Vote NO on Proposal 3 today!
November 06 2012This is it: Election Day.
Polls will be open across Michigan until 8 pm.
Please make sure to get out and vote NO on the $12 billion Proposal 3 energy mandate – and make sure your friends, family and coworkers vote NO on Proposal 3 too.
If you have questions on where or how to vote, please visit the Michigan Secretary of State's voter information website at http://www.michigan.gov/vote.
Day 3: Last Look at the Lakes Tour
November 02 2012
Day 3 of our Last Look at the Lakes Tour took us around beautiful Lake Michigan – which could be forever changed by the 3,100 wind turbines required to meet Proposal 3‘s energy mandate. We visited voters at cafes, businesses, parks and more in Mackinaw City, Petoskey, Charlevoix, Traverse City and Benzonia.
We ran into voters who agreed that Proposal 3 would be costly to businesses, families and Michigan. They agreed that locking an arbitrary $12 billion proposal into our State's Constitution is a highly unnecessary approach to implementing a renewable energy standard.
Erin Bemis, president of the Charlevoix Area Chamber of Commerce said, "These kinds of changes don't belong in our State's Constitution and we are concerned with the additional cost burden this proposal would have on our businesses."
As we continue to spread the word about the potentially negative affects of Proposal 3, we urge voters to protect their pockets, Michigan's businesses, breathtaking shorelines as well as its energy future by voting NO on Prop. 3 on Tuesday!
New ad: “Flying Pig”
November 01 2012As you know, Proposal 3’s supporters are trying mislead voters on how their $12 billion energy mandate would affect Michigan families and small businesses.
Just today, the independent Michigan Truth Squad issued its first “Flagrant Foul” of the campaign to Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs for one of their latest misleading ads. The Michigan Truth Squad called their ad “an outrageous misrepresentation of the proposal and the issue.”
Here’s what others are saying about Proposal 3:
“This proposal does not add up.” – MLive
“Proposal 3 is bad for Michigan. That’s why so few in Michigan are putting any money into it.” – Detroit News
“Our Michigan constitution is not for sale. It is not a place for special interests to lock in their agendas.” – Midland Daily News
Last Look at the Lakes Tour: Day 2
November 01 2012
Yesterday marked the second day of our Last Look at the Lakes Tour, which focuses on the impact of the 3,100 wind turbines required to meet the $12 billion Proposal 3 energy mandate. These turbines would likely be placed along Michigan’s iconic Great Lakes shorelines, since they are the best locations for wind energy.
Our first stop took us to Bringer Inn in Saginaw where we caught up with Jim N. who shared his concerns with Prop. 3: "My biggest concern is the attempt by outside interests to amend our Constitution."
We then visited voters, local businesses, restaurants and other stops along Lake Huron. It’s clear on Main Street that Michigan voters recognize the threat Proposal 3 poses to the state. We caught thumbs up and high-fives from people who had already voted by absentee ballot against this out-of-state special interest backed $12 billion energy mandate being locked into our state Constitution – something no other state has done.
We urge all Michigan voters to vote NO on Prop. 3 in Tuesday’s election!
Twelve reasons to vote NO on Proposal 3
October 31 2012Twelve reasons to vote NO on the $12 billion Proposal 3 energy mandate
1. Proposal 3 would cost Michigan families and small businesses $12 billion – or $2,511.40 for each electric customer in the state by the time they’re through. Find out how much it would cost you with our CAREforMich.com Cost Estimator at CAREforMich.com/cost.2. Proposal 3 would lock an energy mandate in Michigan’s constitution – where it could not be easily changed.
3. No other state has locked an energy mandate like Proposal 3 in its constitution.
4. Michigan already has a renewable energy law that’s working in a responsible and affordable way.
5. Proposal 3 could jeopardize local control over wind turbine placement – which is why the Michigan Townships Association and Michigan Association of Counties oppose the energy mandate.
6. The Michigan Farm Bureau – the state’s largest general agricultural organization – opposes locking Proposal 3’s high cost in the state constitution.
7. Proposal 3 would require Michigan to build 3,100 wind turbines to meet the mandate – dramatically changing Michigan’s beautiful landscape and perhaps even our Great Lakes.
8. Proposal 3 is opposed by leading business and labor organizations – such as the Michigan Chamber of Commerce, Michigan Building and Construction Trades Council, Detroit Regional Chamber, Utility Workers Union of America and the Small Business Association of Michigan.
9. Newspapers across Michigan oppose the Proposal 3 energy mandate, including Detroit Free Press, Detroit News, Lansing State Journal, Macomb Daily, Oakland Press, Crain’s Detroit Business, Battle Creek Enquirer and The Holland Sentinel.
10. Proposal 3’s supporters have failed to produce a Michigan-specific, comprehensive plan for implementing their flawed proposal. They have not produced a fiscal impact study on the $12 billion mandate’s effects to our economy, families and businesses, and they have no plan on where to place the 3,100 turbines required to meet the energy mandate.
