Business & Economy

State limit on emissions cheaper than plant caps

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By SHRUTI SARIPALLI
Capital News Service

LANSING — Michigan can save money in the move towards clean energy by choosing
a path that limits the amount of carbon dioxide produced by power plants, says a new electric industry report. The Electric Power Research Institute (EPRI), a non-lobbying national research institute, reports that this is possible due to the expected closures of coal-based power plants in the next 15 years. By the year 2030, Michigan’s electric utilities have to cut emissions by almost 32 percent of their 2005 levels under the Environmental Protection Agency’s Clean Power Plan. The institute’s report explores two options to make that happen. The cheapest one is to limit the number of tons of carbon dioxide produced statewide each year, an option called the mass-based pathway, said David Young, project manager at the institute.

Environment

Canoeist denied Grand River shore access has no right to sue, court says

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By ERIC FREEDMAN
Capital News Service
LANSING — A nonprofit environmental group had the right to deny a canoeist access to its shoreline property to test for contamination in Grand River sediments near Jackson, the Court of Appeals has ruled. The three-judge panel unanimously rejected arguments by Peter Bormuth of Jackson that the Grand River Environmental Action Team — known as GREAT — had breached a fiduciary duty, meaning a duty of trust, with him. The Grand River, Michigan’s longest, flows westward for about 260 miles from its headwaters in Jackson County, through Lansing and Grand Rapids, before emptying into Lake Michigan at Grand Haven. Fifteen counties are in its watershed, including Ottawa, Montcalm, Mecosta and Kent. In March 2013, the state transferred the six-acre parcel in Blackman Township to GREAT, which intends to build a public boat launch there, according to court filings.