Michigan is too dependent on dirty energy sources. In 2000, Michigan generated 97 percent of its energy from fossil fuels and nuclear and only two percent from renewable sources. Coal, the dirtiest of fossil fuels, accounted for two-thirds of Michigan’s energy mix, making it one of the most coal-dependent states in the country.
• Air Pollution: Reliance on coal and oil for power and transportation accounts for the vast majority of air pollution in Michigan. In 2002, Michigan power plants emitted 132,624 tons of NOx and 342,997 tons of SOx. Michigan’s power plants ranked 13th in the country for soot emissions in 2000. Over 7.7 million Michiganders live in places where the air is literally unsafe to breath. Each year, an estimated 980 Michigan residents die prematurely and 24,645 suffer asthma attacks due to respiratory problems exacerbated by air pollution. Air pollution also damages forest and aquatic ecosystems and poisons fish.
• Water Pollution: Michigan’s coal-fired power plants emitted nearly 2,500 pounds of toxic mercury in 2004. As a result, Michigan issued warnings against eating fish due to mercury contamination covering all 887,019 lake acres, all 2,199 miles of Great Lakes coastline and 521 miles of its rivers. This pollution threatens the recreational fishing industry, which contributes at least $838 million to the local economy each year. Moreover, energy production and distribution releases hazardous substances such as MTBE (a gasoline additive) into our groundwater and other waterways.
• Radioactive Waste: Michigan is home to four nuclear power plants, each producing an average of 20 tons of highly radioactive waste each year. These plants have cumulatively produced over 2,541 metric tons of radioactive waste. This is perhaps the most dangerous substance produced by humans, and there is no safe way to deal with it.
• Habitat Destruction: Oil spills are only the most obvious form of habitat destruction that comes from our current energy path. Demand in Michigan is responsible in part for the push to drill in pristine wilderness areas such as the Artic National Wildlife Refuge and the Grand Staircase-Escalante National Monument. In Michigan, demand is pushing energy exploration into our forests and other wild areas. Unfortunately, oil and gas drilling cannot coexist with wilderness and natural habitats.
• Global Warming: Global warming is the largest long-term threat to humans' thriving existence, and Michigan is part of the problem. Michigan ranks 11th in the country for its contribution to global warming pollution, with power plants releasing more than 76 million tons of carbon dioxide in 2000. Cars, trucks and buses in Michigan emit more than 57 million tons of carbon dioxide each year. Climate and weather pattern changes have the potential to lower water levels of the Great Lakes and generally wreak havoc on the ecosystem.
• Failing Energy Systems: Our highly centralized production and distribution of energy sources leaves Michiganders vulnerable to volatile political and market forces. The most dramatic example is the blackout of 2003. Oil price spikes marked the summer of 2005, where gasoline prices averaged over $1.85 in Michigan in July. In the Fall of 2005, in part due to Hurricane Katrina and in part due to high demand and low supplies, prices for home heating rose by nearly 50 percent over the same period in 2004, increasing average family heating bills by over $60/month. Michigan’s experiment in electricity deregulation has led to few benefits for the majority of consumers, and residential price caps are scheduled to come off in January 2006. Overall, our energy system is vulnerable and unstable due to our poor choice of energy inputs and structures.
• Oil and Gas Drilling: Drilling along Lake Michigan’s shoreline exposes fragile ecosystems and critical drinking water supplies to a host of toxic chemicals, including arsenic, mercury, lead, cadmium, chromium and other heavy metals.