Imagine a new governor of Michigan appointing an environmentalist as agriculture director — someone with a track record of fighting factory farms and calling for tough measures to reduce fertilizer and pesticide runoff into lakes and streams. Imagine that appointment on top of the selection of an environmental enforcer to run the state’s air, water and waste programs.

So now what for Michigan environmental policy? The reactions of environmentalists and conservationists to Rick Snyder’s triumph range from fear and loathing to tentative hope. A few in the conservation community believe Snyder will be a pleasant surprise.

From an environmentalist’s point of view, the candidates for governor can’t be much better. The state’s League of Conservation Voters endorsed both Republican Rick Snyder and Democrat Virg Bernero.

The panel consists of three members (two of whom, both physicians, were serving at the time of the report) “exceptionally qualified” to appraise the nation’s cancer program and in this case appointed by former President Bush.

the word, but also forgetting some of the benefits that a tad bit of well-chosen socialism can do for the public interest. In this case, it’s an accountable utility, the Lansing Board of Water and Light, that is sometimes even responsive to that interest.

Last month’s U.S. Environmental Protection Agency deadline for state applications for some of the $475 million in new funds targeted at Great Lakes protection brought down a cascade of proposals on scrambling bureaucrats. Michigan alone is seeking almost $33.