Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy’s Post

Michigan is charting its Climate Action Plan, and we want YOUR input. Provide feedback on our draft Priority Climate Action Plan (PCAP) measures by February 16. Check out the proposed measures aligning with Michigan's carbon-neutral goal by 2050. 🌟 Key Pillars of Focus: - Clean the Electric Grid ⚡ - Electrify Vehicles and Boost Public Transit 🚗🚌 - Repair and Decarbonize Homes and Businesses 🏡 - Drive Clean Innovation in Industry 🌐 Learn more and submit feedback: https://bit.ly/3uskwSc   #ClimateAction #MIHealthyClimate

There are unprecedented billions of dollars flowing to communities, tribes, and states for climate action. It can be challenging to keep programs straight. But one of the largest, most flexible, and most time sensitive opportunities is CPRG. Implementation proposals are due April 1 so time is very short. This short post outlines the program and recommendations for how to apply these funds. https://lnkd.in/g86sZUzx

Curious about how different policy designs can impact emissions reductions in New York State? Without guardrails, cap-trade-and-invest programs might lead to pollution "hotspots" in disadvantaged communities. Discover how NY can do better in our special report with Resources for the Future on how to distribute emissions reductions more fairly. It's time for climate policies that prioritize equity 🌎🛠️ https://lnkd.in/ee-t3ExY

Statewide, and also within Multnomah County, transportation is responsible for over 40 percent of all greenhouse gas emissions, the single-largest emissions category. That’s what makes the CIP’s transportation-decarbonization grants and investment language exciting, especially when incorporating safety infrastructure as led and prioritized by the most impacted communities. Through land use, we can do much more to address climate change at the nexus of housing, transportation, and community needs to help decarbonize our cities. As City of Portland's Portland Clean Energy Fund continues to evolve, we hope to see land use and the Climate Investment Plan’s transportation investments continue to be essential tools in achieving climate mitigation goals.

https://lnkd.in/e4FEu9jC Together, these three competitions under the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund will help meet the President’s climate goals of reducing greenhouse gas emissions 50-52 percent below 2005 levels in 2030—and achieving net zero emissions by no later than 2050.

Climate policies and regulations will not magically benefit environmental justice communities. Policymakers need to intentionally and meaningfully examine and alter the systems and policies that result in disproportionate burdens, disparities, and injustice in these communities. While the CLCPA is a major step forward, environmental justice stakeholders are concerned that a cap-trade-and-invest program with little to no protections will reinforce existing patterns of pollution and sickness in communities of color and low-income communities. We can’t take any more chances on the quality of life and health of New Yorkers. Guardrails for cap-trade-and-invest are essential to ensuring all communities see the benefits of reduced emissions and pollution and do not come at the expense of some. Thanks to Marie French for her coverage on our research: https://lnkd.in/eF22R7BW

