Rivers At Risk

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"Regulation is always a matter of balance.
Too much can strangle business...Too little
can fail to protect the public. Recent
occurrences indicate that the gas and oil
industry needs more regulation."
~Traverse City Record Eagle
"I've got to hand it to the outdoor/
environmental/conservation public. Public
outrage has saved the 22,000-acre Jordan
River Valley from oil and gas drilling...It
was the reasoned arguments of citizen
action groups like the Michigan Land Use
Institute and the Friends of the Jordan
River Watershed as well as the strong
wishes communicated by citizens that
saved the day."
~Howard Meyerson,
The Grand Rapids Press
"[There is] no excuse for the oil and gas
industry not to do its best environmentally.
It certainly has the money to do so. The
highly profitable Antrim will continue
even if such things as shared roads and the
elimination of mud pits are mandated."
~Traverse Magazine
"Oil and gas interests have given Governor
John Engler more than $360,000 between
1989 and 1995. In return, the industry has
reaped more than $4 million per year in
subsidies and an unfettered opportunity to
drill wells, cut roads and lay pipe without
regard to the overall damage to the
ecosystem. The department charged with
protecting Michigan's environment has
suffered large-scale staff cutbacks while
watching its workload soar.As a result,
regulatory efforts have been decimated."
~Detroit Metro Times

Commentery on
Michigan's Recent
Oil and Gas
Development

IMAGE imgs/rivrisk34.gif

photograh by Gordon Charles

"Michigan has begun to clean up the problems with its oil and gas leasing program, but it has some distance to
go...The Department of Natural Resources ought to be a commanding player, defining where leasing should
and should not take place, instead of the pliant handmaiden offering leases for auction wherever the oil and
gas industry asks for them...The DNR has taken some steps to reform the process; the effort should continue
with the courage and rigor that the land and people of Michigan deserve."
~Detroit Free Press




			"Regulation is always a matter of balance. Too much can strangle business...Too little can fail to protect the public. Recent occurrences indicate that the gas and oil industry needs more regulation." ~Traverse City Record Eagle "I've got to hand it to the outdoor/ environmental/conservation public. Public outrage has saved the 22,000-acre Jordan River Valley from oil and gas drilling...It was the reasoned arguments of citizen action groups like the Michigan Land Use Institute and the Friends of the Jordan River Watershed as well as the strong wishes communicated by citizens that saved the day." ~Howard Meyerson, The Grand Rapids Press "[There is] no excuse for the oil and gas industry not to do its best environmentally. It certainly has the money to do so. The highly profitable Antrim will continue even if such things as shared roads and the elimination of mud pits are mandated." ~Traverse Magazine "Oil and gas interests have given Governor John Engler more than $360,000 between 1989 and 1995. In return, the industry has reaped more than $4 million per year in subsidies and an unfettered opportunity to drill wells, cut roads and lay pipe without regard to the overall damage to the ecosystem. The department charged with protecting Michigan's environment has suffered large-scale staff cutbacks while watching its workload soar.As a result, regulatory efforts have been decimated." ~Detroit Metro Times
Commentery on Michigan's Recent Oil and Gas Development

		photograh by Gordon Charles
	"Michigan has begun to clean up the problems with its oil and gas leasing program, but it has some distance to go...The Department of Natural Resources ought to be a commanding player, defining where leasing should and should not take place, instead of the pliant handmaiden offering leases for auction wherever the oil and gas industry asks for them...The DNR has taken some steps to reform the process; the effort should continue with the courage and rigor that the land and people of Michigan deserve." ~Detroit Free Press