Michigan author reflects on 20th anniversary of landmark book The Living Great Lakes

Michigan author reflects on 20th anniversary of landmark book The Living Great Lakes

Jerry Dennis wasn’t seeking adventure when as a novice sailor he joined a veteran captain and crew to sail from Traverse City to the Atlantic Ocean. He was looking for a deeper understanding of the Great Lakes, but adventure found him.

Similarly, he wasn’t seeking notoriety when he wrote The Living Great Lakes: Searching for the Heart of the Inland Seas, which was based on the sailing adventure.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Energy News Roundup: Federal money pours in to accelerate energy transition

Energy News Roundup: Federal money pours in to accelerate energy transition

There’s been plenty of federal attention aimed at the Great Lakes region over the past couple of weeks. The Biden administration last Thursday announced four new “workforce hubs” in Upstate New York, Michigan, Milwaukee and Philadelphia. The hubs — which join the five announced last year in Columbus, Baltimore, Pittsburgh, Augusta, and Phoenix — are intended to help communities access training for jobs in the clean energy space.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

The murky process of reopening Palisades and why it’s a turning point for nuclear

The murky process of reopening Palisades and why it’s a turning point for nuclear

There are a lot of eyes on Michigan’s Palisades nuclear power plant as the public and private sectors try, together, to bring it back from the dead.

Plenty of nuclear reactors in the United States have successfully started back up after prolonged stretches of inactivity. The difference is that every other nuclear plant that restarted after an extended outage retained its operating license, meaning that it had to comply with strict federal maintenance standards, even at the times when it wasn’t sending electricity out onto the grid.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Waves of Change: Meet educator and Friends of the Fox River president Gary Swick

Waves of Change: Meet educator and Friends of the Fox River president Gary Swick

Waves of Change is an online interview series highlighting the diverse faces and perspectives shaping the environmental justice movement throughout the Great Lakes region.

This month, we spoke with Gary Swick, educator and president of Friends of the Fox River.

Listen to the full interview

The Fox River is a tributary of the Illinois River and flows over 200 miles from southern Wisconsin to Ottawa, Illinois.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

Nibi Chronicles: The Return of Nenookaasiwag

Nibi Chronicles: The Return of Nenookaasiwag

“Nibi Chronicles,” a monthly Great Lakes Now feature, is written by Staci Lola Drouillard. A direct descendant of the Grand Portage Band of Ojibwe, she lives and works in Grand Marais on Minnesota’s North Shore of Lake Superior. Her two books “Walking the Old Road: A People’s History of Chippewa City and the Grand Marais Anishinaabe” and “Seven Aunts” were published 2019 and 2022, and she is at work on a children’s story.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.

PFAS New Roundup: PFAS are shown to be unique bipartisan voting concern in Wisconsin

PFAS New Roundup: PFAS are shown to be unique bipartisan voting concern in Wisconsin

Nearly 70% of Wisconsin voters polled by Marquette University Law School showed concern about PFAS in drinking water. A uniquely uniting force from across the political aisle, which is not reflected at the state level. Last week, elected officials were once again deadlocked over how to spend the $125 million that was set aside — in May 2023 — to solve the crisis.

Read Now at Great Lakes Now.