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Leaders at two up north ski resorts recently called for faster climate action – even federal carbon taxes – to stave off the effects of the escalating climate crisis on Michigan’s signature four seasons.
Chief executives at both Crystal Mountain and Boyne Mountain resorts in northern Lower Michigan said sustainability efforts at the all-seasons resorts may help offset their operational carbon footprints, but argued bigger, systems-wide actions are needed to prevent an irreparable intensification of the effects of climate change – effects that will impact not just resort operations, but everyone on the planet.
Experts agree that climate change is causing changes in weather patterns to have an impact on winter sports as well as the general population. The current Winter Olympics is a prime example, with its use only of man-made snow.
Jim MacInnes, chief executive of Crystal Mountain in Thompsonville, stated that the most significant climate changes in recent decades for Traverse City’s ski and golf resorts have been caused by greater variability in weather in both summer and winter.
“We get these big rains in the summer, and we can have low snow or large snow events in the winter. It depends. I would say that the winters are becoming shorter. And we’re having more, you know, higher average temperatures throughout the winter. And so, we’re relying more and more on snowmaking,” he said.
“It’s more expensive. You have to make more snow and make it faster because the windows of cold are short.”
Stephen Kircher, Boyne Mountain CEO, and MacInnes, recently Co-authored an opinion columnIn the Traverse City Record-Eagle, they called for a quicker switch to renewable energy as well as a carbon tax on polluters in conjunction with federal legislation.
“American citizens and businesses should want the U.S. to become a leader in the emerging clean energy economy. Addressing climate change is urgent,” they wrote.
The resort leaders said they’ve begun the work to offset the carbon footprints of their companies by finding ways to reduce their own greenhouse gas emissions.
Officials at the resort in Boyne Falls last year installed a 1.7-megawatt solar array in a partnership with the company’s energy supplier to grow its use of renewable energy, all part of a bigger goalto achieve net zero emissions by 2030. There are also energy efficient snow guns, electric golf cars, recycling, and LED lighting in all buildings. These are just a few of the other resilience initiatives.
A view of a 1.7 megawatt solar array, which was installed in 2021 at Boyne Mountain Resort near Boyne Falls. It is expected to produce between 15-17% of the resort’s year-round electricity requirements. Photo provided by Boyne Mountain ResortPhoto provided by Boyne Mountain Resort
The solar array will provide a significant portion – between 15 and 17 percent – of the resort’s year-round electricity needs, said Boyne Mountain Resort President Ed Grice, even if the installation is most productive during Michigan’s sunnier, summer months.
Crystal Mountain Resort officials opted to choose a different option Methods to reduce carbonThrough the years.
It was the first resort in the Midwest to build a LEED-certified “green” spa in 2009 and was the first resort in Michigan to invest in wind energy credits. Recent developments include the installation of free charging stations for electric cars, the construction of a renewable geothermal heating/cooling system for its conference facility, as well as a contract with its local power cooperative to purchase 62 percent electricity from renewable sources.
But for MacInnis, these carbon offsets aren’t the most important things to fight the climate crisis. He believes that the most important thing is to advocate for the end of the burning of fossil fuels for energy, transportation, and to accelerate the development and deployment of renewable energy generation and transmission.
“We need to get off of fossil-fuel driven cars and get onto electric vehicles. And we need to power them with renewable energy by getting the utilities and grid operators, everybody working together to try to get all this clean energy around the country,” MacInnis said.
“We have a large-scale systems problem.”
Experts agree that these concerns are valid given the worldwide climate crisis. Michigan won’t escape all harmful effects.
Lisa DeChano Cook from Western Michigan University, climate change expert and sports geography specialist, said that science and history show that ski resorts can expect to be hard hit by changes in temperatures and precipitation.
“We know that this year’s Winter Olympics are using artificial snow for just about everything and that’s an impact of climate change,” she said.
“And anytime ski resorts have to make snow they have to pay out to do that. So, it is going to get more costly for the ski resorts if they have to keep making artificial snow.”
It’s been an industry-wide issue for about a decade.
The National Ski Areas Association’s “Climate Challenge” programEncourages resorts to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions and advocate for legislation to combat climate changes.
The voluntary program has cut emissions by approximately 129,300 tons since its inception. Participating resorts also purchased renewable electricity, which accounts for an additional reduction in greenhouse gas emissions of around 242,500 tons.
However, those reductions amount to a fraction of the estimated 6 billion tons of greenhouse gas emissions from the United States in 2021 – a total of about 32 minutes worth of the country’s carbon emissions – According to the independent Rhodium Group.
Advocates say it’s a start.
“We can do what we can in our own operations, but if there’s going to be a future in outdoor recreation and a future for humanity just in general, we’re going to need every kind of solution we can find,” said Adrienne Saia Isaac, an NSAA spokesperson. “We’ve got to effect change now.”
But even with high-tech snowmaking and other efficiency measures, the nation’s ski industry is not on track to be viable beyond 2050, said Auden Schendler, senior vice president of sustainability at Aspen Skiing Company in Colorado.
“The industry has historically responded to climate change by saying, ‘We’re going to clean our operations, we’re going to do good snowmaking, and we’re going to cut our carbon footprint,’” he said. “That’s awesome and noble and moral and good business, but it is not a solution to a global problem.”
Back in Michigan, the state’s U.S. senators noticed the ski resort leaders’ call for climate action; it was specifically directed at them, after all.
Sen. Gary Peters, D-Bloomfield Township, said he’s committed to combatting the climate crisis and working to bring funding to Michigan to build resilient infrastructure, while Sen. Debbie Stabenow, D-Lansing, said she agrees about a carbon tax for polluters and more.
“I strongly support a broad range of policies to address this crisis, including a price on carbon pollution. I’m leading efforts to transition our transportation sector away from fossil fuels and give farmers and foresters the tools they need to respond to this serious issue,” Stabenow said.
This article was contributed by the Associated Press
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