Great Lakes Compact Deal: A Glass Emptied To Half-Full

Given that we're talking about the Great Lakes water management Compact, it's an apt metaphor, don't you think?

Granted, it's a little hard to tell, since when the powers that be gathered in New Berlin last week to announce the deal, then didn't release any details.
I can't remember if it was a cloudy day, but there sure wasn't much sunshine out there.

But with what we know so far, it's fair to say that the glass is no better than half-empty because it was filled more fully in State Senate Bill 523, which passed on a strong, 26-6 bipartisan vote - - before GOP Assembly members threatened to toss the contents down the drain, and Democrats began to help empty enough of the contents to satisfy the tougher GOP negotiators.

Half-full because the legislature will approve the Great Lakes Compact.

But emptier than it could have been, because the legislation that will implement the Compact in Wisconsin - - where the details and rules become crucial - - will subtract content from SB 523, a variety of sources have said.

A summary entry point to that reality is here.

In what were partisan discussions in a legislature divided - - Democrats control the Senate, Republicans the Assembly - - the Republicans were, shall we say, more focused, perhaps more strategic, on winning the outcome their Waukesha County cohort wanted.

The Republicans in the Assembly simply balked at passing anything.

They said "No," demanding that the Compact itself be rewritten - - when everyone knew that wasn't going to happen, because a real delay in Wisconsin's Compact approval - - setting aside what was in the implementing bill - - made it impossible for New Berlin to get the Lake Michigan water it wants now and what the City of Waukesha wants pretty soon.

So the Republicans appeared to 'cave,' and agreed to 'drop' their essentially fake demand that the Compact be rewritten - - in exchange for substantial Democratic concessions that weakened SB 523 with amendments that are circulating around the Capitol, and which appear to have the votes for adoption in this coming week's special legislative session.

So, again, to summarize:

The glass is roughly half-full, because the Compact will get approved.

That will move the issue forward and encourage Michigan, Ohio and Pennsylvania to join the others states that have already approved the Compact.

But what the Democrats were not willing to try (which would have meant being as resolute as were the Assembly Republicans) was to say in response:

"OK, Assembly Republicans, you've said "No," so we'll all wait until the November election, and see if we can get SB 523 through an Assembly with a new Democratic majority."

If that tactic were to have failed this November, and I don't think it would have come to that because New Berlin, a Republican stronghold wants its Lake Michigan water now, then the compromise the Democrats agreed to last week could be gotten after November, with little lost in the overall process.

But by taking the deal now, the Democrats did this:

* They gave up on mandatory statewide water conservation, agreeing instead to voluntary programs. Folding such improvement in public policy and planning into this major piece of water conservation legislation was perfect timing, and failing to keep it in Wisconsin's bill is a major lost opportunity.

* They agreed to include into the diversion review procedure - - until the Compact's final final final approval at some future date - - certain diversion precedents in Wisconsin.

These "historic applications," as I hear that the amendments call them, skirted the federal law that mandates all diversions to communities that are outside of the Great Lakes basin get the approval of all eight Great Lakes states.

Previous diversions to Pleasant Prairie, and to part of Menomonee Falls were allowed to happen without all the other states' approvals.

Becoming a benchmark in Wisconsin law for an indefinite period makes diversions easier to seek in our state.

And the "historic applications" language validates some previous imperfect procedures.

Should Wisconsin law strengthen, reify if you will, earlier, bad practice? Is this what we want Wisconsin legislators to do when we send them to the Capitol?

Because let's remember: the end goal of the Compact, when it is approved by all the other states and, it hoped, by the Congress, is to make diversions rare, and granted by uniform standards.

No wonder this amending process is happening in the shadows.

* Democrats also stepped away from using now the Compact's eventual mandate for the return of diverted water piped beyond the Great Lakes basin's boundaries.

Yes, that will be the hard-and-fast requirement for applicants, but again, only after the Compact is approved by all the eight Great Lakes states and the Congress - - a time frame conceivably years away, at best.

In that interim period, Wisconsin communities seeking out-of-basin diversions will not have to make that return flow pledge because it is not in the state implementing law.

Diversion-seeking communities would be smart to put these return flow pledges in their applications, and to show good faith in their budgets and spending so there is no doubt that return flow will happen.

But in the amendments that are heading into SB 523 to produce this 'compromise,' it's not a requirement.

* Finally, the amended SB 523 might contain language that makes it harder for citizens to bring complaints about violations.

This little-discussed possibility is vital if Wisconsin is to have a Compact implementing bill that encourages enforcement of water management on behalf of the public interest, and Great Lakes preservation.

I noted in an earlier post that certain big water users, like Murphy Oil, have already had their needs met in the drafting.

Waukesha, and New Berlin, and the water-hungry development interests in Waukesha County, are also big winners in the behind-the-scenes rewriting of SB 523.

If citizens are refused standing to push for enforcement, or if their input is rendered impossible by intentionally-crafted clever legal and financial barriers, then the glass will be pretty much emptied, with Democratic and Republican decision-makers having worked in tandem to make this significant bill just another favor to insider special-interests.

Dave Zweifel Tracks The Growing Anti-WMC Effort

Dave Zweifel at the Capital Times provides the links to the expanding Internet-based effort in our state to unmask the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

The impetus for these activities was certainly the millions of dollars that the WMC spent in 2007-2008 on sleazy ads that supported pro-business candidates.

Wait until hundreds of groups and their members statewide - - environmental, hunting & fishing, public health, water conservation, transit and others - - make the connections and discover that the WMC is blocking logical approaches to problem-solving in their issue areas, and more.

Could be the beginning of a consumer revolt against a group that has become increasingly partisan, and ideological, at the expense of our state's common ground.

Some pieces of the story about the WMC's continuing tilt to the right on a broad front, and its harshly self-serving agendas, are here.

In the spirit of citizen journalism, forward your suggestions for additional inquiry or disclosure about the WMC right here and I will pass them on to the appropriate investigators.

Or utilize the links that Dave Zweifel posted as a convenient shortcut.

Tomah Journal Nails The Sprawl/Lending Connection

The Tomah Journal identifies the connection between exurban sprawl, environmental degradation and the squandering of the nation's financial and resources.

Quite a read.

Pulitzer Prize Winner Dave Umhoefer Keeps Living The Dream

Gets to throw out the first pitch at a Brewers game.

Pretty cool.

And if fellow award winner Bob Dylan shows up to collect his award?

Priceless.

Wisconsin's Great Lakes Compact Bill Also Helps Big Lake Superior Users; And An Earth Day Signing?

Much of the attention following last week's 'breakthrough' compromise on a Great Lakes Compact implementation bill for Wisconsin focused on the easier paths it will create for water diversions from Lake Michigan to communities like New Berlin and Waukesha that are partially or completely outside the Great Lakes basin.

And, by boosting the economies of communities west of Milwaukee, will expand the disparities in wealth between land-locked Milwaukee and the sprawling western suburbs - - unless those suburban communities obtaining Lake Michigan diversions from Milwaukee agree to payments for water that reflect its contribution to those suburbs' tax bases.

Overlooked to a degree in the wake of the compromise: the original bill that passed the State Senate 26-6, and that is scheduled for final approval with amendments that promote diversions and eliminate some conservation requirements, guarantees water access to very large users that are within the Great Lakes, not outside of it.

One such example that the Senate drafters had in mind: Murphy Oil.

The company will need in the range of 5 million gallons a day for its boosted refining operations if its $6 billion expansion to process Canadian tar sand crude oil gets the green light from company executives and government regulators.

The Senate bill was written with certain thresholds to make sure a project the size of Murphy's operations would be able to access that much water, a fact duly noted by media in northern Wisconsin, where the refinery expansion promises employment.

Much of the water would be returned to Lake Superior, but a substantial portion would be lost in the refinery's industrial processes.

A recent business publication noted that refining tar sand crude releases a relatively large amount of greenhouse gas; the extraction of the oil in the Alberta, Canada wilderness, requiring massive amounts of water, energy and pipeline corridors, has been dubbed "the most destructive project on earth."

And let's not forget that the expansion at Superior by Murphy is expected to require the largest filling of wetlands in Wisconsin - - 400-500 acres, sources indicate - - since the adoption of the US Clean Water Act of 1972.

This projected water demands of the refinery expansion at Superior and its potential impact on the lake and the nearby wetlands is especially troubling because more and more scientific data is accumulating about Lake Superior's falling levels due due to warming temperatures.

It's good to understand the entire context of development issues in and near the Great Lakes, and their connections to national, international and global issues.

A lot is at stake, from jobs in Wisconsin, to the state's energy mix, to the relative benefits of petroleum-based development and the coming wave in renewable energy generation - - wind, tidal, various ethanols, solar and conservation.

