Schwarz, Whitmer pen bipartisan op-ed, call on Michiganders to support new clean energy policy

June 17, 2015

Former U.S. Congressman Dr. Joe Schwarz (R-7) and former Michigan Senate Minority Leader Gretchen Whitmer (D-East Lansing) pen MLive op-ed, “New energy plan for Michigan is opportunity to find common ground for cleaner water.” Together, Schwarz and Whitmer call for bipartisan action by Michigan’s leaders to protect the Great Lakes as they renew the state’s expiring energy policy.

“Our state’s reliance on importing and burning coal is a leading source of pollution in the air we breathe and in the Great Lakes we love,” they write. “A clean energy plan that reduces pollution is not only an environmental priority, it’s an economic necessity.” Schwarz and Whitmer call on Michiganders on both sides of the aisle to contact their legislators and “urge them to support an energy plan that reduces pollution and increases Michigan’s clean energy standards.”

Dr. Joe Schwarz, a longtime lecturer at the Ford School, is a former U.S. Congressman (R-7) from Battle Creek. Gretchen Whitmer is former Michigan Senate Minority Leader (D-East Lansing) and will be a visiting lecturer at the Ford School in the fall of 2015.