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FLINT WATER CRISIS - IT'S ABOUT THE MONEY

2/26/2016

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DETROIT NEWS EDITORIAL BY NAMELESS COWARD TRYING TO BLAME WORKERS FOR THE FLINT WATER CRISIS

    The Detroit News shamelessly printed an article on January 31, 2016 regarding the status of the Civil Service Commission and union protections for State of Michigan workers. The nameless coward who wrote the editorial is trying to blame workers for the legal protections and processes for determining wrongdoing. It seems that the governor and his cronies are the only people provided with those rights.

    The position taken in the opinion is laughable and quite glaringly an attempt at deflecting the real issues. It makes me wonder if the person writing the story is the PR person hired by Governor Snyder after he began taking heat for the Flint Water Crisis. As more revelations are occurring regarding Snyder’s inner circle having received and sent emails about the Legionnaires disease outbreaks and expressing concerns about wanting to switch Flint’s water source back to the Detroit (Lake Huron) pipeline, I am fairly certain that the attack on Michigan’s workers is a well thought out plan to insulate the governor and his cronies.

    In 2015 the State of Michigan entered a contract with a water consultant firm in order to oversee water safety in Flint and elsewhere in the State. At the same time more than 100,000 acres of additional state land was auctioned off leases to fracking companies in Michigan. Fracking destroys fresh water. The auction occurred just months after a July, 2015 (OAG) audit showing that the state is failing at retrieving oil and gas fracking royalties from companies working as contractors on state land. The audit report shows a distinct drop-off in revenues beginning in 2012. The link? Money. Companies get to keep fracking profits while Flint gets disease-laden and toxic lead water to drink.   

    To “pass the buck” to the workers and to propose that the worker protection laws should be eliminated is a spineless act. The quasi-business governmental leaders are to blame. Not the workers. 

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Who is Tracking the Fracking $

8/18/2015

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During May of 2015 the State of Michigan auctioned 77,000 acres and is auctioning off another 22,000 acres of State land to oil and gas companies on October 28, 2015. The auctions are occuring just as a Performance Audit Report was published in July of 2015 by the Office of the Auditor General (OAG).  The audit outlines how the State of Michigan is doing in the area of tracking royalty revenues from oil and gas companies extracting gas from fracking.  The results are not encouraging.  
     
The 2015 audit’s primary finding (Finding #1) shows that the State “had not fully developed its revenue verification policies and procedures to maximize its identification of potentially under-reported or non-reported oil and gas rent and royalties due the State.”  The report says that the State not been able to keep up with oil & gas company revenues over the past 6 years and are currently working to close one large company audit from 2014. The State is now developing a plan to sub-contract the "internal audit" responsibilities.  How can an "internal audit" be contracted to an external auditing firm?  Doesn't it then become an "external audit?" And does this get around being transparent?

In fact, there are only two published OAG performance audits regarding the issue of gas and oil royalties, one in 1998 and another in July of 2015.  And, guess what?  They both state the same findings that the State is not doing an effective job of capturing the gas and oil royalties.  So, for 17 years the State has virtually the same performance record.  Wow.  Someone is making off with lots of cash and it isn't the taxpayers that's for sure.   

QUESTIONS

Knowing the 17 year record of ineffective royalty tracking how will the State be able to keep track of the new fracking royalties from the auctioned land leases in 2015?

Will taxpayers, many of whom hunt, fish, hike, bike and kayak on State land, trust the State with these new leases?  

If the State cannot even keep track of the money how can we trust the State to monitor the safety of our lakes, rivers, streams and the millions of acres of State land that may be impacted by big gas and oil companies? 

How can the legislature propose $600,000,000 in cuts and/or tax increases to citizens and businesses when the State cannot even track their revenues from big gas and oil companies?

Please share on social media and with your State Reps.
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Our Water...Where is it Going?

5/29/2013

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Water is important to us in Michigan and the Midwest in general. Our fresh water is a valuable resource, a resource that we work hard to protect. It doesn't matter what your political leanings are, nor does it matter what your economic status is, because we all enjoy what the great lakes provide. Our wildlife is prevalent, and it is a fact that wildlife in the southern United States and north of us in Canada is also dependent on the great lakes water basin.

Just this past weekend, I was able to view some migratory birds called the "Buffalo Head", which are awesome little diving ducks that have physical characteristics like a penguin. Their natural habitat is near the arctic circle, and they are on their way back north now that the weather is warming up. 