The Detroit Free Press carried a story about Lake Superior's level decrease just a day after Wisconsin's Gov. Jim Doyle and a brace of legislators, local officials and some environmental activists gathered in New Berlin to hail the Compact implementing compromise now scheduled for approval at a special legislative session April 17th.

The compromise bill does approve the Compact, but the implementing bill is a weak shadow of what originally went through the Senate, especially on the giveback of statewide conservation plans and the lack of clarity on conservation requirements in communities seeking diversions.

And that's without the Murphy Oil considerations.

Some sponsors of the bill are hoping for an April 22nd, Earth Day signing.

Spare us.

State Gives Shorewood $4 Million; Non-Milwaukee Image Is Goal

Here's regional cooperation at work, with some of your money, Milwaukee:

The state Department of Transportation, not content with merely ripping up the city for the convenience of suburban commuters, is giving the Village of Shorewood $4 million to help it streetscape itself so it won't be mistaken for just another Milwaukee neighborhood.

Perish the thought!

Trust me: I like Shorewood, and I used to live there. But guess what: it is a neighborhood of Milwaukee, with which it shares a border and myriad business, education, personal and financial connections.

And shame on the State of Wisconsin for spending public money on something so condescending and divisional.

h/t to Greg Kowalski for the story. I had missed it.

Downtown, Wauwatosa Sites for UWM Research Campus Considered

The possibility that UWM's research campus could be located downtown is getting more media attention.

This is a good thing, and I've posted about the issue a few times.

Granted that the Tosa site is near some medical facilities: downtown offers other college campuses, housing choices, transit connections, broad retail conveniences, major industrial and white-collar employers and many other amenities nearby.

It's even closer to the airport - - a connection high on the list of necessities for start-up businesses and institutions.

The regional-benefit issue cuts both ways, so is essentially a wash.

Downtown offers far more advantages on its own.

Water Crunch An Interesting Issues Blog

Great name for a Southeast US-focused water issues blog - - Water Crunch. Wish I had thought of it. It's now on my blog roll.

New Water Blog From Noah Hall

Noah Hall, long-time water writer and teacher, has begun posting on Great Lakes legal issues, here.

Waukesha Conservative Promotes Compact's Value

The conservative blogger and columnist James Widgerson again explains to his Waukesha audience values of the Great Lakes Compact.

Waukesha communities like New Berlin and Waukesha, because their applications for Lake Michigan water have been stymied by the Compact's legislative stall, will gain the most immediately if and when the Compact is approved by the state legislature next week.

The discussion through Widgerson's site and writings about the self-described leading Compact opponent, State Sen. Mary Lazich (R- New Berlin), is also recommended reading.

Great Lakes Compact Implementing Bill Relatively Weak

So here is the short version of what we know about the compromise bill most likely to pass at next week's legislative Special Session to implement the Great Lakes water management Compact in Wisconsin.

And a few additional thoughts about the legislative negotiations that produced the compromise and what it means for the larger political picture in Wisconsin.

In a nutshell, it will be a weaker bill than what the State Senate passed 26-6, on a bipartisan vote.

Assembly Republicans and Waukesha County members in both houses come away with what they are calling a big win.

That's because some mandatory water conservation requirements will be voluntary instead, some communities' water conservation planning could be delayed, and water diversion applications to heavily-Republican suburban communities have a better chance of approval.

Gov. Doyle, and Democrats in both houses, come away with something that it's hard to call a big win.

They get a bill, but a lesser product than what the Senate approved.

The partisan nature of the fight and the outcome cannot be denied.

If the Senate bill were to get an "B+," the bill likely to come out of the Special Session, with the overall stewardship of the Great Lakes and Wisconsin's opportunities in mind, is no better than a "C-."

Final thought.

Have the Democrats in the legislature who are thinking about supporting this agreement - - which has been enthusiastically embraced by GOP members in Waukesha County and the other fast growing 'burbs - - forgotten the results of the April 1st State Supreme Court election so soon?

Where a strong turnout in those 'burbs put Michael Gableman over the top to knock out Milwaukee-based Justice Louis Butler.

What do you think the effect will be on the population numbers and voting patterns in Waukesha County with an infusion of fresh Milwaukee water there?

Here's the core reality: Waukesha County votes 2:1 Republican.

The turnout is extremely high, year-in and year-out, and the County is a reliable base of solid political influence for the GOP and conservative causes that rivals what Dane County and Milwaukee County represent for Democrats and liberals.

So the more you enable residential population and business movement and relocation to Waukesha County, the more easily you help developers there turn farm fields into subdivisions, the more tax base you help those communities west of the Great Lakes basin get annexed, the more you Dems are diminishing effectiveness in Milwaukee, southeastern Wisconsin and the Capitol, too.

Along with water management, land use and developmenr, the Compact debate in Wisconsin is about political power, too.

Given the political environment surrounding the Compact legislation's evolution, I'd say:

Advantage, GOP.

A longer explanation about the Compact negotiation dynamics is here.

New Political/Environmental Website For Wisconsinites

Check out Greenvoting - - this very cool new website for political and environmental news in Wisconsin.

Business Publication Lays Out The Staggering Costs Of Tar Sand Oil Extraction

A financial services company has produced an informative paper on the staggering financial and environmental costs of tar sand oil extraction.

These are the sources from Alberta, Canada that will supply Great Lakes oil refineries with new supplies of crude oil, including Murphy Oil's likely seven-fold expanded operation in Superior, and other firms' operations in Indiana and Michigan.

It's definitely worthwhile reading.

Loopholes, Gaps Appearing In Great Lakes Compact Deal

Yesterday I blogged about the Great Lakes Compact deal announced in New Berlin by Gov. Jim Doyle and legislators from both parties, but with a large contingent of celebratory GOP lawmakers who just days earlier had been fierce Compact opponents.

My point yesterday was that details were yet to emerge, so caution should be the watchword, lest false or naive hopes about a bi-partisan agreement mask a flawed document and help enable it into the statutes.

I would now suggest that there is a need for even greater caution based on those few bits of intelligence seeping out of what has been and continues to be a very closed process gathering momentum - - without a draft or amended bill produced for media and the public - - for a hurry-up special legislative session next Thursday, April 17th.

[Note: I have clarified in italics some of the following graphs, paying closer attention to what I call the "intermediate" period between approval of a bill in Wisconsin and final Congressional approval of what all eight Great Lakes states eventually adopt into their statutes.

Because that period could be a number of years, or conceivably, permanently if the Congress balks, it is important to understand what will and can happen regarding water conservation requirements and performance, and also to understand which laws and past practices Wisconsin intends to use when evaluating and enabling applicants' diversions of Great Lakes water.]

For one thing, there were mandatory statewide water conservation provisions in the Compact bill that was approved by the State Senate on a 26-6 bipartisan vote, but which have been removed from the Wisconsin version now in play - - a clear trade downward for achieving water conservation in the state.

Before the full legislature meets next week, 20 or more new amendments - - so far, all from GOP members - - will have been considered as changes to the Senate bill, and their overall thrust minimizes water conservation outcomes in Wisconsin that could have been achieved if the Senate bill language had been retained.

The amendments are also aimed, in the main, at maximizing diversion opportunities and minimizing possible costly return flow procedures for some communities on or near the Great Lakes basin boundary during the intermediate, interim period between the Wisconsin bill's approval that is probable next week, and final Congressional approval - - a period of years, perhaps indefinite.

This disclosure about the dropping of statewide mandatory water conservation programming did not come from an environmental critic of the deal announced in New Berlin.

According to the Racine Journal Times, it's coming from one of the Assembly's GOP leaders, Scott Gunderson, (R-Waterford).

The key paragraph:

"According to Mike Bruhn, spokesman for Gunderson, the compromise contains some important alterations. The state would not gain new authority over groundwater, which he said would have been a huge change in property rights. The altered version also removed the requirement for a mandatory statewide water conservation program (my highlighting) and gave a legislature committee oversight of the governor’s vote on the council."

Changing the statewide conservation that had passed the Senate for requirements for conservation only in the Great Lakes basin, perhaps mandatory, perhaps not, is certainly not in the state, or region, or Great Lakes' interest.

Additionally, it is not yet clear if water conservation plans will be required for communities and counties that touch the Great Lakes basin boundary, or if they are required, at what point in the process.

Will it be a conservation plan in place before a diversion application is made, or after a diversion is underway, or after all the states approve their Compact statutes, and the entire ball of wax is approved by the Congress?

In this intermediate or interim period, which could be years, or permanent, a lot of water usage would take place in Wisconsin without strong conservation measures in place.

