Activists are disappointed Michigan environmental issues played a small role during both nights of the Democratic primary debates in Detroit last week.

The Great Lakes were not mentioned by any of the 20 Democratic primary candidates who participated in the debates. Environmental issues took a back seat to other topics during the debates, despite Michigan activists pressuring the Democratic National Committee to put more focus on clean water and climate change in Detroit.

Bob Allison, deputy director for Michigan League of Conservation Voters, said extensive polling conducted during the last two years show protecting drinking water from toxic contamination is the top issue among Michigan voters. Allison said the scant discussion on the Great Lakes, PFAS contamination and lead water pipes across the state is “unacceptable.”

"Every single (candidate) has a plan on climate change that speaks to very detailed policy agendas,' Allison said. “What we’ve been saying is people need to hear you talk about it in specificity, of how you will move to action. This election presents an enormous opportunity to really elevate the environment as a key litmus test. In Michigan and the Great Lakes region, these are issues that ... voters are judging candidates on.”

Environmental activists and protesters marched in Detroit before the debate to show support for the “Green New Deal" and push Democratic candidates to move climate change to the forefront of their policy agendas. Several organizations and politicians like Gov. Gretchen Whitmer and U.S. Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, advocated for more discussion on environmental issues in Detroit.

Less than 10% of questions posed by CNN moderators were about climate change, according to an analysis by progressive media watch-dog Media Matters. There was more discussion than the two-night NBC debate in June; Media Matters found only 6% of questions were about climate change.

“One of the key reasons the Detroit debate included more discussion on climate change is because people in Michigan made sure they knew it was expected,” Allison said. “The idea that these candidates aren’t talking about it speaks volumes about where their platforms are at compared to what citizens are looking for.”

Environmental and climate issues are important to 77% of likely Michigan voters, according to a poll conducted before the Detroit debate on behalf of the League of Conservation Voters. Participants surveyed disapprove of President Donald Trump’s environmental record by a 14-point margin.

The poll found a majority of voters support requiring half of all electricity come from clean energy sources by 2035 and a 100% clean energy economy by 2050. Public Policy Polling surveyed 665 Michigan voters from July 19-21, 2019. The poll has a 3.8% margin of error.

Sean McBrearty, Michigan campaign organizer for Clean Water Action, said water issues drove voters to the ballot box in 2018 and will be a key issue for Michigan residents in 2020. He said Michigan is “ground zero” for water quality and environmental issues due to its proximity to the Great Lakes and history of PFAS contamination.

“For the presidential candidate to come to Michigan and not mention the Great Lakes -- 20% of the worlds freshwater was surrounding them as they were speaking -- that was not good enough for us,” McBrearty said. “I think first of all voters really care about climate and water. The candidates ought to be more prepared to discuss those issues.”

Sean Hammond, deputy policy director for the Michigan Environmental Council, said the Detroit debates were disappointing, but he expects environmental issues will take a larger focus as the primary continues. The debate format, which pitted 10 candidates against each other on stage at the same time, didn’t allow for a deep discussion on policies, he said.

“We think there should be a lot of agreement and importance on protecting the Great Lakes and protecting water quality from a national standpoint,” Hammond said.

Hammond praised a Great Lakes 2020 presidential agenda released by Whitmer and governors from four other states bordering the lakes. The coalition encouraged presidential candidates to adopt the plan, which calls for increased federal investment in several environmental clean up and infrastructure funds.

The plan also calls for ramping up funding for the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative from $300 million to $475 million per year. Trump threatened to slash the funding to $30 million during his first three budget proposals, but the cuts haven’t been carried out.

Michigan Conservative Energy Forum Executive Director Ed Rivet said protecting clean water and supporting green technology manufacturing are bipartisan issues.

Rivet agreed with other environmentalists about the need to expand charging stations for electric vehicles across the state. Ford is planning a $900 million investment to plants in Southeast Michigan to build electric vehicles.

“As we hear what auto makers are telling us, they will be rolling out more electrified vehicles, public policy at all levels in the state has to be focused on charging infrastructure," Rivet said.

Allison said there is an economic incentive to upgrading clean building practices as well.

“We think we can put Michiganders back to work upgrading and retrofitting our houses to be more energy efficient,” Allison said. “Move people off propane in the Upper Peninsula and have yoopers do that work. We think there is a whole economy around this.”

Inslee takes the lead on ‘climate crisis’

Environmentalists commended Washington Gov. Jay Inslee’s focus on climate change. Inslee has made tackling climate change the central pillar of his 2020 campaign, though the Democratic candidate is polling at less than 1%.

Inslee championed his climate change agenda during several visits to Detroit this year, meeting with residents living in the shadow of an oil refinery. Inslee said the 48217 zip code is among the most polluted in the country, leading to higher rates of asthma and cancer.

“After talking to these folks, I believe this; it doesn’t matter what your zip code is, it doesn’t matter what your color is, you ought to have clear air and clear water in America," Inslee said during the debate.

U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., joined Inslee in calling for the shutdown of Enbrdige Energy’s controversial Line 5 pipeline across the Straits of Mackinac. Sanders called for the pipeline to close on the 9-year-anniversary of Enbridge’s oil spill on the Kalamazoo River, the largest and most expensive inland oil spill in American history.

U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren, D-Mass., said Michigan’s manufacturing industry could become a powerhouse under new green energy economy. During a June campaign stop in Detroit, Warren unveiled a $2 trillion plan to invest in clean energy research and development, allowing U.S. manufacturers to build energy efficient vehicles, wind turbines and other technology.

“I think one of the strongest things any candidate on either side could say is what they are going to do to make sure government doesn’t get in the way of clean energy technology,” Rivet said. “Things are moving so quickly that government can’t hardly keep up with having the right policy in place.”

Other Democrats, including Inslee, former U.S. Rep. Beto O’Rourke and Democratic front-runner Joe Biden also propose investing trillions of dollars on clean energy.

Inslee went toe-to-toe with Biden in one of the few moments focused on climate policy during the Detroit debate. Inslee said the former vice president’s plan is too little, too late.

“The science tells us we have to get off coal in 10 years,” Inslee said. “Your plan does not do that. We have to have off of fossil fuels in our electrical grid in 15. Your plan simply does not do that.”

Clean water came up once during the first night of the debate, when candidates were posed with a Birmingham resident’s question about preventing situations like Flint water crisis from happening across the country. Several candidates highlighted Flint to talk about environmental justice.

Author and spiritualist Marianne Williamson scored a big applause moment when she indicated racism played a part in the Flint water crisis.

“I assure you, I lived Grosse Pointe -- what happened in Flint would not have happened in Grosse Pointe,” Williamson said. “This is part of the dark underbelly of American society.”

Democratic hopeful Bill de Blasio pledged to end lead poisoning, a challenge he’s taken up as mayor of New York.

“Lead poisoning has gone down 90 percent since 2005, and we’re going to literally bring it down to zero, because we’re going to go into every place, buildings, schools, public housing, and take out that lead, remediate that lead once and for all, and that needs to be done all over this country," he said.

U.S. Sen. Michael Bennet, D-Colo., also said the federal government needs to step up its investment in infrastructure. Bennet said money spent in wars in the Middle East and revenue lost from tax breaks could have “fixed not just Flint, but every water system in this country.”

U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar, D-Minn., touted her own $1 trillion infrastructure plan, which would invest federal dollars in municipal water treatment plants and other public utility infrastructure. It’s her top budget priority for Klobuchar’s first year in office.

“I truly believe that if we’re going to move on infrastructure and climate change, you need a voice from the Heartlands,” Klobuchar said.