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News from the Keweenaw Peninsula January 29, 2002 Text © 2002 Michele Anderson

Engler may stop fighting drilling ban

LANSING -- According to the Detroit Free Press, Gov. John Engler hinted on Monday, Jan. 28, that he may stop fighting a proposed ban on oil and gas drilling under the Great Lakes. Since the Michigan House of Representatives approved a ban last week on a vote of 98-7, Engler said he expects the Michigan Legislature will pass into law a ban overwhelmingly  supported by Engler's lieutenant governor, Dick Posthumus; the other major-party gubernatorial candidates; and most of Michigan's congressional delegation. On Jan. 25 Rep. Bart Stupak, D-Menominee, congratulated the Michigan House for finally recognizing the concerns of residents of Michigan and other Great Lakes states.

"For five years the people of Michigan have told me they oppose directional drilling," Stupak said, "and, in the absence of any action by the state, I have spent those years building a coalition of support among both Republicans and Democrats in the state of Michigan and in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate to ban this procedure."

Read the Jan. 29, 2002, Detroit Free Press article.

For more information on the campaign to ban oil and gas drilling under the Great Lakes, visit the Public Interest Research Group In Michigan (PIRGIM) Web site.

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