Deleting or downplaying them is certainly not in the spirit of the Compact, or in the Wisconsin Senate bill that is now facing the substantial amending work agreed to in the announced deal among legislative leaders and Gov. Doyle.

Secondly, it appears that all the hoopla over getting the GOP opponents to drop their objections to the requirement that all eight states must approve diversions of water outside the Great Lakes basin was much ado about nothing.

Or worse, a political diversion to draw attention away from a major difference between the federal law and the Compact when it comes to those eight-state approvals for diversions of water outside of the Great Lakes basin.

The federal law says all eight state governors have to approve diversion applications to move water outside of the Great Lakes basin.

The Compact says all eight state governors have to approve the diversions - - and here is the crucial additional caveat: those diversion applications must pledge returning the water to the Great Lakes basin.

As I pointed out yesterday, that eight-state approval provision was never going to be deleted from the Compact a) because four of the eight states had already approved it, and b) it has been in the federal law since 1985.

So why have the GOP Compact opponents, clustered in Waukesha County, suddenly embraced the eight-state approval, as laid out in the federal law, to serve as the sole legal guiding authority?

Because Wisconsin has a track record of skirting the federal law when it chooses to do so.

That is why I am hearing that advocates for weakening the strong State Senate bill - - and the amendment writing and negotiating among the parties is certainly a process in constant flux as the special session approaches - - want certain Wisconsin's "historic" diversion procedures recognized in the final bill as legal precedent to guide diversion approvals.

State Rep. Kevin Petersen touches on this point, here.

Remember that Wisconsin's Department of Natural Resources approved administratively a diversion of Lake Michigan water to a portion of Menomonee Falls that was outside of the Great Lakes basin, and did not feel obliged to get the other Great Lakes Governors' approval, or to require that water be returned to Lake Michigan.

And remember also that Wisconsin sought and obtained a diversion to Pleasant Prairie without the formal approval of the other Great Lakes states.

Some states in that process during the Tommy Thompson administration said OK to the diversion.

Some states merely did not object. You can call it parsing, but in the end, Pleasant Prairie got the water without the actual approval of all seven other states, at the request of Wisconsin, for a diversion of Lake Michigan water to a community outside the Great Lakes basin.

Another logical explanation for the GOP's sudden embrace of the federal law requirements appears in this AP story:

"Gunderson spokesman, Mike Bruhn, said the new deal states current federal law will govern water draws until Congress gives the compact final approval."

Continued Bruhn:

"Some cities planning to apply for lake draws were unsure which rules to follow in the period between state and federal ratification, Bruhn said."

It's that so-called intermediate, or interim period popping up, again.

The important wording there is "in the period between state and federal ratification," which could be years, or forever.

Return flow is an expense to a diverting community. Piping sewage or treated water back, for instance, many miles to Lake Michigan, or a tributary, or to a treatment facility run by the MMSD would require a second set of pipes, with engineering, land acquisition and operating costs.

Some communities interested in diversions, like the City of Waukesha, have balked at the return flow requirement, or have not yet resolved how to achieve it.

And while Waukesha has moved considerably on the issue, if the Wisconsin Compact law does not require return flow of diverted Lake Michigan water because it's not mandated by the federal law, that would allow Waukesha to apply for a diversion and seek to continue to discharge its wastewater into the Fox River - - flowing towards the Mississippi River and away from the Great Lakes.

Waukesha has said that one option is returning some wastewater down the Root River into Lake Michigan, and returning some wastewater into the Fox River to maintain levels there and in the Vernon Marsh.

Waukesha's Mayor Larry Nelson continues to make strong statements about Waukesha's return flow intentions - - but his words do not include 100% guarantee.

If the Compact were in place now, or if the Compact's intentions were followed as the guideline prior to its final approval by Congress, return flow would be a requirement of any Wisconsin community's diversion application.

But if the federal law is followed as the guiding standard until Congressional approval - - which could be years away, or never happen - -that would mean that there is no requirement in Wisconsin that return flow accompany a sought-after diversion, or require it in a timely fashion.
Even if that was not anyone's intention, and no one but this cynical blogger envisioned it before, it is a huge loophole that again defeats the conservation intent of the Compact, so should be buttoned up with tight, unambiguous language.

If exploited, the loophole could considerably change what the Governors signed in December, 2005, and intended for the health of the Great Lakes, when they launched the Compact into their state legislatures for approval.

Wisconsin legislators need to step out into the sunlight and shore up their approach to the Compact.

Legislators need to get conservation practices and return flow requirements back into the bill that implements the Compact in Wisconsin - - certainly for the communities that touch the Great Lakes basin, or that are in a county that touches the basin - - and not rush into special session next week, declare victory and approve the Compact with a bill that is so weak that the other states will say the entire effort has been jeopardized.

MMSD Gets A Cleaner Bill Of Health

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District gets some credit for its performance in the new Milwaukee Magazine.

While talk radio has used the MMSD as a convenient punching bag, the facts, as gathered by Erik Gunn, indicate the MMSD is a good performer and adding capacity to keep the area's lakes and rivers even cleaner.

Common Council Supports Downtown Research UWM Campus...

Unanimously, at today's session. Makes a lot of sense, given the proximity of MSOE, MATC, Marquette University, the planned School of Public Health, transit lines, housing options, hotels, Amtrak, businesses, etc.

Precisely what is missing from the County Grounds.

Great Lakes Compact Deal: Some Details Known, Others Not

Though the participants at today's news conference about the Great Lakes Compact hosted in New Berlin by Gov. Jim Doyle have released few details about what it is they have agreed to approve at a special legislative session next week - - and there may be surprises when the fine print emerges - - it is clear that a key element of the Compact has been retained:

That all eight states will have to approve any movement of Great Lakes water to a site that is completely outside of the Great Lakes basin, meaning that a single state could veto such an application.

This is important for the credibility of the Compact, the likelihood that it can move successfully through all the states and Congressional ratification, and the long-term health of the Great Lakes, too.

Republican legislators had screamed about that provision - - one literally - - demanding that it should be amended to a majority vote of the states, and demanded also that the agreement be renegotiated despite seven years of such negotiations and debates - - even though four of the states had already approved it.

A renegotiation was politically, and technically, unrealistic and impossible.

But that provision was always going to stay in the Compact for one main reason:

It is already in federal law, and has been since 1986.

It is there as an important check against any Great Lakes state unilaterally making a deal to send water to a faraway state or country to make money at the expense of a region's shared resource.

It appears that what Republicans got in blocking the Compact in the Assembly, threatening its approval this year, is language that clarifies and smooths the diversion application process and the more precise standards that those applications have to meet.

I hear that issues such as what exactly constitutes the "return flow" of diverted water that the Compact requires be pledged and achieved to maintain the Great Lakes' levels could still raise problems for conservationists, and perhaps with the other states, or litigants.

Specifically, will return flow be required to be made directly to the Great Lakes' source?

And is there a grace period before which that return flow must begin, and becomes 100%?

All eight states must approve laws incorporating versions of the Compact that are not materially different. That's what a Compact is all about.

In the end, the major political forces each got something in the compromise in addition to being able to say they worked together:

Gov. Jim Doyle will get a bill approved.

As the chairman of the Council of Great Lakes Governors, Doyle needed Wisconsin to adopt a bill. Now Wisconsin can toss the hot potato to Pennsylvania, where approval is a certainty, and to Michigan and Ohio, where things are going to take longer - - and a bill without the "majority rule" amendment or any other obvious poison pill.

And I say "obvious" because the drafters haven't yet released the text.

Republicans can say they didn't lose anything on the eight-state approval standard's inclusion, because it's already in federal law, and they got a slightly-better bill that will speed the City of Waukesha's diversion application and refine its preparation.

In the end, for Waukesha, its application will still need the other states' approval, so how it pledges to return diverted water and demonstrates conservation commitments will be crucial to the other states' approval.

New Berlin wins, too.

Under the Compact - - but not the current federal law - - New Berlin is in a special category, being a city literally straddling the Great Lakes basin.

According to the Compact, New Berlin needs only the approval of the home state, not the other seven, because some of its land is inside the Great Lakes basin.

This is why it was absurd for State Sen. Mary Lazich (R-New Berlin), to be calling for the Compact's obstruction, because the longer the Compact was held, the longer New Berlin remained blocked from Lake Michigan water by the eight-state federal approval standard - - a standard lowered in the Compact to approval by Wisconsin only.

Once the Compact is approved in Wisconsin, and New Berlin gets Wisconsin's pro forma OK, New Berlin then needs only to locate a willing seller - - such as Milwaukee, or Oak Creek - - with which to strike a deal for the sale of water for to its land that is west of the basin boundary.

