Protecting Our Environment

As a U.S. Senator, Lydia will unchain Michigan’s environmental future by advocating for protecting the Great Lakes, which hold 20% of the world’s surface freshwater—a vital resource for human life. She’ll secure billions in federal funding to promote the safety of our water and promote federal grants that unlock America's energy and tourism projects. These efforts will ensure clean water, preserve landscapes like Tahquamenon and Wagner Falls, and support sustainable economic growth for Michiganders.

Tahquamenon Falls, public domain/CC0

Policies on this page are living documents. Lydia updates them as research, legislation, and community input evolve. If something here should be sharper, more accurate, or missing entirely, tell her campaign.

Related Issues

Ending Fossil Fuel Subsidies

Oil and gas companies already post record profits, and the federal government still hands them $35 billion a year in subsidies, more than double 2017 levels. Lydia supports ending these industry-specific tax carve-outs and redirecting the money toward Michigan families instead of shareholders.

Unchaining Michigan’s Clean Energy

Equal tax treatment for every energy source, a fix for the federal permitting queue stalling wind and solar, an end to Michigan's cap on electric choice, faster nuclear licensing without cutting safety, and transparency in energy research so breakthroughs reach the public instead of getting shelved.

Michigan's Water and Power Bills Aren't For Sale

Lydia supports data centers on one condition: Michigan sets the terms, not the industry. That means building the accountability these facilities have avoided everywhere else, instead of letting them land in the communities least able to enforce their own constitutional protections.

Restoring Food Safety

The FDA budget was cut from $3.6B (2024) to $2.9B proposed (2026). Small farm exemptions already exist in FSMA: $25K de minimis (fully exempt), $500K qualified exempt (direct-to-consumer). Private auditors are already accredited by FDA: SQF, BRC, FSSC 22000. Compliance costs: small farms 6-7% of sales vs. 0.33% for large farms. Lydia will rebuild inspection capacity, let large operations use accredited private auditors with FDA oversight, keep small farms and direct-to-consumer sales out of the compliance trap, and hold the system accountable for actual safety outcomes, not paperwork.

Restoring Tribal Sovereignty and Treaty Rights

The federal government signed treaties with tribal nations. A president cannot unilaterally dissolve them or reduce co-managed lands by executive order. Lydia will restore violated co-management agreements, codify tribal consultation as mandatory with binding say, support tribal land acquisition and restoration with federal funding, protect treaty rights to water and harvesting, and oppose treating treaties as subject to revision by executive order.

Decommissioning the Line 5 Pipeline

The Line 5 pipelines sit on the lakebed beneath the Straits of Mackinac, carrying approximately 23 million gallons of petroleum each day through Anishinaabe treaty waters. Lydia opposes the proposed Great Lakes Tunnel and supports the full decommissioning and physical removal of the existing pipelines from the Great Lakes. Decommissioning Line 5 means protecting our freshwater, respecting Tribal sovereignty and treaty rights, and building reliable land-based energy alternatives that do not put the Great Lakes at continued risk.

Protecting the Great Lakes and Upper Peninsula Waters from Mining Pollution

Mining operations threaten Michigan's watersheds and the Great Lakes. Lydia will oppose permits that allow mining discharge into waters that flow toward Lake Superior, push for federal enforcement of the Clean Water Act with real teeth, and put the burden of proof on the polluter instead of on fish and communities.

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