Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Is It Earth Day Tomorrow - - Or Earth Exploitation Day?

Hard to know around here.

Milwaukee's Transit System is in a death spiral, but highway building is booming, so little wonder we have dirty air in the region.

So chalk one up for the road-builders.

Then we have th eunseemly spectacle of UWM poised to rip up 80-some acres of the County Grounds to add an engineering school and business innovation center - - but without decent transit connections.

And Waukesha wants to pipe in Lake Michigan water, send some to an expanded service territory beyond its city limits and flush it back through Underwood Creek in Wauwatosa.

Was this why the Great Lakes Compact was approved - - to enable Waukesha's expansion, and use a Milwaukee County tributary in the Lke Michigan watershed as an open-air waste water conduit?

Not much of an environmental scorecard for the region this year - - the 40th since Earth Day was founded by former Governor and US Senator Gaylord Nelson, (D-WI).

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I'm confused. You rip into highway spending, but I haven't seen you write anything in support of Regional Transit Authority legislation.

I was wondering where you stand on the issue of dedicated funding for transit. We have a major dearth of leadership on the transit issue in Milwaukee County. Few legislators are willing to stick their necks out, and as far as I can tell, Barrett hasn't said anything in favor of an RTA. It's pathetic.