LANSING, Mich. — Establishing a net-zero climate policy for Michigan is as much about jobs as it is protecting the state and planet, Department of Environment, Great Lakes and Energy (EGLE) Director Liesl Eichler Clark told Michigan’s Council on Climate Solutions Tuesday.

“This is all about the attraction of jobs to Michigan,” Clark said, calling for the state to “lead by example” in increasing  energy efficiency and developing the products and policies needed to create a carbon neutral system to draw companies to the state.

In an interview with NetZero Insider, Clark said Gov. Gretchen Whitmer’s (D) September 2020 executive directive (2020–10) calling for the state to reach economy-wide carbon neutrality by 2050 is “a huge opportunity” for the state’s economy. “The world and the nation are evolving. We can either use our expertise and know-how on making things and fixing things as a jobs development tool, or we let it smack us in the face,” Clark said.

Whitmer created the council in executive order 2020-182 and tasked it with advising EGLE on the Healthy Climate Plan for cutting the state’s carbon emissions, starting with an interim 28% reduction below 2005 levels by 2025.

Since February, the council has explored how transportation, building, agriculture and high energy use industries can be made carbon neutral. In August, the council will hear information on how climate change affects equity among low-income and minority populations. Beginning in September, Clark said, the council will begin winnowing down proposals in preparation for EGLE delivering its proposal to Whitmer in February 2022 (though the ED set a Dec. 31, 2021 deadline).

In the interview, Clark said the effect of achieving net-zero status on economic development was “very much on the governor’s mind” when she issued the directive. The order notes that along with degrading Michigan’s environment and affecting the health of its citizens, climate change “hurts our economy.”

Council members include executives from utilities and top state manufacturers, such as Whirlpool, as well as the head of the Michigan Economic Development Corp., a cabinet-level organization to promote the state’s economy.

Clark told the council that when assessing its final proposals, members must consider how they will affect the public and the costs faced by industries as they decarbonize. “We’ve got a little bit of a Gordian knot here,” she said.

But she said Michigan is primed to lead the effort toward a net-zero future as the home to major manufacturers such as Dow Chemical (NYSE:DOW) and the Big Three automakers. The state also has an infrastructure of smaller companies that will play a primary role in developing and installing the systems to decarbonize, she said, adding that Michigan could be a leader in developing energy efficiency systems.