Whitmer’s Green Agenda in Michigan Faces Snags as She Nears Exit

California, Massachusetts, and New York have long been considered champions of climate change action. Now, Michigan has joined their ranks as Gov. Gretchen Whitmer enters her final two years at the helm.

Under Whitmer—a Democrat widely seen as a potential presidential candidate in 2028—the state long known for its auto manufacturing bona fides has implemented carbon neutrality standards, major changes to wind and solar development processes, and investments in electric vehicle infrastructure. She has also pushed, along with the state’s Democratic attorney general, to shut down a natural gas pipeline owned by energy giant Enbridge Inc.

Michigan’s shift under Whitmer represents a growing trend of Midwestern states, including Minnesota and Illinois, matching or outperforming coastal states on environment and climate policy in a bid to remedy decades of pollution and get in on a historic amount of federal clean energy dollars.

“What stands out over the last six years is that Michigan has leapt to the front of the pack of states committed to really ambitious clean energy policy,” said Bill Holland, vice president of state policy and advocacy of the League of Conservation Voters.

Environmentalists say what she has accomplished is impressive, especially her November 2023 signing of a slate of bills that puts Michigan on track to decarbonize its electricity generation by 2040, streamlines renewable energy project siting, highlights environmental justice, and creates a new state office to help workers transition into clean energy jobs.

But after last November’s elections flipped the Michigan House of Representatives to Republican control, destroying the state’s Democratic trifecta, it’s unclear whether Whitmer’s success in pushing for more climate-related laws will continue until she is term limited in 2026. It also comes as President-elect Donald Trump has vowed to undo President Joe Biden’s clean energy policies, including the landmark 2022 Inflation Reduction Act that injected billions into Michigan’s climate efforts.

“Governor Whitmer is focused on lowering costs for Michiganders while supporting sustainable energy solutions” and “has made it clear that she will continue to work with anyone who is serious about fighting for our air, land, and water, improving public health, and setting our economy up for success for years beyond our time in office,” Whitmer’s office said in a statement.

It’s unlikely that Whitmer will spend her last two years in office pushing major climate initiatives, said Charlotte Jameson, chief policy officer for the Michigan Environmental Council, as the laws she signed since taking office in 2019 are already a “sufficient feather in her cap” for a potential presidential run.

Kara Cook, the state’s chief climate strategist, who works closely with the governor’s office, says the administration will “continue to do the work” on climate—though she acknowledges that “what we were able to do a few years ago might not be what we are able to do in the future.”

Environmental Acts

The last years of Whitmer’s predecessor, Gov. Rick Snyder (R), were mired in controversy after the city of Flint’s drinking water source was changed, unleashing heavy metals despite alleged knowledge by officials of the danger.

Whitmer was correct to focus on water-related issues in the beginning of her first term, said Bentley Johnson, federal government affairs director of the League of Conservation Voters of Michigan. This included expanding the state’s environment department, working to address lead in the water in both Flint and Benton Harbor, and setting standards for so-called “forever chemicals” that seep into ground and drinking water.

Republicans controlled the Legislature at the time. But “in Michigan, leading with water is something that unites us. It literally defines our state. It’s part of our DNA. People have connection to it,” Johnson said. The state is bordered by four of the five Great Lakes.

From there, Whitmer’s list of environmental pledges and actions grew. She said all state buildings would buy 100% renewable energy by 2025, vowed to convert the state’s transportation fleet to zero-emission vehicles, appointed environmentally friendly members to the state Public Service Commission, and supported efforts to restart Michigan’s Palisades Nuclear Generating Station.

She, along with Attorney General Dana Nessel (D), have also vowed to shut down Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline, which supplies propane to Michigan homes and light crude to refineries in the Midwest and Ontario. They have argued that the aging pipeline threatens the Great Lakes due to where it crosses through the Straits of Mackinac, where Lake Michigan and Lake Huron connect. Efforts to shut it down are tied up in court and administrative processes.

Holland also cited clean energy programs paid for with grant money from the federal climate law as a positive step forward.

And then there was the package of environmental laws Whitmer signed in 2023, which she said will create 160,000 new jobs in Michigan. That economic potential went “untapped” under Snyder, Holland said.

“This historic package has shown the world that Michigan will be an epicenter of clean energy production, doing what it takes to protect local communities, lower utility costs, and create thousands of good-paying jobs that grow our manufacturing economy,” a spokesperson for Whitmer’s office said in a statement.

Not Far Enough

Still, not everyone is thrilled with what has or hasn’t happened over Whitmer’s term-and-a-half.

Former state Rep. Rachel Hood (D), who chaired the Appropriations Subcommittee on Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy, said the 2023 state climate laws could have gone further.

“If we’re looking at the art of compromise, it was the best that could get done,” she said. “Gretchen herself, I think, is a little more aggressive than Gretchen the politician.”

