Walker Republicans: “We do not seek to withdraw from the Clean Water Act," but want allow Phosphorus Discharge into Lakes and Streams to save money.

How can we "balance" the cost of clean water the cost on business? You either have clean water or you don't, right?

The cost to business is another thing entirely. Republicans seem to have things upside down. If we don't start with reasonable regulation over farm runoff and manufacturing discharge, then the costs skyrocket for local municipalities to keep it clean.

But Republicans are now complaining about the cost of a problem they created:

A group of 31 Republican state lawmakers are calling for the federal government to help ease regulations of phosphorus discharge into lakes and streams, saying complying with the standards is too expensive for small municipalities.

I know, it's impossible to imagine allowing such a thing to continue, and yet it's right there in black and white. 

Phosphorus discharge can cause unnatural weed and algae growth in public waterways ... (laws) were adopted in 2010 by the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board after eight years of scientific review and input from environmental, agricultural and municipal groups.

But scientific "facts" must be balanced with business, say Republicans. The EPA did just that, but with limits:

The EPA granted the state a waiver in response to requests from Republican lawmakers that will allow manufacturers and sewage treatment plants to be exempt from the standards for 10 years if they pay fees to help cut pollution that rain carries off farm fields, which is one of the main sources of phosphorus pollution.

But that just gave state Republicans a little more time to wordsmith another excuse. Shockingly, making the standards sound "pragmatic" with whiny "arbitrary numeric limitations" was all they could come up with:

In their letter to the state’s congressional delegation, the 31 Republicans state that while the creation of a phosphorus pollution standard was “pragmatic, the real-world application of arbitrary numeric limitations has placed significant strain on communities throughout the state of Wisconsin.”

Paying for Clean Water...Nope: The obsession to cut taxes and freeload off the land continues. Just maybe the cost of keeping our water clean will cost everyone a little more money, at least hypothetically:

The letter cites examples of communities where water utility rates would substantially increase if they have to upgrade their wastewater treatment systems. The 973 residents of Benton in Lafayette County could see average residential rates increase from $40 to $75 a month if the village pursues a chemical treatment to reduce phosphorus discharge, they wrote.

With a dash of Humpty Dumptyism (the practice of insisting that a word or phrase means whatever one wishes it to), Republicans settled for this down the rabbit hole contradictory statement:

The letter asks for permission to revise the standards ... “We do not seek to withdraw from the Clean Water Act or ignore our stewardship of the waters in Wisconsin,” the letter states. “We simply seek a way to balance our responsibility with reasonable expectations that we can realistically reach.”

Love that alliteration..."balance our RESPONSIBILITY with REASONABLE expectations we can REALISTICALLY REACH." Anyone see "balance?" The question is; just when is the time to spend that kind of money? 

Sadly, environmental groups struck back with the force, stating forcefully that it was..."unfortunate?" 

More than 20 environmental groups sent their own letter to the congressional delegation in response to the request, calling it a “new attack on the sensible, science-based rules put forward in 2010” and “unfortunate.”

Republicans Cost Taxpayer Millions...again: 

The letter states the DNR conducted a cost-benefit analysis in 2012 that found the rules created a more than $18 million net economic benefit, including $1 billion in increased property values, $596.7 million in additional recreational economic activity and between $4.8 million and $11.4 million in reduced lake cleanup costs per year.

Our anti-science DNR imagined a world where businesses and communities would unfortunately try to keep our water clean: 

The DNR also estimated in 2015 that compliance with the regulations could cost businesses and municipalities $7 billion over 20 years.

Republicans out to stop ridiculous rules like limiting Phosphorous pollution with State version of "REINS Act."

The complete destruction of Wisconsin's environment is nearly complete, and you can thank politically motivated special interests for gutting the last remnants of "old Wisconsin," and climate denying Scott Walker.

This is almost to breathtaking to explain. Ridiculous "rules" limiting regulation by state departments to work in the best interest of constituents is now spreading like a cancer through the US: 

Republican lawmakers in Wisconsin have revived a plan that would limit the power of state agencies to write some environmental and workplace regulations. The so-called REINS Act would require legislative approval for any agency rule that would cost businesses or taxpayers more than $10 million. State agencies write rules that cover everything from pollution standards for factories to workplace safety requirements. 

