Michigan agencies staffed by fellows from climate advocacy group

Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s Council on Climate Solutions was staffed with people funded by at least one climate advocacy group, according to administration records obtained under the Freedom of Information Act.

Whitmer created the council and other departments via Executive Order 2020-182, which was aimed at fulfilling the MI Healthy Climate Plan.

Emails obtained by the nonprofit organization Government Accountability and Oversight show how staffing decisions were coordinated with an activist group in New York.

In June 2019, Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel agreed to talk to the New York University Law School State Energy and Environmental Impact Center. The center funds 17 law fellows who serve as special assistant attorneys general in various states, Skip Pruss of the consulting firm 5 Lakes Energy told Nessel’s office in an email.

“State AGs recruit and select their own law fellows. (Although the program is completely transparent and ethical, it may engender backlash),” Pruss wrote to Nessel. “The IC pays all costs associated with its services. Five states have a formal agreement (attached) with the Impact Center for pro bono services - NY, MA, MD, MN, and WA.”

“Sounds good to me,” Nessel responded.

State officials also reached out to the U.S. Energy Foundation. “We appreciate all of the support you and your colleagues have already provided,” Kara Cook of the Department of Environment, Great Lakes, and Energy wrote to the foundation in an email from July 31, 2021. “Would love to find time to chat about additional opportunities for climate funders to invest in Michigan.”

Cook sought funding to develop a statewide "Climate Service Network" as well as the ”MI Healthy Climate Corps,” a two-year program based on the AmeriCorps service program. The Climate Corps was intended to embed 30 service members in state agencies, local governments, and tribal governments to organize communities, capture funding, and implement the climate plan.

“In future years, the network and corps would scale to hundreds of members with more defined project verticals, such as building decarbonization and expand to cover other Americorps programs working on climate-related or climate-adjacent projects across Michigan,” Cook said.

The Michigan Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs was also involved. “And we have two fellows from [The U.S. Climate Alliance] already actually – we’re just always eager for more!” the Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs’ Cory Connolly told a representative of the New York University environmental center on Aug. 10, 2023.

Funding for the fellows comes from a federal American Recovery and Reinvestment Act grant to the climate alliance, according to a memo of understanding between the University of Michigan and the Office of Climate and Energy of the state’s environmental department.

Fellows supported by the grant would help implement new clean energy legislation, siting legislation, and clean energy grant proposals if the clean energy bills failed, according to an email from Cathy Cole to Michael Byrne, both of the state licensing department.

The Michigan Public Service Commission defended the use of staffers from the NYU center. Employer agencies, not the climate groups, direct the fellows’ work, said Matt Helms, the public information officer at the regulatory body.

“The MPSC currently has three New York University fellows working for the Commission, which views the fellowships as a way to supplement the agency’s professional workforce without having to hire permanent full-time staff,” Helms told Michigan Capitol Confidential in an email.

The cost “would be passed onto utility customers through the Public Utilities Assessment that funds the MPSC’s operations,” Helms wrote. “The NYU fellows report to MPSC managers who direct their activities. NYU doesn’t have managerial control over the work of the fellows; that is left up to employer agencies such as the MPSC.”

Michigan lawmakers should ask if this is legal, Chris Horner, an attorney in Washington, D.C., who represents Government Accountability and Oversight on public records, told CapCon.

The arrangement would be similar to oil and gas companies paying to implement favorable energy policy or gun groups implementing gun laws while masquerading as government contractors, Horner said.

“Also, if these arrangements are both legal and ethical, is it similarly legal and ethical for the American Petroleum Institute, Right-to-Life, National Mining Association and National Rifle Association to similarly staff or finance the staffing of executive agencies and regulatory commissions?” Horner said. “If not, please explain ... without saying ‘that's different.’” 

That climate groups pay to influence Michigan’s climate laws isn’t surprising, said Rep. Ken Borton, R-Gaylord.

“It’s not surprising that Gov. Whitmer would let outside organizations plant climate activists in her administration,” Borton told CapCon in an email. “From day one, she has pushed an extreme environmentalist agenda, letting conflicts of interest run wild and ignoring the consequences for hard-working Michiganders. From her attempts to shut down Line 5 to her expensive green energy mandates, she has shown that she'll gladly raise costs on Michigan families to please far-left extremists.”