And concerns about air quality expressed to Whitmer’s administration haven’t been addressed, said Nick Leonard, executive director of Great Lakes Environmental Law Center. There’s also a growing sense of frustration about the protracted nature of the efforts to shut down Line 5, he added.

“People, I think, were really excited early on about both Gov. Whitmer and Attorney General Nessel’s involvement in the case, and now there’s a growing sense of dissatisfaction, of like, ‘We’re still fighting this?’” Leonard said.

Other policy experts worry whether the state mandated too much, too fast.

“We’ve put the cart in front of the horse,” said Jason Hayes, director of energy and environmental policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, a free-market think tank in Michigan. “We are not prepared to make the changes that we are legislating.”

Because of Whitmer’s recent environmental action, the state will need to get nearly all its power from nuclear—which meets the definition of clean energy under the law—wind, and solar by 2040. That’s simply not doable due to reliability issues, especially if bids to attract power-intensive data centers and spur electric vehicle adoption succeed, Hayes said.

Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer in front of a flooded Interstate-94 in Detroit in 2021.

Photographer: Matthew Hatcher/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images

“It’s really dangerous when people don’t have reliable, affordable electricity,” especially in a state with such cold winters, Hayes said. “Wind and solar are not ready to serve as the base load sources.”

John Bear, CEO of Michigan electric grid operator Midcontinent Independent System Operator Inc., warned in early 2024 that while decarbonizing the electric system was possible, there were some “hard realities” to face along the way.

“The transition that is underway to get to a decarbonized end state is posing material, adverse challenges to electric reliability,” he wrote. “Until new technologies become viable, we will continue to need dispatchable resources for reliability purposes,” he said, referring to traditional power sources.

Grading the Governors

But to the League of Conservation Voters of Michigan, the change has been drastic, even if many of the policies put in place haven’t had time to reap the dividends for which environmentalists hope.

The group rated 56 of Whitmer’s actions as “green,” or positive for the environment. That’s compared with one “yellow,” or neutral, rating, and two “red,” or environmentally negative. She received an overall “A” rating.

While the group scored officials a bit differently at the time, Snyder in 2015-2016 received an “F” for the Flint Water Crisis, an “A” for clean energy actions, a “D+” for air quality actions, and “C” for preservation efforts for the Great Lakes and state waters.

With another Trump term around the corner, states represent a first line of defense for the environment, either through legislation or litigation. Michigan, Minnesota, Wisconsin, and Illinois have Democratic attorneys general. But Democrats either lost legislative seats or fell short of a majority in several Midwest states in the 2024 election. And voters in only two Midwestern states, Minnesota and Illinois, backed Vice President Kamala Harris for president.

When it comes to advancing climate policy during the Trump administration, “it’s going to be a little bit mixed across the board” in the Midwest, said Courtney Brady, deputy director of Evergreen Action’s Midwest states program. Solid blue states will likely take up the mantle on pushing back against Trump, while purple or red states may try to work with the administration on certain issues, she said.

Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul (D) said in a statement that he and the other state attorneys general he’s worked with are “no less committed” to protecting residents and his state and the environment.

Changes After the Election

But with the results of the 2024 election moving the Michigan House to the right, some wonder if the state’s environmental heyday has ended, at least for now.

It’s unclear how Whitmer will interact with incoming Trump—especially since Michigan has reaped $26 billion in new investments from the Inflation Reduction Act, which Trump vowed to scale back. She said shortly after the election that she was “trying to focus on where we can find some shared priorities,” according to The Detroit News.

Holland, of the League of Conservation Voters, said he believed that Whitmer will work to deliver clean energy to Michigan residents through several ways, “whether that’s continuing to implement the really ambitious laws that Michigan has passed and that she’s led on, or to make sure the administration doesn’t roll back core environmental protections.”

As for the state itself, its ambitious climate era is probably over, said Jameson, of the Michigan Environmental Council. Going forward, most environmental progress will happen at the administrative level, she said.

“It seems like we’re taking a business-first approach, even as Dems, and of course Republicans will continue that trajectory,” Jameson said.

Hood, who did not run for reelection last year, also said she expects climate goals to erode going forward, especially because Republicans may cut funds for environment-related departments to balance the budget and fuel initiatives like road fixes.

The next two years may not sprout much progress on climate, but large-scale rollbacks also aren’t likely with Democrats still controlling one chamber and the governor’s office.

“We were really able to move the needle” during the Democratic trifecta, said state Rep. Ranjeev Puri (D), who is taking over as minority leader. Moving forward, “the key here is to try to build out things that are long lasting.”

State Republicans could try to go after the 2023 state package, though Democrats will fight against any backsliding, Evergreen Action’s Brady said.

If a bill seeking to prioritize more traditional energy sources like natural gas somehow lands front of Whitmer, her best move would be to sign it, so constituents don’t experience rolling blackouts or other last resorts to extreme weather, said Hayes, of the Mackinac Center.

“She’s gotten where she is because she’s savvy,” he said. “I don’t think she will do things that will harm her future opportunities.”