Kudos to Allison Bush and The State News for her fine story on proposed funding cuts for some of MSU’s most important research in Cuts could stall MSU research (SN 2/19).
Gov. Jennifer Granholm’s proposal to slash funding for the Michigan Agricultural Experiment Station, or MAES, and MSU Extension would be a significant blow to another of her proposals — the admirable target of reducing the state’s dependence on imported fuels by 45 percent by the year 2020.
MSU Extension and MAES are key players in the race to rebuild Michigan’s economy and combat the harmful effects of burning fossil fuels.
They’re also an invaluable resource for the state’s $71.3 billion agriculture and food industry and an example of what a land-grant university is all about: the 300-plus researchers at MAES push the science of farming forward, toward higher yields and diminished environmental impacts, and MSU Extension gets the latest knowledge into the hands of the people who grow our food and, increasingly, our fuel.
Halving the money available for such important work would be a step in the wrong direction.
Andy McGlashen
environmental journalism graduate student
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