I think this summation says it all:

Supporters of the proposal say it will provide needed oversight to government and create a more business-friendly regulatory climate in Wisconsin.

 Fu** the citizens, right? Like our state economy is roaring ahead with Walker's other brilliant job creating ideas.

And like other Republican giveaways to special interests…business would get a say publicly, or what I would call a dog and pony show:

The bill would allow a legislative committee to request a public hearing allowing input from citizens and industry before the agency drafts projections related to its economic impact.

The bill would also give the committee the power to request an economic analysis of the bill from an organization outside state government. The initiative is supported by Americans for Prosperity, the conservative political group funded by the Koch brothers.

As we all know, the Koch brothers are upstanding Wisconsinites just looking out for their state...oh, wait a minute...they can do an economic analysis?

I hope you're sitting down: You won't believe the example Republicans gave for pushing this industry crap. Someone needs their head examined?

Sen. Devin LeMahieu, another sponsor of the bill, cited a 2010 Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources rule on phosphorous emissions as an example of a state agency exercising too much power. The rule set stricter standards for phosphorous released by factories and wastewater treatment plants.

We would hate to have stricter standards for phosphorous, right:

A 2015 economic impact analysis released by the DNR and Wisconsin Department of Administration estimated the rule would cost businesses and municipalities $708 million per year. "This bill is to put safeguards in to make sure something like the phosphorous rule doesn’t happen in the future," LeMahieu said.

I wish I were kidding, but LeMahieu thinks stopping "safeguards" in place to stop phosphorous pollution was something he wasn't about let happen again. Folks, we're not coming back from this Republican controlled decade. 

DNR Sec. Stepp says, "Hey, Wisconsin knows how to do it right," as she backs off protecting our drinking water.

Republican governors should be scary the daylights out of Americans everywhere. They don't care at all about our drinking water, rivers and lakes.

Gov. Rick Snyder didn't care about lead in an entire cities drinking water. Yesterday I reported how Gov. Rick Scott allowed his environmental board to approve dumping more toxic chemicals into Florida's waterways, doing nothing about the huge growing algae bloom problem statewide.

Florida made national news for being coated in thick, green, toxic algae. It looked like a river of snot. It smelled worse. And it mangled the economy along the St. Lucie River and Treasure Coast. Florida officials responded ... by voting to allow more cancer-causing agents into the Sunshine State's drinking water supplies and recreational waters. No, I'm not kidding.

They allow companies, developers and homeowners to pave and foul the land — and then charge taxpayers billions to clean it up. Fiscal conservatism, my asphalt. People worried about clean air or water were labeled as "job killers." Now we're spending $8 billion repairing the Everglades. we keep electing politicians who foul the land and then stick us with the bill.

Scott Walker Attacks Clean Water: Not to be outdone, Gov. Scott Walker's DNR has decided the state can't legally regulate high capacity wells, cut to the bone DNR staffing, and incredibly...has now backed off protecting drinking water so businesses like concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFO’s) can flourish in Wisconsin. WSJ:

Just a sample of media coverage!

1. After Walker’s office notified farm industry lobbyists, the state Dairy Business Association met with DNR officials and complained about the potential cost of new rules, prompting the agency to narrow their scope.

2. Limited plans for reducing manure contamination of public waters despite complaints about excessive dairy industry influence.

3. Instead of stronger regulation of manure at CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) statewide, any new rules will apply only in yet-to-be-defined sensitive areas where groundwater is especially vulnerable.

4. The plans were changed without notification of people affected by polluted lakes, streams and wells.

5. Kewaunee County has been hard hit for many years, and residents expressed impatience, but Stepp said the DNR couldn’t begin to act until scientific evidence was in place.

 6. Natural Resource Board members said the plan they approved balanced everyone’s interests. “It’s almost like they are almost anti-business and anti-growth,” Member Gregory Kazmierski said.

Really, balancing “everyone’s” interests, even Wisconsinites who have had their drinking water contaminated or will have it contaminated when even more CAFO’s are approved?

