Lana Pollack
Lana Pollack has had a long career in politics and environmentalism that began after she gained her undergraduate degree in Political Science (1960-65) and graduate degree in Education (1969-71) from University of Michigan. She served as a state senator from 1983-1994 and notably worked on the 1990 polluter pay law that had polluters, rather than taxpayers, pay $100 million in clean-up before the law was gutted by Governor Engler 5 years later. From 1996-2008, Lana served as president of the Michigan Environmental Council working with a coalition of environmental groups to advocate for environmental causes. In 2010, she was appointed Chair of the U.S. Section of the International Joint Commission by President Obama and worked mainly on water issues until she retired in 2019.
Interview with Lana Pollack
August 21, 2019
Conducted by Katherine Hummel
Clips
1:07-2:13
Lana talks about the goals of the 1990 Polluter Pay Law and how it succeeded in collected 100 million from polluters over 5 years. #polluterpaylaw #pollution #politics
4:55 - 7:56
Lana discusses how the Polluter Pay Law came into being, the widespread support it had due to public interest in the environment, and then its downfall when Governor Engler came into power gutted it. #polluterpaylaw #pollution #politics #engler #corporations
9:08 - 11:06
Lana talks about how the Gelman Sciences controversy in a prime example of a continuing failure to protect the public due to corporations protecting themselves. #GelmanSciences #pollution #watercontamination #water
19:20 - 20:44
Lana recalls a conversation she had with Bill Ford when he told her that a conversation with Ecology Center staff is what inspired him to build the River Rogue plant while creating a whole new standard for sustainable manufacturing. #EcologyCenter #sustainability #sustainablemanufacturing #RiverRogue #Ford #manufacturing
22:55 - 25:15
Lana talks about the 1998 land use proposal, why it failed, and how they learned from it to make the successive proposals successful. #landuse #sprawl #EcologyCenter #politics
26:42 - 29:23
Lana discusses what is was like working with the Ecology Center, what role they played as part of the Michigan Environmental Council, and how they grew to be a hugely influencial group known for their expertise as well as their effective campaigns. #EcologyCenter #advocacy #MEC
30:03 - 31:26
Lana talks about the big role the Ecology Center has played in creating laws that protect the environment, as well as enforcing those laws, and how she looks forward to another golden age of new laws, of which she is sure the Ecology Center will be a part. #EcologyCenter #laws #politics #impact