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By Anne Snabes and Carol Thompson --

A growing number of Michigan cities are tackling climate change at the local level, developing plans that address everything from greenhouse gas emissions to food waste, though some might require residents to get on board.

At least four Michigan cities — Warren, Sterling Heights, Grand Rapids and Muskegon — are making or about to make what are called climate action plans. A climate action plan is a document for measuring and reducing greenhouse gas emissions and adapting to the changing climate, according to ClimateCheck.

“We know that we’re a small part of the equation,” said Muskegon City Manager Jonathan Seyferth, “but we’re part of the equation.”

The plans often pinpoint a range of goals beyond reducing greenhouse gas emissions, from cutting down on food waste to reducing the number of miles driven on roads. They are necessary because climate change is affecting communities across the U.S., including in Michigan some local officials said. The state is experiencing historic levels of rain and intense storms, according to the state's MI Healthy Climate Plan.

The mayor of Warren, a city that faced significant flooding this year, has made creating a climate action plan a priority. In early August, a storm dropped two inches of rain on the city's south end in an hour and at least 3 inches of rain on the city's north end, overwhelming Warren's underground infrastructure. The rain flooded residents' basements and shut down the pool at Warren's community center.

One expert said it's important for cities to make climate action plans because each municipality has unique climate problems.

“A plan that say, for example, the state has may be able to cover some of it,” said Deneine Christa Powell, CEO of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network. “But if you really want to get into nuanced decisions based on the needs of your community, that really needs to be at the very local level.”

Still, critics question the need for municipal climate action plans, arguing taxpayer dollars could be better spent elsewhere.

Climate action plans are not "a good use" of a city's time or taxpayer dollars, said Jason Hayes, director of energy and environmental policy for the fiscally conservative Mackinac Center for Public Policy in Midland. Cities would be "much better served" by focusing on providing affordable services to their residents, he said.

"Most of the time, when cities are doing things like these climate plans, you see examples of really wasteful spending," Hayes said.

Cities should plan for extreme weather events, he said, arguing that the United States has "always had extreme weather," such as the Dust Bowl of the 1930s.

The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change's Sixth Assessment Report stated that human-induced greenhouse gas emissions have led to an increased frequency or intensity of some weather and climate extremes since pre-industrial time.

The debate is occurring as some sustainability experts are concerned about the future of federal funding for sustainability programs, with President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House in January. Trump has promised to “drill, baby, drill” and abandon climate initiatives.

Powell said private philanthropy is gearing up for the new administration and is helping organizations such as the Urban Sustainability Directors Network continue climate work.

“Will it be tougher? Yes,” she said. “But will we stop? No.”

Goals for good climate action plans

At least 17 Michigan cities and counties have adopted climate plans with specific greenhouse gas reduction targets, according to a 2022 report by the Michigan Climate Action Network, a nonprofit that works with local organizations on climate change solutions. Several cities also plan to become carbon neutral community-wide by 2050 or sooner, which means they'd take steps to offset the same amount of greenhouse gasses as they produce.

Grand Rapids doesn't have a finalized climate action plan yet but is among the 17 since it already had a renewable energy goal for its city operations. Another eight communities have taken steps against climate change, such as declaring climate change an emergency or developing renewable energy plans.

“Local communities have been leading the way,” said Denise Keele, Michigan Climate Action Network executive director. “They’ve been doing this without any federal or state support until very, very recently.”

There are two facets to a good climate action plan: specific greenhouse gas emission reduction targets with deadlines and plans to address the impacts of climate change, such as increased flooding, heat waves or drought, she said.

“Those goals really should include interim steps,” Keele said. “If we want to be carbon neutral by 2050 … we’ve got to do half of that by 2030 because otherwise 2050 is just too far away, and people won’t think about it.”

Plans also should be written with input from communities experiencing harm from climate change, such as flood-prone areas or localities near polluting, fossil-fuel-powered facilities, she said.

Communities must also hire people to carry out those plans and give them enough money to follow through, she said.

“(There are) two boring things that mean a lot," Keele said. “It’s staffing and budgets. Writing a plan is great, but we have to have a way to actually implement that.”

Metro Detroit plans

The Sterling Heights City Council authorized the creation of its climate action plan in the fall of 2023, while it's updating its master land use plan. A city spokeswoman declined to give specifics on the plan until it's presented at a strategic planning meeting to the council and public on Jan. 28 but called it a "road map" for a sustainable future.

It will lay out goals, strategies and actions "to guide the City of Sterling Heights to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050," said Melanie Davis, the city's community relations director, in an email. The goals will align with the state's plan to become carbon neutral by 2050, she said.

Sterling Heights has already taken other steps to promote sustainability. The city added five electric vehicles to its fleet last year, and it's planning to plant about 15,000 trees in the coming years.

Sterling Heights Councilman Henry Yanez said it's critical that the city and other municipalities in Michigan create climate action plans to reduce the impact of climate change.

"We're part of a greater community," Yanez said. "What happens at our city borders doesn't stay within our city, so any emissions that we give off, what have you, affect the people around us."

Nathan Inks, who chairs the city's Sustainability Commission, said Sterling Heights needs to prepare to mitigate the effects of the changing climate.

