Governor Gaylord Nelson promoted the use of environmental impact statements (EIS). Now comes candidate Nelson EISman and one of the main reasons I am running for Governor is that we need to restore state standards for energy and transportation planning and environmental protection. We have seen the results of moving the responsibilities from our government to the corporations that profit from building roads and providing dirty energy. Our energy costs keep rising and the power company profits increase as our environment declines. Four more dirty coal plants are being developed. Our fish are too toxic to consume. What will be the impact on our public health and economic prosperity? Who will pay to clean up this mess?

The Dane County Board of Supervisors has approved placing a referendum on the November ballot to allow voters to advise whether an independent study of the ATC route across the county is needed. While this may impede ATC and its holding companies, the system remains in place that allows them to prevail in the long run, unless we restore appropriate government controls to the DNR, PSC and Public Intervenor.

Only independent and vigilant state agencies using public input will craft reasonable and effective standards. Conservation and efficiency will have to address our ever-increasing demand for energy. We cannot continue to outgas greenhouse emissions, sulfur, mercury, and disperse particulates. Wisconsin currently has a number of counties in non-attainment for ozone. Areas of non-attainment of federal clean air standards will likely increase with new particulate standards coming into place. By addressing these problems proactively, we will control our future, and stave off expensive after-the-fact solutions that will be imposed upon us by the federal government if we violate federal Clean Air Act standards.

We can learn from other states. Vermont requires 3% of utility revenues to go toward energy efficiency, while Wisconsin only requires 1.2%. Matching Vermont will create jobs in Wisconsin, increase disposable income, and stop the hemorrhaging of energy expenditures to corporations outside the state. Let’s keep our money in the state economy. Many of these efficiency investments will pay off in the first 2-3 years of my administration. Energy efficiency is a near-term strategy for cutting waste and creating jobs.

Wisconsin will follow the lead of California to set a goal to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by 25 percent by 2020. Following this investment strategy will yield tremendous health, economic, and environmental benefits for our state.

We will encourage energy conservation through new approaches. We will implement more aggressive state tax incentives to encourage more energy conservation. We will offer tax breaks for energy efficient equipment, home construction, and home retrofits. These tax incentives will push the market toward higher-performing technologies and reduce waste.

Energy affordability is a big concern. Our energy rates have skyrocketed in the last few years, causing deep distress, especially to households on fixed incomes . My Administration will expand the low-income weatherization program to serve more households, and to transfer the tremendous successes of this program to other programs serving working households in the state. The Eisman Administration will also reduce other household expenses, such as healthcare and property taxes; to allow households to focus on meeting their energy needs in the most efficient way possible.

We will explore ways to structure utility rates to reward energy efficient households and businesses. With these incentives in place, our Wisconsin manufacturers will become more efficient and competitive.

We will increase investments in renewable energy. We have a good renewable portfolio standard in Wisconsin (10% by 2015), and we can keep making it better. Our efforts will go beyond feel-good blue-sky plans for technologies in the distant future. We will start large-scale programs to encourage the most commercially viable renewable energy sources, such as solar hot water heaters. We have lots of rooftops, and many windy ridges suitable for wind turbines.

We need to break down the institutional barriers to installing renewable power, especially the small-scale installations that utilities will not finance. Our Great Lake shores and offshore areas are another fertile area for development of wind farms in the future, particularly those areas currently used for industrial purposes and fossil and nuclear power plants.

We have all the technology we need to start acting aggressively today to build a new energy future. However, with our emphasis firmly on taking immediate action, we will also reserve some effort for longer-term approaches. We will enlist the university to further the development of other energy technologies, such as advanced wind turbines, energy based on plant and waste materials, tidal power, and cleaner coal technologies. We will also launch new “young researcher” fellowships to keep our bright young engineers engaged with Wisconsin industry in solving these problems. Our university and agricultural community will be enlisted to pioneer plant-based energy solutions, such as biodiesel, manure methane, and switchgrass. This will provide new business lines for our productive farmers.

We need new energy and transportation policies that emphasize conservation and new energy technologies. Solar, wind, hydrogen and other technologies, along with mass transit will help us create a sustainable environment and economy. Transportation is a large contributor to the air pollution in this state. The Eisman Administration will redirect highway funds to promote biking and mass transit. There’s been the suggestion lately in Wisconsin that different regions take turns to feed at the trough of state road building funds, whether the roads need the improvements or not. This is exactly the wrong way to go about transportation policy in this state. Many of the people controlling transportation currently never saw a solution to a problem that didn’t involve a yellow line painted down the center.

The Eisman Administration will start aggressive new programs to encourage biking, walking, mass transit and carpooling for commuters. In its effort to be a model employer, the state will begin new programs for telecommuting, and for alternative transportation. We have the seeds of success already planted at the UW.

UW campuses around the state already have special bus pass programs for employees and students, as well as innovative parking and carpooling promotion programs. The Eisman Administration will expand these programs to all state employees, and reach out to schools and local governments to come into these programs. There will be new partnerships to encourage private sector employers to support mass transit, as they have begun to do in Milwaukee and Madison.

We will undertake new efforts to encourage walkable and bikable communities in Wisconsin. At the same time we will discourage the use of two-cycle engine motor scooters, and instead promote the shared use of energy efficient community vehicles.

Water quality is a big issue in Wisconsin. We value our lakes and rivers, and depend on them for drinking water, agriculture, and recreation. Signs of distress in the state include poor water quality, pollutants such as mercury in lakes, excessive pumping of water that drains lakes and water tables, storm water overflows, and discharges of sewage into the Great Lakes. The Eisman Administration will address water issues as a top priority.
The state will start new water conservation programs that will address these issues and save energy as well.

We used to do 3-year integrated resource planning and 20-year advance plans. We used to require thoughtful environmental impact statements. We used to forecast baseload demand and account for externalities. We had directive planning to balance private and public interests. Wisconsin had it right when citizen boards comprised of stakeholders supervised the programs of the DNR. Wisconsin had it right when the PSC served the public.

We have a proud history of environmental protection and need to restore the value we place on appropriate controls and regulation. Incentives and fines both need to be increased. We need to ban “energy hog” appliances and encourage our manufacturers of energy efficient products. Our investments in conservation, efficiency and environmental protections will delay the need for more power plants and protect our future.