Michigan League of Conservation Voters

The 2026 midterm elections have concluded, and the Democrats will take control of both chambers of Congress next year. For this month's "1st Friday Focus on the Environment," Ann Arbor Congresswoman Debbie Dingell shared her thoughts and predictions on what Democrats may accomplish on the environmental front.

The Great Lakes hold one-fifth of the world's fresh surface water, but they're facing growing pressures from invasive species, pollution, aging infrastructure and new demands for water. Rebekah Warren and Lisa Wozniak took a closer look at the challenges facing our Great Lakes with Joel Brammeier, President and CEO of the Alliance for the Great Lakes, on a fundraising edition of "1st Friday Focus on the Environment."

The Michigan state budget for Fiscal Year 2027 officially takes effect on October 1. Like all state budgets before it, this one has important factors related to environmental protection and conserving natural resources. Rebekah Warren and Michigan League of Conservation Voters President/CEO Lisa Wozniak took a closer look at these factors with Michigan State Senator Sarah Anthony of Lansing.

Enbridge Energy's Line 5 pipeline, located beneath the Straits of Mackinac, has been long been a controversial topic. The line has been deteriorating and leaking, yet action to remedy the problem has been slow. Rebekah Warren and Michigan League of Conservation Voters President/CEO Lisa Wozniak were joined by Dr. Mike Shriberg, Director of the University of Michigan Water Center and a Professor of Practice and Engagement at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability, to discuss the current state of Line 5.

It's the first "1st Friday" with former state lawmaker Rebekah Warren and Michigan League of Conservation Voters President/CEO Lisa Wozniak as your hosts. For this month's edition of "1st Friday Focus on the Environment," Rebekah and Lisa talked about the current state of the Great Lakes with Cameron Davis, who served as a senior advisor to the administrator of the EPA and as "Great Lakes Czar" during the Obama administration.

Meet the new host of "Issues of the Environment." You know her as a former state Representative and former state Senator from Ann Arbor. Rebekah Warren served as chair of the House Great Lakes and Environment committee and in a number of other environmental leadership roles. Since leaving office, Rebekah has founded, and is President and CEO of Adaptive Strategics, which puts environmental issues front and center. Now, she will steward the conversations about our environment, right here in Washtenaw County. For his last go-round as host, WEMU's David Fair sat down with Rebekah Warren and talked about the future of "Issues of the Environment."

New Michigan House bills would cap profits for public utilities, stop them from using ratepayer revenue to cover executives’ pay and require infrastructure re-evaluation every five years. Colin Jackson has more.

It's a special fundraising edition of "1st Friday Focus on the Environment." For a final time, WEMU's David Fair co-hosts this segment. He's joined by his co-host of more than 25 years, Lisa Wozniak from the Michigan League of Conservation Voters. And they're also joined by the original co-host and co-founder of 1st Fridays, Lana Pollack, the former state Senator from Ann Arbor, President of the Michigan Environmental Council and U.S Chair of the International Joint Commission.

As energy bills continue to rise the Michigan League of Conservation Voters is renewing the push for the passage of a state Ratepayer Bill of Rights. WEMU’s Kevin Meerschaert reports.

Large-scale data centers are increasing in number. They can use a lot of land, water and energy. In the meantime, wind and solar farms are part of the renewable energy future. Where to put them, and how to responsibly deal with land use issues, is difficult. These decisions can have a particular impact on our rural communities and the people who live there. Are we prepared for that future? WEMU's David Fair and Michigan League of Conservation Voters CEO and President, Lisa Wozniak, wanted to know about potential benefits and consequences. They talked it over with Dr. Sarah Mills, the Director of the University of Michigan Graham Sustainability Institute's Center for EmPowering Communities.