by Kelly House; Bridge Michigan Published November 25, 2025 As DTE Energy pushes for swift approval of its plan to deliver power to Michigan’s first hyperscale data center, Attorney General Dana Nessel and other utility watchdogs are criticizing state energy regulators’ handling of the massive contract. Citing “unprecedented political and industry pressure” to “ram through” approvals for a proposed artificial intelligence data center in Saline Township, Nessel said during a press conference Tuesday that she fears regulators will “rubber stamp” the contract without sufficient vetting.

BARCELONA – Go anywhere in the world, and an agricultural mess awaits. Even here in Catalonia, an autonomous self-governing region in northern Spain bordered by the Pyrenees mountain range and glorious Mediterranean beaches. Catalonia, it turns out, spent two generations developing industrial farm practices that turned it into a hog haven. With 8 million hogs, it is the largest producer in Spain, which itself is Europe’s largest pork producer.

The Ontario government pushed forward TC Energy’s proposal to build a large pumped storage project on Georgian Bay, despite early expert advice it would be costly and not meet the province’s current energy needs. That advice was shared by the provincial Crown corporation responsible for the supply and demand of energy, the Independent Electricity System Operator, in an August 2021 memo obtained via freedom of information laws and shared with The Narwhal.

With limited public notice, the US Army Corps of Engineers has placed a new option on the table for the future of the Line 5 pipeline as it prepares to make a high-profile permitting decision about the pipeline’s fate. Rather than replacing the 4-mile stretch of Line 5 that currently rests in the open water of the Straits of Mackinac with a new span buried in a 21-foot-wide concrete tunnel beneath the lakebed, Enbridge could potentially use “horizontal directional drilling” to place the pipeline into a much narrower borehole with no tunnel.

By Mitch Tobin, The Water Desk As the American West warms due to climate change, wildfires are increasingly burning in higher-elevation mountains, charring the watersheds where the region’s vital snowpack accumulates. A new study has found that in the immediate aftermath of fires across the region, the snowpack disappears earlier in burned areas. This change can threaten forest health and affect the downstream farms, cities and species that rely on the snowpack for their water, according to other research.

Commentary by David Michel Originally published November 13, 2025 by CSIS Photographs by J. Carl Ganter/Circle of Blue Water is a critical resource. Modern societies require sustainable supplies of safe, sufficient water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning, as well as to grow food, generate energy, promote industry, and ensure public health. Yet many countries and communities worldwide struggle to provide reliable water services for their people.

BARCELONA – It’s useful to know that the dreadful leadership and debilitating governance that is trying to wreck the American experience is an outlier among the nations of the world. Just as relevant: assuring water supply and quality, not generally viewed as the most alluring feature of urban security, was described here as an essential element of any city’s success in an increasingly warmer and water-stressed planet.

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Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.

Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.

Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.

Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.

Discover important Great Lakes environmental news and policies. Subscribe to Fresh for weekly updates delivered straight to your inbox.

by Kelly House; November 18, 2025 Originally published by Bridge Michigan The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

by Kelly House; November 10, 2025 Originally published by Bridge Michigan The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.

by Kelly House; November 6, 2025 The Great Lakes News Collaborative includes Bridge Michigan, Circle of Blue, Great Lakes Now at Detroit PBS, Michigan Public and The Narwhal who work together to bring audiences news and information about the impact of climate change, pollution, and aging infrastructure on the Great Lakes and drinking water. This independent journalism is supported by the Charles Stewart Mott Foundation.