We hand-package the week’s best Grist stories. Delivered free every Saturday morning.
We hand-package the week’s best Grist stories. Delivered free every Saturday morning.
Vivian La is the Michigan regional reporter for Grist and Interlochen Public Radio. Her work has appeared in WBUR, Science Magazine, the Chicago Tribune, and Illinois Public Media. Originally from the Chicago suburbs, she holds a journalism degree from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Power lines across the country weren’t designed for a changing climate, with much of the nation’s grid built more than half a century ago. Today, stronger storms and heavier precipitation cause hundreds of outages a year, many because of trees falling on above-ground power lines.
In northern Michigan, some utilities want to change that.
In March 2025, a devastating ice storm hit the region, knocking down trees and snapping utility poles. Thousands of people lost power for weeks.
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Record flooding pushed Michigan's dams to the brink of disaster. The near miss reflects the national problem of infrastructure that is not suited to the challenges of a warming world.
A unanimous Supreme Court ruling clears the way for state court proceedings in the decades-long dispute over the pipeline crossing between Lakes Michigan and Huron.
Home insurance is buckling under climate risk and construction trends. Find out how your state fares.
Michigan has been trying to shut down the controversial pipeline since 2019. A technical question before the court could seal its fate.
