Governor Gretchen Whitmer is part of a panel that will testify Wednesday before a US Senate committee on climate change and infrastructure.
Extreme weather due to climate change is cited as a factor in the failure last year of the Edenville and Sanford dams in Midland and Gladwin counties. That event resulted in massive flooding that forced thousands of people out of their homes and washed away roads.
That experience will be a focal point of Governor Whitmer’s remarks, said Jeff Cranson with the Michigan Department of Transportation.
“We’ve got to think about tremendous weather events like the flooding last year in Midland and Gladwin counties that destroyed bridges and dams,” he said, “and so she’s going to talk about that, and long term there’s going to have to be an answer to sustaining that kind of infrastructure as we know climate’s going to continue to change.”
Whitmer will be part of a panel that also includes Republican Governor Larry Hogan of Maryland. She will be introduced by Michigan Senator Debbie Stabenow (D), who is a member of the Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.