Cathy Stepp's lingering shadow over Wisconsin, Foxconn

Three fun facts about aligning stars and staffers as Foxconn - - complete archive on the issues, here - - applies for a big Lake Michigan diversion:

*  1. Matt Moroney, the former WI DNR Deputy Secretary whom Walker has  promoted to state point person on the Foxconn project, is a former developer association director who opposed the Great Lakes Compact because it would impede economic activity in Wisconsin.

...the compact is far too limiting on Wisconsin residents, usurps state autonomy to accomplish Wisconsin objectives...if the water cannot be utilized for economic growth, being located next to the Great Lakes will put Wisconsin at an economic disadvantage.

I copied out his extensive remarks on the matter, here.

* 2. The Wisconsin DNR - - which Moroney helped run on a daily basis for four years before becoming Walker's staff director deputy - - is the only such agency under Compact review rules will assess the Foxconn diversion application, and as I recently wrote, there is a belief that the diversion's recipient and purposes do not meet the Compact's basic public use criteria:

And as Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters notes, diverting Great Lakes water principally to serve a new business - - thus giving one state among the eight in the Compact, and two Canadian provinces, too, an economic advantage with a finite and shared resources - - is not why the governing water management Great Lakes Compact was created: 

Under the compact, diversions are meant to provide water for uses such as municipal drinking water and groundwater replenishment for family wells. This is the first time a state in the compact has been so brazen as to actually suggest a diversion almost exclusively for a private company’s manufacturing needs.

Fascinating, then, that one of Moroney's earlier objections to the Compact seemed to envision a diversion for a Foxconn-type project - - and now he is in a position to implement his vision:

Diversions Used for Only Public Water Supply Purposes Page 27, Line 1 and 2 and Page 29, Lines 5 and 6 – Is this the policy that Wisconsin wants to implement? What about diversions for electric generation? What about for a large industry user which would mean jobs for the region? 

* 3. Also with a sharp crystal ball - - Moroney's long-time boss at the DNR Cathy Stepp - - featured in today's Chicago Tribune - -  who said in her farewell email late last year as she headed off to wreak havoc in Trump's EPA that agency reorganizations she oversaw were aimed at facilitating a project just like Foxconn. 

When we started our alignment plan two years ago we had no idea a Foxconn project was on the horizon but it’s exactly what we accomplished in alignment that makes us even more ready than we were two years ago to work on this transformational project in a One DNR spirit.