Speaking of Resilience

When we think about energy infrastructure, we tend to think in extremes: either gigantic utility scale installations that cover hundreds of acres or micro installations that cover a single garage roof. But there’s another option, an in-between option called community solar. It’s gaining momentum across the nation because in addition to potential to bring significant amounts of electricity to the grid, community solar can also keep profits in the local community and give access to renewable energy to people whose properties don’t currently enable it—people with shady lots, people who live in condos, people who rent, etc. The benefits of community solar are what convinced Michigan State Representative Rachel Hood to introduce legislation that would open up opportunity to speed and expand the development of community solar in Michigan. We invite her on Speaking of Resilience to share the details and help us fully understand what community solar means for people of the Mitten.

Unflagging persistence and sharp legal insight enabled the attorneys at Environmental Law & Policy Center to convince the Michigan Public Service Commission that climate impacts must be considered in the environmental assessment of the proposed Enbridge Line 5 oil tunnel. The decision was a historic first: No project had ever had to answer to CO2 emissions under the Michigan Environmental Protection Act. The implications of that decision became more clear recently when four renowned experts—hired by ELPC and co-intervenor Michigan Climate Action Network—provided testimony to the MPSC that showed how Michigan, the Great Lakes Region, and the earth beyond would suffer because of CO2 emissions resulting from an oil tunnel, and pointing out that there are feasible alternatives. In this episode of Speaking of Resilience, host Kate Madigan invites the ELPC’s lead attorney on the case, Margrethe Kearney, to explore key takeaways from the expert testimony and to sketch out what comes next in the tunnel permit process.

With votes expected this month on two historically huge spending bills moving through Congress—one focused on broad infrastructure and the other focused on climate action—we ask Bentley Johnson and Sara Chieffo, top government affairs staff with the League of Conservation Voters, to shed light on the bills’ status and what they might mean for Michigan if they pass. Starting things off, Sara Chieffo, Vice President of Government Affairs for the national organization, helps us understand the magnitude and potential of this legislation and what it will take to get it approved. In the second half of the episode, host Kate Madigan invites Bentley Johnson, Federal Government Affairs Director with the Michigan LCV, to examine how the big federal dollars could play out on the ground here in the Mitten. Our guests share this essential message: don’t underestimate the power of your voice. Let officials at all levels of government know you demand urgent and meaningful action on climate change.

Bryan Lewis settled into the executive director position at Detroit’s EcoWorks environmental nonprofit in October 2020, taking the helm of a 40-year-old organization that has fought for environmental equity since day one. With the strength of the organization’s legacy as a base and a fresh generation of organized and inspired BIPOC leaders at the ready, he sees ways to leverage this moment of clean energy transition to create more just, equitable and healthy lives for thousands of Michigan people. His leadership comes at a crucial moment, as Detroit suffers dangerous flooding and heat waves driven by global warming and hitting low-income communities of southeast Michigan hardest. Bryan joins host Kate Madigan and guest host Jamie Simmons of Michigan Climate Action Network. Learn more about EcoWorks at EcoWorksDetroit.org.

Code red. It’s nearly unheard of for scientists to use such startling language, but the latest report on global warming by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change sounded just such a bold alarm. How do each of us process the report's dark warnings, and what do we do now? In this episode of Speaking of Resilience, host Kate Madigan invites Jennifer HaverKamp, Graham Family Director, University of Michigan Graham Institute for Sustainability, and international climate leader, to share thoughts and help us chart a way forward. With a warm and insightful balance, she doesn’t shy from the report's stark assessment, but also offers areas where she sees hope and suggests ways people can take action to speed our transition to a sustainable society. Jennifer Haverkamp's distinguished environmental career includes leading the 2016 U.S. climate negotiators to a successful international agreement under the Montreal Protocol to decrease global use of hydrofluorocarbons, a potent greenhouse gas.

Reducing carbon emissions has been the passionate focus of climate change activists, and understandably so. But as Dr. Elizabeth Del Buono, MD and cofounder of Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action, reminds us in this episode of Speaking of Resilience, a constellation of human health impacts flows from fossil fuel combustion. Those impacts—ranging from life-threatening asthma attacks to lifelong cognitive impairments—land squarely on front-line communities. Host Kate Madigan asks Dr. Del Buono to share insight on what motivates her work, opinions on competing climate change strategies, and the importance of hope in this essential moment of opportunity for positive change.

