms that will evaluate Enbridge Line 5—one (Dynamic Risk Assessment) which will evaluate the status of the pipelines and possible alternative and the other (Det Norske Veritas) doing the worst-case scenario risk assessment and what resources would be needed in a worst-case event.
A pair of Senate bills designed to eliminate Michigan's renewable power and energy efficiency standards.
Funding for statewide lead poisoning prevention programs proposed by a state budget panel that falls far short of what's needed to protect Michigan children from the preventable but irreversible brain damage caused by the toxic metal, environmental health advocates say.
Click here to hear the Heinze/Clift conversation.
Greening of the Great Lakes airs inside MSU Today Sunday afternoons at 4:00 on AM 870.