Don’t roll back environmental protections
Wisconsin has a strong tradition of environmental stewardship that transcends political ideology.
Coalitions of hunters, anglers, outdoorsmen and environmental activists have worked together for generations to ensure that Wisconsin’s waters, woods and air are clean.
The safeguards put in place to ensure that Wisconsin stays this way are under attack in a misguided attempt to rollback environmental protections in pursuit of more money for CEOs and corporate bottom lines.
President Trump’s proposed EPA budget was published in May. IT proposed to zero out federal funding that supports the supervision of most environmental protection programs in Wisconsin.
If the proposal goes through, this would be devastating to programs that rely on federal support to continue to enforce the rules to keep the waters clean and the air clear.
While the president can set a course, it is up to Congress with the power of the purse strings to give or take away the money to get the job done. The House of Representatives has proposed a budget that calls for 15% cut to the Clean Water Act Nonpoint Section 319 and has proposed cuts of 31% to the Clean Water Act Pollution Control Section 106.
These proposed cuts could affect implementation of the Safe Drinking Water Act, Clean Air Act, and Clean Water Act, among many other state and federal laws.
Stewardship organizations are already bracing for cuts, by scaling down workforces through attrition and implementing spending cuts as a way to remain viable and focus on essential programs.
Much like state troopers enforcing speed limits on freeways, environmental rules get a bad rap by those who want to speed through and take shortcuts. Wisconsin is a long way from the time when rivers and wetlands were seen as handy dumping grounds for trash and industrial waste. Rivers and wildlife areas have been restored one load of old tires and broken bottles at a time.
Drastic cuts to enforcement of environmental regulations could quickly undo the decades of backbreaking labor and incremental improvements.
Beyond the aesthetics of having clean rivers, lakes and woods, there is a very real economic impact to maintaining strong environmental protections in Wisconsin.
According to a the The Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, in 2024, Wisconsin’s outdoor recreation industry hit new records contributing $11.2 billion to the state’s economy – a 9.4% increase from 2023. Wisconsin Public Radio (WPR) reports that growth outpaced the national average of 9%.
Even Wisconsin manufacturing gets a boost from outdoor recreation, with manufacturing of outdoors equipment including boats, motorcycles and ATVs, fishing equipment and others contributing 96,000 jobs to the Wisconsin economy and feeding billions of dollars int the state’s economy.
Rep. Tom Tiffany knows the importance of clean air and waters in Wisconsin and to everyone. Call on Rep. Tiffany and others in Congress to be strong stewards and resist rollback of common-sense environmental protections.