Since the City of Milwaukee already sells water to New Berlin's territory that is east of, and inside the basin boundary, Milwaukee is the logical seller.

When those negotiations begin, one question remains:

Will Milwaukee settle for the wholesale water cost already in the fee schedules for bulk sales to suburbs?

I'd say that's a start, but...

Will it also include the cost of the water and the new pumps and pipes needed to get the water over the boundary basin's elevation - - somewhere between $4-10 million?

I'd say, it better. No way that Milwaukee residents should be paying for that.

And what about a fair share of the development value that Lake Michigan water will bring to New Berlin - - money that will help mitigate losses to Milwaukee's economy as more capital - - liquid as water - - is pumped from Milwaukee to the suburbs?

In other words, payments that reflect the value of water and not its mere, per-gallon cost, which in our water-rich region, is nearly entirely an electricity/pumping charge, with the actual water thrown in for nothing.

Again, I'd say such a fiscal sharing is a necessity. Smart people can figure out a fair formula, because in today's world, we need to be mindful of the full financial and social value of water.

With so many assets already pulled away from the city and spread across the landscape, leaving behind development that is distorted and inequitable, Great Lakes water, if it is to be diverted away from Milwaukee and the basin, must also be used to re-balance the city's relationship to the suburbs and its place in the region.

Anything less will be short-sighted, and a failure of regional stewardship of both water, land and humanity.

Three caveats from now to the end of the Special Session, and then beyond:

1. Don't put it past Wisconsin GOP leaders, or their allies in Ohio's property-rights' fringe element, to see if they can negate the 1986 federal law in court. That would leave the door open to widespread diversions, regardless of the Compact.

2. Don't put it past one or more area governments to establish a new regional water authority in a so-called "straddling community," then legally finagle a way to distribute water through it to other communities that would not apply for diversions on their own.

Let's just say that there are plenty of people interested in finding or creating loopholes through which they could obtain and move Great Lakes water - - even if they pledged to return it.

Along those lines - - communities will be required to return diverted water, but how directly to the source from which it was diverted, and how promptly?

If the return flow can be indirect, or delayed for months or years, then the spirit of the Compact is undermined.

3. So keep an eye on amendments that could be offered prior to the final votes in the Wisconsin Assembly and Senate. And later, in law and administrative rules that implement what's in the Compact bill.

Sometimes in the rush to get something done, and be gratified that you worked cooperatively with your opponents, there is a tendency to give up something, or overlook something else, especially if you are dealing with willful or crafty special interests.

Good intentions can have profound but intended long-term consequences - - in this case, precedent-setting for many states- - with regard to the world's largest supply of fresh surface water.

We need the Compact. Let's just make sure we know what we are getting, and that it's the right version.

Twenty-six of 32 State Senators probably didn't get it wrong.

Environmental Activists Win Nail-Biters On Franklin Council

Environmental advocate Kristen Wilhelm, after a recount, won a seat on Franklin's Common Council by a four-vote margin, 609-605.

She defeated an incumbent, as did a second environmental challenger, Steve Taylor - - by a mere ten votes.

So every vote does count!

Franklin has been roiled recently by controversial developments, and the city's Environmental Commission, on which Taylor and Wilhelm sit, had found its status often discounted by other local officials.

So congratulations to Wilhelm and Taylor for being progressive voices in a relatively tough environment - - Milwaukee County's south suburbs.

You can follow Franklin and that region's land use and political issues at a great Franklin-based blog by John Michlig.

And then for the flip side, there's full-time state legislative aide Kevin Fischer and his Franklin-based, self-proclaimed pro-development blog - - wherein he calls the Department of Natural Resources "the Wisconsin Wing of the Nazi party."

Very nice.

Billions To Be Wasted On Highways As Era Of Cheap Gas Ends

At what point will driving recede because of the price of gasoline?

Doesn't it feel that way already? Isn't it clear that people are minimizing their driving, and will continue to do so as the price of gasoline rises.

And will adjust their lifetsyles, housing and work options to save money by reducing their gasoline burn?

Gas is at $3.49 a gallon, with $4 a gallon fuel predicted for this summer.

$4 gas today: do I hear $5?

And still the state forges ahead with the freeway rebuilding and widening plan, with eight years of construction due to start this year on the North-South leg of I-94 to the Illinois state line from Milwaukee.

Implementing a plan drafted when the economy was expanding, gas was at $2.30-a-gallon - - as I have pointed out and which the plan's author, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission continues to defend - - and people were grabbing SUV's off the dealership lots regardless of the vehicles' mpg.

Mpg? That was for sissies. Get me one with a V-8 Hemi.

Ram Tough. Expedition. Hummer.

But now, bummer.

Things have changed. A deep recession, or worse, is unfolding, but no one at the state Transportation Department or in the Governor's Office is willing to rethink freeway expansion and improvements, and move towards regional transit.

No one will take leadership and begin to speak the truth.

So out will come the orange barrels, then the road graders, then the concrete trucks, with more billions of taxpayer dollars thrown west to Jefferson County, north into Ozaukee and Washington Counties, and south into Walworth County, for another 20 years.

Think of the debt we are laying down for the next generation to shoulder.

When we knew better.

Wisconsin GOP Compact Blockaders 'Only Here To Help.'

A group of Republican state legislators tell the Green Bay Press Gazette that they only blocked the Great Lakes Compact in the Assembly because the Senate version (approved 26-6 with a bi-partisan vote) had too many flaws.

OK.

We'll see whether these representatives drop their biggest objections once they are done with their careful legislative flyspecking - - those objections included the Senate's inclusion of mandatory water conservation planning and the unanimous approval of all eight Great Lakes states for diversions of water outside of the Great Lakes basin.

Sykes' Post-Pulitzer Self-Satire...Or Not Knowing When To Quit

Charlie Sykes did what any former Milwaukee Journal print reporter would do by extending his congratulations after the announcement that the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's Dave Umhoefer had won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

But then Charlie couldn't resist telling the paper how to do its job to win more prizes.

No one in that newsroom would take one nanosecond's advice from Sykes, who regularly uses the paper as a punching bag.

As the kids would say these days, LOL.

Sykes' posting is below:

CONGRATULATIONS
By Charlie Sykes
Story Created: Apr 8, 2008
Story Updated: Apr 8, 2008

... to the JS and reporter David Umhoefer for winning a Pulitzer Prize for committing a flagrant act of journalism. This is an extraordinary achievement for all involved and a reminder of the unique value of good hard-headed newspaper journalism.

Now that they've gotten a taste of the rewards of tough investigative journalism, how about turning Umhoefer and his colleagues loose on state government? The casinos? The technical schools? The vast wasteland of MPS?

There's more gold in them thar hills.

The Mike Gableman-Mary Lazich-Kevin Fischer Connection

I offer an explanation on The Madison Capital Times op-ed page today.

The Case For A Downtown UW-M

I've several times advocated for UW-Milwaukee's proposed engineering and research expansion to take place downtown.

It's an uphill battle because many major political forces in the region are supporting a Wauwatosa campus.

The case for downtown is a strong one, and its leading voice is Dave Reid.

Though it supports the Wauwatosa option, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel in fine journalistic tradition offered Reid op-ed space Sunday to make his case - - and here it is.

Florida Town Considering 100/Gallon Per Person Water Usage Daily

A Florida town suffering from over-development and water shortages is considering a mandatory 100/gallon per person limit per day.

We do better in Wisconsin, with residents using around 70 gallons a day.

But the point isn't to feel smug. The point is that we need to recognize that water can be saved with coordinated personal responsibility and community conservation, so that communities in Wisconsin where there already are supply problems don't find themselves in the Florida situation.

The Great Lakes Compact would require statewide conservation programs - - a provision that some GOP legislative leaders are trying to weaken.

The Compact bill that has passed the State Senate, with bi-partisan support, contains the stronger conservation language and should be kept in any so-called compromise that has yet to be adopted in the State Assembly.

The Senate, and Gov. Jim Doyle, should not cave in on this provision.

MMSD Calls For Strong Great Lakes Compact

The Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage Commission adds its weight to the call for a strong Great Lakes Compact.

It's nice to see the MMSD standing up for water conservation - - extending its "Every Drop Counts" campaign - - and showing leadership on a critical environmental issue that is being fought by so many policy makers in Waukesha County.

And the statement serves as another reminder that in the debate about diverting water from Lake Michigan - - and returning it to the source, which will be a requirement - - expansions to, and added costs, for the MMSD will be a consequence.

Big costs.

So communities seeking diversions need to include those expenses in their calculations, and not assume that everyone else in the region is going to subsidize their diversions on the treatment end of the diversion loop.

