Our Priorities
Policy Advocacy
We bring the health professional voice to state and national policy conversations – and bring those conversations back to you, the health professionals, too.
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MiCCA is part of the Michigan Energy, Michigan Jobs (MEMJ) Coalition and works with the Climate Action Campaign, but we rely on our members and collective health expertise to guide our approach to policy conversations and messaging.
As a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, we are limited in lobbying and ensure our political engagements remain nonpartisan.
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Our Policy Priority Areas:
Clean Energy Solutions: We prioritize policies that reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, mitigating climate's public health impacts and addressing immediate air quality concerns. Each policy related to clean energy requires individual review, but we broadly support solutions like community solar, which can improve grid reliability and lower energy costs.
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Grid Modernization & Utility Accountability: We support efforts to make our grid more resilient and ensure that utilities remain accountable to the public. Our messaging focuses on the health harms posed by power outages and the need for infrastructure upgrades in the face of extreme weather events and climate change burdens.
Reliable & Robust Public Transportation: Public transit reduces our reliance on cars, cutting down greenhouse gas and tailpipe emissions that pose short-term and long-term health impacts. Our messaging focuses on how public transit is a social determinant of health that prioritizes pedestrians, encourages increased physical activity, and addresses economic inequities, enabling increased access to healthcare, food, employment, and education.
Air Pollution Regulation & Polluter Pay Rules: We support regulating contaminants and holding polluters accountable for cleaning up their messes and limiting the public's exposure to toxic hazards. Our messaging focuses on the health needs of frontline, impacted communities, especially recognizing the cumulative health impacts from various sources.
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Protecting & Ensuring Primary Care Access: As we see decreasing investments in public safety nets and access to healthcare - coupled with the worsening climate crisis - public health will suffer. Healthcare providers will be at the forefront of these impacts, and we know that preventative primary care is crucial to improve health outcomes and reduce the need for more energy-intensive treatments.
Policies Addressing Climate Health Issues Directly: We support policies that advance the research, monitoring, mitigation, or involve infrastructure investments related to: extreme heat, air pollution such as wildfire smoke, water- and vector-borne diseases, flooding and mold, and power outages.
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Grassroots Organizing
In addition to engaging in policy conversations, we are involved in grassroots organizing to get educational materials on climate and health into healthcare facilities.
We have previously supported civic engagement and voter registration drivers framed around voting as a social determinant of health, and we plan to continue to do so in 2026.
Recognizing that some health professionals are more comfortable working within their own systems to usher change, we also support organizing around Climate Smart Healthcare, or efforts to decarbonize the healthcare system. ​
Education & Engagement
Members can join us monthly for educational webinars (often CME/CE eligible) and action calls to keep up on climate health information. Check out our events schedule and members are automatically added to our newsletter to see the latest from MiCCA.
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We do our best to provide Michigan-specific information on the environmental topics that affect your patients and prepare you to add your voice to policy conversations at the state and federal level.