Thankfully one "adult" was in the room to reassure everyone, with this amazingly juvenile statement:

“I know we are going to stand up at the end of the process and say, ‘Hey, Wisconsin knows how to do it right’,” DNR secretary Cathy Stepp said.

That's right up there with Tony the Tigers "They're great."

As Charlie Pierce put it:

This week's special: water quality!

WSJ: "But conservationists said the narrowed rule-making plan delayed indefinitely the consideration of public health and water resources protections that were identified through lengthy scientific study and extensive public discussion." 

But, seriously. "Lengthy scientific study"? "Extensive public discussion"? We'll have none of that, people. Not here in Wisconsin, where neither the government nor the rivers and streams are transparent any more.

Walker balances clean water with impact on business, where business always wins.

Like everything else Wisconsin had going for it, the great outdoors is getting the Scott Walker once over. Tourism, hunting and fishing seem like a second thoughts to Scott Walker and Republican legislators seeking to slash government deregulation.  

It's gotten so bad that opponents had no choice but go to the EPA for help, sounding the alarm:

WPR: A group of former and retired DNR employees are urging the EPA to make the state step up its regulation of water pollution … requested that federal regulators force the DNR to improve its enforcement of the Clean Water Act. Retired DNR employee Ron Grasshoff: "I just saw an erosion and a trend of the DNR straying away from its original mission, which is to protect the air, water and soils of the state.”

We have to force the DNR to do their job? Only in Walker's Wisconsin have we seen this kind of destruction...: 

The letter cites cuts in science budgets, orders to cease discussion of climate change, and gag orders on employees as some of the most serious problems with the DNR … cut upwards of 600 positions … Enforcement by the DNR has also declined, and in some cases, the agency has said it lacks legal authority to carry out that responsibility.

But Walker responded with perhaps one of the most ridiculous and convoluted reasons ever uttered by a state governor. Again, there's never a good outcome when Republicans try to "balance" the environment with making money. WPR

Gov. Scott Walker is rebuking a claim by former state DNR officials ... saying the state is balancing environmental and economic concerns.

"The fact that citations have gone down is a good thing because in this state, we believe that if a citation is issued, that's a sign that something went wrong. So, just because the number of citations have gone down isn't a reflection of the quality in terms of water, air and land," he said ... be more proactive in working with would-be violators ... (saying) his ultimate goal is to have no citations issued at all.

No citations at all because...we have reached environmental perfection, or just given up? Walker is now about to give polluters more time to clean things up:

A hearing will look at a proposal to give industries and municipalities more time to reduce phosphorus discharges into Wisconsin waterways ... the Multi-discharger Phosphorus Variance!

However, attorney Elizabeth Wheeler, of Clean Wisconsin, contends a state review of the plan inflates the cost of upgrading treatment plants and leaves out the potential financial benefits to shoreline property owners. "You don't want that waterbody to be polluted with toxic algae, you want to be able to enjoy it, and swim in it and fish in it, and so there is that direct economic value," she said. Wheeler also said local tourism-related businesses gain when companies and cities reduce phosphorus pollution.

Clueless Gov. Walker's failed campaign policies spread like Cancer in Wisconsin.

I once heard someone say about Scott Walker, "In one ear out his asshole." I'm beginning to understand why that makes sense now.

High Speed Rail/Rail/Regional Hub: When Walker killed high speed rail connecting Madison, Milwaukee, Kenosha, and Racine to Chicago, he also killed the idea of a regional Midwestern business hub that would have spurred on economic development and job creation for decades to come. Now all we can do is talk about it. BizTimes:

Racine Mayor John Dickert, challenged his colleagues to stop nitpicking at budgets and build a future for the next generation that will allow them to compete globally. “We have an opportunity to build a plan that crosses three states to create the most efficient, effective, transportation mechanism in the world and compete globally,” Dickert said.

Dickert spoke during a session on the “Future of North America’s largest transportation hub” at the third annual Summit on Regional Competitiveness Friday at the Federal Reserve Bank of Chicago. It has to do with connecting 21 counties in southeastern Wisconsin, Chicago and Indiana by road, rail, air, port and commuter rail. Right now, it’s just a concept, that the mayors of the communities are on board with but that gets stuck when it moves through the ranks of the state’s governors, state legislators and federal bureaucrats, Dickert said.

