As Ingham County develops a Sustainability Action Plan, the director says environmental justice is helping shape decisions about climate, energy and sustainability investments across the community.
The effort comes as Ingham County recently earned a gold certification through Michigan Green Communities, a statewide network that helps local governments advance sustainability goals through peer learning, technical resources and collaboration.
Morgan Feldpausch, Ingham County's environmental sustainability director and a member of the Michigan Green Communities steering committee, said environmental justice is a guiding principle in the county's work.
"All of Ingham County's sustainability and climate work has been directed with a perspective of environmental justice and just transitions,” Feldpausch said.
The goal of environmental justice is to ensure all people have equal protection from environmental hazards and equal access to a healthy environment regardless of race, income and other circumstances.
County officials are building the Sustainability Action Plan using a greenhouse gas emissions inventory, a climate vulnerability assessment and extensive community engagement, including surveys and listening sessions.
Feldpausch said the county is examining not only its own operations, but also how climate change affects residents throughout the county.
"We're looking at who is being affected in the community by climate change,” Feldpausch said. “How is the community in areas being affected by climate change? What is that experience look like, and what areas are going to be experiencing that at a higher rate than others?"
She said county leaders want environmental justice considerations woven throughout the final plan.
"We want to make sure that's not necessarily a separate topic within the plan, but it's embedded within every aspect of it,” Feldpausch said.
Community feedback has been a major part of the process so far.
"We've gotten enthusiastic participation” and excitement over being “involved initially with how we're going to develop this,” Feldpausch said.
One example of the county's approach is a Community Energy Management Grant project at the Forest Community Health Center. Feldpausch said the facility was selected in part because it is located within an environmental justice area identified through the state's environmental justice screening tool.
The project includes replacing older lighting with LED fixtures and making heating and cooling upgrades aimed at improving energy efficiency.
While not directly involved in developing the plan, Michigan Green Communities serves as a resource for local governments pursuing sustainability and environmental justice goals.
The program, established in 2009, was created by local governments looking for a way to recognize sustainability accomplishments while sharing ideas and best practices with one another. Today, the network includes 69 active local government participants representing more than 5.6 million Michigan residents.
Danielle Beard, who administers Michigan Green Communities through the Michigan Municipal League, said the organization's mission is to support sustainability, climate action and environmental justice efforts throughout the state.
"It was a way for local governments to both recognize their accomplishments and then have like a peer network so that they could learn and share and kind of co-create best practices,” Beard said.
The program's Michigan Green Communities Challenge includes more than 130 voluntary actions covering topics such as energy, transportation, land use, water management, recycling, community engagement and economic development.
When the program was updated following the COVID-19 pandemic, Beard said organizers intentionally emphasized environmental justice and climate change throughout the challenge.
"We specifically called out climate change and environmental justice as being priorities for the program,” Beard said.
Rather than creating a standalone environmental justice category, Beard said program leaders wanted communities to consider equity and inclusion across all sustainability efforts.
"We decided that we try to kind of embed equity and inclusion throughout the action items so that it wasn't just like a section you could kind of ignore,” Beard said.
Feldpausch said Ingham County uses the program as a practical guide for identifying sustainability opportunities and learning from other communities facing similar challenges.
"We look to it really as a roadmap for our work, and use it as a reference guide,” Beard said.
As Ingham County continues developing its Sustainability Action Plan, officials say community involvement will remain critical to the process.
Feldpausch said the county wants residents to help shape both the plan itself and its future implementation.
"We want to make sure that the community's voices are heard and that they have the opportunity to get involved in that process,” Feldpausch said.
Beard said that kind of collaboration is at the heart of Michigan Green Communities.
"Sometimes the best way to get a new initiative off the ground, or make progress, is to just be able to say our neighbors are doing this in the state,” Beard said.
This story is brought to you as part of a partnership between WKAR and Michigan State University’s Knight Center for Environmental Journalism.