Environment
Activists, localities work to keep fracking rare in Michigan
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By COLLIN KRIZMANICH
Capital News Service
LANSING — Across Michigan, citizen activists and environmental groups are working together to prevent the expansion of the fracking industry, which they view as a threat to Michigan’s environment. Hydraulic fracturing, most commonly referred to as “fracking,” is a method used by energy producers to extract natural gas and oil from wells drilled thousands of feet beneath the earth’s surface. Environmental groups believe that the extraction of natural gas via fracking poses a significant threat to the environment. In the past year local governments have worked with environmental groups to pass ordinances that restrict the fracking industry’s ability to mine. Cannon Township in Kent County, for example, approved an ordinance that included restrictions on dusk-to-dawn lighting, prohibiting unshielded lighting in all zoning districts.