Opinion

MUCC reinvigorated by bottle bill

"It is time for Michigan to step back to the plate."
-- MUCC Executive Director Dennis Muchmore

Indeed it is.

Could it be that the Michigan United Conservation Clubs is moving toward regaining its voice as the most politically powerful non-governmental advocate for protecting natural resources for all, not just hunters and fishers?

I was pleasantly surprised last week when the 50,000-member MUCC (membership now down to about half of what it was during its glory days) announced "a major initiative to expand the state's 32-year-old bottle bill to include water and other non-carbonated beverage containers."

It "seeks to duplicate the 1976 grassroots campaign that made Michigan the national poster child for recycling beer and soda pop containers. Eleven other states have current or pending legislation for container-deposit recycling, and a growing number include bottled water."

The MUCC was the driving force behind the 1976 referendum, approved by a vote of 2,160,398 to 1,227,254 -- nearly 2-1. There were bigger margins in many northern counties, including: Antrim, 5,097 to 1,970; Charlevoix, 6,740 to 2,163; Chippewa, 8,467 to 3,523; and Grand Traverse, 14,231 to 5,498. Winning margins generally were narrower in the Upper Peninsula and several U.P. counties rejected it.

A few months after Dennis Muchmore -- a prominent ex-lobbyist more known for dealing with Michigan's ways and means than its woods and waters -- took over last year as executive director and embarked on a much-needed reorganization, I asked him whether MUCC would push for the extension. He essentially said the climate wasn't ripe, a view then shared by many.

Adding to the surprise of last week's announcement was that MUCC has been opposed to extending the needed "public trust" concept to Michigan's groundwater -- as adopted by the Democratic-ruled House but opposed by the GOP-ruled Senate.

Groundwater in the current debate centers on bottled water -- and Muchmore's wife, Deb, has been an effective voice for Nestle's public relations campaign on behalf of its controversial Ice Mountain pumping operation in Mecosta County.

Not surprisingly, the giant bottler opposes putting a 10-cent deposit on its product. It would further fan the bottled water boycott movement.

As for the Muchmores being on opposite sides of a public policy issue, it won't be the first time. In the policy world, a spouse is not an appendage.

ENVIRO-MICH, an Internet list and forum for Michigan environmental and conservation issues and citizen action, has long had lively exchanges on water law issues, and, most recently, on the MUCC move.

Carol Izant, a Michigan Sierra Club leader, wrote in recalling MUCC's backing of the weaker Senate bill on groundwater:

"The timing of MUCC's announcement about 'expanding the bottle bill' is an obvious ploy to gain support for the Senate-backed version of this controversial legislation. Let us not make the mistake of falling for this charade in spite of the temptation to see these efforts as progress."

I fell. Ploy or not, it is progress for Muchmore to highlight, as he did, that Michiganians return 97 percent of their beer and soft drink containers, but throw away 80 percent of those produced by the likes of his wife's client.

Reality check: Don't expect the Legislature to produce the required 75-percent super-majority in each chamber (29 of 38 Senate votes, 83 of 110 House votes) by the July 4 recess -- or ever -- as sought by Muchmore to change the current law.

But the MUCC, although lacking the clout and resources it had three decades ago, would find many an ally as it did in 1976 when it launched a successful petition to go directly to the people after the Legislature refused to act.

The MUCC supports proposed changes, initiated by a coalition of beer, wine and grocer interests, to reduce the amount of fraudulent returns to merchants. But merchants do not want to add to the burden of handling returns.

"We simply want to amend the pending legislation to include bottled water and other non-carbonated containers," said Muchmore. "Right now Michigan can reduce fraudulent deposit returns, increase recycling, supplement the economy with new jobs, and reduce litter in our lakes streams and other critical wildlife habitats."

It can do much more. Curb the litter-bottle-bugs!

http://www.record-eagle.com/opinion/local_story_174095551.html