Category Archives: CACC News

Access the 43-2 Newsletter here or on the Newsletter page.

Candidates for the Board of Directors include:

Chambre Beauvais – Chambre is currently serving on the CACC Board.  He is a chef currently working in the food industry, and serves on the CACC Ways and Means Committee.  He lives in Bath, Michigan.

Connie Beauvais – Like Chambre, Connie is currently a member of CACC Board.  Connie is the long-time organizer of CACC’s Wheatland Kitchen and brings decades of professional food experience to the position.  She serves on CACC’s Fund Raising Committee and also lives in Bath, Michigan.

Merri DeSanto – Murry, as she’s known to us, is an occupational therapist who lives in Bay City, Michigan.  She is a member of the Unity Church of Bay City, Saginaw Valley Sustainability Society,  and the Climate Stick

Ann Hunt – Annie is a founding member of CACC and has served as Executive Director, Treasurer, and on the Ways and Means Committee.  She also works with Connie in coordinating the CACC Kitchen at Wheatland.  She lives in Lake Station, Michigan.

Phill Hunt – Another founding member of CACC, Phill has served on the Board of Directors for decades.  He is a retired building contractor who brings expertise in how things are put together.  Phill serves on the Fund Raising Committee and lives in Lake Station, Michigan.

Victor McManemy – Victor is a long-time CACC Board member who lives in Empire, Michigan.  Victor’s music is well known to environmental and social justice advocates around the Great Lakes and was recognized by Pete Seeger and Greenpeace for his thought-provoking lyrics.   Victor is a member of CACC’s Education Committee.

Laura Sanderson – Laura is a current CACC Board member who serves as the Volunteer Coordinator for CACC’s Wheatland Festival Kitchen crew.  She is a member of the Fund Raising Committee and lives in Carrollton, Michigan.

Steve Sanderson – Steve is an HVAC specialist who operates his own company in the Saginaw area.  He is a current Board member and serves on the Fund Raising Committee.  He lives in Carrollton, Michigan.

John Witucki – John has been a CACC Board member for decades and brings his talent for locating obscure parts for ancient equipment to the Wheatland kitchen.  He is a member of the Lone Tree Council and splits his residency between Bay City and Ludington, Michigan.

The Alt National Park Service (ANPS), a group of 2.1 million federal, state and local employees who have used social media during the past four years to track environmental and conservation harms, issued an inventory of the environmental regulations attacked, destroyed, or altered by the Trump Administration.  The 10-page inventory can be found online at https://www.facebook.com/AltUSNationalParkService/posts/2818724535122267.  Listed below is a sample of the items sorted by area and status:

Air Pollution and Emissions (Status – 27 completed, 2 in progress):

Weakened Obama-era fuel economy and greenhouse gas standards for passenger cars and light trucks; replaced the Obama-era Clean Power Plan, which would have set strict limits on carbon emissions from coal- and gas-fired power plants, with a new version that would let states set their own rules; and cancelled a requirement for oil and gas companies to report methane emissions.

Drilling and Extraction (Status – 12 completed, 8 in progress):

Made significant cuts to the borders of two national monuments in Utah and recommended border and resource-management changes to several more; finalized a plan to open up part of the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge in Alaska for oil and gas development, a move that overturns six decades of protections for the largest remaining stretch of wilderness in the US; and rescinded water pollution regulations for fracking on federal and Indian lands.

Infrastructure and Planning (Status – 11 completed, 1 in progress):

Relaxed the environmental review process for federal infrastructure projects; weakened the National Environmental Policy Act, one of the country’s most significant environmental laws, in order to expedite the approval of public infrastructure projects such as roads, pipelines, and telecommunications networks; and restricted most Interior Department environmental studies to one year in length and a maximum of 150 pages, citing a need to reduce paperwork.

Animals (Status – 11 completed, 2 in progress):

Overturned a ban on the use of lead ammunition and fishing tackle on federal lands; changed the way the Endangered Species Act is applied, making it more difficult to protect wildlife from long-term threats posed by climate change; and overturned a ban on the hunting of predators in Alaskan wildlife refuges.

Water Pollution (Status – 7 completed, 1 in progress):

Revoked a rule that prevented coal companies from dumping mining debris in local streams; extended the lifespan of unlined holding ponds for coal ash waste from power plants, which can more easily spill their contents because they lack a protective underlay; and withdrew a proposed rule requiring groundwater protections for certain uranium mines.

Toxic Substances and Safety (7 completed, 1 in progress):

Narrowed pesticide application buffer zones that are intended to protect farmworkers and bystanders from accidental exposure; changed safety rules to allow for rail transport of highly flammable liquefied natural gas; and rejected a proposed ban on chlorpyifos, a pesticide linked to developmental disabilities in children.

Other (Status – 8 completed, 4 in progress):

Changed the process for how the government sets energy efficiency standards for appliances and other equipment; changed a 25-year-old policy to allow coastal replenishment projects to use sand from protected ecosystems; and limited funding of environmental and community development projects through corporate settlements of federal lawsuits.

In addition, there were twelve other rules initially reversed by the Trump Administration but later reinstated, often following lawsuits and other challenges.