Preservation and Protection of the Environment

I will work to extend the tradition of leadership on environmental issues that Spencer Black has exemplified since 1985 as our State Representative. I would do this by working with Wisconsin environmental organizations, government agencies and others that have expertise on environmental issues, in order to support or develop legislation that is designed to assure:

• Clean Air
• Clean Water
• Reduced Use of Fossil Fuels
• Energy Conservation
• Renewable Sources of Energy
• Regional Transit Initiatives
• Additional Study and Regulation of Pesticides and other Chemical Compounds
• Conservation of Wildlife Habitat and Unique Natural Areas, and
  
• Sustainable Development

These goals reflect my long-standing commitment to preservation and protection of the environment. It is a commitment that includes more than 20 years of support for Clean Wisconsin, the National Resources Defense Council, the Environmental Defense Fund, the Nature Conservancy, and the Sierra Club, precisely because those organizations have been working to achieve one or more of the goals set forth above. It is a commitment that includes more than 20 years of support for Spencer Black and other Democrats who have made protection of the environment a priority.

In addition to sharing the values of other environmental advocates, I have many years of experience as a lawyer, which includes more than 11 years of service with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), a federal regulatory agency that is similar in many respects to the federal Environmental Protection Agency and the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources. I have also taught college level courses in American Government and served as a member of the staff of the Wisconsin State Senate. As a result of this broad experience in government and the law, I understand how laws are made, what government agencies must do to implement laws through rules and regulations, what those agencies must do to administer such laws, rules and regulations, and why a strong enforcement program is essential to achieving the goals that led to their enactment.

The 2009-10 Legislature enacted a number of bills that provide new environmental protections. These include bills that restrict the use of phosphorus in fertilizers and detergents, a ban on the use of BPA in baby bottles and cups, a statewide ban on smoking, and legislation to phase out unnecessary uses of mercury.

As your State Representative in the 2011-12 Legislature, I would work to pass the Clean Energy Jobs Act, which is designed to promote renewable energy, energy efficiency and conservation, and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions, while creating 15,000 jobs in the alternative energy industry by 2025. I would also work to pass the Groundwater Protection Act, which is designed to protect our drinking water, and lakes, rivers and streams, from excessive withdrawals of groundwater. In addition, I would work to pass legislation that would provide for the Natural Resources Board to select the Secretary of the Department of Natural Resources. Each of these bills was sponsored by Spencer Black in the last session of the Legislature, but failed to pass.

On other environmental issues, I would put my legal skills and government experience to work by gathering the best information that is available from Wisconsin environmental organizations, government agencies and others that have expertise on environmental issues. I would evaluate that information to determine what additional legislation is needed, so that I may either support the legislative proposals of others that are designed to advance the environmental goals set forth above, or take the lead in developing needed legislation when others have not done so. In either event, I would make it a point to develop persuasive fact-based arguments for the enactment of legislation that will better preserve and protect our environment.

I have been concerned for a quarter of a century about the discharge of pesticides, toxic chemicals, pharmaceuticals, and hormones into the environment. The facts concerning the environmental impacts of such hazardous substances are often difficult to obtain, and difficult to assess. Accordingly, if I should be elected, I would give a high priority to gathering and developing more adequate information about the environmental impacts of such substances, and to exploring the extent to which the State might be able to take remedial actions, or adopt protective legislation or regulations, to prevent environmental harms.

In this context, I have demonstrated the ability to deal with difficult and complex regulatory issues in my work with the federal securities laws, and I believe that the ability to absorb and master such complex issues will be important in the process of developing and enacting effective environmental laws. In addition to regulatory issues, my experience at the SEC includes participation in the drafting of the Insider Trading Sanctions Act, and the preparation of a study that contributed to the development of legislation that gives the SEC broader enforcement authority. It includes the drafting of an agreement with the Government of Switzerland that permits the SEC to obtain evidence from Swiss banks in insider trading cases. It also includes the drafting and promulgation of two rules that implement the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, by requiring corporations to keep accurate books and records, and prohibiting corporate executives from lying to their auditors.

An example of how I would put my legal skills and government experience to work on environmental issues is my service as Chair of a Committee that the Village of Shorewood Hills created to evaluate and minimize the environmental impacts of the UW Co-Generation Plant. The work of this Committee gave me a deeper understanding of a number of environmental issues that are important to the residents of our Assembly District, including the marginal quality of our air, and the fact that we have withdrawn so much water from the aquifer under Madison and Middleton that our lakes are now recharging the groundwater, instead of the groundwater recharging the lakes.

After a careful evaluation of the information that we gathered, I wrote the Committee report in the form of a letter that was unanimously adopted by the Board of Trustees of the Village of Shorewood Hills. The report expressed concerns with respect to air quality, ground water and noise pollution, and identified certain errors that were made in the Environmental Impact Statement. The report was sent to the Governor, the Public Service Commission, representatives of the University of Wisconsin and Madison Gas & Electric, and our representatives in the Legislature. It is available on this website for your review.

Another example of how I would put my legal skills and government experience to work on behalf of environmental issues is my long-standing effort to stop governors from using the partial veto power to make laws that the Legislature did not approve. This undemocratic power has been used on a number of occasions to reduce the impact of environmental legislation. In one case, for example, the Governor used the veto power to set the minimum fine for a knowing failure to report the release of a hazardous substance at just $100, when the Legislature had provided for a minimum fine of $1,000. Another veto reduced a fee for the emission of volatile organic compounds from $2,000 to $200. A third veto cut a tax on generators of hazardous waste from $19 a ton to just $9 a ton.

See the Report of the Shorewood Hills Committee on the UW Co-Generation Plant

Authorized and paid for Wade for Assembly, Marilyn Townsend, Treasurer