Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Another Builders' Official Gets Top DNR Post

First it was the trade group's former executive director, Matt Moroney, getting the deputy position.

Now Pat Stevens, the builders' former general counsel, gets a senior regulatory management position as head of the agency's air and waste division.

From the Builders' website:

"Pat Stevens is General Counsel for the Wisconsin Builders Association.  In addition to providing WBA with legal services, Pat staffs the WBA Legal and Building Code Hotline, which is available to all WBA members.  He also manages WBA’s Builders Legal Action and Research Fund, which funds legal actions and research projects that are of interest to the housing industry.  Moreover, he is extensively involved in regulatory, legislative and policy matters on behalf of the association."

Stevens has had stints with the road-builders and the WMC, too.

The Journal Sentinel expands on Stevens' bio:

"Pat Stevens, Division of Air and Waste. Stevens, 49, new to DNR, will oversee Air Management, Waste and Materials Management, Remediation and Redevelopment and Cooperative Environmental Management, including Green Tier, programs. Stevens brings 17 years of experience with DNR programs as general counsel for the Wisconsin Builders Association, counsel for the Wisconsin Transportation Builders Association and environmental policy director for Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce. In these roles, he collaborated with DNR and others on the development of a number of DNR rules. In other experience, Stevens served as Assistant Attorney General in North Dakota from 1988-92, working with the Natural Resources and Indian Affairs Division and Tax Commissioner’s Office. He holds a B.A in business management from Arizona State University and a law degree from the University of North Dakota School of Law."
Note also that Walker's plan to restrict wind turbine siting will make some land more valuable for home-building.

Cathy Stepp, the agency Secretary-designee, comes from the home-building industry, too.

Anyone see the pattern developing here?

How much influence does big business get in this crucial environmental regulatory agency?

Goodbye Public Trust Doctrine.

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I volunteered, donated and assisted Walker and Johnson with phone calls and door to door solicitations in the previous election, I also was a poll watcher for the republican party this past November. I can even make Belling, Beck and Limbaugh look a little to the center on some issues.

Furthermore I often post on this blog mocking some of the liberal comments and stories that James writes about for us....

I have also been called a lot of things in my life, but I don't think anyone would ever mistake me for an environmentalist. To back that up, my favorite children's book is "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss and my favorite character is the "Oncler." Read it if you love capitalism and you will also agree!)

That being said.... I think these appointments by Walker and now Stepp are a valid concern to anyone who is even remotely interested in our States natural resources.

While there can be over regulation brought on by the WiDNR, and they have interfered in business issues in the past, their surely must be qualified people outside the home building industry willing and able to take on some of these roles to provide some checks and balances.

I'm all for getting the housing market back on track, but these appointments have a certain feel about them which may cause undue harm to the environment if these people are left to their own devices.

I don't think the harm will be done necessarily on purpose, because they are good people, but perhaps more so because those now in charge at the DNR do not have the background in this agency or in this area of science or government. In fact, they have been in most part largely opposed to many of the agency's past policies.

I just think Walkers appointments to the DNR would have been more appropriate if they were selected for the commerce department or some business task force designed to bring business and jobs to Wisconsin.

Instead, we essentially have the Metropolitan Builders Association running our DNR and controlling our natural resources and future policy decisions.

I like housing development as much as the next republican and I even appreciate the environment a little bit too, but these two items do not always mix well together.

Hopefully these new appointees WILL be stewards of the environment and put our natural resources in front of the needs of their fellow building associates.
I hope they base their decisions on what is right for the people of our state, and not necessarily what their fellow building industry friends want, need or feel is owed to them.

Anonymous said...

I volunteered, donated and assisted Walker and Johnson with phone calls and door to door solicitations in the previous election, I also was a poll watcher for the republican party this past November. I can even make Belling, Beck and Limbaugh look a little to the center on some issues.

Furthermore I often post on this blog mocking some of the liberal comments and stories that James writes about for us....

I have also been called a lot of things in my life, but I don't think anyone would ever mistake me for an environmentalist. To back that up, my favorite children's book is "The Lorax" by Dr. Seuss and my favorite character is the "Oncler." Read it if you love capitalism and you will also agree!)

cont...

Boxer said...

The alcoholics have broken into the liquor storeroom. Drunk on their own power, they are emptying the till and smashing up the place.

Max B said...

DNR over-regulation is not what has deadened the housing market any more than slogans such as "We're open for business" aimed at Illinois are going to lure in 250,000 jobs--or even 250 jobs. Those jobs don't exist in Illinois or elsewhere.

What WOULD create jobs is an environment of encouragement and tax incentives for new types of businesses, new technologies and innovations: stem cell research, alternative energies such as wind turbines, green technologies, and yes--even high-speed and commuter rail projects, coincidentally the same budding industries that Walker has singled out for destruction.

Your wish that "the new appointees WILL be stewards of the environment and put our natural resources in front of the needs of their fellow building associates" is a sweet thought, but expect that they will do exactly what you think they've been put in those positions for: to dismantle the DNR and other regulatory agencies to benefit the few industries that pay big dues to WMC, MMAB, DOT, roadbuilders, home builders, and other polluters in our state.

I'm now referring to the DNR as "Do Not Resuscitate".

Anonymous said...

Walker, Stepp and company simply do not have the power to change or ignore environmental laws. They can influence how these laws are interpreted and enforced. They can re-direct the DNR’s priorities on issues like planting trees to save polar bears and writing children’s books on climate change.

The DNR needs to return to the basics of planting fish and putting out forest fires and not delving into the social engineering schemes of the United Nations Agenda 21, and this is what I hope Walker and Stepp will do.

Anonymous said...

Our national and State economic crises is a direct result of environmentalism. All wealth and welfare is obtained directly from the land and there are common sense ways to develop these resources to improve our existence. Environmentalism, however, places what they imagine to be benefits to the environment, over the welfare of people. This distortion of common sense has pervaded our society to the point that we are now committing economic suicide for the sake of the planet.

We have simply gone too far in one direction and need to correct course and this is precisely why Walker was elected.

Anonymous said...

Sure would be nice if some of the Walker supporters would be specific about what the DNR has done to be involved in "social engineering" or how environmentalism is responsible for our economic problems. (I thought it started with the banking industry and then spread to the home builders. Not once have I heard any economist say that environmental regulations had anything even remotely related to do with the economic mess.)

Get specific or stop your whining.