Tag: DEQ

A Michigan-based company slated to produce lithium-ion polymer batteries for electric vehicles has instead kept production overseas, has failed to meet job targets outlined in a $150 million grant from the federal government, and has been reimbursed by the government for $842,000 in wasted work time, according to a U.S. Department of Energy Special Report released Wednesday.

The DOE says Holland, Mich.-based LG Chem Michigan misused part of a $150 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds and has decided not to shift production from its plant in South Korea to Michigan. It painted a stark picture of wasted U.S. federal dollars.

"Until the shift in production takes place or some alternative use for the plant is developed, U.S. taxpayers will receive little direct benefit from a plant for which they provided up to half of the funding," the report said.

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The DEQ recently was recognized by an International environmental group for its pollution prevention efforts.

The department was a 2012 North America Gold winner of the International Green Apple Award for Environmental Best Practices by The Green Organisation, an independent, non-political, non-profit organization that recognizes, rewards, and promotes environmental best practices around the world.

How do you like them apples?  Nothing like the cost savings associated with keeping the incredibly expensive global green hoax alive with such not-ready-for-primetime ideals that are rewarding subsidy to foreign nations, or are being bought by Communists for pennies on the US taxpayer Dollar.

Works for me anyhow.

The little things like HB4326 are good for Michigan business.  The DEQ under the Granholm regime reigned heavy with indiscriminate and wanton administrative restrictions, and punitive measures. One example, the King of the wind Farms in Macomb County.

The simple language:

(5) Except for an emergency rule promulgated under section 48, if the federal government has mandated that this state promulgate rules, an agency shall not promulgate or adopt a rule more stringent than the applicable federally mandated standard unless specifically authorized by Michigan statute.

(6) Except for an emergency rule promulgated under section 48, if the federal government has not mandated that this state promulgate rules, an agency shall not promulgate or adopt a rule more stringent than the applicable federal standard unless specifically authorized by Michigan statute.

State Senator Jason Allen and House Republican Leader Kevin Elsenheimer on Friday expressed their strong disappointment with the Granholm administration after it denied a permit for a new power generation plant in Rogers City.

The plant would have boosted Northern Michigan's economy with 2,500 good-paying construction jobs and established a base power generation source that would help the region to rebuild and grow for the future. Said Allen, R-Alanson of the governors choice?:

"This latest decision is another sad chapter in a pattern of neglect by the administration,"

"Officials have hurt our tourism industry by closing Northern Michigan state campgrounds, dragged their heels for years on establishing a state snowmobile route between Gaylord and Cheboygan and now after more than a thousand days they have pulled the plug on the Wolverine Power Company plant. The administration is leaving a painful legacy for our region of the state to grapple with for many years to come."

"Michigan's economy is dragging, and the state is losing jobs," Harding wrote in 2005.  "Almost no one has called publicly for reducing the damage caused to our economic climate (and to effective regulatory practices) by Michigan's unnecessarily burdensome environmental regulations..."

It may have taken more than 1,500 days but someone finally paid attention. Republican state Senator Jud Gilbert recently introduced Senate Bill 434 in an effort to "limit state regulation promulgation authority."  Harding, not surprisingly, is a fan.

"Many environmental regulations that have serious impact on Michigan businesses and households are made in the cubicle of some state bureaucrat who is unaccountable to Michigan residents," he said yesterday.  "Important environmental and other regulatory policies should be made by elected officials who are ultimately accountable to voters."

Amen and preach!

SB 434 could help ease overbearing bureaucratic burdens on job makers in policy areas ranging from agriculture and air emissions to property rights and wetland permitting.  

Beyond the immediately tangible benefits there's a much deeper value in this sort of legislation.  By drawing back the power of the unelected bureaucracy and shifting the ability to regulate in excess of federal standards squarely onto the shoulders of legislators selected by the voters, SB 434 actually strengthens the Democratic process.

"Requiring legislative approval before state agencies can promulgate regulations that are more stringent than federal requirements is a step toward curbing the current practice of regulation without representation," Harding added. "Many states that Michigan competes with for jobs have already instituted this common sense reform."

Of course, there's the jobs issue, too.  And the intrinsic personal joy I derive from knowing that anything might curb the power of the DEQ.

The GOP House minority continues to sponsor and introduce legislation, to work behind the scenes and to try to figure out some sort of positive solution to this tax-hike / budget mess.

We rarely hear about that in the MSM.

Being a member of a legislative minority makes it tough to garner headlines. But they're working hard and they're trying to make a difference.

This week I spoke with freshman Representative Jim Stamas (R-Midland).

Interview after the break...