People who don't live in the Lansing area know it as the State Capitol and the home of MSU. But for the townies, this is very much a General Motors city. With the smokestacks of four operating plants (and one on the way) and the city crisscrossed with railroads servicing these facilities, you can't be here without feeling the GM presence. Since everyone takes state government and MSU for granted, GM is the employer of greatest concern. If the auto company coughs, the town turns out with Kleenex and vitamin C, lest it threaten to look for a healthier climate.

So what's a Lansing-based environmental group to do when state government and GM team up on an air permit that clearly violates the federal Clean Air Act (CAA) and is sure to let the company worsen air pollution in an area that too often already smells terrible? We joined concerned neighbors and the Ecology Center and then called on GM. We pointed out if we appealed the state's air permit to the EPA, we'd win. We had the facts on our side, and EPA had already ruled we were right on a similar appeal. (Clinton appointees still largely staff the EPA's Environmental Appeals Board.) GM's response was the perennial threat of packing up and moving its business to a place that would let it pollute with impunity.

As the days ticked down to the May 6th filing deadline, community pressure was intense. Although some residents in the neighborhood of the GM plant hung tough to the end, determined to fight anticipated odors and increased carcinogenic pollution, the neighborhood association-frightened by the jobs threat-dropped off.

The Lansing State Journal printed a free full-page ad signed by the governor, local congressman, mayor and Senators Stabenow and Levin, stating we were wrong to challenge GM. (Only East Lansing Mayor Mark Meadows called us to check the facts and subsequently refused to sign the petition.) Lansing Mayor David Hollister piled on, saying there "are no health impacts" associated with the air pollution, a statement so false that it's silly. Worst of all, a local radio jock, a Rush Limbaugh wanna-be with an allergy to factual reporting, spread fear and generated nearly 200 angry calls to our office in less than a day. Not insensitive to the importance of keeping good jobs in Lansing and recognizing that we were up against the world's third largest corporation, we suffered a lot of introspection.

A half-hour before the EPA appeal deadline, with UAW picketers and TV cameras outside our doors, GM accepted an offer we'd made six weeks earlier for a safer but not entirely satisfactory agreement. It was MEC's toughest day and finest hour. We did what we're supposed to do, using our professional knowledge, the law and common sense to protect Michigan's public health and the environment. It was a lesson for all of us in hanging tough and acting smart under fire. I came away with even greater respect for the Ecology Center and MEC staff, especially James Clift, our point person in the battle, and a deepened belief that what we do here at MEC really matters.