Sen. Stabenow urges taking action on climate crisis in Michigan

FOX 2 - Senator Debbie Stabenow made it clear something needs to be done now to protect Michigan.

"It means acting now," she said.

On Friday Stabenow released "The Climate Crisis and Michigan" report offering scientific studies documenting the impact of the climate crisis in the state.

"This is a very straightforward report about what we are seeing in our daily lives," Stabenow said.

The lawmaker says it's not just about weather like extreme hot and cold temperatures. 

"We are also seeing extreme swings in water levels right now, very high," she said. "We're seeing more diseased carrying pests like mosquitos."

But finding problems without offering solutions is not what this lawmaker wants.

"Last week we made decision by 2050 we want to achieve net zero emissions from the electricity we supply customers," said Skiles Boyd, DTE Energy. 

Friday's press conference highlighted companies this senator says are leading the way in reducing effects of the climate crisis. 

"Resinate is also working on ways to pull plastics that are polluting our planet and oceans and turn them into jobs and products," said Rick Tabor, Resonate. 

A better climate, creating job opportunities is what this senator says Michigan needs. 

"Hundreds of thousands of jobs, we already have 70,000 jobs in the clean energy economy," Stabenow said. "We in Michigan need to understand the urgency and create more jobs."