People, Planet, and Profit: Celebrating Detroit’s Renaissance

On Thursday, October 5, the Michigan League of Conservation Voters proudly celebrated the key roles played by Michigan’s advocates, business leaders, and philanthropists in setting course toward a sustainable future.

The group honored Jalonne White-Newsome as Advocate of the Year, State Representative Stephanie Chang (D-Detroit) as Legislator of the Year, and DTE Energy as Business Leader of the Year. Awards were presented at Michigan LCV’s Fifth Annual Innovation in Conservation Awards Gala on Thursday at the Westin Book Cadillac Hotel in Detroit.

Michigan LCV on the honorees:

The Michigan League of Conservation Voters is proud to honor Jalonne White-Newsome as our 2017 Advocate of the Year for her groundbreaking work with the Obama administration to integrate environmental justice into federal policymaking for the first time ever,” said Lisa Wozniak, executive director. “Her tireless efforts on behalf of underrepresented communities and communities of color  here in Detroit and across the country are an inspiration and should serve as a blueprint for equitable policy making going forward.”

The Michigan League of Conservation Voters is proud to honor State Representative Stephanie Chang as our 2017 Legislator of the Year for her relentless advocacy on behalf of communities that face disproportionate levels of pollution,” said Charlotte Jameson, government affairs director. “Representative Chang has a deep commitment to the rights of all Detroiters.  She has a deep belief that all Michigan residents deserve basic environmental and public health protections, and she has the tenacious spirit to back up that commitment with action day after day.”

The Michigan League of Conservation Voters is proud to honor DTE Energy as our 2017 Business Leader of the Year for committing to reduce the company’s carbon emissions by more than 80 percent by 2050,” said Lisa Wozniak, executive director. “In so doing, Michigan’s largest electric utility is stepping up in a big way, laying a path to meet the challenge of climate change head on regardless of what happens in Washington DC.”

Words from DTE Energy

DTE has embarked on an ambitious initiative that will maintain our century old commitment of delivering reliable and affordable power to our customers while also reducing carbon emissions by 80 percent,” said Skiles Boyd, DTE vice president, environmental management and resources. “We’ve made this commitment because we believe climate change is one of the defining public policy issues of our era. Our company believes that DTE and our country have a responsibility to address climate change in a fundamental way. There doesn’t have to be a choice between the health of our environment or the health of our economy. We can have both if we attack this problem in a smart way.”

The event was generously sponsored by the DTE Energy Foundation, the Kresge Foundation, and the Wolfpack (a southeast Michigan-based group of business and community leaders who collectively advocate for our natural resources), among numerous other generous sponsors. Lisa and Hannan Lis were the event’s honorary co-hosts.