The title of this post was going to be “Governor Snyder’s Water Legacy,” but the indictment is far bigger than one politician.
The final nails in the coffin of the Snyder legacy, which includes Flint, came in the last two weeks, when his DEQ not only approved a 60% increase in water extraction by Nestle without having in hand adequate hydrological data, but patronized and insulted the public in the process.
Then, this week, the Governor used the news of a possible anchor strike of Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac as a pretense for supporting the rushing of approval for an Enbridge tunnel under the Straits. This makes superficial sense until you realize it disregards the alternatives study he commissioned, ignores the risk posed by scores of Line 5 stream crossings across Michigan, and is premised on the false assumption that the state’s job is to make life easy for Enbridge even though Line 5 provides little benefit to the state.
But the Governor may not be the worst water offender in Lansing. Legislators are pursuing such deplorable notions as making it easier for big ag to extract water without public oversight and turning veto power on environmental rule making over to polluters.
When was the last time a Michigan politician ran and served on an authentic, principled platform of water stewardship? Plenty of them pay lip service to our water “assets,” “bounty” and “natural treasure” when running but amnesia takes command when they take office.
It’s time for a change, before it’s too late.