One would have thought that the worldwide pandemic was more than enough. But the people of Michigan have also just endured a once in 500 year flooding event that destroyed two dams and forced the evacuation of over 11,000 people. Elected officials and environmental groups are telling us that these events mean government must take up ownership of critical infrastructure and massively expand spending on renewable energy and climate change mitigation. But will an expanded government hand in energy and climate issues actually help? Join us as we host three energy and environmental policy experts to discuss what energy could (and should) look like in a pandemic and flood-weary country.
Joe Lehman, president of the Mackinac Center, will share opening remarks and be followed by our featured speakers:
Early in the coronavirus quarantines, media outlets began reporting on significant changes in the natural environment as a result of reduced human activity. We were told that wildlife was returning to urban areas and that the air was suddenly and dramatically cleaner, as was the water. We were told that CO2 emissions were dropping noticeably and that the reductions in human activity were actually a “silver lining” to the virus. Progressive greens trumpeted the economic slowdowns as something that should be made permanent to ensure a cleaner environment and a solution to climate change.
But we’ve had a bit more time to look into the actual changes caused by reduced human activity and we’re learning that these early reports were largely incorrect. Air quality reports are showing little to no impact from the quarantines. In fact, some areas actually have higher particulate matter readings due to natural events. We also learned that many wildlife "sightings" were misreported or that the wildlife seen was typical of that area.
In almost every case, the natural laboratory that the coronavirus quarantines have created is demonstrating that many of the progressive green movement’s most dearly held beliefs about the negative impacts of human activity are simply and profoundly wrong. Since that is the case, we have ample reason to question whether we should implement the green movement’s extreme policy suggestions, like the Green New Deal.
Join us as we point out better options.
This event will take place on Wednesday, May 27 at 11 a.m. EDT. To RSVP and receive access to the forum, please register below.
Wednesday, May 27, 2020
11:00 a.m. to Noon EDT
Online virtual program
To join, please RSVP
Call our Events office at
Registration is closed.
Jason Hayes is the director of Environmental Policy for the Mackinac Center for Public Policy.
Jason has spent almost three decades studying and working in environmental and energy policy. He worked as a backcountry ranger in British Columbia’s provincial parks, as a forester in British Columbia’s boreal forest, and researched National Parks management and grizzly bear biology with the Fraser Institute in Calgary, Alberta. He spent over a decade researching and communicating energy and environmental policy with the Canadian and American energy industry.
The Honorable Jason Isaac is the Senior Manager and Distinguished Fellow of Life: Powered at the Texas Public Policy Foundation.
Prior to joining the Foundation, Jason was elected four times as the state representative for Hays and Blanco counties in the Texas Hill Country. As a state representative, he successfully passed legislation to reduce taxes, strengthen election integrity, improve public education, preserve Second Amendment rights, protect local groundwater, and protect private property rights.
An engineer by training, Joseph G. Lehman joined the Mackinac Center in 1995 and was named president in 2008. During his tenure Michigan has seen numerous free-market policy advances in education, labor and state fiscal affairs. Frequently published in national and state media, Lehman also has trained more than 600 public policy executives internationally on strategic leadership and communications. He and his wife are founders of Midland County Habitat for Humanity.
Isaac Orr is a policy fellow at Center of the American Experiment, where he writes about energy and environmental issues, including mining and electricity policy.
Isaac has written extensively on hydraulic fracturing, frac sand mining and electricity policy, among other energy and environmental issues. His writings have appeared in The Wall Street Journal,USA Today, the New York Post, The Hill, Orange County Register, The Washington Times, and many other publications.