Michigan’s Upper Peninsula offers a fascinating microcosm for assessing the challenges and opportunities of a clean energy transformation. On the one hand, the U.P. seems ripe for rapid transition: Though many of the counties rank among the state’s lowest in individual income, people there pay some of the highest electricity rates in the entire nation—low-cost renewables could help. But on the other hand, a U.P. economy built on resource extraction and a strong sense of independence among the people leads to, if not an affinity for, at least an acceptance of fossil fuel solutions and a not-warm embrace of a big-government-driven transition to clean energy. Dr. Richelle Winkler, a social scientist at Michigan Tech, has studied this dynamic through her university work and through her involvement in influential energy studies, such as the Michigan Upper Peninsula Energy Task Force and the Michigan Community & Anishinaabe Renewable Energy Sovereignty (MICARES) project. In this episode of Speaking of Resilience, Dr. Winkler talks with Groundwork’s Jim Lively about what a clean energy transformation might look like in this remote and beautiful piece of America.

Though just graduating high school this year, Naina Agrawal-Hardin has already become one of Michigan's leading young voices in the push for a just transition to a clean energy future. As part of the Sunrise Movement and U.S. Youth Climate Strike Coalition, she has helped bring Michigan issues to the forefront. Naina has lived in India and the United States and brings a valuable cross-cultural perspective to this essential conversation.

Governor Whitmer has made a bold pledge to bring Michigan’s carbon emissions to net zero by 2050, but state legislation would add tremendous momentum and authority to help drive that mission forward. So far, though, big climate change legislation has not passed in the Mitten. We invite leading Michigan legislators to discuss where there can be agreement in climate goals and how that can break the logjam that’s preventing passage of the strong climate change laws the state needs. Join us as episode host Charlotte Jameson, Program Director for Legislative Affairs, Energy, Michigan Environmental Council, explores the issue with Representative Joe Bellino (R), Senator Mallory McMorrow (D), Rep. Rachel Hood (D), and Representative Yousef Rabhi (D).

“Laboratories of democracy”—that’s how, back in 1932, U.S. Supreme Court Justice Louis Brandeis described the states, and that same idea extends to clean energy progress today. With a lack of strong federal leadership, the states have been essential laboratories for policies and action to propel climate action forward.

Michigan has joined in with Gov. Whitmer’s bold commitment to a net zero economy by 2050—but achieving that goal will require a multitude of other decisions, policies, and actions to keep driving CO2 pollution down.

In this episode of Speaking of Resilience, we hear from Lt. Gov. Gilchrist and top administrators Liesl Clark, Director, Department of the Environment, Great Lakes and Energy, and Katherine Peretick, Commissioner, Michigan Public Service Commission, as they discuss our state’s initiatives to achieve a rapid and equitable transition to a clean energy economy. (This is a recording of a session at the Michigan Climate & Clean Energy Summit, co-hosted by Michigan Climate Action Network and Groundwork.)

Listen in as Kelly Speakes-Backman, Acting Assistant Secretary of Energy and the most empowered clean energy field general the nation has ever seen, shares thoughts on the strategy for climate progress.

Speakes-Backman explains how the Biden administration is pushing to convert the power grid to 100% renewable energy by 2035, creating hundreds of thousands of jobs, cleaning our environment, and elevating our nation’s competitive advantage as the new millennium rolls forth. Speakes-Backman will be central to overseeing the details and implementation of the plans: research to build capacity and cut costs, public policy to smooth the way, manufacturing to keep jobs in the U.S., and so much more. Don't miss this! (Interview by Howard Learner, President and Executive Director, Environmental Law & Policy Center.) This episode is a recording of a session at our recent Michigan Climate & Clean Energy Summit.

In the climate change discussion, one fact is irrefutable: Of all the people on the planet today, our young people will bear the greatest burden of global warming during their lifetimes.

Youth live with this fact every day, and it has fueled their passion and pressed them to act—from marching in the streets to walking the halls of state houses and Congress.

Also irrefutable: Young people have been central to re-igniting the climate change movement and keeping the momentum surging.

In this recorded session from our Michigan Climate & Clean Energy Summit, Jamie Simmons, Engagement Director, Michigan Climate Action Network, hosts a panel of young people (pictured: panelist Eradajere Oleita, Detroit Organizer, Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition) sharing their views on what motivates youth, what they want to see in an equitable clean energy transition, and—listen closely, friends—what older members of the climate movement must do to honestly and fully engage the ideas and energy of young people to push for more rapid progress.

We really enjoyed this session and we know you will too!

In the recent Michigan Climate & Clean Energy Summit, co-hosted by Michigan Climate Action Network and Groundwork, we invited Michigan’s U.S. Senators Peters and Stabenow, and U.S. Representative Rashida Tlaib to discuss the likelihood and scope of potential congressional action to stop global warming. This episode of our podcast is a recording of their comments edited into a single broadcast. The legislators express a genuine understanding of the urgent need to transition to a clean energy economy, and a commitment to do what’s needed to pass legislation that will deploy the full might of the U.S. government to create the essential renewable energy infrastructure we need—and the jobs that will be created as the nation moves beyond fossil fuels.

