CNOW Week of Nov. 22, 2021

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urge you to support the entire Forward on Climate bill package circulating for cosponsorship. This package of 22 bills would be a big step toward addressing the climate crisis and building a more resilient, sustainable, and just economy here in Wisconsin. Wisconsin Conservation Voters support each of these bills. We are prioritizing the following bills:

• Cosponsor LRB 3449: Mitigating Energy Burdens on Low-Income Households
• Cosponsor LRB 3437: Expanding the Focus on Energy Program
• Cosponsor LRB 4199: Developing New Facilities with Transparency and Accountability
• Cosponsor LRB 5103: Allowing Communities to Enact Additional Energy Standards
• Cosponsor LRB 3734: Creating a Public School Weatherization Grant Program
• Cosponsor LRB 3393: Creating Local Plans That Factor in Climate Change
• Cosponsor LRB 5051: Creating More Green Jobs
• Cosponsor LRB 0238: Evaluating the Social Cost of Carbon Emissions in Wisconsin

Separately, Wisconsin Conservation Voters also urges you to:

• Cosponsor LRB 4874: Funding Research on Chronic Wasting Disease
• Cosponsor LRB 4875: Testing for Chronic Wasting Disease
• Cosponsor LRB 4876: Deer Carcass Disposal

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to cosponsor LRB 3449, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

We know that low-income households are disproportionately susceptible to increased energy costs associated with climate change-induced extreme weather events. Under Wisconsin law, investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities are required to fund statewide energy efficiency and renewable resource programs, known as Focus on Energy. LRB 3449 requires Focus on Energy to prioritize programs specifically targeted toward the needs of low-income households.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to cosponsor LRB 3437, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

Under Wisconsin law, investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities are required to help fund Focus on Energy, a popular program that helps Wisconsinites improve energy efficiency in their homes and businesses, and access renewable energy. LRB 3437 directs the Public Service Commission to require participating investor-owned electric and natural gas utilities to increase their annual contribution to the Focus on Energy program. This will ensure that we can expand the Focus on Energy program, and deliver energy efficiency and renewable resource tools to more households across Wisconsin.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to cosponsor LRB 4199, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

Low-income households, and particularly low-income households of color, are disproportionately more likely to live in spaces where they are drinking poisoned water, breathing toxic air, and more immediately exposed to the potential impacts of climate change. LRB 4199 is an important step toward ensuring that Wisconsin doesn’t develop new facilities that makes this problem even worse by prohibiting the Department of Natural Resources from issuing certain permits for the operation of a facility that is located in a vulnerable community, unless the permit applicant complies with certain reporting requirements. This will help expose potential environmental injustices, and ensure impacted communities have an opportunity to have a say in the process.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to cosponsor LRB 5103, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

Under Wisconsin law, the Department of Safety and Professional Services’ (DSPS’) energy conservation code sets certain design requirements for energy conservation in public buildings and places of employment. To promote energy efficiency, limit pollution, and reduce energy costs, local communities should have the ability to enact additional standards that go beyond this code. LRB 5103 would allow local communities to enact additional standards through a “stretch energy code”. This code would be built by a DSPS working group created under the bill.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to cosponsor LRB 3734, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

Facing extreme weather events associated with climate change, weatherizing our public schools is critical to ensuring that we can save taxpayer money on energy bills, reduce our reliance on fossil fuels, and create comfortable conditions in which Wisconsin teachers can teach, and children can learn. To help do this, LRB 3734 would create an annual weatherization grant program administered through the Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction. This program would support weatherization and energy efficiency updates across the state.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to cosponsor LRB 3393, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

Wisconsin communities need to prepare for the growing unpredictability of climate change-related extreme weather events. Wisconsin law already requires or permits counties and municipalities to prepare a variety of plants that guide responses to future events. These include plans for physical development, community health challenges, and hazard mitigation. Under LRB 3393, if a local governmental unit prepares a new plan, it must also factor in considerations related to the impact of climate change. This will ensure that communities aren’t blindsided by the growing unpredictability of climate change-related events.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to cosponsor LRB 5051, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

To quickly transition to clean energy, we need to offer more job training programs for jobs that expand Wisconsin’s use of clean energy and conserve our natural resources. To accomplish this goal, LRB 5051 would allow the Department of Workforce Development to offer grants to public and private organizations to create and/or scale up their green jobs training programs.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to cosponsor LRB 0238, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

Climate change is having an impact on all areas of our economy, our health, and the landscape of our communities. Currently, Wisconsin citizens are left to deal with these negative impacts on their own. LRB 0238 would require the Wisconsin Public Service Commission (PSC) to consider the social cost of carbon in its analysis as it decides whether to approve the construction of new utility-scale energy generation facilities, high voltage transmission lines, and certain other public utility projects.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to support LRB 4874, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

Chronic Wasting Disease (CWD) is a transmissible disease that causes the spongy degeneration of the brains of infected animals, including wild deer. This epidemic has continued to grow in our state over the last decade. LRB 4874 provides $1,000,000 GPR annually to the Department of Natural Resources for CWD testing, management, and research, a responsible investment to preserve our state’s deer hunt and multibillion-dollar industry for generations to come.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to support LRB 4875, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship.

Deer hunting is an important Wisconsin tradition passed down from generation to generation. In recent years, Chronic Wasting Disease has continued to spread in Wisconsin and threaten the long-term health of our deer herd. LRB 4875 would require the Department of Natural Resources to provide self-service chronic wasting disease testing kiosks where hunters may drop off deer carcass samples for testing. Making it more convenient and accessible ensures that more of our deer are tested.

Wisconsin Conservation Voters urges you to support LRB 4876, which is being circulated for co-sponsorship

Deer hunting is a proud tradition in Wisconsin, as well as being a multibillion-dollar industry. Currently, Chronic Wasting Disease has affected 60 of Wisconsin’s 72 counties. LRB 4876 would require the Department of Natural Resources to provide dumpsters where hunters may dispose of deer carcasses, to be placed in locations throughout the state as determined by the Department of Natural Resources.

Conservation Notices of the Week (CNOW) announces the pro-conservation positions on issues before the senate, assembly and/or governor in the week ahead to state legislators. Others wishing to follow activities in the state legislature also receive CNOW, including legislative staff, conservation voters, and media. All of these issues are tracked on the Vote Tracker. Issues in the CNOW may appear in the Conservation Scorecard.