Check out the latest insights from our program team and grantees.

With a slate of clean energy bills recently passed and expected to be signed into law on November 28, 2023, Michigan will become a national leader in efforts to transition to a clean energy economy.

Minnesota-based Fresh Energy has been a leader in climate advocacy for more than 30 years, playing a significant role in what it calls “speeding Minnesota and the Midwest’s transition to a clean energy economy.”

Grantee
Fresh Energy

Op-ed by the Foundation's Environment Co-director Elizabeth Cisar, Stephen Love of the Cleveland Foundation, and John Mitterholzer of the George Gund Foundation.

Source
Crain's Cleveland Business

We the People of Detroit is a grantee partner of Joyce’s Environment Program. Learn more about the organization here.

Minnesota becomes the 22nd state nationwide to commit to 100 percent carbon-free electricity—a victory for Great Lakes region environmental and environmental justice organizations that, for many years, advocated for such policy.

Environment Program Co-Director Elizabeth Cisar recently returned to the Foundation after serving an 18-month stint as a senior advisor in the Office of Water at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

The Energy Equity Project (EEP) at the University of Michigan School for Environment and Sustainability recently released the first national framework to comprehensively measure and advance energy equity.

The Joyce Foundation received the 2022 Great Lakes Changemaker Award from the Council of the Great Lakes Region.

The Supreme Court ruling in West Virginia v. EPA is a step backward in protecting the environment and public health. It limits the federal government’s ability to use the Clean Air Act to drive reductions in global warming pollution.

$5B bill infrastructure bill designed to improve drinking water, sewers, parks and other essential measures considered the largest and most beneficial environmental investment in Michigan in decades. 

The landmark bipartisan infrastructure law to clean up toxic pollution in the Great Lakes is the single most significant restoration of the region’s history. It is also an affirmation of work Joyce supported and our grantees have advanced for decades.

Source
Chicago Tribune Opinion

Report by grantees Elevate and Metropolitan Planning Council examined millions of residential water bills from 2015-2020. The City of Chicago Water Affordability Analysis found that the lowest income households are the most burdened with high water bills.

A landmark environmental project championed by Joyce Foundation grantees and many other partners to keep invasive carp out of the Great Lakes has received critical federal funds.

New Joyce-funded report by NASBE and Elevate on how states are dealing with the issue of lead in school drinking water and offers recommendations on how to improve.

Fifty years on, Alliance for the Great Lakes expands environmental justice advocacy through inclusion and partnerships.

Grantee
Alliance for the Great Lakes

The Foundation congratulates all of its grantees and coalition partners who worked for years with perseverance and commitment to pass a historic new Illinois law making the state a national leader in the battle against climate change.