Lester Graham
Reporter, The Environment ReportLester Graham reports for The Environment Report. He has reported on public policy, politics, and issues regarding race and gender inequity. He was previously with The Environment Report at Michigan Public from 1998-2010.
He has been a journalist since 1985. Graham has served as a board member of the Public Radio News Directors Inc., and also served as President of the Illinois News Broadcasters Association. He is a member of the Radio-Television Digital News Association (RTDNA), Society of Professional Journalists and other professional groups.
Lester has received 15 first place national awards for journalism excellence and scores more at the national, regional, and state levels.
Contact Lester: graham@michiganradio.org
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$21 billion in federal grants, loans, and loan guarantees for Michigan projects are being rescinded or held back for clean energy efforts by the Trump administration. -
A $4.4 million EPA grant will pay for 15 EV heavy-duty trucks used for picking up recycled goods, replacing diesel trucks in some communities in Macomb, Oakland, and Wayne counties. -
Hundreds of schools and day care centers will receive grants for water filters. The filters are to protect children from lead exposure. -
Local government officials are calling for a change in how the state shares sales tax money. Municipal governments are never sure how much statutory sales tax they’ll get, if they get anything at all. Representatives of cities, townships, and counties called for a change and held up 500 letters from their colleagues, urging the passage of legislation that would help make municipal funding be more stable. -
Michigan and Ohio are both struggling to reduce the fertilizer runoff getting into Lake Erie which feeds cyanobacterial blooms, also called harmful algal blooms. Those toxic blooms can be hazardous to people and animals. Both states are working toward a 40% reduction goal set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Canada is working toward that same amount of reduction. So far, the efforts are not meeting the goals. -
Game managers say there are too many deer in parts of the state’s Lower Peninsula. The Michigan Natural Resources Commission has added days to the deer hunting season. -
Baby boomers are part of a "silver tsunami" of retirements sweeping across the nation's drinking water and wastewater systems. -
Enbridge wants to build a new 41-mile section of pipeline to take Line 5 around the Bad River Band of Lake Superior Chippewa reservation. Opponents want Line 5 shut down. -
The U.S. EPA announced four tribes in Michigan would receive grants to install renewable energy infrastructure to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. -
Hotter days make heat exhaustion a greater hazard for kids. Hotter days also can mean more ozone pollution and that leads to lung impairments. Unusual weather events, particularly storms that cause flooding, add stress to children's lives.