Dave Umhoefer's Pension Reporting Wins Pulitzer Prize

Dave Umhoefer, the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel's reporter on the Milwaukee County pension scandals, has won the Pulitzer Prize for Local Reporting.

This is a tremendous achievement. It's great news for Dave and the paper, and for readers and local taxpayers, too, because it will compel further reporting and legal action to remedy what Umhoefer has continually uncovered, and so brilliantly explained.

I worked with Dave at the paper.

He's the consummate professional, and now the whole world knows.

Wow!

Being Jeff Wagner Doesn't Mean Being Sharp

Conservative 620 WTMJ radio talker Jeff Wagner also has a blog, and in this posting calls Wisconsin State Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson both a "big loser" in the Butler-Gableman race, and then a few paragraphs later "a solid favorite" to win re-election next year.

A little wobbly logic there, eh?

Dave Zweifel Calls Out The WMC

Madison Capital Times emeritus editor Dave Zweifel calls out the WMC for its blatant Supreme Court seat buying.

He also publishes the names and businesses represented on the WMC board - - a good list for Wisconsin consumers and voters to peruse.

More information about the WMC is here, at WMCWatch.

Carcinogen Contamination Is Okey-Dokey In Baraboo Hills

Hey, is carcinogenic contamination in the soil around the closed Army ammo plant in Baraboo something to worry about?

Nah, apparently.

Fact Checker Analysis Shows Gablemen & Co. Threw The Most Mud

The data show Gableman forces in the State Supreme Court threw the most mud.

The numbers on election night showed Gableman the winner.

The lesson is pretty obvious.

McIlheran Leaves Out The Facts

The Journal Sentinel's in-house conservative columnist, Patrick McIlheran, wades back into the State Supreme Court race in his Sunday op-ed page column.

"Thought that Supreme Court business was over?" he ledes. "No! The sour-grapes harvest goes on."

So he does his own bit to keep the election post-mortems alive, demonstrating that it's hard to be a good winner, and worse, tossing what can only be charitably described as an incomplete offering into the mix.

McIlheran is in full Righty righteous indignation, claiming that critics of the winning Gableman were "insinuating racism," as the columnist puts it.

Say what?

This all began when Gableman aired his now infamous television advertisement pairing a photo (and not surprisingly an unflattering picture, to boot) of Supreme Court Justice Louis Butler, who is African-American, side-by-side with the mug-shot photo of an African-American rape defendant whom Butler had represented as a public defender.

The ad falsely went on to say that Butler - - at the time a defense attorney, not a local judge or Supreme Court Justice - - had gotten the rapist released through a loophole, only to rape again - - thus the quite accurate complaint that Gableman had introduced a Willie Horton-type race-baiting ad into the campaign.

McIlheran says the critics are "dishonest" in their allegations that the ad was racist because "no one making the claim can explain it other than to say it's racist to show a criminal's face if he's black."

McIlheran says the ad was "wrong-headed." There's a light rap on the knuckles. He also says it was "a dirtball ad." That's closer to the truth, because the ad was misleading, but McIlheran leaves out the heart of the racial issue that the critics have correctly identified.

The point absent from the McIlheran piece is that pairing the photos was designed to make a negative racial connection in the ad.

Thirty-four Wisconsin judges pointed this out in an unprecedented statement prior to the election.

Did McIlheran miss it, or choose to parse his way past it in his op-ed?

Even a short Madison television station editorial summing up the controversy didn't miss the racial import of this ad - - the first commercial by Gableman, and not one sponsored by a so-called outside interest group.

Believe me, that bit of commercial footage chosen and aired by Gableman's people, "authorized and paid for" by the candidate's committee, was no accident, no mere cinematic coincidence.

I certainly do not believe that a vote for Gableman was a racist vote. Maybe some votes were. I hope few to none.

But I do believe the ad was a deliberate appeal to racism, and that Gableman deserves to be denounced for taking that route to a seat on the state's highest court.

To deny that the ad had racist content and intentions is to live in a very naive world, and to demonstrate a pretty uninformed view of what political attack ads are all about.

But to leave such key information out of a lengthy post-election op-ed, yet call your philosophical and political adversaries "dishonest and reflexive," is a pretty big omission and one big fat act of projection.

OK: Let's Have Some Answers From Mary Lazich

She asks how does government spend our money? Fair question.

Which leads to this: Any tax money spent on a blog which has Lazich's name on it?

Or this one, by Kevin Fischer, her staff aide, who recently called the state Department of Natural Resources "the Wisconsin wing of the Nazi party" - - with, to date, no apology from Fischer or Lazich.

So are you two comfortable with that?

And I'm not the first to ask the blogs' accounting questions, so it's time for some answers.

Sen. Lazich...Kevin?

(Note that there are elected officials who take action and responsibility for their staffs' behaviors when they reflect badly on an elected's reputation.)

New Data Mean Greater Water Conservation Needed

Despite heavy winter snows, lake levels remain low, meaning water conservation is needed more than ever, data in Monday's Journal Sentinel indicate.

Nanny State Interferes With Management's Right To Screw Workers

That pesky Wisconsin Department of Workforce Development - - this time allied with State Rep. Josh Zepnick, D-Milwaukee) - - is at again, interfering with the rights of a South side Milwaukee auto parts firm that suddenly locked its doors and and withheld from workers $1.5 million in wages owed under the law.

Now I see just how onerous and dictatorial is the business climate in Wisconsin. How can you operate a business in this day and age if you can't just keep workers wages after a surprise shutdown?

No wonder businesses are moving to China.

Let's hope that Justices Ziegler, Gableman, et al will address this on behalf of the WMC in the State Supreme Court's fall term.

We need some judicial activism to restore managements' rights!

Rob Henken Argues For Better Government

Rob Henken, the new Executive Director of the Public Policy Forum, correctly writes that there is a need for stronger government leadership, cooperation and focus on results.

I agree.

He says we should also focus on the positive, and, again I agree, given the severity of the region's economic and social problems.

And without being contradictory, I would also argue that all the units of government, and organizations that play watchdog roles - - media included - - still need to take government officials to task when secrecy and the public's exclusion is official practice.

Case in point: the ability of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission to approve a new Executive Director without an outside, objective search and any effective notice to the public that the position was open and change in the agency's management was possible.

Government will get more respect when its leaders and actions earn it.

In SEWRPC's case, there was intentional withholding of the facts and dismissal of any public participatory process.

And I have yet to hear a peep of criticism from major media or even officials from seven counties who send the agency millions in operating tax dollars annually.

I have argued, here, that SEWRPC sacrificed much of its dwindling credibility with the hiring game it just played.

Maybe that's OK with the folks there who run it, since they are not elected and escape voter accountability.

But the rest of us should continue to call them out even as we also find better examples of public policy-making, as Henken suggests, and which would help the region, that are meritorious on both process and results.

Water Writer Chris Wood's Essay Is A Must-Read

Chris Wood presents in the Toronto media an excerpt from his new book Dry Spring: The Coming Water Crisis in North America, about the Great Lakes.

The essay is quite a mix of science, math and pure passion for and about the Great Lakes.

I'm struck how different Wood's language and approach is, to say, the Waukesha politicos and business people who just say "gimme, gimme, gimme," without a care in the world for the larger picture.

The people who refuse to understand the complete price/value construct when it comes to water.

And compare their phony, Orwellian argument that obstructing the approval of the pending Great Lakes Compact will make the agreement stronger, when in fact the delays in ratification leave the Great Lakes vulnerable to mismanagement, or would, if 'improved' with amendments, increase the number of out-flowing diversions.

Thanks to Dave Dempsey also for his related posting and hat tip.

WMC's Hit To Your Wallet Approaching $10 Million

That's the word from One Wisconsin Now's WMC Watch dollar counter, running freely, here.

More Great Lakes Compact "Strange Interpretation" From Ohio Lawmakers

And remember, these folks called out in this Cleveland Plain Dealer coverage are allied with their ideological counterparts in the Wisconsin - - specifically the Assembly's GOP leadership, State Sen. Mary Lazich, (R-New Berlin), and the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, et al.

Prof. Stanley Kutler Explains Perils of Privatization

The author and retired UW-Madison constitutional scholar Stanley Kutler turns his sharp eye and keyboard towards the perils of privatization in this substantive Capital Times commentary.

Definitely worth a read.

Lack Of Smoking Ban Highlights Larger Issue

The Wisconsin State Journal laments the lack of a statewide smoking ban, with progress towards its implementation stymied by partisan bickering and influential special interests.

It's an excellent point and well argued. We deserve better.

