Our Commitment Does Not Waver
It feels like it’s been a decade, but step back in time to early 2025. Two weeks before Donald Trump was inaugurated, climate-fueled fires broke out in southern California, killing dozens and causing more damage than any previous disaster in U.S. history. With the fires still raging, on his first day back in office, Donald Trump declared an “energy emergency” to boost the production of fossil fuels and roll back the country’s climate policies, the first of the many “emergencies” that are being used to justify the Administration’s illegal and extralegal attacks on American communities.
It’s been all downhill from there.
Given the troops in the streets, the immigrant concentration camps, the execution of citizens by federal officers in American streets, and everything else, the attacks on the environment understandably get overshadowed.
But since that first day, the Administration has begun the rollback of virtually all of the country’s environmental protections and has illegally fired thousands of government employees who enforce these protections. In an assault on science and facts, they’ve illegally frozen contracts with scientists and research institutions studying PFAS contamination, air quality, and climate science. And, they’ve shut down the databases used to track greenhouse gas emissions, air pollution, chemical emergencies, and dozens more.
In May, they even ordered a dirty and expensive coal-fired power plant in west Michigan to stay open after Consumers Energy and state regulators planned to shut it down, costing ratepayers millions of dollars.
Our work has never felt more important.
Along with our partners in Michigan and across the country, the Ecology Center fought last year to defend environmental laws and protections, and we even made progress in some important ways.
This 2025 recap showcases some highlights from the year, in the five ways the Ecology Center works – we conduct science to support communities; we, educate to raise awareness & understanding; we guide policy to scale solutions & protect health; we organize to build power & support communities in asserting their right to a healthy future; and we work to transform markets to push industry to use and make cleaner products. These transformative strategies help us stay grounded through hardships as we continue to fight for a healthy planet and healthy people.
Key Highlights of Our Work from 2025
We conducted scientific research to support communities and help shift power to the people. For example, in 2025, we tested hundreds of products from the dollar store for chemicals of concern to support a report by the Campaign for Healthier Solutions (CHS) and its associated policy demands. Our Healthy Stuff Lab also designed a study to test PET hazardous chemicals and found a toxic soup of chemicals was finding its way into #1 (PET) plastic (peer-reviewed article).
We provided community education to raise awareness and understanding because education builds collective strength. In 2025, our bilingual, seven-month program, Lead Impacted Families Together (LIFT MI), empowered families to tell their stories and push for protective policies. The More Life, Less Stuff campaign, in partnership with the City of Ann Arbor, inspired the public to adopt sustainable practices such as mending and repairing. Our Environmental Education team reached over 7782 students and staff (total) through Washtenaw County and Ann Arbor Public School programs in the 2024-2025 academic school year. The Environmental Education Team also created EROL, a free digital library of downloadable resources for K-12 students, educators, and families to take action on key environmental issues.
We guided policy to protect healthy people and a healthy planet. In early 2025, Ecology Center's advocacy efforts successfully partially blocked DTE's requested rate hike, reducing it by almost 60%, saving consumers collectively over 200 million. For the Capitol Day of Action, we gathered with our partner Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs (MEMJ), to advocate for a people-first state budget and to directly compel decision-makers to invest in clean energy, public transit, workforce development, and public health. In a policy brief, we analyzed contributions to road funding fees and found that HB 4183 would unfairly penalize EV drivers, hurting EV accessibility and Michigan’s economy. We are currently calling on Michigan Legislators to support SB 593 and stop Michigan from levying the highest EV taxes in the nation.
Thanks to the Ecology Center and its partners, children in Michigan will be tested for lead exposure and have access to filtered water in schools, helping catch lead exposure early and prevent further poisoning. In collaboration with Clear the Air, we held a press conference to introduce the Protecting Overburdened Communities Act, which would require permit issuers to consider all sources of pollution impacting a neighborhood before allowing new pollution sources to be built.
We organized to build power and support communities in asserting their rights. For example, at the Climate Can’t Wait Rally in Detroit, we demanded “people-first” policies and community safety over profits or politics. In May, we held our second annual Air Quality Awareness Week 2025, where we advocated for clean air as a human right and urged for stronger policies. Through legislative education days on PFAS, microplastics, and lead in Lansing, we gathered with our partners and concerned community members to collectively call on local lawmakers to invest in powerful prevention measures for toxic chemicals.
We pushed to transform markets to reduce waste and stop the use of toxic chemicals. We shared information that helps consumers advocate with their wallets, such as Toxic-Free Future’s 2024 Retailer Report Card, which found that most major retailers lack sufficient protective policies. We also advocated for and led programs that hold the industry accountable for the entire life cycle of its products. We celebrated a program we helped create decades ago, the National Vehicle Mercury Switch Recovery Program (NVMSRP), which in 2025 surpassed a major milestone by removing 8 tons of mercury from cars that would otherwise have entered our environment.
We believe that there is no environmental health and justice without laws and democracy, without science, without free speech. These are the fundamental precepts of all of our work. The Ecology Center will stand by and fight together with environmental organizations, our partners, and local communities. Our commitment to protect our planet and health into the future will never waver. We will continue to fight for our rights in 2026.
