Home > Clean Energy Future > Clean Energy

Clean Energy

In October Governor Jennifer Granholm signed into law  a 10% renewable electric generation requirement for all electric providers and a 1% per year energy efficiency requirement for utilities, making Michigan the 30th state in the nation to require greener energy.  But more remains to be done to move Michigan forward, including creating greater opportunities for electric consumers to turn into electricity producers, increasing appliance efficiency standards, and assuring that a sound and effective integrated resource planning process is adopted so that Michigan builds clean, green energy instead of more expensive and polluting coal and nuclear power plants.  In addition, there is a critical need to assure that the push for biofuels and biomass are not hurting our state's diverse forests and agricultural capacity.

Sierra Club continues to work to assure that Michigan is on course to enact a strong and effective requirement for renewable energy, supporting Governor Jennifer Granholm's call for 25% renewable electric generation by 2025.  The Blue Green Alliance, a collaborative effort between the United Steel Workers and the Sierra Club, projects that a requirement for 15% renewable electric generation in Michigan could lead to more than 25,000 additional jobs in Michigan as manufacturers of solar, wind and other renewable energy generators will then locate factories in Michigan.  

Renewable electric generation and energy efficiency will help reduce air pollution that increases mercury contamination of fish and contributes to serious health problems such as asthma.  They'll also save Michiganders substantial amounts of money by stopping the power companies' efforts to build increasingly expensive and unneeded coal fired or nuclear power plants.  But Michigan utilities and their supporters are advocating legislation that slants the floor in favor of plans to lock Michigan in to another fifty years of massive, global warming gas producing coal fired power plants and more nuclear power plants with no way to dispose of their wastes. See Stop the Michigan Coal Rush for more information about this fight.

Find out what you can do to help Michigan move forward with sound renewable energy policies!  Contact Gayle Miller for details on how to get involved today.