With their mayor at the helm, the city of Ann Arbor is working toward carbon neutrality by 2030.
Severe weather in Michigan has strained budgets and put lives and properties at risk. In response, local leaders highlighted Ann Arbor’s climate actions to transition to clean energy through the A2ZERO plan.
Funded by the Inflation Reduction Act and the Bipartisan Infrastructure Law, this initiative also includes contributions from Ann Arbor residents, who passed a millage in 2020.
Christopher Taylor is Mayor of Ann Arbor.
“That’s a 20-year millage,” said Taylor, “which is going to raise over $150 million over the course of time, to promote community climate action here in Ann Arbor.”
The IRA provides more than $369 billion in support to combat the climate crisis. The A2ZERO program presents a unified approach to achieving community-wide carbon neutrality.
Also through the IRA, $159 million in federal funding helped to reduce costs for community and rooftop solar installations for thousands of low-income households.
Derrick Miller is the executive director of the Community Action Network/Bryant Community Center, which helped allocate funds in these neighborhoods.
“These homes were quite frankly killing the residents,” said Miller. “We came across gas leaks, drainage issues that were creating black mold in the homes. We’ve been able to alleviate all of these issues or have the funds to be able to resolve them.”
Jennifer Hall is the executive director of Ann Arbor’s Housing Commission, and said it’s committed to working with Ann Arbor to achieve the carbon-neutrality goals.
She said she’s excited about the funding.
“This funding is extremely important,” said Hall, “to stabilize operations for community action networks and the local community.”
Through the A2ZERO initiative, Ann Arbor has launched Michigan’s first commercial, multifamily and single-family energy disclosure ordinances, and installed the state’s first utility-pole EV chargers.
