Lt. Gov. Lawton’s work as a leader in the Doyle administration focuses on economic development, driving innovations in state government to better support success in a 21st century global economy.
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Barbara Lawton, the first woman elected Wisconsin’s Lieutenant Governor, brings to the office a unique perspective as a community activist, cross-cultural business consultant, scholar and mother.
Is Wisconsin a leader among states on environmental issues?
Wisconsin leads from a proud history of respect for the beauty and importance and fragility of our natural resources: we claim Aldo Leopold’s land ethic and Gaylord Nelson’s Earth Day and both inform public policy today. We intend to redouble our investment in the preservation of public lands with reauthorization of the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund, because our responsibility to future generations is profound. Gov. Doyle’s proposed Office of Energy Independence and a Task Force on Global Warming, two sides of the same currency when it comes to the economic stability and personal security of all of us in Wisconsin, will put our state at the very front of our peers, even as the federal government languishes behind.
Global warming is an issue for which public awareness has grown. Do you think this is the year for progress on this issue?
When Lehman Bros. predicts global carbon trading systems in place within five years, a Republican governor sets the pace with ambitious goals to reduce emissions and the European Union’s plans make those look timid, and when not just Scientific American but also leading fashion magazine Town & Country devote an entire issue to the topic, I think we can be sure the timing is right for bold action and that the public is not only ready but likely to demand it.
Stewardship of Wisconsin lands is important to protecting our state’s natural resources. Are you optimistic the Stewardship Fund will receive adequate resources in the upcoming state budget?
Gov. Doyle’s budget includes reauthorization of the Stewardship Program for an additional 10 years, and increases the funding level from $60 million to $105 million per year from fiscal year 2010-2011 to fiscal year 2019-2020. I expect that the Legislature will continue current funding levels in this budget; I hope that it will see the wisdom and urgency of the future funding increase so we will be positioned to take advantage of opportunities as they arise, rarer with every year, to increase our holdings in accordance with the fund’s mission.
Do you support the Great Lakes Compact, along with implementing language to prevent out-of-basin diversions, promote water conservation, and prevent privatizing the Great Lakes for bottled water?
Wisconsin’s long shoreline on the two largest of the Great Lakes imposes on us a tremendous responsibility for their long-term protection. The Great Lakes Compact underlines our shared destiny with other U.S. states and Canadian provinces perched on the lakes, and provides a tool whereby we can set and enforce a shared agenda to preserve the integrity of the lakes and improve the quality of the water. I believe firmly that no other grand vision for Wisconsin makes any sense, and cannot be realized, unless in the context of a clean environment. Our simplest path to requiring reasonable water conservations standards, placing safeguards against unregulated privatization, setting standards for in-basin users, requiring that all water withdrawn from the basin be returned, fixing the county boundaries and adopting rules to ensure the conduct of the Compact members is open and transparent and invites meaningful public participation is to adopt the philosophy of our Native American friends—to make these decisions with seven generations in mind. |
