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January/February Issue, 2004

Five days before the Nov. 4, 2003 vote, the Ann Arbor News set the stage in their front page lead story: “Greenbelt campaign tests political muscle.” The photo with the article featured Ecology Center Director Mike Garfield, co-chairman of the Proposal B campaign. He was standing with arms folded next to a VCR monitor displaying an image from an anti-B television commercial, a look of disgust and disappointment on his face.

Indeed, the Proposal B campaign – a 30-year parks and greenbelt initiative – had reached the boiling stage at this point, with the outcome apparently still very much in doubt. Opponents – led by the Home Builders Association – had received what appeared to be a landslide of favorable press coverage from the Ann Arbor News. The memory of the 1998 defeat of a countywide land-use ballot question by the cash-slinging developers still lingered. The story seemed to suggest the very reputations – or at least some future political capital – of Ann Arbor Mayor John Hieftje, Garfield, the Ecology Center and the area’s environmental community, were on the line.

It turns out the stakes were even higher. When record numbers of people for an off-year election showed up at the polls in the city of Ann Arbor and Ann Arbor Township (for a related farmland preservation program) they not only vindicated the proposals’ proponents – they voted their way into the history books (see Grassroots Victory Sets National Precedent – Voters Overwhelmingly Choose Land Preservation Over Sprawl).

The Ecology Center, which has been organizing around land-use issues in southeast Michigan for more than 20 years, played a central role in these victories and wishes to thank all the voters who chose the long-term benefits of Ann Arbor’s Parks and Greenbelt proposal and Ann Arbor Township’s Land Preservation Program over the short-term objections of one interest group – the developers.

Readers of FTGU are by now familiar with the outlines of the most significant ongoing environmental catastrophe in Michigan: dioxin pollution in the city of Midland – home of the multinational chemical giant Dow Chemical – and the contamination of the flood plain of the Tittawabassee River directly downstream from their plant. Dow, most experts agree, is the likely source for the elevated levels of dioxin found in area soils, yet the company has dragged its feet for years, denying the toxicity of dioxin and forever demanding more and more tests before taking action.

The average citizen might wonder: Why in the heck is it taking so many years to clean up this mess? Either dioxin is harmful or not. Either Dow is responsible or not. What’s the deal? Dioxin, a known human carcinogen, is linked to a number of other adverse health effects, including birth defects, learning disabilities, and suppressed immune function. Dioxin is among the most studied chemicals, yet there are still those who say we need more information before we can take action. How can this be?

Our cover story, Dow’s Knowledge Factories, by Brian McKenna, offers some preliminary answers. Its focus is on the relationship of Dow Chemical to Michigan universities and colleges that receive millions of dollars in gifts and endowments from the chemical giant, and it asks the question: “Can we trust Dow-endowed institutions in Michigan to produce good science (science in the public interest, not skewed to corporate profits) when it comes to Dow Chemical?”

With the apparent timidity of academia to bite the hand that feeds it, the public education efforts of grassroots activists like Diane Hebert become even more extraordinary and essential. The Ecology Center wishes to congratulate Hebert for picking up the 2003 Petoskey Prize for Leadership from the Michigan Environmental Council (see Dow Watchdog Wins Environmental Award). Hebert, a resident of Midland and grandmother of two, has been battling the 51st richest company in the world since she was a nursing mother!

On a more practical note, if you are a cat owner you will be pleased to read about some of the more environmentally friendly kitty litters on the market in the new Ecology for the Home column. And if you’re one of the millions nationwide switching your wireless phone service due to new “number portability” regulations, make sure to see Recycle Ann Arbor’s column on how to recycle that old cell phone and other unwanted electronics.

-- Ted Sylvester, Editor

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