Before Gov. Jennifer Granholm was elected
governor, one of the tenets of her platform was that the state
needed to adopt a new attitude toward protecting the environment.
Now that she is governor, she seems to have forgotten this. Last
week Granholm’s top environmental regulator, Steve Chester,
signed off on a deal that will allow Savoy Energy to drill for
natural gas in the Mason Tract, one of lower Michigan’s last
true wilderness areas. In contrast to this event, Judge Lawrence
Root of the 49th Circuit Court recently ordered NestléWaters
North America, which produces Ice Mountain Natural Spring Water, to
stop taking groundwater from a Big Rapids aquifer. Granholm should
look at Root’s decision as a lesson in how to act in the best
interest of the state.

The 5,300-acre Mason Tract is an area revered by environmental
conservationists and lovers of the outdoors for being one of the
few remaining wildernesses in lower Michigan. This will soon
change, as the state’s Department of Environmental Quality
recently accepted a proposal by Savoy Energy to begin drilling an
11,000-foot exploratory well aimed at extracting natural gas.

While the development of Michigan’s natural resources may
appear to be a strong policy for economic growth in the short term,
in the long run the despoiling of Michigan’s environment will
not solve the fiscal travails of the state.

Strong environmental protections secure a prosperous future for
Michigan’s tourism industry and the economy as a whole. While
natural gas offers economic benefits in the immediate future, the
rewards of a healthy environment will continue to redound for many
generations.