Governor Gretchen Whitmer took the first critical steps this week toward meeting the state’s carbon reduction goals, which she’d established in a 2020 executive order.
Whitmer appointed a five-person Climate Justice Brain Trust to serve as an advisory resource on issues of climate justice as the state develops its climate action plans. “The concepts of equity and justice are critical to how we as a state move forward to address climate change,” said Regina Strong, the state’s Environmental Justice Public Advocate. “By setting a framework for what an equitable carbon neutral future should look like in Michigan, the experts on the Brain Trust ensure a diversity of voices and experiences as we develop the MI Healthy Climate Plan.”
In a second step, Governor Whitmer appointed members and working group leaders to the new Council on Climate Solutions, the panel charged with developing the state’s roadmap for eliminating Michigan’s net carbon emissions over the next 30 years.
We’re pleased to announce that Ecology Center board member and University of Michigan faculty Tony Reames was appointed to the Climate Justice Brain Trust, and that the Ecology Center’s Climate and Energy Director Charles Griffith was tapped to co-chair the Transportation and Mobility Workgroup for the Council on Climate Solutions. They’ll join a distinguished group of experts.
Dr. Reames is an assistant professor at UM’s School for Environment and Sustainability. He directs the Urban Energy Justice Lab, conducting research in the emerging field of energy justice, investigating fair and equitable access to affordable, reliable, and clean energy. Griffith has been one of the Midwest’s leading advocates for vehicle electrification and climate-friendly transportation over the past three decades.
We congratulate Reames and Griffith on their appointments, and applaud Governor Whitmer for following through on her ambitious executive actions to address the climate crisis.
More information on the Climate Justice Brain Trust, and on the Council on Climate Solutions can be found here and here.