Barry Rabe, the J. Ira and Nicki Harris Family Professor of Public Policy at the Ford School, has been widely quoted on the significance of recent environmental legislation for domestic politics and politicians.
Here are highlights from his media appearances:
Michigan Gov. Gretchen Whitmer might notch a big climate win, The Washington Post, November 1, 2023
Referring to a sweeping package of environmental bills that aims to accelerate the clean-energy transition in Michigan, Rabe noted that “passage of this legislation would really represent a significant climate policy achievement for the governor as she moves further into her second term — and her final term because of term limits. And it would suggest that Michigan’s energy production and use would be changing very, very dramatically.”
Joe Manchin wasn’t always a climate ally, but his successor will be worse, Grist, November 10, 2023
Discussing West Virginians’ views on Manchin’s support for the Inflation Reduction Act prior to stating he will not run for reelection in 2024, Rabe explained that “I think he was kind of taken aback by the backlash that he received.”
“The IRA is massive and throws a lot of money in different directions,” Rabe said. “He had every expectation [that] a lot of that would end up in West Virginia.”
Michigan wants 100 percent of its electricity to be clean by 2040, Grist, November 15, 2023
According to Barry Rabe, an environmental policy professor at the University of Michigan, state governments have weakened renewable energy legislation in the past.
“Michigan will really become a great national laboratory to see if this sort of clean energy revolution, as it’s being described, builds support and diversifies its constituency base over time, or might ignite some kind of a backlash or divide,” he said.