But this same disinterest in the public's health is evident in our state's unacceptable record in attaining good air quality outside, too.

A truly unholy, yet powerful alliance - - road-builders, legislative Republicans, the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, the state Department of Natural Resources, the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission and Governor Jim Doyle have all discounted the effect of smokestack or tailpipe emissions - - either by emphasizing highways over transit, or telling federal regulators that it's OK to have dirty air over the Badger State and in our lungs.

For much of the fall and winter, large portions of the state were under dirty air advisories and warnings, as smog, soot and other pollutants hung in the air and made it unhealthy, even dangerous for athletes, children, the elderly, or those with asthma to go outside.

Again, an unacceptable situation, but willfully made worse, then rationalized.

Industry and their apologists in government argued that federal air quality standards as coordinated by the Bush administration (!) are too stringent, or that economic development will suffer if anti-pollution efforts are mandated, or that balanced transportation in our state and particularly in our region around here is unneeded, or too expensive.

That's bunk: development in the effected counties, from Door to Kenosha, and in much of southeastern Wisconsin, will wither in the area if air quality puts companies' personnel at risk for asthma, lung ailments and heart disease.

And a transit-poor community is a turnoff to worldly CEO's and employees who are used to taking trains to the office, light-rail over the lunch hour, and living in housing near a rail station.

Milwaukee business leader, philanthropist and inventor Michael Cudahy has been arguing in favor of better transit in Milwaukee for years.

He said it again on April 2nd, too. You'd think one of these days, he'd be heard.

People will be dissuaded from vacationing here, let alone opening a business or choosing to remain in Wisconsin because there are healthier, more forward-looking cities and climes elsewhere.

Wisconsinites should have access to cleaner indoor air and less-polluted air outside, and that means more political leadership.

This should be a bi-partisan, cooperative no-brainer, with governments and the private sectors agreeing that public health and environmental protections inside and outside, too, are not negotiable.

Despite Arguments From Deniers, Global Warming Action Gets Greater Urgency

The New York Times lays out the case for greater anti-warming technology investments to be made now.

Climate change deniers will say that there's no need to be alarmed, but scientists with credentials are telling us that time is of the essence.

Key paragraphs from The Times story:

"[...] with recent data showing an unexpected rise in global emissions and a decline in energy efficiency, a growing chorus of economists, scientists and students of energy policy are saying that whatever benefits the cap approach yields, it will be too little and come too late.

"The economist Jeffrey D. Sachs, head of the Earth Institute at Columbia University, stated the case bluntly in a recent article in Scientific American: “Even with a cutback in wasteful energy spending, our current technologies cannot support both a decline in carbon dioxide emissions and an expanding global economy. If we try to restrain emissions without a fundamentally new set of technologies, we will end up stifling economic growth, including the development prospects for billions of people.”

"What is needed, Mr. Sachs and others say, is the development of radically advanced low-carbon technologies, which they say will only come about with greatly increased spending by determined governments on what has so far been an anemic commitment to research and development. A Manhattan-like Project, so to speak."

Big Applicant Pool For Next UW-Madison Chancellor

Fifty-five applicants.

Sure hope the pay is high enough.

Widgerson Falls Off The Edge The World Defending The WMC

James, James, James Widgerson!

"Perfidy" is a great Scrabble word, but it no way makes any sense in your off-the-mark defense of the WMC and silly slam at Paul Soglin.

And yes, decades ago, I did work for Paul, but I never thought I'd have to step up and defend him against allegations of disloyalty to Wisconsin.

Someone put some bad mushrooms in your pizza, brother James.

Or this Gableman 'victory' has damaged your DNA.

Either way, I'm worried about ya. That post wasn't rational.

More Government Support For Expanding I-94: Are You Surprised?

An added lane and a rebuilt I-94 freeway from Milwaukee to Illinois gets a predicable thumbs up in a government-paid environmental review.

$1.9 billion to shave up to ten minutes off some commutes - - a pricetag that has doubled since this 35-mile segment of regional freeway work was first proposed in 2003.

And it contains zero dollars for transit, while gasoline is now 50% more expensive than it was when the freeway study was approved - - a $6.5 billion gift of public funds to the road-builders launched by the regional planning commission and embraced by the state transportation department.

The report includes data acknowledging increases in traffic, yet predicts there will be cleaner air overall because newer vehicles will run more efficiently.

Yet the area already fails federal air quality standard's - - which are getting tougher.

With wetlands that highway planners say they will restore as a result of construction (note to us all: let's see the proof!), and the water polluted runoff they'll deal with, (let's check that, too), I'd wager that we'll end up with dirtier air and fouled land and waterways - - but a bit less traffic congestion.

And no transit components for residents in the region without cars, or the means to pay for what will be $5-$6 per-gallon gasoline when the eight-year project is completed in 2016.

By 2016, people in the region will be screaming for more transit, to which the response will be: those dollars were directed into highways back in the earlier part of the centruy, when the road-builders were kind.

The plan and its so-called "environmental review's" one-dimensionality and dismissal of concerns for air and water quality are short-sighted embarrassments.

But it's all so predictable because it validates what transportation policy-makers around here, like Milwaukee County Executive Scott Walker and State Rep Jeff Stone (R-Greendale), have promoted for years:

A 21st century waste of money - - dictated by the road-builders - - based on 1950's planning that ignores the environment but increases sprawl development.

It's our our state and county governments and regional planning commission at work - - pushing again for the Old Suburbanism rather than transit and city-supporting New Urbanisn.

Mequon Development Honors Wildlife

Developers in Mequon left some money on the table, but will win goodwill from their neighbors by putting wildlife and nature preservation above some potential profit, according to the Daily Reporter.

Note that the public benefits are happening also in no small measure through the cooperation and resources of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources, the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District, and the Ozaukee Washington Land Trust.

Sounds like a true public/private partnership, with no shortage of good will anywhere.

Major Wisconsin Business Groups Attacked From The Right

It defies the laws of political physics - - that somehow the Metropolitan Association of Commerce and the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce could be attacked from the right - - but one business executive thinks those two very conservative groups have defected to the other side.

Details here.

Science Daily Reports Soot/Arctic Melt Connection

Worldwide soot particles, emitted worldwide, could be linked to warmer temperatures melting Arctic ice, according to a study posted at the site Science Daily (newer posting here).

A reader posting a comment on an earlier blog item suggested I check out Science Daily, so thanks.

By The Numbers: Bush-Cheney Administration In Last Throes

81% of the country says we're headed in the wrong direction.

Can January 20, 2009 come faster?

Righty TV Talker Glenn Beck Loves Big Oil

Yes, Glenn Beck loves Big Oil.

You can't make this stuff up.

At least the conservative cable TV talker has moved on to other topics - - mercifully for both the host and the viewers - - leaving behind his first-person accounts of botched rectal surgery, suicidal thoughts, and epiphanies about US health care services.

Like I said: you can't make this stuff up.

Here's the video of that "eye-opening" - - his words, I kid you not - - experience.

And his subsequent 'I-really-should-stop-yammering-video' where he talks about his "butt surgery."

Yeah, cable TV talkers are really elevating the national dialogue.

WMC Board Resignation Hits The Business Media

Steve Jagler at Small Business Times gets the word out to a business audience about an intriguing resignation from the board of the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

Attention Wisconsin shoppers: if you don't like the politics of the leadership of the firms you patronize, find alternatives.

Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson To Run Again

As predicted on this blog before Tuesday's State Supreme Court campaign votes were counted, Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice Shirley Abrahamson has confirmed that she is definitely running for re-election in 2009.

Given the well-heeled Right's interest in retaining wealth and control of the state's social agendas, and Abrahamson's pivotal role in the state judiciary's management and direction, the struggle for her seat on the bench will make the two most recent Supreme Court races look like kindergarten playground patty cake.

Look to the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and its affiliates to raise and spend up to $10 million to oust Abrahamson if need be.

That's because the Chief Justice, as an elected and battle-tested candidate, is in a relatively strong position to win, and to benefit from a broad, and bi-partisan coalition of groups and citizens that will make her success their top 2009 political priority.

So also expect the Right to find a front candidate more substantial than an empty suit who wins with 51% of the vote.

Paper Calls On Walker To "Bend" On Rail Transit

Don't hold your breath.

As long as Walker is tied to right wing talk radio, that's the direction he will bend because he and the hosts are rooted in the anti-rail suburbs.

None of that alliance cares enough about the city or the downtown or transit riders to support an urban transit network with a rail component.

Talk radio support and suburban voters are more important to Walker than the Journal Sentinel's second-straight editorial endorsement, which is why the paper should have backed Walker's April 1 opponent, State Sen. Lena Taylor, (D-Milwaukee) for a fresh start in County leadership.

