False v Just
Digging Beneath the Hype to Get Climate Solutions Right
MiCAN’s False vs Just Solutions series explores climate and energy strategies, highlighting the difference between harmful approaches based on climate misinformation and those that promote fairness, community empowerment, and real progress. Each session focuses on a critical issue, breaking down its environmental, social, and economic impacts — and providing practical, community-focused solutions.

Engage with Our Series
We call out false solutions — those that prioritize profit and convenience over environmental and social well being — and uplift just solutions that center communities and climate justice in all MiCAN events and work. Through this series we examine the impacts of harmful false solutions while promoting just, equitable, and sustainable solutions for communities and the planet.
What to Expect:
- Regular sessions exploring key climate and energy issues
- Analysis and education covering both False and Just Solutions
- Insightful discussions with experts, community leaders, and advocates
- Identified opportunities to push for just community-focused just solutions
If you’d like to learn more about solutions that truly work, explore our content. MiCAN covers a wide range of emerging climate issues, many of which you can read for free in our community space.
You can also visit our video resource page to watch past presentations and talks on false versus just climate solutions.
Recent False v Just Events
June 2026 | Big Questions About Data Centers
See a webinar featuring experts who discuss the safeguards needed to protect Michiganders and the environment from data centers.
May 2026 | A Green Amendment
See what is happening with a #GreenAmendment that is sweeping the country, and is now being worked on in Michigan. Hear from experts in this edition of our False v Just series.
April 2026 | Community Power & Solar Energy
How community-centered solar and distributed energy can create a more equitable, resilient, and affordable energy system.
This webinar breaks down how solutions like community solar, virtual power plants, and emerging models such as balcony solar work and how they connect to the grid. We also hear stories and real-world examples from communities across the state.
March 2026 | Data Centers: What Michiganders Need to Know
Watch our educational webinar for Michiganders who want to learn more about hyperscale data centers as they arrive in their communities, presented by the League of Women Voters of Michigan and the Michigan Climate Action Network.
The Issue: 16+ data centers are proposed in Michigan, each consuming city-level amounts of energy. The potential impacts are substantial.
This webinar covers:
- Impact on clean energy goals
- Fact-checking issues raised about the tech and economic impacts
- How other states are responding
- Policy and community benefit recommendations
March 2026 | How to Advocate for Renewable Energy in Your Community
Get the tools to fight for clean energy in your community. This virtual learning session equips you with the knowledge and resources needed to build support for a cleaner, healthier environment. Michiganders need wind and solar to fight climate change, deliver reliable clean energy, and give us clean air.
This webinar features Apex Clean Energy, the developer behind Blazing Star Solar, and Greenlight America for a breakdown of Michigan’s solar and wind siting law (PA 233) and what you need to know, including:
- The basics of local renewable energy development
- How to amplify renewable energy project sitings in your area to gain community support
- How to submit an effective public comment
- Where to find reliable information about projects in your community
- How to join the POWER SQUAD and help get connected to resources and support
May 2025 | Equity in Local Climate Action Plans: A Just Solution for Michigan
In a powerful virtual event exploring what equity really looks like in municipal climate plans and why it matters for communities on the front lines of environmental change. MiCAN was joined by Dr. Elena Lioubimtseva, presenting on equity and inclusion in Michigan city climate adaptation plans.
We also heard valuable insight from Graham Diedrich on evaluating local climate policies through the lens of environmental justice.
Their insights were brought to life by Wesley Watson and Nate Rauh-Bieri of the Grand Rapids Climate Coalition, who spoke about their journey helping shape an equitable climate plan in Grand Rapids and the ongoing effort to get it passed. Read the CAAP.
February 2025 | The Line 5 Tunnel: A False Solution for Michigan
MiCAN was joined by Brian O’Mara, a geologist and engineer, who broke down the technical risks of the planned tunnel – including design flaws, environmental threats, and risks to worker safety.
We also heard from Andrea Pierce, founder and chair of the Anishinaabek Caucus, a water protector, policy director for the Michigan Environmental Justice Coalition, and a citizen of the Little Traverse Bay Band of Odawa Indians. She shared an Indigenous perspective on the project, including insight into sacred cultural sites and how the tunnel project would impact the communities surrounding the Straits of Mackinac.
Together, we explored what’s at stake and why some think the proposed tunnel project is a false solution for Michigan.
Learn More
How can you learn more about climate solutions with MiCAN?
Our goal within this series is to educate, inspire, and spark conversation among activists, community leaders, policymakers, and the general public. Got an idea for a topic or a speaker? Contact Amanda Robert ([email protected]) to share your suggestions or learn how to get involved.
You can also learn more about solutions that truly work, explore our content. MiCAN covers a wide range of emerging climate issues, many of which you can read for free in our community space.
You can also visit our video resource page to watch past presentations and talks on false versus just climate solutions.
What Is a Just Solution?
Just solutions prioritize the health, safety, and empowerment of communities while addressing the climate crisis. They:
- Support community-driven, equitable approaches
- Promote long-term environmental sustainability
- Advance climate justice and real progress
What is a False Solution?
False solutions prioritize profit and convenience over environmental and social well-being. They often:
- Disproportionately harm low-income communities, Indigenous peoples, and communities of color.
- Prolong reliance on fossil fuels and unsustainable practices.
- Ignore safer, community-driven alternatives that align with climate justice principles.
What are some examples of solutions?
Just solutions, including community solar and microgrids, nature-based restoration, equitable climate planning, and clean energy jobs, deliver real, community-centered climate progress in Michigan. They empower residents through shared ownership, improve grid resilience, protect forests and waterways, and prioritize the needs of frontline communities. These efforts reduce pollution, lower energy costs, and create long-term, local jobs while ensuring the benefits of the clean energy transition are distributed fairly. By centering equity, sustainability, and community voice, just solutions move Michigan toward a healthier and more resilient future.
What are some false fixes?
False solutions like the Line 5 tunnel, carbon capture, and trash-to-energy schemes promise climate benefits but ultimately delay real progress. They lock Michigan into decades more of fossil fuel use, funnel public money into costly or unproven technologies, and concentrate pollution in communities already burdened by environmental harm. These approaches often serve corporate interests over public well-being, distract from scalable renewable options, and fail to address the root causes of the climate crisis—continued extraction, waste, and inequitable decision-making.