Michigan lawmakers are calling on Canada to take more action to address wildfire smoke drifting over the border and creating hazardous air conditions for Americans.
U.S. Representatives Jack Bergman, John James, Lisa McClain and John Moolenaar sent a joint letter to the Canadian government on Wednesday as smoke from wildfires north of the border crossed into the Upper Peninsula.
A thick haze of smoke blanketed much of Michigan and the northern Midwest by midday Thursday, driving the region's air quality into the "hazardous" category. Air Quality Index values of more than 500 were recorded in some areas, according to WZZM.
A number of businesses closed in Detroit on Thursday, citing the poor air quality, according to the Detroit Free Press.
Officials in Wayne County – where Detroit is located — passed out approximately 70,000 face masks to seniors to help protect them during the period of poor air quality, the paper reported.
The lawmakers argued in the letter that Canada has not done enough to address issue of wildfire smoke and its effect on its neighbors to the south.
"We were told last year that this would be treated with urgency. It was not. We were told the causes, chronic under-investment in forest thinning, fuel reduction, and prescribed burns, along with inadequate enforcement against arson, were being addressed," the letter says.
There were 858 active fires across Canada on Thursday, according to the Canadian Interagency Forest Fire Centre.
The lawmakers continued, arguing that the issues were not addressed adequately enough to "matter to the people we represent."
"Provincial leaders have offered excuses instead of results, and in some cases have openly dismissed the health of American citizens as an inconvenience to their own summer. That attitude is unacceptable from a neighbor and an ally," the letter says.
This year makes the fourth in a row when Canadian wildfire smoke has blown into Michigan and created hazardous air conditions in the state.
"We are done accepting apologies in place of action. If Canada will not manage its forests to prevent these fires, the United States will look elsewhere, and act on our own, to protect our people," the letter says.
What that would look like, according to the lawmakers, is American agencies "exploring direct involvement in cross-border fuel reduction and firefighting capacity."
"It means reconsidering how much benefit of the doubt this relationship continues to earn on an issue where American lungs are paying the price for Canadian inaction, year after year. Sovereignty comes with responsibility, and the responsibility to prevent a foreseeable disaster from crossing into another country's airspace has not been met," the letter says.
U.S. Ambassador to Canada Pete Hoekstra, a native of Michigan, offered a more collaborative statement regarding the wildfire smoke.
"This challenge knows no borders. This is a shared challenge, and it demands a shared response," he said. "I commend the outstanding co-operation between the United States and Canada as we confront these fires together. Our two governments are monitoring and sharing information in real time — co-ordination that reflects our partnership at its best."
Canadian Prime Minister Mark Carney did not directly address the letter from Michigan lawmakers when he was asked about it during a press event in London, Ontario, but did use the opportunity to take a shot at the Trump administration's positions on the climate crisis.
"Climate change is everyone's responsibility — truly everyone's — including the United States," he said.
Air quality across the northeastern U.S. as far south as northern Virginia is expected to worsen over the next day, according to forecasters.
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