Without a new face in the County Executive's office, and preferably a Democrat with whom Milwaukee Mayor Tom Barrett could work, the roadblocks to modern rail transit and a brighter economic future in Milwaukee will continue.

McCain Is On The Wrong Side Of His 100-Year War

Every day there is another good reason to make sure there isn't another US soldier in harm's way in Iraq.

And certainly not on John McCain's 100-year timetable.

Cities' Water Access Jeopardized By New Berlin And Ohio Radicals

I've posted several items on this blog going back to last year - - one example here - - about the counter-productive alliance between legislators in Wisconsin and Ohio whose obstruction of the pending Great Lakes Compact could sink this crucial, eight-state water management agreement.

Counter-productive because without the Compact - - seven years in the making - - applications for Great Lakes water by certain communities like New Berlin cannot move forward.

And counter-productive because the Compact's demise would be bad for the health of the Great Lakes and the entire region's economy and future, too.

State Sen. Mary Lazich, (R-New Berlin) is the self-described leader of Wisconsin's Compact opponents: you can listen to her 26-minute Senate Floor tirade about the evils of Great Lakes cooperative water conservation.

Yet New Berlin is the community whose Great Lakes water access is now the most in peril.

More about that and the contradiction caused by Sen. Lazich's obstructionism and Ohio alliance in a moment - - though you gotta ask yourself: who would want such possible damage from your hometown and across much of the continent on your resume?

There's fresh media coverage in Ohio of Lazich's major Buckeye cohort, State Sen. Tim Grendell, here, including accounts of Grendell's temperment and racial insensitivity.

I had earlier linked to a separate newspaper story from a while back that reprised Grendell's demeaning remarks to an African-American legislative colleague.

Both Lazich and Grendell are pushing for such basic changes in the Compact - - even though four states have already adopted it - - that trying to reopen the years of multi-state negotiations that produced it would lead to the agreement's demise.

That ploy has also been endorsed by other Wisconsin politicians and business organizations, including the Waukesha County Chamber of Commerce, Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce and Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas.

Just as the Wisconsin State Senate and Ohio's lower house have already overwhelmingly approved strong Compact bills, it's important that both legislatures complete that positive, pro-Compact approval process.

It will help preserve the Great Lakes and soundly put these reactionary little cabals in their proper places - - at the fringe, where they can't do more damage.

It's important for Wisconsinites to understand just how radical and reckless that Grendell has been.

And Wisconsin legislators like Lazich - - more analysis and her own words here - - who have touted Grendell's 'approach' to the Compact should explain why they have thrown their prestige and Wisconsin's reputation his way.

New Berlin residents need to know that the longer Lazich plays political games with Ohio politicos over the Compact, the more likely it is that her home city will not win the Lake Michigan water diversion it has applied for, and that exemptions in the Compact specifically help enable.

Without the Compact, New Berlin finds itself blocked from Lake Michigan by a much tougher federal statute.

And if somehow Lazich and Grendell prevailed, thus voiding the Compact approvals already produced in New York, Illinois, Minnesota and Indiana, the anger in those states would surely lead to their blocking future water diversion applications coming from Wisconsin and Ohio communities.

Do residents of New Berlin, Waukesha and other cities in the region want to pay that price?

Why We Love That Baseball Is Back

There's nothing like a second straight early April defeat for the Chicago Cubs at the hands of the Milwaukee Brewers - - televised straight in HD to the home office - - that will always cure what ails ya.

And game day reporting can include some great little nuggets, like this end note from today's AP account of the Cub's 8-2 defeat:

"Part of [Cubs' pitcher] Carlos Zambrano's problems with cramping is related to a low potassium level, manager Lou Piniella said. Zambrano had to leave in the seventh Monday with a cramp in his right forearm. He's had similar problems with cramps in past seasons. Zambrano said he would have to drink more water. Piniella said his ace will have to eat more bananas. And the Cubs would also like Zambrano to cut back on his caffeine intake."

Supreme Court Race, By The Numbers

Milwaukee County gave hometown State Supreme Court candidate Louis Butler a 25,000 vote cushion, but only with a 58-42% split; Mike Gableman more than made that up in surrounding southeastern Wisconsin counties, records show.

Waukesha County alone gave Gableman a 21,000 vote margin, and a 67-33% division.

With Milwaukee County having substantially more than twice the population of Waukesha County, it means Democrats and liberals are doing a terrible job in Milwaukee County by comparison with Waukesha County in getting out and voting.

Though the totals were smaller in Washington County, the split there was still 70%-30%, Gableman.

Combine that with Gableman wins in many of the more rural counties out-state - - 2,000 votes here, 3,000 votes there - - and he overcame Butler's predictably gaudy Dane County percentage and vote total to prevail.

Chart here.

Soglin On The Election And The WMC

Plenty of blogging to read on the Supreme Court race.

WisOpinion's index today can keep you busy, and Paul Soglin is definitely worth a read.

Mike Plaisted, and Illusory Tenant, too.

And before this election fades into memory, let's not let the victorious Mike Gableman or his supporters absolve themselves of this responsibility:

It was Gableman's campaign, authorized and paid for, with the candidate's approval, that ran the now-infamous Willie Horton, race-baiting attack on Justice Louis Butler.

An ad so misleading that it was condemned across-the-board by major mainstream media statewide and Charlie Sykes, Milwaukee's morning conservative talk show host on AM620 WTMJ.

It was Gableman's campaign committee, and not some "shadowy" third-party group, some outside PAC that dreamed up, paid for and aired the spot.

In Gableman's first TV ad. High fives all around when they saw it, no doubt.

And it was the candidate himself who refused all those appeals to take the ad down, and on election night thanked the "good people" of the state for following his lead.

Mike Gableman, his handlers and his financiers have severely devalued the political process in this state, and along with it, the reputation of its judiciary.

It will be interesting to see if Gableman makes any effort to correct this wrong, or acknowledges that he will drag this stain into the Court's chamber.

Gableman is the only person that can remove it.

Maybe he'll listen to some of the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. audio tapes that will play on Friday, the anniversary of his assassination, and be moved to do some healing work.

UW Stem Cell Advocate Wins National Recognition

The UW-Madison's stem cell program is the envy of universities worldwide because it has combined the two elements academe and the surrounding communities crave:

Scientific breakthrough, and economic development.

Through the Wisconsin Alumni Research Foundation, Dr. James Thomson and his team of researchers have advanced the stem cell science, but they have been aided by others who have worked tirelessly in more arcane administrative arenas that help WARF protect its advantages for the school and the economy.

Without, for example, the license, patent and so-called technology transfer protections won for WARF through lawyering and lobbying, the scientists, and the businesses and jobs their work is spinning off, would be less successful.

As wonderful and exciting and promising as are stem cell and related health sciences, there have to be smart and capable people on the team that navigate the legal, political and business worlds so the full social benefits can migrate from campus to commerce to consumers.

The universities around the country involved in such endeavors each year give an award for work that helps the entire field, and this year's recognition went to Andrew Cohn, WARF's director of government and association relations.

Those of us who are lucky enough to know Andy are not surprised that his peers have given him their accolade.

I'm just happy to pass the news along.

Another Win For The Right - - And November Is Fast Approaching

A few first thoughts on the State Supreme Court race:

Burnett County Circuit Judge Michael Gableman's defeat of incumbent Justice Louis Butler is an undeniable victory for the Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce.

Not a runaway victory, but let's be honest and put aside any spin: the business group engineered the defeat of a sitting Wisconsin Supreme Court Justice for the first time in four decades.

With the successful backing of now-Justice Annette Ziegler last year, the WMC is two-for-two in back-to-back years, flipping the High Court's split to a 4-3 conservative majority.

And turning on the green light for whatever Big Business wants in Wisconsin - - new tax breaks, voided regulations, easier permitting and whatever else these conservative/libertarian business leaders desire.

That victory and its spoils, however, has come with a price.

It was Gableman, not any outside group, that played the race card in its first television ad against Butler, and never apologized for it.

Gableman's campaign and the outside groups like the WMC played Bad Cop/Worse Cop on the airwaves - - and played hardball from start to finish - - reducing Butler to a caricature of the dedicated attorney, judge and Justice he'd been.

It'll take Wisconsin some to recover from such a statewide sliming.

I watched Gableman's victory speech on television Tuesday night and heard him thank the "good people" in the state for voting for him.

That gave me the shivers.

It reminded me of a long ago Madison Mayor, William Dyke, who appealed for votes by that city's "decent people."

Someone needs to tell Gableman that Butler's voters are good people, too.

