Sifting, Winnowing - - Spinning and Polluting

Sifting and winnowing are the hallmarks of the University of Wisconsin system, but UW spokesman and facilities major domo Alan Fish adds something new - - spinning - - to the UW's definition when he explains to the Wisconsin State Journal how and why the Madison campus Charter St. power plant could continue to be such a severe polluter.

The plant needs all sorts of permits and permissions to operate, yet its plume rises above and falls on to the capital city, where government regulators are busy telling the rest of the state and the power industry to keep the air and waters clean.

Yet the plant is in the heart of a campus where faculty and students study climate change and pollution abatement, and where global warming rightfully's a cause celebre.

Sorta contradictory, wouldn't you say, for the UW's power plant to be such an offense to the environment?

Even the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources is aggravated, because it seems that the UW - - an arm of the state - - hasn't been communicating with the DNR - - another arm of the state - - which means as the bureaucrats miscommunicate, the public's air and water are being toxified.

Here's part of what Fish tells the State Journal:

"We know that, at this time, we meet all of the state and federal environmental emissions."

Ok...Then Fish adds:

"We also know we can do better So our tradeoff here is we are trying to find a way that an investment in dollars works for the business plan and the utility plan and also improves the air quality of the region ... If it's just about the money, then we're not being good stewards in our community. If it's just about the environment, we're not being good stewards of the taxpayers' investment. We have to find a balance of both."

Trade-off? Balance?

The way I read that, the UW isn't being a good steward of either the public's money or the environment (read: health), so is "balance" the problem.

The environment is being polluted, the DNR says things were being done at the plant without it being notified and the paper says the plant is more polluting than ever.

Measured in extra tons. Annually.

While you're trying figure out all this - - there's some clearer background here.

And here, too.