The last few years of drought in the Midwest have caused the  Great Lakes water levels to be down 12" over the past 2-3 years. An interesting fact is that Lake Michigan and Lake Huron are down an additional 12" beyond the lowering levels of Lakes Superior, Erie and Ontario. The NOAA and National Weather people attribute this to the ongoing dry conditions. Many of our Great Lakes ship captains and water based commercial businesses believe that the issue goes beyond the dry conditions.

In previous years there has been dredging in Lake St. Clair, which is north of Detroit and is part of the Great Lakes since it is part of the body of water that connects Lake Huron with Lake Erie. Some believe that the dredging that occurred went too deep, and that the effect is similar to pulling the plug out of a bath tub. In other words, the dredging may have created a pathway for the water to travel to underground water systems or voids in the earth's crust. Remember, there is a great inverted salt dome under Michigan and the lakes, which is the remnant of a great saltwater sea from millions of years ago. In fact, 38% of the world's salt comes from mines in Michigan. 

A delta is forming in Lake St. Clair, and my daughter may be part of a science team that will be studying this delta this summer. A delta is a formation that occurs when there is some type of drainage, such as the drainage of the Mississippi river into the Gulf of Mexico.  The question that needs to be resolved is this: Why is a delta forming, what is being drained and where is it going?

...to be continued....

Kevin Karpinski,
Adventure Operator & Professional Guide
Entrepreneur - pineneedlepeople.com

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NEW ADVENTURES - GREEN INCLUDED!

2/2/2011

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We are launching some great new adventures in 2011 and you can book them now on our site!  Book our great new Whitecap Water or the Calm Water Viewing Adventure Paddles on Mackinac Island in our tandem inflatables.  It is a great way to enjoy the water on the island!

In Alpena or Rogers City you can book up to 4 Shipwreck Water Adventures and enjoy a guided shallow water shipwreck paddle in our tandem glass bottom inflatables. If you are seeking more adventure, book one of our sink hole adventures and make your adventure green by helping us clean up a sinkhole!

Our new hub in Ludington-Traverse is opening this year with our great paddle and bike tours, the Bike-Row-Brew.  Paddle and bike, then check out one of the local micro-breweries and enjoy a sampler platter and some great food.  Or, book a sandboarding adventure, our newly developed adventure to Sleeping Bear Dunes or Ludington State Park.  If you can climb a dune, you can sled down it...yes, board OR sled down the dunes.  No tow ropes, though!

2011 is our exciting 2nd season and we have much to be excited about as we create your custom adventure.  Book a reservation and we will contact you to work on the details.  That's it.  Easy.  We are working on obtaining new energy savoing devices for our vehicles, offered by DPollution International, Inc.  The devices increase fuel efficiency and decrease harmful emmissions.  Also, since our bus runs on diesel, we are going to be burning bio diesel this summer. 

We have some awesome adventures and some new t-shirts, skullcaps, baseball caps, hoodies and even some coolies for those brews!

Coming soon - A bike made from Michigan bio matter (left over plant scraps and plant fibers).  Green Planet Extreme's Bio Bike!
Check out www.biobicycle.com

Kevin Karpinski, Owner-Operator
Green Planet Extreme Adventures, Inc.


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WHAT is WORKING

9/12/2010

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What is working in Michigan is adventure travel.  We are growing and adding great new adventures upcoming in 2011. If you want to enjoy a vacation in the summer this year, why not come to Michigan and see some olod shipwrecks, ride the whitrecaps in Lake Huron, hike and bike to some awesome sinkholes or do some biking on our great trails and enjoy some food and beverages afterward.  Look at a map.  Look at our trails.  We are going to make you adventure great!

Kevin M. Karpinski
Green Planet Extreme Adventures
"Bringing Adventure Travel in Michigan to Life"
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BIG, BIG WATER

7/19/2010

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We have big water in Michigan and our state has the most big water coastline than any of our other 49 states, including Alaska, Florida and California.  Our water is sweet!  No, really.  The great lakes used to be nicknamed "Sweetwater Seas" because they are fresh water and not salty.  We have no salt and no dangerous sea creatures or oil leaks.  We have great water for exploring, tour kayaking, boating, island adventures, kite boarding and other beach activities. 

Michigan has great wilderness areas with tons of preserved state and federal land for you to enjoy.  Our mountain bike trails are amazing and the inland lakes and rivers provide another option for enjoying rafting, kayaking or even whitewater adventures.

