Every year as the weather warms, in comes the spring cleanup events – some hosted by the city, others hosted by organizations, local groups, and neighborhood block clubs. At the same time, trash thrown from car windows, overfilled refuse containers, and bulk solid waste piles seem to fill up the landscape. Trash blows in the […]
Posted inSolutions
Engineers grapple with how to build climate resilience into Michigan’s stormwater infrastructure
Local municipal water engineers are in a tough spot these days. Bound by often-outdated county and municipal drainage codes while managing aging infrastructure, there’s only so much they can do when planning for a warmer, wetter future in Michigan. “I think many municipal engineers, especially those responsible for stormwater systems, are probably quietly panicking a […]
Posted inUncategorized
Michigan has a climate plan!
CO2 2022/2021 420.51 ppm / 418.41 ppm TAKE OUR READER SURVEY HERE! Michigan has a climate plan! Last week, Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s administration released its plan to achieve carbon neutrality in Michigan by 2050, pushing for 60 percent renewable energy by 2030 and infrastructure and incentives for electric vehicles. Whitmer pitched the plan as […]
Posted inCommunity
Businesses signal support of state’s climate goals
By LINDSAY M. McCOYCapital News Service LANSING – Fifteen businesses across the state, including Ford Motor Co. and two West Michigan microbreweries, have written to Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in support of her administration’s carbon neutrality goals. The goal to be a carbon-neutral economy was laid out in a 2020 executive order that also created the […]
Posted inSolutions
A vision for a better environmental movement
BY NYLAH BURTON As a child, Leah Thomas dreamed of becoming a veterinarian. When she arrived at Chapman University in 2013, her fascination with the animal world expanded to studying ecology and declaring a major in environmental science. But Thomas, now 27, was heartbroken to discover how often the environmental movement sidelined people of color. She wrote about […]
Posted inUncategorized
Michigan cities, state step up planning efforts to combat climate change
This is part in an ongoing series about Michiganders working toward climate solutions. Know someone we should write about? Hit reply! SUBSCRIBE TO MICHIGAN CLIMATE NEWS! Climate change has come to Michigan in the form of extreme heat in the southern part of the state, multiple 500-year-floods the Metro Detroit area has experienced in the […]
Posted inUncategorized
From the headlines- April 18 – 22
End of coal: Consumers Energy will stop using coal by 2025 and scale back its plans to purchase new methane gas facilities, according to terms of a proposed settlement. The utility had previously planned to purchase four gas plants but will now only buy one, concentrating instead on adding 8,000 megawatts of solar power and 550 megawatts of battery storage by 2040. […]
Posted inUncategorized
Policy Tracker: Bottle deposits, DTE shutoffs, solar caps
SUBSCRIBE TO MICHIGAN CLIMATE NEWS! Dear Michigan Climate News readers, We asked you what topics we should cover in this newsletter, and we got a resounding response — you want to stay up-to-date on climate solutions, politics, and policy. To that end, in addition to regular solutions-based stories, we will be bringing you this monthly […]
Posted inGuides
Achoo! 5 essential reads for pollen season
As spring expands across North America, trees, shrubs and flowers are releasing pollen. This fine, powdery substance is produced by the male structures of cone-bearing and flowering plants. When it’s carried to the plants’ female structures by wind, water or pollinators, fertilization happens. As pollen travels, it also triggers allergies in some 25 million Americans. Pollen exposure […]
Posted inUncategorized
Solar windows made in Michigan, Why Michigan has fewer electric vehicles, lifting the state's solar cap
CO2 2022/2021 420.87 ppm / 418.37 ppm TAKE OUR READER SURVEY HERE! Solar windows: Researchers at the University of Michigan and Michigan State University are developing transparent solar panels that could be used in place of normal windows, dramatically increasing the surface area available for solar energy on buildings. “(I)f a building can create its […]