Today we have a special episode to talk about the Michigan Climate & Clean Energy Summit coming up on May 24-27. This year we have decided to combine two successful events - the Michigan Climate Action Summit and Groundwork’s Michigan Clean Energy Conference - into one big digital event.

Joining me today to talk about the exciting speakers and sessions we have planned over the four days of the summit are Jim Lively, Director of Program Strategy at the Groundwork Center, and Jamie Simmons, Engagement Director for the Michigan Climate Action Network.

Our guest today is Nancy Wang, executive director and a founding member of Voters Not Politicians, the organization that led the successful ballot initiative to end gerrymandering and draw fair districts in Michigan. Nancy led the policy committee that wrote the constitutional amendment language with input from the public. Nancy is an attorney, and prior to leading Voters Not Politicians, she was the Director of the Environmental Law Clinic at the University of Michigan Law School. We talk about redistricting, climate policy, and how gerrymandering threatens our democracy.

Enbridge is trying to keep climate impacts from being considered as the State reviews their proposed oil tunnel. Esosa is one of the attorneys leading the fight to get the state of Michigan to consider the climate impacts of Enbridge’s massive oil tunnel as part of its review.

This episode of Speaking of Resilience features LaUra Schmidt, co-founder of the Good Grief Network, a nonprofit organization that creates community space to process the painful feelings and realities of our time, and to help participants orient their lives toward meaningful action. Many come into these spaces to process climate grief and eco-anxiety. So, to help people connect and heal, Good Grief Network uses a unique 10-Step program, modeled after 12-Step programs, like Alcoholics Anonymous.

We’ve invited Laura onto the show to discuss the spread of this kind of anxiety in our culture and how important it is for advocates to acknowledge the pain and difficulty that is a natural part of that work. But to be an effective advocate, it’s equally essential, she explains, to be present with the joy that does exist in today’s world, and to seek community with like-minded people to share both grief and joy.

Laura, a native of Michigan, has been studying personal resilience strategies for nearly a decade. She holds a Bachelor of Science in Biology, Environmental Studies and Religion from Central Michigan University and holds a Master of Science degree in Environmental Humanities from the University of Utah. She is trained in nonviolent civil disobedience, and is the granddaughter of a holocaust survivor.

We invite Jim MacInnes, CEO of Crystal Mountain Resort, in Benzie County, Michigan, to discuss the impact of warmer winters on the people, culture and business of Michigan—and what we must do now to slow global warming. Jim is among the best people in the nation to explore this topic because prior to running a ski resort he was an electric power engineer working with some of the nation’s largest electric utilities. Crystal Mountain is a 1500-acre four-season resort near Traverse City, Michigan. The resort employs up to 650 people and offers skiing, golfing, fine dining, meetings and conferences, spa services and accommodations for over 1,600 guests. Prior to joining Crystal Mountain in 1985, Jim developed renewable power plants in California and worked as a power engineer for the company that designed the Ludington Pumped Storage facility. Crystal Mountain has a history of investing in clean energy initiatives, including purchasing wind-energy offsets to cover the energy use of a chairlift in the late 1990s; installing public charging stations for electric cars in 2011; re-lamping its conference center with 300 LED’s in 2012, and in 2017 installing a closed-loop geothermal heat-pump system for a multi-unit lodging project. In 2009 Crystal built the Midwest’s first LEED certified spa. In 2010 Jim was recognized by the Detroit Free Press as one of 16 “Green Leaders” in Michigan, and he has been appointed by governors of both parties to various boards and committees including: by Governor Granholm to serve on the Great Lakes Offshore Wind Council; by Governors Snyder and Whitmer to chair the Michigan Utility Consumer Participation Board, and by Governor Whitmer to the Michigan Travel Commission. In 2017 he received an Environmentalist of the Year award from the Northern Michigan Environmental Action Council for his work on land conservation and clean energy, and in 2019 he was inducted into the Michigan Energy Innovators Business Council’s Hall of Fame.Jim has testified on energy issues before Michigan House and Senate energy policy committees. He is a Life senior member of the electrical engineers professional association, the IEEE, and served as vice-chair of its national energy policy committee. He is a member of the Michigan Conservative Energy Forum leadership committee and holds BSEE and MBA degrees from the University of California, Irvine.

