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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También continuamos investigar las condiciones laborales en las granjas de Michigan. Si usted sabe algo que nos podría ayudar por favor comuníquese con nosotros.
Teléfono o WhatsApp - 734-412-5038
Email - [email protected]
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Hemos publicado este reportaje en inglés y español. www.mlive.com/public-inter...
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The case illustrates how laborers like Emilio Lopez, integral to our country's food system, can easily fall through the cracks, with slim worker protections set up by govt agencies with limited oversight.
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Sorry misunderstood! I haven't reported much on this topic myself, but it is an issue. This article has a pretty good breakdown: www.canarymedia.com/articles/enn...
There was a big gas leak in CA in 2015 that led to new regs on storage wells, but they're still being implemented.
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I do not! It's a pretty small (and deceasing) number of people in the grand scheme of things though...
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This reporting follows up a story I published in December dealing with a dispute between Consumers Energy and some of these free gas customers.
www.mlive.com/environment/...
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Some background on rate hikes, as big utilities in Michigan ask to raise electric rates at an accelerated clip, compared to a decade ago: www.mlive.com/environment/...
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I believe the Harvard Forest study includes a calculation finding higher costs associated with siting solar on forestland with the loss of sequestration benefits. There are other pros forests bring too, like habitat, water conservation and better soil health, which aren't included in that analysis.
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Hey there, sorry for the delay in responding. The story has been corrected to better reflect the studies linked, which find an increase in CO2 emissions from deforestation, but don't address the "net increase" considering the emissions benefits of solar over fossil fuel-based power.
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I don't remember much about why I filed this, but I DO remember courts at all levels in SC being very resistant to any bulk data requests.
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I dug into the conflict with photos from @bissell2300.bsky.social. Read it here:
www.mlive.com/environment/...
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Across the country and in Michigan, the gas industry and regulators have raised safety concerns with so-called "farm taps," private hook-ups directly to gas pipelines or storage fields instead of traditional mains.
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The utility, on the other hand, says it's just assessing old storage wells under federal regulations instituted after a massive 2015 methane lake in CA led to evacuations near Los Angeles.
Some wells are outdated or unsafe and must be shut down, it says.
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The residents have another name for it: "contract gas." And they say Consumers has been worming its way out of the arrangement, forcing them to stomach costly alternatives. They're banding together to fight back.
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In exchange for their subsurface rights and access to their properties, residents near Holland have contracts providing them "free gas" from storage wells on their farmland, which have a real steampunk vibe to them...
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The folks I'm talking about live directly over a massive underground rock formation that Consumers Energy uses to store natural gas. The storage fields help meet demand during the winter heating season and keep prices consistent.
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And a companion story on one of the state's two active nuclear power plants continuing to take flak for efforts to slash its tax bill, eating into local school coffers.
www.mlive.com/environment/...
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That's just one of many bills touching enviro issues that are circulating in the lame duck scramble. Here's another story on efforts to make Michigan the most 'pro-nuclear' state in the nation from my colleague Garret Ellison
www.mlive.com/environment/...