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lucassmolciclarson.bsky.social
Environmental Reporter with MLive, focused on energy and utilities in Michigan. Contact: https://www.mlive.com/staff/LSMOLCIC/posts.html
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Last year, a decades-old backup generator burst into flames at one of Michigan's six fish hatcheries, jeopardizing millions of fish. The DNR says its a symptom of a wildlife funding crisis, though not all hunters and anglers are so sure. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 4 days ago • 0 comments

Michigan's two largest utilities will be subject to a carrot-and-stick system involving $10 million in annual penalties and incentives as part of a state effort to speed a fix to their outage problems www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 8 days ago • 0 comments

Advocates worry power-hungry data centers coming to Michigan increase the risk residents could be left on the hook for utility costs to serve them. Consumers Energy says its protecting customers. I wrote about its plan. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 15 days ago • 0 comments

"Downey said her supervisor fought back tears while handing her the papers. Above her signature on the form, she wrote: 'Received and accepted under duress.'" My colleague @garretellison.bsky.social shows how Trump's federal worker firings are landing in Michigan. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 17 days ago • 0 comments

This week @rosekellywhite.bsky.social published a deep investigation into the death of a migrant farmworker who fell ill picking asparagus in a Michigan field, looking into allegations pesticides or heat were to blame. www.mlive.com/public-inter...

submitted 22 days ago • 1 comment

Michigan has more underground natural gas storage than any other state. A small number of landowners tap directly into these reservoirs, and some get "free gas." MLive mapped them using records I got from the state. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 23 days ago • 1 comment

GOP reps, in control of the Michigan House again, have introduced bills to prevent big solar and wind projects from taking a new pathway to get permitted at the state instead of by local communities. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 29 days ago • 0 comments

Fewer tires in the fire? Burning spent tires in power plants and paper mills has been a big disposal method in Michigan. But it's waning, and a change in state law only hastened the decline. I took a look the state of the recycling/reuse industry. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 39 days ago • 0 comments

DTE electric rates will rise in early February, as regulators and the company reported some progress on reliability while watchdogs said the utility hasn't gone far enough. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 43 days ago • 0 comments

Michigan utility regulators will issue a final decision in DTE's request to raise electric rates by $456 million tomorrow, likely approving a smaller rate hike. The proposal had its detractors at a public meeting in Detroit last year. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 45 days ago • 1 comment

In northern Michigan, the state plans to clear 400+ acres of forestland to make way for solar panels, despite some research finding this kind of switch would mean a net growth in emissions, counter to climate goals, my colleague Sheri McWhirter reports. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 64 days ago • 2 comments

Michigan's Upper Peninsula closed its coal power plants more than a decade before the rest of the state, slashing emissions. What comes next could be harder. Why does it matter? The U.P. is a "microcosm" for the challenges of the energy transition, some say. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 71 days ago • 0 comments

Consumers is looking to ramp up natural gas rates. The ask stands out in the context of recent bill increases, watchdogs say. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 81 days ago • 0 comments

ICYMI: More big transmission line projects are headed Michigan's way, potentially setting up clashes with rural landowners along the routes. Some say developers should use highway corridors instead. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 82 days ago • 0 comments

Some in rural Michigan don't pay a gas bill. They haven't in almost 70 years, but that could be about to change. 🧵 www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 89 days ago • 1 comment

Michigan "recreation passports" (the "P" on your vehicle registration sticker) could be the default under legislation from Dem lawmakers looking to boost funding for the state park system. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 93 days ago • 1 comment

And here’s the recap of yesterday’s big rally on the Diag. www.mlive.com/news/ann-arb...

submitted 95 days ago • 0 comments

Economists and immigration advocates I spoke to said Trump's promises of mass deportation could mean crops left to rot in the field, farm shutdowns and higher prices. There's "immense fear" among farmworkers and immigrants in Michigan right now, one said. www.mlive.com/public-inter...

submitted 95 days ago • 0 comments

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer promised to fix the damn roads and poured billions into infrastructure. But how do we know when that's happened? www.mlive.com/politics/202...

submitted 96 days ago • 0 comments

Sometimes I get to flex my environmental studies degree and write about cow poop, much to everyone's delight: www.mlive.com/news/kalamaz...

submitted 103 days ago • 0 comments

A Michigan utility buys power from 1950s-era coal plants whose largest owner happens to be its parent company. It's a bad deal for the power company's customers, consumer watchdogs and enviro groups say. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 103 days ago • 0 comments

In 2020, two employees at a Sanilac County manufacturer were hospitalized with Legionnaires' disease. Three years later, legionella grew again – killing one worker and sickening two others after the company failed to mitigate the deadly bacteria. www.mlive.com/public-inter...

submitted 103 days ago • 0 comments

What's up, Bluesky? I cover energy and utilities for MLive, and I'll try to post my stories here. I'm often trying to translate nuggets in obscure regulatory filings into headlines. Here's one: Consumers says big wind, solar buildouts won't mean extra charges on bills. www.mlive.com/environment/...

submitted 107 days ago • 0 comments