When parts of our country are suffering from stifling heat for the remainder of the summer and early fall, Michigan enjoys 80 degree temps in the day and down to the 60's in the evening.  Great sleeping weather!  If it rains or storms here, we use the time to unwind and relax as we watch the rain come in over the lake.  Read a book or take a nap and get ready for your next big adventure in our pristine environment.  We have it all, and especially the Big, Big Water.
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THUNDER HUB TO HELP MICHIGAN

6/22/2010

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Our Alpena, Michigan Thunder Hub is now open and it represents more than just a new business start-up.  For decades the northeast part of the lower pennisula of Michigan has been promoting themselves as a great escape and an untapped market for people wanting to get away and see things that are just not found anywhere else.  This area has geological wonders and contains hundreds of shipwrecks from long ago, both in shallow waters and in deep waters so that viewing can occur from the surface of the water in kayaks or while snorkeling, and as a scuba diving adventure for the deeper vessels.  

Our great state has much to offer, and this part of Michigan deserves recognition for being a focal point for adventure travellers who are looking for something new.  Our economy is a working class economy, and our tourism and natural resources provide a great way to help dig us out of a sluggish transition period.  Historically, Michigan's natural resources, it's minerals, forests and waterways provided our country the ability to become great, with the industrial revolution, manufacturing infrastructure, lumber to build housing for the poineers and upstart towns in early America. 

We can only apologize for the havoc that white settlers wreaked upon the native dwellers of this country.  the death and destruction is not soomething to be proud of.  We continue to reach out and mend fences and share our cultures for a better future.  Our native American brothers and sisters are important to us in Michigan, and our diverse cultures truly make Michigan a comfortable destination for any nationality or skin color.  We are proud and culturally diverse due to our working class history.

 If you want to do something special, come here and enjoy what we have to offer.  Let us treat you to a great time and help us in the process.

Everyone desrves the experience!   
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ADVENTURES IN MICHIGAN UPDATE

4/8/2010

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I am looking forward to getting started in Alpena and Mackinac Island this June of 2010.  I have been working hard to get our shipwreck kayak tours put together so we can offer 7 to 10 scheduled departures per day this summer, departing from Alpena to our launch spots for glass bottom kayak tours of shipwrecks in shallow and very clear water.

I will be visiting Mackinac Island in the next few weeks to look at launch locations for Island Kayak tours and am excited to establish a Green Planet Extreme location on one of Michigan's most noted destinations. 

I just returned (last night) from a great family vacation to Mexico where we stayed at an all inclusive resort on the Mayan Riviera in Playa Del Carmen.  It was my first experience at an all-incusive (Sandos Caracol) and it was awesome. 

The older kids and I (5 of us) booked and went on an extreme adventure in the jungle.  We had to use ATV's to go over 7 kilometers into the jungle and do some jumping off cliffs into sink holes with caves. The jump was 32 feet and the water was pristine.  The sink hole goes down over 180 feet and scuba tours are also offered.  After our first jumping adventure, we went to our next stop to jump about 15 feet into another cave where we were able to zip line and swim around looking at the great cave structure.  The underground river and cave system in the Mayan area goes for over 50 kilometers and remains mostly unexplored.  WIthin 10 kilometers there is a Mayan village where there are no cars and the people are waiting for a road to be constructed so they can more easily get to their jobs.

We stopped at another "bat cave" and we able to view vampire bats in flight and have some awesome photos taken.  This stop also included a visit to a hut set up by some locals who let the kids play with a 5 month old raccoon type of animal and hold a boa constrictor snake around their necks and take some photos.  They explained that the snake had recently shed its skin so it wasn;t aggressive.  That was good to know.

Overall, I made some great connections in Mexico, both with guests from Canada and with Adventure Tour guides who reside in Mexico and have been guiding for a great number of years.  They want to visit Michigan next year on vacation and I offered to show them some great adventures in our home state. 

I believe that making connections like this is more important than anything that can be done over the internet.  Making friends and offering personal services is the best way to promote our state and the adventures that can be experienced.  Carlos our guide was very interested in experiencing our winter adventures such as igloo making and winter camping, winter rafting and snow shoeing.

As I continue to set up our adventures I will keep in mind that there are people all over the world who want to experience what Michigan has to offer.  Making their experience enjoyable is my goal and hopefully it will be rewarded by some people who are then willing to promote our adventures verbally to others.  Customer satisfaction and excellent experiences is the winning combination. 


 

 



 
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WHY ADVENTURE TRAVEL in MICHIGAN ? (THE 2112 EFFECT)

1/22/2010

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I first began looking for a way to provide some work for my kids as they got older and went off to college, which will happen for my oldest beginning next school year in 2010.  Once I did the research and found some great areas to explore it all started to come together.  I know what our natural resources are all about here in Michigan.  All that you have to do is look at our geographical area and see the water ways, islands, shoreline and big, big water.  

