Environment

Over the past three decades, Michigan has seen unprecedented rises in temperature, heavier rainfalls, and more extreme weather events due to climate change.

Climate change is damaging our Great Lakes, forests, and farm lands, all of which are vital to our Michigan way of life. As a nature lover and committed environmentalist, I cannot overstate how important it is for our nation to protect our environment and address climate change with urgency and creativity. This means investing in green renewable energy resources that will create reliable, good-paying jobs, keeping the commitments our country made in the Paris Agreement to reduce carbon emissions, and ensuring full funding for vital conservation programs like the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and the Land and Water Conservation Fund.

In addition to tackling climate change, we must also take action to fight pollutants that plague our air, land and waterways and poison our drinking water. Sadly, Michigan is all too familiar with the dangers that unsafe and polluted drinking water pose for our communities. Dangerous levels of toxic per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS)—man-made chemicals that are used in many consumer products and industrial applications—are consistently being found across our great state. That’s why I joined the bipartisan Congressional PFAS Task Force, which works to urgently address the public health threat created by these dangerous chemicals, protect our communities and ensure access to safe drinking water.