People need to breathe clean air, but Michigan's agriculture needs clean air to thrive as well, which is why several Michigan organizations teamed up to launch the "Save the Cherry" campaign during the National Cherry Festival.
Michigan's cherry crops were almost lost completely because of extreme heat in the spring, followed by freezes. Carbon pollution from power plants plays a dramatic role in triggering these kinds of extreme weather events.
Clean Water Action, National Wildlife Federation, and Sierra Club were out in force during the festival in Traverse City, passing out 1,500 postcards to festival-goers and letting them know Michigan's cherries need clean air too.
Save The Cherry Launched At National Cherry Festival
"When the temperature rises, Michigan's cherries can't head inside to the air conditioning," says Nic Clark, campaigns director for Clean Water Action. "We need strong pollution controls to ensure power plants reduce their emissions, which in turn will improve public health and the yield of Michigan's second largest industry – agriculture."
The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has proposed the first-ever national limits on carbon pollution from new power plants. More than 2.4 million comments of support have come in from people across the United States – including more than 160,000 from Michigan residents.