On Wednesday, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer laid out her proposed state budget, with billions of dollars in investments for climate resiliency, clean water, land and wildlife protection, and more.

Among the largest environmental investments are $1.65 billion for climate and clean energy, $1.12 billion for clean water, $340.11 million for health and justice, and $120.63 million for land and wildlife protection.

Charlotte Jameson, chief policy officer for the Michigan Environmental Council, issues the following statement in response.

On Wednesday morning, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer rolled out a proposal for the largest state budget in history, with billions of dollars being dedicated toward natural resource protection, clean energy, clean water and climate resiliency.

Among the largest environmental investments are $1.22 billion for clean water; $593 million for climate, clean energy and mobility; and $403 million in natural resource protections.

Charlotte Jameson, chief policy officer of the Michigan Environmental Council, issued the following statement in response.

One thing you wouldn't want during a Washington march for climate action is unseasonable cold. It wouldn't do to sound the alarm on global warming on a spring day in coats and scarves. Bad optics.

I start most mornings at MEC by browsing the day's environmental headlines, mainly from email newsletters that I highly recommend-Midwest Energy News, InsideClimate News, Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate and Food and Environment Reporting Network, among others-so I'm used to seeing plenty of promising news about the rise of renewable energy.

After more than two years of negotiations, countless hours of committee hearings, numerous variations on several bills, untold column inches of news coverage and a dizzying series of false starts, dead ends and shifts of the political winds, the epic effort to overhaul Michigan's energy policy finally drew to a close Thursday evening.

Ben Stupka is tired. That's no surprise-he and his wife, Laura, have a two-year-old son and a daughter born in August.

The Michigan Senate is likely to vote this week on a pair of bills to reform our state's energy policy. Throughout the debates leading up to this point, MEC has maintained that any credible strategy for Michigan's energy future must accomplish five goals: control costs for utility customers; minimize the risks of future price spikes; protect natural resources and public health; promote economic development; and improve reliability.

The Senate Energy and Technology Committee continues to deliberate on a package of bills that lay out a misguided approach to Michigan's energy future-one that would suspend Michigan's transition to cleaner energy sources, lead to major rate increases for Michigan families and throw a wrench in economic development in our state.

You may have noticed a lot of news stories lately about coal-fired power plants. That's because-with federal regulations kicking in to protect public health-today marks the end of the operating permits for a number of coal plants in Michigan, including Consumers Energy's oldest generating units, sometimes charitably described as the "Classic Seven."

Editor's note: News of the massive natural gas leak from an underground storage reservoir near Los Angeles made us curious about the implications for Michigan. We knew there were similar storage facilities here, but we've learned that Michigan has more of them than any other state. While state officials say those facilities are held to strict construction and maintenance standards, the California leak raises questions about Michigan's ability to prevent a similar incident here. As we see it, the public safety and climate risks of underground natural gas storage are further cause for Michigan's political leaders to make a strong commitment to clean and increasingly affordable renewable energy sources.