Environmental Sustainability
Leading Michigan by Example
Grand Rapids is Michigan’s second largest city. Our can-do, collaborative style and our entrepreneurial spirit make our city and region a natural economic and cultural leader, and a top innovator across many sectors. But we can do more at Michigan’s State Capitol, particularly when it comes to clean energy, advanced mobility, and sustainability. Straddling the banks of the Grand River and sitting less than 45 minutes from Lake Michigan, Grand Rapids is ready to more assertively share its experience and ambition with state and federal decision-makers. We can do that by better telling our story in Lansing and Washington DC, and more importantly, by inspiring Grand Rapidians toward a cleaner and more prosperous future.
Affordable Energy that is Clean & Health
Grand Rapids already has a 100% clean energy goal, and now we need to move past dirty fossil fuel dependence for energy in our city, where one privately owned company provides that energy. The past two decades have seen huge advances in solar technology and battery storage technology and we are now in a position to change our energy production model. Grand Rapids has the power to be an energy producing utility, and the ability to bond for investments that benefit our citizens. A city utility, coupled with point-source energy production by individuals and business, and a more energy efficient and resilient building stock, will protect us from price shocks and grid failures and give us the freedom to provide energy the way that our people and our businesses want. Grand Rapids needs to invest in energy in the next decade so that our clean energy production matches the scale of our use. We are poised to move far beyond sample and symbolic projects.
Advanced Mobility & Human-Scale Transportation
We can and must build a Grand Rapids with cleaner air, and cheaper viable forms of transportation: a mobility infrastructure built at the human scale, where the goal is moving people quickly, safely, and affordably. We can shift away from old, expensive, and dirty fossil fuel based modes in a way that saves residents money and protects our clean air and water. We have work to do on catching up to our need for real multi-modal infrastructure that is safe for cycling, pedestrians, and neighborhoods. It's time for useful charging infrastructure for EV cars in the city. If we want a clean city, we need to invest in the structures that will make that possible - sidewalks, safer car traffic, bike lanes, DC fast charging stations. We are ready to grow new and emerging forms of transportation such as electric scooters and bikes - all of which can done as a profit source for the city and private sector alike.
Efficient, Comfortable, & Affordable Housing
All the data shows that where and how we live has the most impact on our environment. Cites and dense urban areas are more energy, water, and emissions efficient compared to sprawling, distant development. Grand Rapids needs to respond quickly and nimbly to welcome those that want to live in clean and thriving cities. The more we grow our neighborhood residences, the more we will provide the opportunity for neighborhood businesses to succeed. We need to build on a vision where our families and children can walk to the things we want and need: work, coffee shops, the barber, the grocery store, church or a club, and the library. It's time to make our homes and businesses more energy efficient and affordable; and every resident deserves access to clean, safe, and affordable water. No one in Grand Rapids should have their water or energy shutoff for want of ability to pay. Grand Rapids architects and entrepreneurs have lead the country on commercial efficiency - building businesses that use a fraction of the energy of their peers; it’s time to export that know how to our homes, and lead statewide through policy in Lansing.