This episode of the Speaking of Resilience Podcast was recorded right before Governor Whitmer announced and signed her climate executive directive, which sets a goal for the State of Michigan to be carbon neutral by 2050, and to cut emissions by 28% within 5 years. These goals are economy-wide, meaning our electricity generation, transportation sector, and the heating and cooling of our buildings must all be carbon neutral. We can think of these as three pieces of the pie. 

Achieving these goals and doing it equitably is possible and is necessary if we are to avoid the worst impacts of climate change.  In today’s episode we are going to talk about how to rapidly reduce the carbon footprint of our buildings, and focusing on Grand Rapids, which has been leading a lot of this work in MI.   

Our guest is Gillian Giem, the Program Manager for the U.S. Green Building Council of West Michigan, where she works to accelerate equitable investment in Michigan's carbon drawdown through smart energy management, mobility, and the adoption of high-performance buildings.    We talk about how green buildings not only make a huge impact on reducing climate pollution, but also save money and can enormously improve people’s quality of life. And we talk about specific programs Gillian works on like the Michigan Battle of the Buildings, bilingual Energy Assistance Program, and Grand Rapids Zero Cities Project.

On November 13, Michigan's Governor Gretchen Whitmer announced she was revoking the easement that gives Enbridge permission to operate Line 5 in the Straits of Mackinac, where it crosses the Great Lakes. This is a huge win for the Oil & Water Don't Mix coalition and other organizations in Michigan, and thousands of people who have been working to get this pipeline shut down for over 7 years. 

In this episode, we have four leaders of the OWDM campaign to talk about this huge win - how it happened and what we need to do going forward - because it is not over yet. With us today we have Sean McBrearty, with Clean Water Action, who coordinates the OWDM Campaign; Liz Kirkwood, ED of FLOW - For Love of Water; Jim Lively with the Groundwork Center and the Great Lakes Business Network; and Mike Ripley, Environmental Coordinator with the Chippewa Ottawa Resource Authority (CORA).

For more background on Line 5, listen to Episode 3 with Bay Mills tribal president Bryan Newland, and Episode 6 with our interview with Larry Bell from Bell’s Brewery and Beth Wallace from Great Lakes Business Network in Episode 6.

Charles Griffith, director of the Climate & Energy Program at the Ecology Center, has more than 20 years of experience in research and advocacy on clean energy solutions, and he is one of the top experts in the region on the automotive and transportation sector and advocating for cleaner vehicles, fuels, and transportation choices. In our interview, Charles and host Kate Madigan discuss how electrifying our vehicles will help solve the climate crisis, and how Michigan - the car capital of the world - can lead this transition - creating good jobs along the way.   

The engineers and marketers who made Detroit the global center of automobiles were stunningly successful in getting us off the sidewalks and into our cars. Now urban planners see the need to reverse that scenario: get people on bikes, e-scooters and on their feet—out and about for the health of our people and our community cohesion. Justin Snowden (above), chief of Mobility Strategy, City of Detroit, shares insight from his unique perspective in the Motor City.  

Justin Snowden is a Mobility Strategist and Project Manager in the City of Detroit’s Office of Mobility Innovation. In this role, Justin works to test and deploy new technology, with the goal of bringing advanced mobility options to Detroit.   

In our interview, Justin and Kate discuss public transit in Detroit and we talk a lot about micro-mobility vehicles (like scooters, bikes) and how to make different transportation options accessible to everyone. We also talk about some lessons learned from the current pandemic and how streetscapes are changing as a result of people relying less on cars.  

Oakland County is ground zero for Michigan's conservative movement, the place where power brokers and big donors reside. Is there reason to hope that the county can also be a place that embraces clean energy and the environmental justice opportunities that can blossom from a transition to a carbon free economy?

Today in the second part of our two-part series on siting, we’re diving back into an issue that’s especially important for the success of developing renewable energy in Michigan and that’s the work to find land to build new solar and wind projects, and getting the projects approved by local townships.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to go back and listen to last week’s episode, with Ed Rivet, from Michigan Conservative Energy Forum on the siting of renewable energy and his work with local governments to build support for new renewable projects.

Today, my guest is Dr. Sarah Mills, Senior Project Manager at the University of Michigan’s Ford School’s Center for Local, State, and Urban Policy. Sarah’s research focuses on how renewable energy development impacts rural communities.

The clean energy transformation is so often associated with the political left. But there's a strong and growing movement among conservatives to embrace new, cleaner energy infrastructure as well. The conversation is different: talk U.S. energy security, national security, stable economy, revenue streams for farmers. Just don't mention climate change.

