Environmental advocates say Michigan is in a strong position to meet its climate goals and could continue to make progress through state legislation.
That’s despite the Trump administration taking office on Jan. 20 with an emphasis on dramatically increasing fossil fuel production.
Bentley Johnson is the federal government affairs director for the Michigan League of Conservation Voters.
He said climate policies are likely to change at the federal level, which could include the rollback of executive orders President Biden issued on climate change and environmental justice.
“We're seeing signals and promises, really, made by incoming President Trump, as well as congressional leaders in the House and the Senate, saying they're going to do everything they can to ‘drill baby drill’ and essentially, provide the the easiest path, the most subsidies, the least requirements to the fossil fuel industry,” Johnson said.
Still, Johnson points to Michigan’s Clean Energy and Jobs Act as a potential safeguard to keeping the state on track with its climate goals.
The 2023 legislation includes a package of bills setting renewable energy and efficiency targets and earmarking funding to support green jobs.
“That was a big, big deal and will reverberate for years and years here in Michigan and set us on a path of reducing emissions, upgrading our energy grid, improving reliability, improving affordability,” Johnson said.
He adds the state also has access to resources made available through the federal Inflation Reduction Act. The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy is using funding from that legislation to offer state residents rebates for energy-saving home improvements.
The incoming Trump administration isn’t the only hurdle environmental policies will need to overcome in the next few years, however.
Republicans take control of the state House in January, ending the Democrat trifecta that saw the passing of the Clean Energy and Jobs Act in the first place.
Even so, Johnson says he’s optimistic there are environmental issues that could attract bipartisan support.
“There are still Republicans that want to work and find solutions, that want to tackle things like PFAS contamination, toxic forever chemicals that are in non-stick products … in our groundwater, in our surface water, around different industry sites, different Department of Defense sites,” he said.
However, Johnson said Republicans and Democrats will likely continue to disagree on a range of other environmental topics. Specifically, he predicts the parties will remain split over whether the state has an "obligation" to fight climate change in the first place.
Produced with assistance from the Public Media Journalists Association Editor Corps funded by the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, a private corporation funded by the American people.
