Jim Olson, who has defended the environment on behalf of citizens for over 50 years, should be a statewide hero. He’s a hero in my book.
This week, Jim turns 80. It’s a good time to recognize all that he’s done.
Growing up in Traverse City, he was sensitive at an early age to the beauty of the outdoors and took those values into adulthood.. While clerking for a Michigan Supreme Court justice in the early 1970s, he heard a speech by Professor Joe Sax of the University of Michigan School of Law.
Jim Olson
Sax was the author of the Michigan Environmental Protection Act (MEPA), which took effect in 1970. The Sax lecture was about the ability of citizens to use the new law to take action to protect the environment instead of waiting for sometimes uninterested governments to act. The law also enabled citizens to sue to prevent harm instead of suing after the fact. The Sax talk inspired Jim to dedicate his professional life to the cause of protecting the environment through the courts.
There really was no body of environmental law in Michigan courts when Jim started. He made the law in case after case. Perhaps the most visible case was his effort to limit the battling and sale of water by the Nestlé corporation near Evart. Brought on behalf tof he grassroots group Michigan Citizens for Water Conservation, Jim‘s work resulted in an historic court order limiting the amount of water that the company could withdraw and thereby protected adjacent wetlands and streams.
It was another David and Goliath story in Jim’s career. He’s taken on some of the toughest cases and toughest adversaries — and has always been successful in the sense that he’s unflaggingly true to the spirit of protecting our air, water and other natural resources. He’s also a kind, generous, empathetic and thoughtful human being.
Congratulations, Jim. I’m proud to know you.