From Maryland Matters By Josh Kurtz Sometimes, states fight climate change in dramatic and tangible ways, with gigantic solar arrays, wind turbines, abundant #electricvehicle #chargingstations, or highly visible coastal resiliency projects. Other times, the battle is more prosaic and bureaucratic and harder to see. Four times a year, in a small room near #WallStreet, #Maryland and many of its neighboring states wage a quiet but durable war against pollution from coal-fired electric plants. The office in New York is the headquarters of RGGI Inc., a nonprofit consortium of a dozen Northeastern and #MidAtlantic states. Commonly referred to as “Reggie,” RGGI stands for the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, Inc. .. That description alone would make almost anyone’s eyes glaze over. But this fact should make them pop wide open again: Over the course of 57 auctions dating back to 2009, Maryland alone has taken in $970 million, which it has used to fund an array of clean energy projects and energy assistance payment programs for low-income residents. On its website, the Maryland Department of the Environment refers to RGGI as “a central component of Maryland’s greenhouse gas strategy.” “RGGI has emerged as the premier example of how multiple states can work together on a #climate and energy policy and expand it over time,” said Barry Rabe, a professor of public policy at the University of Michigan, who studies government climate action. “There’s nothing in that opinion the prevents the states from moving ahead with greenhouse gas regulation, including cap-and-trade,” said Ben Grumbles, the former Maryland Department of the Environment secretary who recently became executive director of the Environmental Council of the States (ECOS), the umbrella organization for state environmental regulators. “Increasingly, the #SupremeCourt is paving the way for states to do more. If the political will is there, states can make real progress.” Despite RGGI’s importance, it operates in relative obscurity, trapped in the jargon and arcana of trading markets and science. “RGGI,” Grumbles said, “is one of the best-kept secrets that delivers results for the nation on a #bipartisan basis.”... Maryland officials were part of the early conversations about the Transportation and Climate Initiative, a project of the Georgetown Climate Center at Georgetown University that would have set up an RGGI-like structure. But in the end, only #Massachusetts, #Connecticut, #RhodeIsland and the District of Columbia decided to join formally. In the fall of 2020, Hogan refused to sign the memorandum of understanding officially entering the state into the consortium. Six other states followed suit — and the plan, for now, is dormant. #VIDAT can help with tracking #carbonavoidance #carbondelta for safer #bikeways #sidepaths 🚲

Happy Earth Day! Biden-Harris Administration continues to lead and deliver on the most ambitious climate agenda in history, including securing the largest ever climate investment and unleashing a clean energy manufacturing boom that has attracted hundreds of billions in private sector investment and created over 270,000 new #cleanenergy jobs. Today, we highlight the Administration’s unprecedented progress in tackling the climate crisis, cutting costs for everyday Americans, and creating good-paying jobs - to include: 🌍 $7 billion in grants through the Environmental Protection Agency’s Solar for All grant competition 🌎 several new actions to stand up the American Climate Corps 🌏 major conservation actions by the Biden-Harris Administration. This is but the latest in actions that the administration is taking to address #climatechange. To date, President Biden: ⚡ secured unprecedented investments in a clean power sector, unleashing a boom in American solar, wind, battery storage, and other clean energy technologies that are creating good-paying jobs and saving families money on utility bills. ✅ is building communities that are not only resilient to the impacts of the climate crisis, but also safer, more equitable, and economically stronger. To support this vision, the President secured more than $50 billion for climate resilience and adaptation through the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law and Inflation Reduction Act and released the first ever National Climate Resilience Framework. 👩🏭 Helped catalyze historic manufacturing growth, with factories opening across the nation. To date, the private sector has announced nearly $700 billion in investments in manufacturing and clean energy. The President’s agenda is helping to make U.S. manufacturing the cleanest and most competitive in the world. To learn more, please visit (and check out the White House logo today!) https://lnkd.in/edqJG7wR

Continuing our efforts for Earth Week, the Biden-Harris Administration has announced key actions to deliver clean electricity to more homes and businesses. President Biden's ambitious climate and environmental justice agenda has already secured the largest-ever climate investment, and these actions will help lower energy costs for American families. By powering the U.S. manufacturing renaissance, we can provide cleaner air and water to communities that have long been overburdened by pollution from fossil fuel power plants. Let's work together towards a cleaner and more sustainable future. #EarthWeek #CleanEnergy #ClimateAction https://lnkd.in/eWZ5TTE4

Those of you who know me are aware that I'm pretty active on policy matters, but hardly a knee jerk partisan. I search for the "sensible center," if one exists these days, especially on global affairs. But on climate issues I encourage you to read up and, if you agree, give credit where it is due. IMO #POTUS and team are doing more on climate solutions--by far-- than any other nation. Much of it is innovative, "job creative" and will redound to millions of low-income families benefit over the years and decades to come. Say what you want about his age, gait or gabbiness. He is a futurist visionary on climate solutions! #POTUS #climate #innovation #policy #grid #equity