Sunday, July 30, 2017

Walker's water giveaway de-friends Lake Michigan watershed, other governors

[Updated] For Walker's re-election needs, Wisconsin is devolving deeper into a Great Lakes water renegade, not a reliable regional partner.

The Great Lakes governors who fell in line last year by falling for WI DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp's public assurances about "best science...extended review..." concerning Wisconsin's purported dedication to a clean Lake Michigan watershed water when they approved the DNR's supervision of Waukesha's precedent-setting Lake Michigan diversion should take a careful look at Wisconsin's precedent-setting plan to expose intentionally the Lake Michigan basin to unprecedented water pollution threats.


The Wisconsin plan being pushed on a fast-track by Gov. Walker would remove the DNR from its normal water protection leadership, science-based role, the Wisconsin State Journal reports: 

...technology giant Foxconn would be given wide latitude to bypass state environmental regulations in building and operating its 1,000-acre electronics manufacturing plant in southeastern Wisconsin under a proposal from Gov. Scott Walker.
Walker unveiled the sprawling bill Friday as he called lawmakers to convene a special legislative session to pass the measure aimed at speeding up construction of Foxconn’s planned liquid-crystal display panel factory.
The bill lawmakers will consider as early as Tuesday allows the company to move or change the course of streams, build man-made bodies of water that connect with natural waterways and discharge materials in state wetlands without authorization from the state Department of Natural Resources. It exempts the company from being subject to an environmental impact statement.
Two things about that:

Think of the precedent, and how many Wisconsin projects from now on will ask for Foxconn money and Foxconn environmental favors.

And why would Foxconn need to be exempt from an environmental impact statement? Reminds me of Trump wanting to be exempt from Special Counsel inquiry. 

A growing archive on all these matters, here.



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