Welcome to Wisconsin Environment, the new home of WISPIRG’s environmental work.

With your support, we are continuing to use the same creative, result-oriented approach to our state’s environmental problems that has made such an important difference over the years. With a clear name and a single-minded focus, we expect to make an even bigger impact on the environmental issues that you and I care about.

Meanwhile, our friends at WISPIRG continue to offer a strong and independent voice for the public on major issues such as health care reform, identity theft, government waste and more.

The last few years have been rough for environmentalists. It seems like every time we turned around there was a new proposal to pollute our water and air or chop down and pave over our wildernesses. It was all that we could do to fight to keep the protections we have.

But now we’re seeing a new hope for positive progress. Both at a state and federal level, from global warming, to water pollution, to renewable energy, we’re seeing our leaders finally standing up for change. And nowhere is the change more visible than in Wisconsin.

Every two years, Wisconsin sets a spending plan for itself, known as a biennium budget. This budget ought to reflect its citizens’ priorities and values. Unfortunately, in the last several years, the budget has come up short on environmental and conservation funding.

This time, however, Gov. Doyle has proposed a budget that reflects the best of our conservation values. His budget includes the following:

• $105 million per year over 10 years for the Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Fund. Since 1989, this innovative program has protected 477,000 acres in 71 of 72 Wisconsin counties. For over 15 years, the Stewardship Fund has been an amazing success.

• Funding to establish an Office of Energy Independence as well as an Energy Independence Grant and Loan Program. This program will provide $30 million in grants and loans for companies and researchers that are developing new technologies to increase renewable energy, speeding the commercialization of these innovations and leading the way to energy independence.

• In July of 2002, Wisconsin became the first state in the nation to pass a comprehensive policy to reduce polluted runoff. Unfortunately, the law has never been properly enforced due to lack of funding. This budget provides funding for controlling polluted runoff problems including $12 million for on-the-ground farm management practices and $14 million for engineered runoff solutions to implement the polluted runoff rules.

Gov. Doyle has done his part. Now it’s up to the state Legislature. To be fair, they have a difficult job to do, sorting out all of the state’s priorities and balancing the budget. With that reality in mind, there is no doubt the Legislature should prioritize funding the critical stewardship, renewable energy and clean water protection programs. Preserving our environment and precious natural resources means preserving the character of our state for future generations.

Thanks for your support,

Dan Kohler
Director

Mission Statement

We all want clean air, clean water and open spaces. But it takes independent research and tough minded advocacy to win concrete results for our environment, especially when powerful interests stand in the way of environmental progress. That’s the idea behind Wisconsin Environment.

We focus exclusively on protecting Wisconsin’s air, water and open spaces. We research problems, advocate solutions, and educate and engage the public at the local, state and national levels to improve the quality of our environment and our lives.

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