Overview:
- A Detroit environmental advocate proposes creating an Office of Climate, Infrastructure, and Sustainability led by a chief climate officer reporting directly to the mayor.
- The plan calls for stronger enforcement against industrial polluters, a Climate Justice Community Advisory Board with representatives from each council district, and climate strategies across all city departments.
- Detroit should prioritize community benefit over energy-intensive data centers on public land and ensure climate investments reduce flooding, lower energy costs, and create local jobs.
In Detroit, climate policy is not abstract. It is about flooded basements, power outages, unhealthy air, rising utility bills, and whether families can stay safe and stable in their homes. Climate policy here has to be people-centered.
These were the thoughts I held while attending an international climate convening hosted by the Obama Foundation’s Leadership Network in the weeks following the November 2025 election. I was inspired by local leaders from around the world sharing what they were doing to drive change in their communities.
It made me reflect on my own work. While I am a lifelong Detroiter, much of my environmental advocacy happens nationally. I left that convening asking a simple question: what could I do to help bring change home here in Detroit?
That question has stayed with me for the last six months.
It’s prompted me to connect with other community members, other environmental experts, municipal climate leaders in other cities, climate transition committee members, and to study data from the Rise Higher Detroit survey to help shape an agenda for new Mayor Mary Sheffield and a refreshed City Council.
We have an opportunity to make Detroit a national model for climate and environmental leadership that works for the people who need it most.
A strong place to begin would be for the mayor to issue an executive order declaring climate resilience and environmental justice as top priorities for the city.
That may sound symbolic, but it matters. The mayor recently exercised this authority to meet neighborhood needs with the Midblock Lighting Plan. Similar action would set a tone for city government and make clear that these are not side issues, but core governing responsibilities.
The administration should also expand the city’s existing Office of Sustainability into an Office of Climate, Infrastructure, and Sustainability, led by a chief climate officer who reports directly to the mayor.
This is not about adding bureaucracy. It is about building capacity. And it is about recognizing the co-benefits of climate action.
Done right, climate investments can reduce flooding, lower energy burdens, improve housing quality, strengthen public health, and create jobs. A dedicated office can help connect those dots and carry out the mayor’s people-focused environmental agenda.
Enforcement has to be part of the picture too. The city should direct departments with inspection and enforcement authority, including Buildings, Safety Engineering, and Environmental; the Detroit Water & Sewerage Department; the Detroit Police Department; and the Health Department to prioritize action against industrial polluters in the neighborhoods carrying the heaviest burdens.
Lead hazards, mold, air pollution, and water contamination are not just environmental problems.
They are public health problems, and they cause economic harm to Detroit communities. At a time when the federal government has deprioritized environmental enforcement, it is important that the city steps up. We have laws on the books, but they need to be enforced.
The mayor should also direct departments to formally develop climate and environmental strategies within their own work, plans, and budgets. Climate should not be confined to one office. Climate should show up across housing, transportation, water, health, and economic development.
Other cities across the country have committed to addressing climate change through municipal government planning. For example, New York has pushed climate budgeting across agencies, Boston has woven climate responsibilities across departments, Seattle has integrated climate into transportation and infrastructure planning, and Portland has built a model for coordinating climate priorities across city government. We should be doing the same thing here in Detroit.
And residents need a stronger voice in shaping this work. The city should establish a Climate Justice Community Advisory Board, made up of resident representatives from each council district, to offer policy and budget recommendations to guide the mayor and council on climate justice-related programs, policies, and decisions.
This group could collaborate with the city’s longstanding Green Task Force, which has addressed sustainability issues since 2007. Alternatively, the city might consider revitalizing and expanding the existing Green Task Force so it can take on more targeted, neighborhood, and people-centered environmental priorities.
Detroit should also be thoughtful about the use of public land, particularly with the rise of data centers. City-owned land should first be considered for uses that build community wealth and benefit residents.
Until clear guardrails are in place for community benefit, energy demand, and rate impacts, the city should not rush to entertain those proposals.
These ideas are practical. Many could begin with executive action. Others would benefit from a partnership with the council. Together, they would help move Detroit toward a model of climate governance rooted in accountability, affordability, and community voice.
Detroit has long helped lead the nation on justice issues. There is no reason it cannot lead on climate and environmental justice too.
As Earth Month comes to a close, Detroit has a chance to do more than talk about the environment. The mayor and council have an opportunity to show what people-first climate leadership can look like.
That is not just environmental policy. That is good government.
You can read the full agenda here, and I welcome your thoughts, ideas, and feedback. Please share your input through this feedback form: https://forms.gle/tjDzZgzPU2G2ocRJ9.
Planet Detroit’s Voices column includes opinion pieces from our community of partners and readers. These pieces express the voices of the authors and not necessarily those of the publication.
PLANET DETROIT VOICES
VOICES: The federal government must protect the right to healthy, clean air
The Trump administration’s weakening of Clean Air Act enforcement comes at a time when Michigan faces rising rates of pollution-related illness, with lung cancer cases significantly exceeding the national average.
VOICES: From cafeterias to climate action, Michigan schools can cut methane
Michigan schools threw away 16,000-plus tons of food in 2023. Student-led programs show how schools can cut methane emissions through food waste reduction.
VOICES: Unlikely opportunities for water progress in raging data center debate
Conservative rural residents and environmental leaders are finding common ground opposing data centers over water concerns, creating an unexpected opportunity to strengthen Michigan’s water protection policies.
