SECURITY

Protecting our Great Lakes and the Environment

We must take immediate and aggressive steps to protect and renew our Great Lakes, and to manage the impacts of climate change on West Michigan’s communities, businesses, infrastructure, and ecosystems. Not only is it the right thing to do, but it provides economic opportunity and protects the health of our families.  

As a person of faith, I strongly believe that we are called to be stewards of God’s beautiful creation. Every single human being depends on a healthy planet to survive and flourish.  

I will make the care for our earth, our water, and our environment one of my top priorities for this simple reason: real people, families, and communities—both here in West Michigan and around the world—are being affected right now by dirty air, polluted water, and a warming climate. The majority of those impacted are the most vulnerable among us.

I have joined other faith leaders around the world to advocate for and support action. The religious tradition that I grew up in – the Christian Reformed Church (CRC) -  became one of the first evangelical denominations in the United States to affirm the scientific consensus on climate change, calling it a "moral, religious, and social justice issue," and calling us to private and public action (read the summary report here)].  

But taking action to address the effects of climate change isn’t just the moral, religious, and socially just thing to do – it’s the smart thing to do. The economic argument itself is compelling for people right here in West Michigan.    

  • We grow a lot of diverse crops in this district, and our ability to do so depends in large part upon predictable rainfall and stable temperatures throughout the growing season. The Midwest is projected to get more rain and to get warmer than any other region in the U.S. over the next several years. These changes will have a  major impact on the ability of West Michigan farmers to grow the crops we all depend on. 

  • Clean energy is good for Michigan’s economy.  A new report concludes that smart energy policies and economic development are making Michigan a hub in the growing clean energy economy - over 300 local companies are accelerating solar energy and wind power in Michigan, many of them in the 2ndCongressional district. Clean energy also means jobs—lots of them. Michigan currently boasts 126,081 clean energy jobs—more than any other state in the Midwest—with most of these job additions coming from small businesses and many of them being filled by veterans.

  • Restoration efforts are also good for Michigan’s economy.  According to a new study, every dollar of federal spending on Great Lakes Restoration Initiative (GLRI) projects between 2010 and 2016 will produce $3.35 in additional economic activity in the Great Lakes region through 2036.  Another studyconcludes that recent spending to restore wetlands along Lake Muskegon increased property values and tourism worth nearly six times the initial cost of the spending. 

  •  Utility-scale electricity generated by wind and solar is already cheaper than coal and natural gas in most markets—and getting cheaper. Truly leveling the playing field by ending energy subsidies for all sources, including fossil fuels, will allow the cheapest, most efficient technologies to win the race for energy production in the 21st century. Coupled with targeted research and development, these common sense steps will mean that our electricity can be generated by sources that lower our monthly energy costs while keeping our air and water clean and safe for our families.

We need to get to work. We must take concrete and aggressive steps now to both address the threats of pollution and to unlock the economic potential of clean energy. It won’t be easy, and it will require significant funding and political will. But here in Michigan, our future depends on it, and I believe that, working together, we can find common ground and get it done.  Here are some practical, common-sense steps I support:

  • Join with other Republican and Democratic Senators and Representatives to fight for continued investment through the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative, which was introduced in 2009 to do the important work of accelerating the protection and restoration of the Great Lakes. In Michigan alone, 880 projects have been funded by the GLRI, with $762 million spread across a range of projects and boasting significant results – but much more needs to be done, and we need sustained funding over the long haul.

  • End all federal subsidies and tax incentives for fossil fuel exploration, extraction, and development.  This will truly level the economic playing field and allow the free market to decide the most efficient methods to win the race for energy production in the 21st century.

  • Embrace technology and innovation and fund research into utility-scale renewable energy and storage. Renewable energy is already out-competing fossil fuels, and with focused research investment, we can ensure that the U.S. can significantly cut our greenhouse gas emissions while becoming the global clean energy leader of the 21st century.

  • Support common-sense regulations that protect our water, our air, and our earth, while promoting economic advances. This includes promoting policies that leverage the power of business, as it will be up to the business community to develop, finance, build, and operate the solutions needed to power economic growth worldwide, mitigate greenhouse gas emissions, and build resilient, lower-carbon infrastructure. 

  • Support policies that hold corporations responsible for climate impacts.

References

  • Great Lakes Restoration Success Stories:

  • Recent studies indicate that Michigan may have more than 11,000 sites contaminated with PFAS, many of which have levels above what the EPA deems safe - including some right here in the 2nd Congressional District.  

  • The American Lung Association’s 2019 State of the Air Report found that both Ottawa and Muskegon counties receive a failing grade (D and F, respectively) for air quality. This means more ozone action days, more asthma attacks, more missed days of school, and lower economic productivity for the people of MI-2.

  • The Environmental Law & Policy Center of the Midwest 2019 Report, written by 18 leading scientists and experts from Midwest and Canadian universities and research institutions, concluded through a peer-reviewed process that those of us living around the Great Lakes can expect to see more harmful algae blooms, warmer water temperatures and declining ice cover, more huge rain storms flushing runoff from farm fields and parking lots, and more coastal erosion and beach closures.

  • The 1,656 page National Climate Assessment, released by the White House in November 2018, says the Great Lakes Region is in the center of some of the most damaging impacts of climate change. Two University of Michigan researchers authored the Midwest chapter of the report and concluded that the Great Lakes region will most likely not only face adverse human health impacts from increased flooding, increased heat, and lower air and water quality, but that agricultural productivity and forest health will decline. They say the Great Lakes, which are already under stress from pollution, from nutrient and sediment inputs from agriculture, and from invasive species, will face even more damage as lake surface temperatures increase, lake ice cover declines, and summer evaporation rates increase.

  • The Great Lakes Integrated Sciences and Assessments Program (GLISA), which is a collaboration of the University of Michigan and Michigan State University funded by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), outlines 6 Key Messages for the Great Lakes.  Among other findings, the report says climate change will exacerbate a range of risks to the Great Lakes - and our economy.  Our fruit crops are particularly vulnerable to anomalous weather events, which are becoming more frequent, and in the long term, the combined stresses are expected to decrease agricultural productivity.