Native American tribes in the Northern Lower Peninsula and Upper Peninsula are seeking to develop renewable energy, but a lack of money is impeding many projects, experts say.

Michigan tribes have a potential for wind energy and wood-based biomass, said Roger Taylor, the principal project manager of the Tribal Energy Program.

The Great Lakes region saw it’s share of diverse environmental challenges in 2010. But they are bound by an attack on a common target – a regional identity that defines a sense of home and that may be the greatest of environmental threats.

As rainfall in Michigan gets increasingly severe and erratic, fertilizer prices skyrocket and concern grows over the environmental impact of agricultural run-off, many farmers are returning to an old technique.

Lawmakers voted to keep a fee on gasoline meant to fund pollution cleanups — mostly so they can continue to raid it to fill state budget gaps. The fund was meant to clean the mess from some of Michigan’s 9,100 leaking gasoline tanks.

The award-winning online tool quickly assesses if a proposed water withdrawal harms aquatic life or requires a permit.

But funding for the program is eroding.

Farmers, the largest group of users, are exempt from the fees that support it.

A growing popularity of bicycle-friendly legislation helps fuel the growth of bicycle cooperatives. In recent years five Great Lakes states have passed statewide “Complete Streets” legislation to encourage bicycling.

A bill before Michigan’s Legislature would begin to regulate wind farms in the state’s Great Lakes waters.
Whether lawmakers will approve it before a new governor and legislators take office is uncertain. And offshore wind power faces other hurdles.

Water quality advocates are fighting legislation that would let voter-approved bond money be used for brownfield cleanup rather than water infrastructure improvement.

The money is on hand because Michigan voters in 2002 approved $1 billion in loans to improve water quality.

Two funny-named species of freshwater mussels currently found in rivers of the Great Lake states were recently proposed for Endangered Species Act protection.

The rayed bean and snuffbox mussels were recently proposed to be listed as endangered by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Chemical contaminants, sedimentation, nonpoint source pollution and mining are threats to their habitat’s water quality, according to the service.

Despite its reputation for gray skies, clouds and rough winters, Michigan may begin to rely more heavily on solar power to meet its electricity demands, some energy experts say.