Liesl Clark, Director
Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy
State of Michigan
Via email to: EGLE-ClimateSolutions@Michigan.gov

Director Clark,

This letter provides comments to you regarding the draft MI Healthy Climate Plan prepared by your Department after extensive engagement with stakeholders and the Council on Climate Solutions throughout 2021. This letter provides joint comments from the following organizations, some of which have also submitted separate comments focused on their particular areas of interest or expertise:

American Council for an Energy Efficient Economy
Angell Farm
Asthma and Allergy Foundation – Michigan Chapter
Audubon Great Lakes
Detroit Green Skills Alliance
Detroiters Working for Environmental Justice (DWEJ)
Environmental Law & Policy Center
Great Lakes Business Network
Great Lakes Renewable Energy Association
MI Air MI Health
M-36 Coffee Roasters
Michigan Climate Action Network
Michigan Environmental Council
Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action
Michigan League of Conservation Voters
Midwest Energy Efficiency Alliance
National Wildlife Federation
Natural Resource Defense Council
Orient to Thrive
Sierra Club
SwellMinded
The Ecology Center
Union of Concerned Scientists
US Partnership for Education for Sustainable Development
Vote Solar

We appreciate your Department’s efforts to-date to engage and consider the contributions of many stakeholders, including our organizations. We also acknowledge that your task is a difficult one. That said, we urge that the final plan must be stronger to be commensurate with and fit to achieve Governor Whitmer’s climate goals. Although we discuss the MI Healthy Climate Plan in more detail below, we can summarize our recommended plan as follows:

  • Electrify energy end uses as rapidly as feasible given normal turnover of equipment

  • Produce electricity using generation technologies that do not emit greenhouse gasses, as soon as is feasible

  • Ensure equitable, affordable, and resilient access to energy for all Michiganders, especially by investing in energy efficiency and distributed energy resources

  • Pursue tailored policies to minimize greenhouse gas emissions from non-energy-related sources

  • Take additional action to equitably respond to current and anticipated changes in Michigan’s climate

While the task is a difficult one, it is our sincere hope the Department will incorporate input from Michigan’s communities on the frontlines of climate change and climate mitigation. Without the expertise of our environmental justice communities and activists, the final plan will not serve the broader goals the Department and Governor wish to achieve for our state. We urge particular attention to input about the draft plan from the Michigan Advisory Council on Environmental Justice.

Continue reading the entire MI Healthy Climate Plan Sign-on Letter.

To add your support or your organization’s support to this sign-on letter, please fill out the form below.

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