Michigan Environmental Council

Cleaner energy:mec works to spur investment in energy efficiency and locally produced renewable power that will create jobs and curb the negative health, climate and economic impacts caused by our dependence on imported fossil fuels. Mec advocates for the retirement of polluting, expensive coal and fossil fuel power plants to ensure the rapid reduction of harmful greenhouse gas emissions. In the auto industry, mec supports policies and practices that will move michigan's largest industry to the forefront in the design, manufacture and sales of attractive, practical electric and highly fuel-efficient vehicles.

Building the movement:mec is the heart of michigan's environmental movement, and they help to build its size, capacity, and efficacy by convening nonprofit organizations, helping them to understand their role in developing public policy, and providing them professional development opportunities. One of their key areas of work is measuring and improving the racial and gender diversity of the boards and staffs of environmental nonprofits.

Detroit:mec believes that michigan's largest city should also be its greenest and most sustainable and that its residents and leaders should be helping shape the environmental agenda for the state. They work to ensure that detroit's neighborhoods, and in particular, the denby neighborhood, have access to clean and safe recreational opportunities. Mec works to expand recycling and compost services for residents. And they help establish and implement the policy framework for environmental sustainability throughout the city. Healthy people: mec is fighting to reduce exposures to lead and other dangerous substances; curb asthma-inducing air pollution; keep air and water pollution sources away from schools, day care centers and homes; and improve access to healthful foods and recreational opportunities as part of a broader strategy to address childhood obesity in michigan. They maintain a statewide network of partners working on environmental health issues at the grassroots, local, state, federal, and academic levels, using their insights, experience, and reach to shape and build support for protective policies. Sustainable communities: mec calls for re-investment in michigan's urban centers and other established communities as an antidote to sprawl and the loss of open spaces. They support transformative change to michigan's transportation system to catalyze sustainable land-use, spur economic activity in our cities and towns, and connect people to places where they live, work, and play. Mec favors investments in public parks and natural areas, and promotes sustained, healthy ecosystems and biological diversity.