"Heavy rain events, in particular, have been impactful on Sterling Heights residents and businesses," Inks said, "and adopting a climate action plan that has an aspect of mitigation will help the city be prepared to avoid costly consequences in the future."

Michigan's third largest city, Warren, plans to hire a consultant to help develop its plan. Councilman Henry Newnan said the city will start accepting applications from consultants once the City Council approves doing so, and Newnan expects the approval to occur after the holidays.

Newnan said he wants Warren to be a sustainability leader in Macomb County.

"I'm more worried about Warren being the best that it can be than what the neighbors are doing," he said.

West Michigan cities respond

Grand Rapids has been working on its own plan for more than three years after declaring climate change a crisis in September 2021, said Annabelle Wilkinson, the city's interim chief sustainability officer.

The plan focuses on energy systems, residential housing, buildings and industry, transportation, nature-based solutions and food systems. In a couple of weeks, the city will release a draft plan and get public input, Wilkinson said. Grand Rapids officials hope to adopt the plan around March, she said.

Each chapter of the plan has strategies. Two strategies aim to address food access and supply chain issues, while another seeks to reduce the amount of food and solid waste generated by public areas, businesses and homes. Among the strategies are exploring financial incentives for producing less food waste and advocating for state policies that regulate food waste in landfills.

A hurdle Grand Rapids will have to overcome is that the city doesn't have direct control over the electricity grid, Wilkinson said.

"If our utility providers are able to meet their goals, that would substantially improve our likelihood of meeting the goals as a community that we've set out to do," she said.

Consumers Energy, which provides electricity to Grand Rapids, said by 2040, it plans to have 40% of its energy produced by renewable sources and eliminate coal-generated electricity.

Grand Rapids officials plan to increase residents' understanding of ways to cut energy emissions, such as by starting a “solarize” program to help people learn about solar and buy solar energy in groups to get discounts to reduce the price, Wilkinson said.

The city also has a goal of reducing 10% of the community's vehicle miles traveled by 2030, she said. They could walk, bike more or use public transportation more often.

"As with anything with change and with basic change, there comes a lot of habit breaking and education and a lot of that," Wilkinson said.

Muskegon, another west Michigan city, aims to eliminate its greenhouse gas emissions by 2040. Seyferth, Muskegon's city manager, said the city hired a consultant this fall to work with city staff to develop a climate action plan and wants to complete it by the spring. The city made an inventory of its carbon emissions last year, and the consultant will recommend steps to lower those emissions.

Muskegon has considered emissions when planning upgrades to its buildings and vehicles, such as deciding to buy a battery-powered vehicle over a gas-powered one for the city’s parks department.

Critics of electric vehicles have argued they still have a limited range and take far longer than a gas-powered vehicle to refuel.

Reviewing policies and practices to mitigate contributions to global warming will help the city to "better prepare ourselves for responding to and being resilient in the face of climate change," Muskegon Mayor Ken Johnson said.

Detroit's climate strategy

Detroit, Michigan's biggest city, has had a climate strategy since 2023, said Tepfirah Rushdan, the city's director of sustainability. It outlines four strategies with 35 actions — including transitioning to clean energy and increasing sustainable mobility.

The city's planned actions include finding a way to generate 100% clean energy, completing eight miles of the Joe Louis Greenway, procuring more zero-emission buses as part of its fleet and diverting 15% of municipal solid waste from landfills.

Rushdan said Detroit wants to become carbon neutral by 2050, and it planned to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from city operations 35% by this year. She said the city's neighborhood solar initiative, which has transformed mainly vacant lots into solar fields, allowed it to reach that goal.

Rushdan suggested that cities making climate action plans reach out to community members who are already interested in climate work.

"No city is going to be able to implement their climate strategy without the support of the community, right?" she said.

Beth Gibbons, Washtenaw County's resiliency officer, said the Southeast Michigan Council of Governments is creating a regional climate action plan, which means officials will be maintaining a greenhouse gas inventory for the region. Local governments can use the data in their own climate plan, she said.

"That enables a smaller community, like Warren, to be able to really focus on the unique conditions in its own community," Gibbons said.

The future of federal funding

The 2022 Inflation Reduction Act put $370 billion into energy and climate programs with an aim to reduce U.S. greenhouse gas emissions to 40% below 2005 levels by 2030, according to a guidebook created by the White House in 2023.

The act funded programs that help municipalities pay for clean energy projects, electric vehicles, zero-emission port equipment, improve public transportation and more. The Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, passed in 2021, also has funded climate work.

EGLE spokesperson Hugh McDiarmid Jr. said the two acts have led to roughly $4.4 billion in awarded grants for projects or efforts in Michigan that directly or indirectly help address climate concerns. This money didn't just go to local governments ― it also went to the state, businesses, nonprofits and other stakeholders. he said.

What happens to those federal funding sources when Trump again takes office “is the big question we’re all very, very concerned about,” said Keele of the Michigan Climate Action Network.

Powell of the Urban Sustainability Directors Network noted that Trump has proposed pulling unspent money from the Inflation Reduction Act.

“Cities really must be prepared for these actions and more,” she said. “And it’s going to make it more difficult for cities to take up that level of ambitious action that they had planned.”

It will mean shifting "to more localized funding and more private funding as well,” Powell said.

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This article first appeared at The Detroit News.