I have been working on launching this business for the past 2 to 2-1/2 years by building up some partnerships and contacts throughout the state.  We have great people here and many of them have experienced the downturn in the economy more than once.  It seems sometimes that we in Michigan have been in a recession for the past 25-30 years with the loss of manufacturing jobs as industriies have whithered away and as many have movwed away in search of cheaper labor.  

What we know and what many do not see looking from the outside is our natural wonders and tremendous parks systems and trails.  Many seem to view Michigan with a horde of cars buzzing around polluting and destroying our environment.  That is the furthest from the truth.  Our image has been under repair for some time now and it is a goal of mine to contiinue promoting our state and the great adventure travel destination that is virtually untapped.  If you like adventure travel and want a new experience in a pristine environment, come to Michigan and book your adventure with Green Planet Extreme.  We are Michigan sons and daughters who want to share what we have and help our people recover from some pretty tough times. 

We are getting closer to December 21, 2012, when the Mayan calendar ends.  Some say it will be the end of the world, but I say that it will be about a renewal and the beginning of a new cycle.  We are trying to get a head start with the renewal part since we in Michigan always seem to be at the head of the table when the economy tanks.

So, whether we have only 2 years to enjoy life or if we will go through a renewal, why not enjoy your time right now.  Living is good.

We hope to see you soon.  Come shred your adventure with us!  

Kevin Karpinski, Co-Owner & Operations Dude
GREEN PLANET EXTREME ADVENTURE TOURS






 
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CARBON CREDITS

12/31/2009

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We at Green Planet Extreme Adventure Tours will be operating our business in the most efficient and eco-friendly way. Part of our challenge as we do so is that we will be using some gasoline operated vehicles until we can rotate them out of service and replace them with bio fuel or hybrid-electric vehicles that will leave less of a carbon footprint.  We will be purchasing Carbon Credits on the Chicago Exchange for each gasoline vehicle that we operate and we estimate our carbon credit cost per vehicle to be $300-$350 per year. 

We will be able to operate with a neutral carbon footprint with an ultimate goal to be operating with a positive credit regarding our environmental impact. We hope that you will recognize our efforts and help us maintain our pristine environment for all to enjoy.

Kevin Karpinski
"Karpi-Diem"  
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    K.M. Seaman is a life long resident of Michigan and a mountain biking and hiking lover of our State & National Parks and Forests.

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CUSTOMER COMMENTS

"The Green Planet guide was wonderful and our tour was breathtaking. Our guide Dan was great and the view of Arch Rock from the water along with having 2 splendid hours on the water made this the most memorable part of our vacation! The water was so clear and we were able to swim and snorkel right off of the inflatable kayaks. We will definitely be back and have already shared with our friends about our great water adventure on Mackinac Island.  We love Green Planet Extreme!"

Doug & Susan, Chicago, Illinois
"We are active adventurers and our time in Michigan with Green Planet Extreme Adventures has become our favorite experience. We were blown away by the beauty of Michigan and the rich history of shipping and shipwrecks. The water was beautiful and clear and the snorkeling over the shipwrecks amazing. Our professional guide (Kevin) from green planet made us feel welcomed and made our son and daughter (8 & 12) feel important and respected. He provided us with an amazing amount of information. He also gave us free time on the water to explore and chill out. What a great trip! We highly recommend Green Planet Extreme Adventures!"

Kathy & John, Minneapolis, Minnesota
"Our day tour was something that we will remember for quite some time! We have taken day excursions in Mexico and our Green Planet Extreme Adventures day tour rivals any that we have been on, and may be even better!  We purchased a small picture package for $20 to have 12 HD photos emailed to us within 24 hours of our tour. Imagine our surprise when we received 32 HD pictures and a 2 minute underwater video of one of the shipwrecks! If you have ever been on a tour, picture packages can be expensive and cost over $100 or even $300. Green Planet Extreme Adventures....you rock!"

Megan & Jeff, Grand Rapids, Michigan
"Coming from California, we are experienced in outdoor excursions, including shoreline adventures and riding on trails. We were impressed with Green Planet Extreme Adventures custom adventure options. Our 2 day adventure with them was awesome! We paddled the Thunder Bay river and rode bikes on the Northeast Michigan bike trail. Green Planet set us up with some great food from the Fresh Palate. Our camp was set up when we were done with the day's activities and we had some fresh fish grilled over the campfire. What a great time! Hats off to Green Planet Extreme Adventures!"

Mandy & Jason, San Jose, California