Walker traded all that to save less than a million dollars a year on train/track maintenance. Instead, he ended up spending $50 million to settle a lawsuit with Talgo for trains it built for the state. What, no conservative voter outrage over wasted taxpayer money?

And yet, Walker talked up rail as if his rail fiasco never happened:

Walker noted there are at least 160 cities in China that have more than 1 million people, so compared to the world, major Midwestern cities including Chicago, Milwaukee and Gary, Ind., are small and need to bind together to make a global impact.

Fresh Water and the Great Lakes: With major cuts to the DNR that just approved the near doubling of an already large dairy farm in Kewaunee County where well water is already tainted by manure; and runoff into Green Bay that has created a huge dead zone algae blume, Scott Walker cluelessly talked up our lead in clean fresh water research:

(Walker) said one of the great assets the region has is Lake Michigan and the tri-state area should continue to leverage the clean water natural resource that binds the region. “The water council has now elevated itself beyond Wisconsin,” Walker said. “Just in our state alone we have more than 300 companies related to water. China and India don’t have clean water. We have an abundance of it and we have experts in that intellectual property.”

So Walker isn't  worried, despite the facts:

Figures show farms produce 46% of phosphorus that flows into the lower Fox and Green Bay, followed by industry, 21%; municipal treatment plants, 16%; and urban storm water, 12%, according to estimates by NEW Water.

The Clean Water Act of 1972 largely exempts "nonpoint" sources such as the manure and fertilizer spread on fields and washed into streams.

So in Green Bay, officials are in the early stages of planning that would give financial incentives to farmers to use management practices, such as using more vegetation to cover fields to limit the runoff of manure and fertilizer.

Education, Skills Gap, and Jobs : After cutting nearly $500 million from the UW system since he became governor, and smoked other states in cuts to public education, Walker lamented the shortage of educated skilled people ready to fill the jobs employers say they need:

“It’s not just manufacturing, it’s IT, finance, accounting, health care, construction and transportation,” Walker said. “What I hear is it’s not just about workforce development, it’s economic development.

Scott Walker makes cuts that will kill our lakes and rivers...and he's worried about the world Democrats were leaving his kids?

Here's a second story that expands on my post:

Walker's DNR overseeing the end of our lakes...."There's just too many cows in Brown County..."

...so I will say little here. I think this short excerpt tells you how Walker is taking care of the state:

jsonline: As worries grow about water pollution caused from runoff from streets, yards and farm fields, Gov. Scott Walker's next budget calls for nearly 16% in spending cuts in programs that attack the problem.

The reductions have gone virtually unnoticed until now, overshadowed by Walker's higher profile environmental initiatives to freeze land purchases and strip the Natural Resources Board of its policymaking power.

Runoff is the state's most serious water pollution problem.

In Green Bay, pollutants from farm fields and other sources have helped create a dead zone, an area so low in oxygen that it can't support most aquatic life.

We were warned about this guy....

Walker's DNR overseeing the end of our lakes...."There's just too many cows in Brown County..."

Republicans have been trying for years to open our state and federal park lands to energy and mineral plundering, saying they could do these things in an environmentally safe way.

Don't believe them for a second, if their management of agricultural land is any indicator. Scott Walker and his now hollowed out DNR are making it clear they will make no regulatory effort to keep our rivers and great lakes clear of phosphorus and algae blooms of dead water. In fact, they reversed previous efforts:

jsonline: New regulations will not be coming from state regulators, said DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp. Lawmakers and Gov. Scott Walker's administration have shown no interest in increased regulation of dairy farms … Wisconsin became one of the first states to approve phosphorus reduction limits, using specific numeric standards. However, the Legislature in 2014 rolled back a full phase-in of those rules by up to 20 years because of concerns about the cost of the regulations.

See, who needs that when we have a massive phosphorus dead zone in beautiful Green Bay:

Walker, DNR have no plan to stem Green Bay pollution: The tide of nutrients from the Fox River and other tributaries will help create the latest, and most likely, longest-lasting dead zone in Lake Michigan's Green Bay this summer. The problem is caused by vast amounts of phosphorus and other nutrients that wash from farms and urban landscapes and produce conditions that create oxygen-deprived stretches on the bay. In 2014, areas of the bay where virtually nothing lives lasted 43 days. By comparison, in 1990 the dead zone was gone in four days, according to figures from the city's wastewater utility.

