Michigan Environmental Council

At the Michigan Environmental Council, we translate our passion for Michigan into sound public policies. We aim to set the national standard for policy advocacy with the resources, experience and savvy to drive a statewide environmental agenda. Building from our recognized state environmental policy expertise, MEC will transform our capabilities in policy innovation, strategic communications and deep engagement into world-class assets for achieving policy change. With MEC setting the terms of debate and leading the way, Michigan will thrive by protecting and restoring our water, air and land. Our State will be known nationwide as a singular place where:

 Breathtaking Great Lakes shorelines, lakes and rivers, trails and landscapes offer residents and visitors unrivaled opportunities for recreation and renewal;

 Hometowns promote the health and well-being of all families, while providing ample, equitable access to nature, jobs, housing and cultural enrichment;

 Clean energy powers a prosperous economy built on a resource conservation ethic; and

 We rise to extraordinary challenges like climate change through innovative thinking and visionary leadership.

To reframe the basic way state leaders view environmental issues and build the capacities to set the terms of environmental policy debates, MEC will make major investments in three key areas:

Policy innovation. We will research and propose creative policy solutions to key environmental opportunities and challenges—solutions that appeal to residents and leaders of varied political perspectives and connect to their core principles.

Strategic communications. Employing cutting-edge techniques for understanding public and decision-maker attitudes, MEC will communicate our positions in sophisticated, nuanced ways, helping residents of all backgrounds and political persuasions recognize their values and aspirations in our policy goals and vision for Michigan’s future.

Deep engagement. By cultivating the support and leadership of our members groups, community leaders and residents—and building stronger ties to key constituencies through initiatives like the business roundtable we’re forming—MEC will ensure policymakers hear strong support for our goals everywhere they go and from voices they trust.

MEC maintains an extensive, talented staff with expertise in the three critical strengths for designing and implementing good environmental policy.

Our Policy Team includes researchers and advocates with deep knowledge of environmental issues and rich experience designing and advocating for public policy in Lansing and across the state. Three Engagement Team staffers work to coordinate our 70 member organizations and ensure that we are bringing field expertise to bear on policy challenges and pulling the full array of environmental advocates into the policy design process. Our Communications Team researches public opinion and crafts compelling messages that help Michiganders tap into their inherent ethic of environmental stewardship.

In addition, we have a top notch administrative team raising money from individuals, foundations and governments and making sure we are one of the best managed nonprofits in the state.

For forty years we have led policy change in the state capital, shaping gubernatorial agendas, helping lawmakers envision and design legislation, and leading issue campaign. Along the way we have grown from six to more than seventy nonprofit organizational members, helping create a consistent statewide voice for environmental protection.

Our 2019-20 Giving Report (www.environmentalcouncil.org/about) give highlights of our recent accomplishments.