11. Proposal 3’s high price tag would hit vulnerable seniors and people living on fixed incomes particularly hard, according to Michigan’s longest serving attorney general, Frank J. Kelley.
12. Governor Snyder, Lt. Governor Calley and Attorney General Schuette all oppose the Proposal 3 mandate – along with Michigan’s longest serving Attorney General Frank Kelley, former Attorney General Mike Cox and former Chief Justice of the Michigan Supreme Court Conrad Mallett, Jr.
VOTE NO ON PROPOSAL 3!
Day 1: Last Look at The Lakes Tour
October 31 2012
Yesterday, we set out on our Last Look at The Lakes Tour to urge voters to say NO to the $12 billion Proposal 3 energy mandate.
If passed, Proposal 3 would require building 3,100 more wind turbines, all located where we have wind capacity – and that's along Michigan's most precious natural resource, the Great Lakes. The tour aims to put into perspective this negative impact Proposal 3 would have along Michigan's shoreline. Starting in Mt. Clemens, we passed out brochures, yard signs, background information and our ever-popular windmill cookies to interested voters, city and state officials and others concerned with Proposal 3 and its $12 billion cost being locked into our state Constitution, something no other state has done.
During yesterday's trip several stops were made in Macomb, St. Clair, Sanilac and Huron Counties to meet with voters and talk about Proposal 3's negative impact. Eric F., a student at St. Clair Community College said, "Turning a renewable energy issue into a constitutional amendment is short sighted due to the ever-changing nature of the field. " We also ran into Lynn T. from Ubly who told us, "My thoughts on Proposal 3 are that we simply can not afford it. It is far more expensive than what people are being led to believe and it will not create the jobs that we are being told it will create."Stay tuned for more from our tour as we spread the word about the potentially negative effects of Proposal 3. With six days left, we urge you to vote NO on Proposal 3.
New ad: Loophole
October 29 2012The country that manufactures the most wind turbines is not the United States. It's China. With so much concern about federal debt being held overseas, it's hard to fathom approving a state constitutional amendment that would send our dollars across the Pacific, too. - MLive Editorial opposing Proposal 3, 10/29/2012
Get the facts about Proposal 3:
• Proposal 3 would cost Michigan families and small businesses at least $12 billion
• Proposal 3 would make Michigan the only state in the country to lock a renewable energy mandate in the constitution – with a $12 billion price tag
• People across Michigan are speaking out against costly Proposal 3 – see what they're saying here
Stand up against costly Proposal 3 by signing up for e-mail alerts from our campaign below and joining the conversation on our Facebook page and on Twitter (use the hashtag #NOonProp3).
Sign up for our campaign e-mails
New ad: Truth
October 23 2012Proposal 3’s supporters are trying to hide these crucial facts behind a screen of lies:
• Proposal 3 would cost each Michigan family and small business thousands. Every single electric customer in Michigan would be on the hook for at least $2,511.40 if Proposal 3 passes in November. You can find out how much the energy mandate would cost you with our CAREforMich.com Cost Estimator.
• No other state has locked a renewable energy mandate such as Proposal 3 in its constitution. Proposal 3’s supporters are trying to mislead Michigan voters on this important point, which has been refuted by the Detroit Free Press, the nonpartisan Citizens Research Council of Michigan, and others.
• Proposal 3 could jeopardize local control over wind turbine placement. To meet the costly Proposal 3 mandate, Michigan would need to build 3,100 wind turbines. With so many turbines required, Lansing bureaucrats could end up deciding where to put them, no matter what local voters say. That’s why the Michigan Townships Association and the Michigan Association of Counties oppose Proposal 3.
Stand up against costly Proposal 3 by signing up for e-mail alerts from our campaign below and joining the conversation on our Facebook page and on Twitter (use the hashtag #NOonProp3).
Sign up for our campaign e-mails
Michigan Townships Association Opposes Proposal 3
October 23 2012
“As we understand it, Michigan would be handcuffed by a constitutional amendment that could preempt local ordinances and, in effect, would pave the way for the siting of wind turbines in communities who may or may not want these structures located in their neck of the woods,” said Bill Renn, supervisor of Chandler Township in Huron County and president of the Michigan Townships Association.
Proposal 3: Too Costly
October 22 2012
Great letter from MLive today:
If passed, Proposal 3 would require 25 percent of Michigan’s electricity to come from renewable sources by 2025.
One has to ask, at what cost? What happens to our fragile manufacturing base, just starting to recover, if Proposal 3 ends up dramatically raising utility rates for all users, business, municipal and residential, which it likely will.
We already have Public Act 295, passed in 2008, which requires 10 percent of the state's energy be derived from renewable sources by 2015. Our state utilities are diligently and prudently working toward that goal.
Let’s see where things stand, then, instead of adopting this reckless proposal. Moreover, we should continue to work to make “cleaner” and more energy efficient our existing power plants, vehicles, appliances, homes and commercial buildings. Vote no on Proposal 3.
— MARK KOEHLER/Blackman Township
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