LANSING — On Monday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer issued an executive order to reform the DEQ into the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy and eliminate three review boards created by Republican lawmakers in 2018 that allowed corporate special interests an outsized role in dictating environmental regulations and permitting in Michigan.
Today, Legislative Republican overturned Gov. Whitmer’s executive order, allowing decision-making bodies within the DEQ to continue to be operated by industry, manufacturing and business interests. In response, state Rep. Julie Brixie (D-Meridian Township) issued the following statement:
“Science, not industry, should dictate environmental policy in Michigan. As an environmental chemist who has conducted investigations and cleanups of contaminated sites all over Michigan, I’m deeply disturbed that one of the House Republican’s first official actions was to overturn an executive order that would rigorously protect our state’s most precious attributes – our majestic Great Lakes and vast natural resources. Gov. Whitmer’s executive order also would have protected every Michigander’s access to safe drinking water—something that should be treated as a right, not a privilege, in the Great Lakes State.”
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