Four students and I attended the East Lansing City Council meeting to listen and voice our opinions about the proposed Meijer gas station on the corner of West Lake Lansing Road and Marfitt Road. On behalf of ECO, MSU’s student sustainability group, I spoke in support of Mejier’s decision to build a gas station in compliance with LEED standards and offer alternative fuels such as biodiesel and E-85. Unfortunately, the real issue was not whether the building was going to be of novel design or that it was going to be one of the few gas stations to support and commodify alternative fuels for a new automobile fleet.

Instead, the issue came down to need and traffic safety. The residents of that area have had no need for a gas station and convenience store of any sort at that particular corner (even when one was proposed a block away in the early ’90s). For groceries they can go to the actual Meijer store, which occupies the same lot. And anyone who would feel compelled to buy gas at an eco-friendly station in a conventionally fueled car might think twice because of the distance to travel. Meijer representatives’ presentation of the project was nonexistent, and their defense was weak. On the whole, their plan seemed expendable. Because of this, I am disappointed. If they really cared for Michigan neighborhoods, they would be employing these environmental changes at every establishment. Instead, they simply tacked them onto an already poor plan as a discourteous marketing scheme.