Michigan’s second-largest city is setting forth on a climate change crusade, publishing its very own Climate Action and Adaptation Plan to ensure the average Michigan family pays for it.
A report from the Michigan Climate Action Network says that more than 16 local communities are implementing “bold climate plans” that are intended to help wean the state off of using coal, oil, and gas.
Grand Rapids is one of them.
According to the city’s proposed Climate Action and Adaptation Plan (CAAP), goals include a 10% reduction in vehicle miles traveled, 22.5% of all miles traveled will be via electric vehicles, and, by 2030, 5% of all residential buildings will reduce energy by 20%—to name a few of the outlandish standards the city is proposing.
The CAAP comes after Gov. Gretchen Whitmer promised Michiganders the state would achieve carbon neutrality by 2050.
What the Michigan Climate Action Network fails to disclose, however, are the broad and negative consequences many of the state’s residents will face in the name of such progressive climate policy.
The sheer size of the plan is concerning. The plan includes “32 over-arching strategies and 197 actions” to achieve its “community-wide science-based targets.”
But rather than science, the CAAP is filled with progressive buzzwords. The plan includes a section on “Incorporating Equity into Climate” with a subsection focused on a “Climate Risk and Vulnerability Summary,” complete with a flow chart.
Ultimately, the plan is 106 pages of leftist climate ideology.
Many of the mandates place unattainable goals over the wellbeing of the taxpayers funding them, focusing on liberal pipe dreams rather than Michiganders.
The plan sets strict guidelines for residential homes, including electric-vehicle charging stations and use of renewable energy, that are too expensive for average homeowners.
And the creation of a taxpayer-funded bicycle/e-bike program, for example, will impose additional taxes on Michiganders who may not be able to benefit.
Jason Hayes, director of energy and environmental policy at the Mackinac Center for Public Policy, told The Detroit News that climate plans like this are often a waste of time and money.
“Most of the time, when cities are doing things like these climate plans, you see examples of really wasteful spending,” Hayes told The News.
And do Grand Rapids citizens even approve of this approach?
According to the Mackinac Center’s news service, Michigan Capitol Confidential, more than half of the public comments made last year opposed at least part of the draft plan.
According to the outlet, one comment said the plan is “a feel-good, virtue-signaling exercise undertaken by highly uninformed people without any appreciation for physics, economics, or common sense.”
It was also pointed out during public comment that the climate plan relies on the city’s ability to tax business owners in the name of the green agenda. The extra tax burden will put a strain on local businesses, potentially forcing them to raise their prices, making buying local more difficult for patrons—the city’s businesses will be at a competitive disadvantage.
Barring any major disagreement from the city government, the plan will go into effect after the City Commission votes on Aug. 12. From there, it will be implemented in phases with the goal of zero emissions by 2050.
If the city passes this plan, progressive climate alarmists will consider it a job well done, but the real people—the backbone of Grand Rapids—will pay for decades to come.
Kamden Mulder is a contributing writer for Michigan Enjoyer.
