On The DNR's Climate Change Pages, All Hail Governor Doyle

[Update - - The Walker administration's climate change web page scrubbing much in the news of late actually began in 2012, and was noted in this June 10, 2012 blog posting I'll recirculate today, 12/30/16, as a way to highlight what the Walker people also deleted years ago. More also here.]:
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Given our record-breaking heat, I Googled the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources' web pages to get the latest information and thinking about climate change on the agency's climate change web page.

You know: What's current? What's the buzz, especially for the Midwest and Wisconsin in this year of wild weather?

And under a new Governor with a record that has favored polluters at the expense of public water, air and land management.

It was worth checking because just a few weeks ago the Natural Resources Defense Council found Wisconsin among states back-sliding on climate-related programs:

Water preparedness activities appear to have “slowed or stalled” in four of the nine best prepared states – Alaska, Oregon, Pennsylvania and Wisconsin.

Duly-noted as stalled by The Badger Herald.

And I didn't see this discussion on the DNR's web site, where no one posted this hot-off-the press report and findings:

According to "Poisoning the Great Lakes: Mercury Emissions from Coal-Fired Power Plants In the Great Lakes Region," Ohio emits the largest amount of mercury from coal-fired power plants (21 percent of the total in the Great Lakes region), followed closely by Pennsylvania (20 percent) and Indiana (16 percent).  The remaining five states in the region rank as follows:  Michigan (14 percent); Illinois (11 percent); Wisconsin (9.5 percent); Minnesota (6.5 percent); and New York (2 percent). Plants from outside the region also contribute to mercury pollution in the Great Lakes.

A few things jump out off the DNR pages:

Read more here: http://www.sacbee.com/2012/06/06/4542992/poisoning-the-great-lakes-25-coal.html#storylink=cpy*  The phrases "latest information" and "DNR's web pages" do not belong in the same sentence. 

*  Jim Doyle must still be Governor.

* Items are cited for that are years old, and about which the Walker administration would likely have opposed on ideological grounds, like Doyle-era alternative energy plans, a Midwest Governors Initiative dating to 2007, and international green summits back to 1992 that were trashed by US conservatives.

* Offering the public dead url links and out-dated information exposes the low-to-zero priority on this matter for the Walker administration.

Let's begin with the agency's main Climate Change page, under "Currently in our State,' where you find three short bulleted entries with citations to information released in 2010 or early 2011, including a link to a key Legislative Council Study pdf since removed from the website, and a line about a Jim Doyle task force that produced bill never brought to a vote in the Legislature. The page does not indicate when it was last updated.

So "Currently" is a bit oxymoronic. Read on...

The Basics page was last updated January 14, 2010.

The Climate Trends page was last updated May 11, 2010.

The Impacts page was last updated January 19, 2010.

The Adaptations page was last updated February 14, 2011.

The Government Initiatives page was last updated on October 7, 2011, but contains a link that goes nowhere, gets you to links supposedly referencing work at the US Environmental Protection Agency - - that actually brings you a gloomy assessment because of GOP-led efforts to block EPA clean air work - - and takes you back to the DNR "initiatives" page that features information from the Doyle administration:

In 2007, Governor Doyle convened a Task Force on Global Warming. In July 2008, this task force approved an extensive set of policy recommendations to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in three steps, culminating in a 75% reduction by 2050 from a 2005 baseline. The Task Force report outlined these policy recommendations, which included many significant actions such as:

• Expanding the state's existing energy conservation and efficiency programs
• Adopting California vehicle standards for greenhouse gases
• Developing an emission cap and trade program
• Establishing a formal process to track progress, evaluate existing policies and recommend adjustments

The Wisconsin Legislative Council prepared summary documents related to the Task Force recommendations, including:

• An information memo summarizing the Task Force recommendations [exit DNR]

Finally, at the Roles page, the DNR defines itself again through the work of the Doyle administration, leading with, at "What The DNR is Doing": 

Along with other important Wisconsin initiatives, Governor Doyle has set important energy efficiency goals including having 25 percent of Wisconsin's power come from renewable resources by 2025. Additionally, the Governor's Global Warming Task Force has recommended reducing the state's greenhouse gas emissions by 75 to 80 percent by 2050.

Oh - - if you click through to the link "Wisconsin initiatives," you're referenced right back to a DNR page that also led with work from the Doyle era:

Public officials are developing strategies to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. These reductions occur through improvements in vehicle fuel economy, renewable energy purchases, increased energy efficiency, and other actions.

• Wisconsin Initiatives
• Midwest Governors' Initiative
• Federal Initiatives
• International Initiatives

In 2007, Governor Doyle convened a Task Force on Global Warming. In July 2008, this task force approved an extensive set of policy recommendations to reduce the emissions of greenhouse gases in three steps, culminating in a 75% reduction by 2050 from a 2005 baseline. The Task Force report outlined these policy recommendations, which included many significant actions such as:

• Expanding the state's existing energy conservation and efficiency programs
• Adopting California vehicle standards for greenhouse gases
• Developing an emission cap and trade program
• Establishing a formal process to track progress, evaluate existing policies and recommend adjustments

The Wisconsin Legislative Council prepared summary documents related to the Task Force recommendations, including:

• An information memo summarizing the Task Force recommendations [exit DNR]