Climate change impacting Michigan winter tourism - Midland Daily News

Climate change impacting Michigan winter tourism

Contrary to what some people believe, Michigan is not “safe” from climate change.

In fact, global warming is starting to affect the state’s winter tourism, environmental activist Peter Sinclair explained to the League of Women Voters on Wednesday.

Sinclair — who is a climate change educator, science journalist and videographer — was the keynote speaker to the Midland chapter of LWV during its annual meeting Wednesday evening at the Holiday Inn.

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Sinclair worked to disprove the idea that Michigan — and nearby states like Wisconsin and Vermont — are a climate “haven” where the effects of climate change can’t be felt. He used the wildfires in Canada last summer as an example and displayed a photo of the Mackinac Bridge shrouded in smoke.

“We're not used to seeing this at what I regard as the gateway to God's country,” Sinclair said. “For people that may have thought Michigan and the Upper Midwest was some kind of climate refuge or haven where we wouldn't see so many effects of climate change, I have some sobering news. There are no climate havens. Climate change is going to affect all of us.”

Sinclair also presented various charts illustrating increases in ocean temperatures, a decreasing amount of ice on the Great Lakes and more, explaining how global warming is causing the extreme weather facing Michigan recently, including the tornadoes that ravaged Portage and other southern Michigan towns earlier this month.

Sinclair explained that the tornadoes on May 7 were the first time Michigan has declared a tornado emergency — a step above a tornado warning — proving that climate is indeed changing in Michigan.

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Warm winters will impact Michigan’s traditional winter activities and tourism. Sinclair used Marquette’s dog sled race as an example, which has been canceled two years in a row “for lack of snow in the U.P.”

Other winter activities including ice fishing, sledding, cross country skiing, ice skating and more are also on the decline due to a lack of snow and cold weather.

“What would have been something completely normal and expected anytime between Christmas and March 30 years ago, now is becoming an anomaly,” Sinclair said. “We've already lost much more than we want to admit. There is still a lot more that we could lose.”

Solar and Wind barriers

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Sinclair moved on to talk about Michigan’s package of clean energy bills that passed last year. He believes the goals can be accomplished, but that installing more wind turbines and solar panels can be a challenge.

Sinclair discussed the backlash that farmers face when they want a wind turbine or solar panels on their property. In many cases when a project goes before the township board, the elected officials face intimidation and the farmers can face harassment.

“If you go to these township meetings, which typically there might be two or three people in the audience…suddenly one of these $300 million projects shows up and the board members are completely overwhelmed because they're not engineers,” Sinclair said. “Then you get 30 or 40 people who have ginned up conspiracy theories from Facebook and some of them who have driven 100 miles to come to that meeting and intimidate local board members.”

For farmers, renewable energy on their property can provide much needed additional income and ensure that they’re able to keep their property instead of having to sell it off to pay taxes.

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One farmer explained to Sinclair in a video interview that wind turbines provide a steady income, while farming is reliant on the weather, politics, markets or even “what’s happening on the other side of the world.”

Deborah Comstock, a farmer and publisher/editor of the Lenawee Voice, noted that while these people are opposed to renewable energy projects on farmland, they are not opposed to buying farmland to build houses. Sinclair added that all of these opposition groups have at least one real estate developer amongst them.

“We have the solutions, (but) we have a bit of a struggle ahead of us,” Sinclair said.

More information from Sinclair on solar, wind and climate change can be found at Sun101.org, Wind101.info or thinc.blog.

Isabelle Pasciolla is a political reporter at the Midland Daily News. Email her at Isabelle.Pasciolla@hearst.com.

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