In this week’s edition of the Speaking of Resilience podcast, Ed Rivet, executive director of the Michigan Conservative Energy Forum (and Chevy Volt driver), joins host Kate Madigan, director of Michigan Climate Action Network, for a look at the many points on which liberals and conservatives can agree when it comes to moving clean energy forward in the Mitten! 

In our interview, we dive into an issue that’s especially important for the success of solar and wind energy projects in Michigan: the process of finding appropriate sites for those projects, and getting them approved by local townships. Kate Madigan talks with two guests over the next two weeks who are very familiar with the challenges of siting renewable energy projects. A lot of this work focuses on working with local governments and local communities to build support for new renewable projects.

In this episode of the Speaking of Resilience Podcast, our guest is Dr. Laura Sherman. Dr. Sherman is the President of Michigan Energy Innovation Business Council and Institute for Energy Innovation. She most recently served as the organization’s Vice President for Policy Development and as a Senior Consultant at 5 Lakes Energy, and previously as policy advisor to Senator Michael Bennet of Colorado on energy, agriculture, and environment issues. 

This week marks ten years since the oil spill into the Kalamazoo River from Enbridge’s Line 6b pipeline - one of the  largest oil spills in US history. Our guests today are Larry Bell, founder of Bell’s Brewery and a founding member of the Great Lakes Business Network, and Beth Wallace, with the National Wildlife Federation and co-coordinator of the Great Lakes Business Network, which is also co-coordinated by the Groundwork Center’s Jim Lively.   

In today’s podcast, we talk about what we learned from the Kalamazoo River oil spill, and how it relates to the efforts to prevent a catastrophic spill in the Straits of Mackinac from the Line 5 oil pipeline. We’ll also learn about how business leaders are getting involved through the Great Lakes Business Network, and specifically how they are challenging Michigan’s Governor Gretchen Whitmer to step up and take required action to shut down the pipeline.   

Now is a critical time to take action.  

In this episode of the Speaking of Resilience Podcast, Kate Madigan interviews Dr. Brandy Brown. Brandy leads the Office of Climate and Energy within the MI Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy. This office was created by Gov. Whitmer to lead the state’s work to achieve aggressive climate action goals. Brandy is an experienced energy strategist with deep industry knowledge after working for several years designing energy programs for utilities and businesses.   

Kate Madigan and Jim Lively interview Bryan Newland, Chairman of the Bay Mills Indian Community of the Eastern Upper Peninsula of Michigan. There is a lot going on with Line 5 right now, and our interview with Chairman Bryan Newland about Line 5 could not be more timely. The conversation focuses on the impacts of the aging Line 5 pipeline owned by Canadian oil company Enbridge, which sits in the open waters at the Straits of Mackinac. We hear from Bryan about the backroom deals made by an outgoing Republican-led Michigan Legislature from the perspective of Michigan's native communities, whose treaty rights are at stake, especially in the event of a catastrophic oil spill. 

On June 30, 2020 we learned that a Line 5 anchor support was damaged, and as a result of that discovery, Michigan's Attorney General Dana Nessel was successful in getting a judge to issue a temporary restraining order, temporarily shutting down Line 5. In the legal hearing about this issue, we also learned that there were two additional incidents where ships anchors or cables struck Line 5 in the Great Lakes, unbeknownst to Enbridge, only to be discovered when they were fixing damaged coating on the pipeline. This alarming revelation raises increased concern about this 67 year old pipeline and highlights the need for Gov. Whitmer to join the AG to act to revoke the easement.

In the coming weeks we’ll continue to cover this issue in more depth. 

In this episode of the Speaking of Resilience Podcast, Kate Madigan and Dan Worth interview Dr. Jonathan Foley. Dr. Jonathan Foley is the executive director of Project Drawdown, a nonprofit organization that seeks to help the world reach “Drawdown”— the future point in time when levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere stop climbing and start to steadily decline. He is a world-renowned environmental scientist, sustainability expert, author, and public speaker. His work is focused on understanding our changing planet, and finding new solutions to sustain the climate, ecosystems, and natural resources we all depend on.   

In our first episode of the Speaking of Resilience Podcast, Kate Madigan and Dan Worth interview Dr. Missy Stults. Missy is the Sustainability and Innovations Manager at City of Ann Arbor, and is responsible for ensuring Ann Arbor meets its climate and sustainability goals and to make Ann Arbor one of the most sustainable and equitable cities in America. In two short years, she has been at the helm as Ann Arbor set a goal to be carbon neutral by 2030, the most ambitious city climate goals, and created a detailed plan to get there, which was just unanimously passed by the city. She has called it a moonshot goal for Ann Arbor, a nod to her previous work as a Program Manager at NASA.