Regulation? We don't need regulation when we could just let people voluntarily figure out what to do:

WPR: Rep. Reid Ribble, R-DePere, said he'd like to avoid federal mandates to crack down on phosphorus runoff from agriculture and other sources. "We're going to take these steps voluntarily so there doesn't have to be a regulation that comes in," said Ribble.

Because even in a case like this, regulations to save our lakes are BAD. Regulations giving large farms the right to pollute...GOOD.

I always watch public televisions "Market to Market" farm program on weekends, and remember reports about Ag states that are proactive in their efforts to greatly reduce phosphorus. They use "cover crops" that prevent soil from washing away. But in Wisconsin...

One technique not widely used is to plant a cover crop between rows of corn and soybeans to hold soil in place.

Like congress, don't hold your breath waiting for Republicans to get anything done of real value. 

Rep. Reid Ribble (R-Green Bay) convened a "phosphorus summit" … "This is step one of a multiyear process."

Sure it is, take your time, don't rush into this like voter ID, concealed carry, religious freedom laws and unpaid for tax cuts that leave projected deficits. What's a little algae bloom here and there. 

Stepp was buttonholed by at least two attendees who told her the state isn't doing enough ... regulators don't consider pollution costs borne by the public when evaluating farm expansions or how much waste farms send to watersheds ... the agency fails to consider the cumulative effects of manure from many farms when it reviews a wastewater permit for Wisconsin's largest farms, known as concentrated animal feeding operations.

And under the watchful eye of the DNR:

Only the largest farms are required to get such permits, and the DNR has never rejected one.

 Research be damned...

Kewaunee County had seen its cattle population jump 34% between 1983 and 2012, according to state figures. In Brown County, cow numbers have increased 20% for the period. "There's just too many cows in Brown County, I'm afraid," said Val Klump, director of the Great Lakes WATER Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Klump's research includes study of Green Bay's dead zone.

The Fox River watershed is a source of one-third of all nutrients into Lake Michigan, according to the Department of Natural Resources.

I thought this comment summed it all up pretty well:

A Nihilist: Good thing republicans are in control. They understand that the environment is the enemy and if you stop killing the lake, you stop profits and therefore hate freedom.

What makes living in a trash heap an expression of freedom and liberty?

Saving tourism and our lakes from Phosphorus Pollution and Algae delayed due to costs! 700 Waterways Fail, and counting...

Pollution is okay, because despite revenue surpluses, we can't afford to reduce it:

jsonline: In another bill passed by the Senate, the state would delay costly phosphorus reduction regulations that would reduce algae-causing pollution in waterways. Aimed at addressing one of the top water problems in the state, the regulations were approved in 2010 during the administration of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle. About one-quarter of the state’s more than 700 waterways fail to meet water quality standards for phosphorus.

That's a lot. Yet, business and community treatment plants can't afford it. Really, but the environment and tourism can? Seems we have a problem, great lovers of the outdoors:

But business groups and some municipalities said that the new limits would place undue burden on them while other major sources of phosphorus pollution, such as farms, avoid such limits. The bill gives a community or industry an option to delay stricter regulations, for as long as 20 years, if it can prove financial hardship in trying to meet them. 

Funny thing, PBS's Market to Market took an in-depth look at Iowa, who seems to take phosphorus and nitrogen pollution very seriously. They seem to care about their drinking water:

See, as we cut taxes and give back revenues, now we can’t afford to pay for ways to stop pouring phosphorus into our lakes and rivers. Common sense:

During that time, permit holders would have to cut phosphorus discharges. Environmentalists have expressed worries about the bill such as the length of the two-decade delay. Amber Meyer Smith, a lobbyist with Clean Wisconsin, said her group is now officially “neutral” after amendments approved in committee last week addressed some of the group’s concerns. “We think they have made some positive changes,” she said.

There you go, compromise by those trying to save the environment. And so continues our slide into the trash heap. This is what we’re leaving out kids, who will have to raise their own taxes to clean this up.