Join the Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action (MiCCA) in East Lansing on Saturday, Oct. 24, as we explore the connections between climate change, agriculture, food, and health. Food as Medicine is a healthcare framework that integrates nutritious, high-quality food into clinical care, recognizing its role in preventing, managing, and treating disease. But what and how we eat – and by extension, how we grow our food – affects more than just our individual health. Our food s

With wildfire smoke blanketing the state, I hope everyone is staying safe and keeping their spirits up. I know many of us are feeling a mix of grief and anger. Grief: The generally temperate, pleasant summers we’re used to enjoying are now marked with increasingly toxic bouts of air. It’s saddening to think that children today and tomorrow will know the orange sun, the N-95 masks, and warnings to stay inside – as normal. Anger: We’re frustrated that despite the experts’ calls

This piece was originally published in Bridge Detroit on July 12, 2026 and written by Mia McPherson, BSN. RN, and Mary-Jacqueline Muli, RN, BSN. It is dangerously hot and humid in downtown Detroit this summer. Along with the heat comes worsening air quality. Heat and sunlight work together to catalyze the formation of ground-level ozone, the primary component of smog. This is a dangerous type of air pollution that irritates the sensitive lining of the lungs when inhaled. Th

The Michigan Department of Environment, Great Lakes, Energy (EGLE) issued an air quality alert, warning of high levels of ground level ozone for several counties in Southeast and West Michigan for June 29 and June 30. Ozone pollution has been consistently above the health-based standard at the East 7 Mile monitor in Detroit. Nonetheless, EGLE and the Environmental Protection Agency have repeatedly sought to blame wildfire smoke rather than local pollution sources for Detroit’

Court Upholds Life-Saving National Soot Air Quality Standard On June 26, 2026, the U.S. Court of Appeals for D.C. Circuit enforced the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to uphold the regulation standards for fine particulate matter (PM 2.5) also known as soot. In 2024, The National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) established regulations for six common forms of air pollutants under the Clean Air Act, which includes carbon monoxide, lead, nitrogen dioxide, ozone, sul

A SUCCESSFUL TOUR! Thank YOU for showing up and for your support! Five events, 170 attendees, and countless thoughtful conversations. Thank you to everyone who turned out in Kalamazoo, Grand Rapids, Traverse City, and Mount Pleasant! A special thank you to our visiting guest of honor, Dr. Debra Hendrickson, who traveled to Michigan all the way from Reno, Nevada to share her words of wisdom. The stories she shared from her book, The Air They Breathe, were moving, and

Read the transcript of MiCCA director's opening remarks at the Michigan Climate Summit on June 12, 2026 in East Lansing. Hear her speak at 40:27 in the video above. Show of hands: how many people here were vaccinated against smallpox? Well, I was not. General distribution of the smallpox vaccine stopped in 1982. Because there was no longer a reason for it. Eradicating a deadly disease that once killed millions - is an example of one humanity’s biggest public health victories.

Shockingly, just as tobacco companies understood for years the harm caused by their products, fossil fuel companies have conducted decades-long misinformation campaigns that have slowed the transition to cleaner energy and resulted in a staggering number of real-world health consequences, placing lives at risk and straining an already overburdened healthcare system.

My sister moved from Houston, Texas to Cheboygan two years ago. She’s no stranger to hurricanes and floods, but the “climate haven” that some boast about in the Midwest has not yet materialized for her. Since she’s moved, northern Michigan has been engulfed in wildfire smoke, ravaged by a terrifying ice storm and now, hit with record-breaking flooding. Call it bad luck or a coincidence, but the trends paint a different picture. Extreme precipitation has increased by 45% since

MiCCA Director Teresa Homsi shared the following testimony on Feb. 26, 2026 in Gaylord, Michigan as part of a series of "People's Hearing" events on extreme weather, in partnership with the Climate Action Campaign. Like many others living in northern Michigan last year, I couldn’t sleep the first Saturday night of the storm, kept awake by the sound of branches cracking and crashing to the ground. Wrapped up in blankets, I found myself bracing for the potential impact of a tre

The decision removes safeguards implemented in 2024 that strengthened mercury limits for lignite-burning plants, reduced other toxic metals like arsenic and lead, and improved emissions monitoring.

On Feb. 12, 2026, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin announced the department’s decision to rescind the Endangerment Finding, a 2009 rule that enabled the EPA to regulate six key well-mixed greenhouse gases, including CO2 and methane, as air pollutants under the Clean Air Act. The EPA’s announcement says it is repealing greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions regulations for all motor vehicles and engines from 2012 to 2027 and beyond. Given that the transportation sector accounts for one

In 2026, Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action (MiCCA) is launching a self-selected volunteer membership dues model to support our long-term sustainability and independence. This step allows us to reduce reliance on unpredictable funding and invest directly in the work our members value most.

In a press conference hosted by the Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action on Jan. 27, health professionals and advocates, along with Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib, condemned the EPA’s short-sighted actions that endanger the public’s health and wellbeing.

Michigan health practitioners have long borne witness to the detrimental impacts of mis- and disinformation. Whether it's bad-faith speculation about the efficacy of proven public health interventions or polluters who deny and downplay their liability, we know that when industries set their own rules, they act only in their best interest and often to the detriment of the public's well-being. Nowhere is this more apparent than with fossil fuel companies that have lobbied exten

We submitted the following public comment to the Michigan Public Service Commission on Dec. 3, 2025: Please accept this comment from the Michigan Clinicians for Climate Action (MiCCA) on DTE’s application in Case No. U-21990 for approval of special contracts for electric service between the utility and a subsidiary of the tech company Oracle Corp. for a 1.4-gigawatt data center in Saline Township near Ann Arbor. The comments are prepared by Elizabeth (Lisa) Del Buono, MD, a

When I got my COVID and flu vaccines earlier this year, it didn’t just feel like a health-conscious choice, but a civic duty. Over the last decade, we’ve increasingly seen how the rise in mis- and disinformation on social media platforms have fueled political polarization and vice versa. This has made even small, personal decisions like getting a flu shot take on some weighty political significance. There are many factors contributing to the rise of the anti-vax movement, in

What does “do no harm” mean in the face of climate change? That’s what we asked dozens of attendees during our 2nd Annual Climate and Health Conference in Grand Rapids last Saturday. The question inspired fruitful discussions about the line health professionals have to walk when we evaluate short-term, immediate health risks and consider the existential dread climate change presents, where we have no easy cures. The Hippocratic oath is a simple principle behind medicine, but

As published in Bridge Michigan on Nov. 14, 2025. By Teresa Homsi and Alex Rabin The Dan E. Karn Power Plant in Essexville, Michigan is also owned by Consumers Energy and was decommissioned in 2023. Photo courtesy of creative commons. Joining a slew of retired coal power plants in the state, the J.H. Campbell Generating Plant’s planned closure in West Olive was meant to signal the beginning of a new era – one where our energy needs can be met by cleaner, more sustainable mean

"I am here today because the decisions made in Michigan—by our legislators—can either protect or endanger the well-being of families across our state. When we talk about health, too often the conversation stops at hospitals, clinics, and prescriptions," Dr. Harris said.