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.

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.

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.

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.

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.

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.

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.

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.

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.

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.

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.

Here are the links to MiCCA's New Member Introduction , website, Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and past newsletters.

Here is a 15 minute video with Dr. Del Buono using MIT's Climate Action Simulator - EnROADS to evaluate different ways to reduce emissions.

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.

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.

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.

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.

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.

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).

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.

“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.)

Speaking of Resilience is created by the Groundwork Center for Resilient Communities and the Michigan Climate Action Network. This episode was produced by Taylor Cramer of Cold Shower Media in collaboration with Nick Loud of the Boardman Review, and hosted by Kate Madigan.