And that a sitting Supreme Court Justice can't afford to keep separating people out and categorizing them like that.

One more thing:

Gableman says he isn't an activist, but the term is completely situational and relative.

When the WMC and its allies on the right come before the High Court, you better believe they want activism - - on their terms.

And for the left:

Liberals, progressives and the other elements of the traditional Democratic coalition, now having lost Supreme Court races in 2007 and 2008, have no time to waste.

The November election will be here before we know it.

Transit Planning Money Restored, Still No Consensus Plan

Milwaukee officials can again tap into federal transit planning money, but there is no agreement between city and county leaders on what transit improvements a study could help implement.

There is a separate pot of funding - - $91.5 million - - available for transit in Milwaukee, but County Executive Scott Walker wants to spend it on buses, while Mayor Tom Barrett wants it spent on both buses and a trolley loop in and near the downtown.

With Walker viewing anything that moves on rail as toxic, and unacceptable to his talk radio handlers, the stalemate will continue.

Wisconsin Lawyer/Blogger Says Butler's One Of The Nation's Best

The blogger/lawyer Illusory Tenant reached that conclusion after reading scads of Justice Louis Butler's opinions during extensive research for the last few weeks of bloggers' battles over the Butler-Gableman tilt.

Which Illusory Tenant says is no contest.

The key graph:

"Louis Butler is one of the smartest and best judges in Wisconsin. Having recently plowed through dozens of Butler's written opinions, there is no doubt about that. And he's not just one of the smartest and best judges in Wisconsin, I'd argue he's one of the smartest and best in the country. Mike Gableman is ... well, unfortunately, Mike Gableman. Gableman's entire campaign has been premised on falsehoods and personal attacks intended to tear down the personal and professional integrity of a good man. It's clear he could only fail spectacularly on that account. And it's equally clear that that's the best he could come up with."

Taxpayers Provide Local Government Officials With Gas-Guzzlers

No, that's not an April Fool's Day headline.

Here's the story:

I noticed when reading the minutes of the February meeting of the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission's executive committee that the agency had taken delivery of a 2008 Ford Crown Victoria.

Usually you see those big 'ol Crown Vics - - souped-up with special speed and handling packages - - in law enforcement fleets.

That makes sense, since officers need big cars to catch speeders and haul prisoners.

But in regular, civilian life, where cost is a substantial factor, Crown Vics are joining other big domestic cars as memories of an era that's ending.

Case in point:

New York City cab companies are replacing their Crown Vics with hybrid vehicles to save money, given the price of gasoline.

And you'd think that getting a green fleet in operation would be a priority at SEWRPC, our regional planning agency, where sustainability - - fiscal and environmental - - should be something of a model.

Both to conserve resources, and to save taxpayer money. I mean, why not?

But signs to the contrary have been routine at the Pewaukee-based agency, whose headquarters in an industrial park isn't even on a bus line.

The $6.5 freeway upgrade SEWRPC wrote for the region, with more than $2.7 billion in the ground or about to be committed by state transportation officials, contained no transit extensions or recommendations, and projected usage of our rebuilt and expanded freeway system when gasoline was at $2.30 a gallon, SEWRPC records indicate.

In 2005 dollars.

It would be nice to be able to buy gasoline with three-year-old dollars, and at $2.30 a gallon, that's not what any of us are paying, and it's not what the taxpayers are spending to keep a new Crown Vic on the road, either.

Or another recently-obtained vehicle, a 2007 Chevrolet Impala, itself not known as a gas miser.

I asked the agency for more information, and an email came back, reprinted below, that provided a great deal of information about SEWRPC's fleet.

One highlight:

The assignment of the Crown Vic to contractor - - not fulltime staffer - - Kurt Bauer, the agency's Executive Director Emeritus.

Bauer, who retired as Executive Director in 1996, is a three-quarter-time consultant to SEWRPC earning $6,500 a month, and who also receives an office and a car, according to the agency.

Bauer's major contract duties at SEWRPC include chairing two SEWRPC advisory committees, and serving as County Surveyor, according to the agency.

Now I can see having roomy, heavy vehicles for some of SEWRPC's field work.

And I'm not suggesting that people be squeezed into a minicar.

But c'mon:

Buying relatively low mpg rides for the current Executive Director (Phil Evenson, an '06 minivan), Deputy Director (and '09 Executive Director designee Ken Yunker, the '07 Impala), and Bauer (the '08 Crown Vic - - which gets 18 mpg combined city, highway driving, per the newly-recalibrated federal estimates)?

And other trucks that also really burn gas?

Remember: taxpayers from seven counties pay all SEWRPC's expenses - - Milwaukeans the largest share - - but it doesn't appear if saving money or fossil fuels went into the vehicles' purchase or operation.

Here is the SEWRPC fleet information email, verbatim:

"All Commission vehicles are considered to be available to all employees on an as-needed, sign out basis; consequently, they constitute a pool.

"Certain individuals, including Messrs. Evenson, Yunker, and Bauer, are designated as the primary users and sign-outs need to be cleared with them. To the extent the vehicles are taken home or used for personal use, we follow all IRS regulations.

"The Commission auto pool consists of the following vehicles:

2006 Chrysler Town & Country Primary user - Executive Director

2008 Chevrolet Impala Primary user – Deputy Director

2008 Ford Crown Victoria Primary user – County Surveyor

2007 Chevrolet Suburban Primary user – Field Crew Chief – Wetlands

2000 Chevrolet Silverado Primary user – Field Crew Chief - Surveyor

2003 Ford Taurus No primary user

2004 Ford Freestar No primary user

2006 Chevrolet Silverado No primary user

2006 Dodge Grand Caravan No primary user"

The point is that the SEWRPC mindset still doesn't embrace sustainability.

The only green component of SEWRPC's fleet operation is the color of our money ending up at auto dealerships and gas stations.

Great Lakes Water Sale Predicted In 10 Years, Ohio Official Says

Ohio's Lt. Governor, who also serves as the state's development director, told The Toledo Blade that the Great Lakes states would have to decide in a decade whether to sell water to states and countries beyond the Great Lakes basin boundaries.

The Great Lakes Compact, stalled in the Ohio Senate and Wisconsin Assembly by the same stripe of obstructionist Republican states' rightists, would establish rules and procedures to make out-of-basin sales difficult by requiring that diverted water be returned.

So a community like Waukesha could meet that standard, but a community in Georgia, Arizona - - or in Asia, for example could not.

So why is the Compact stalled in Wisconsin?

Because a handful of Waukesha-area legislators and business leaders don't want any restrictions on Waukesha's ability to pull Lake Michigan water across the basin, even though Waukesha City Mayor Larry Nelson has said he can live with the Compact agreement and its terms, as written.

Those blocking the Compact would leave the door open to diversions taking place without the water being returned, or without the Compact's regional water conservation requirements firmly in place.

Setting up the Great Lakes and their watershed for net water losses is absurd.

But so far, that is the risk that Waukesha and state chamber of commerce leaders, along with Assembly Speaker Mike Huebsch, (R-West Salem), State Rep. Mark Gunderson (R-Waterford), State Sen. Mary Lazich, (R-New Berlin), and Waukesha County Executive Dan Vrakas are willing to take.

Gableman, Ziegler Fiascos Ensure Abrahamson '09 Candidacy

Just an assumption on my part, but I think it's a lock that State Supreme Court Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson will run for re-election in 2008.

The court has taken two big hits in a year: Annette Ziegler winning, only to face discipline for ethics violations, and Mike Gableman's vile campaign this year, which 34 judges statewide called "a new low."

I can't imagine Abrahamson stepping aside at this point. She's well-positioned to win re-election because she has widespread, bi-partisan, even iconic name recognition and appeal.

And as long-time Chief Justice, she's the right person to keep the Court on an even keel and protect the institution from further degradation.

The same far-right outside groups that enabled both Ziegler and Gableman can throw the same millions at whomever they find to mouth those phony cliches about "activist judges," but that'll be money poorly spent.

And also by that time, perhaps more members of the unmasked Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce will come to their senses and step away from the group until it replaces the reactionary ideologues on the staff that have twisted the group into a corrosive anti-Wisconsin, anti-business front.

Helping convince the legendary Chief Justice Shirley Abrahamson to run for another 10-year-term - - remember, she's the leader of the pack the Right loves to hate - - is for the WMC and all the other Righties their Well-Deserved, Self-Inflicted, Unintended Consequences Booby Prize of The Day.

And an April Fool's reality, a perfect fit.

Stop Underestimating Water's Real Value

The Milwaukee Journal Sentinel calculates the dollar value of possible water sales to communities west of Milwaukee, including some on the far side of the sub-continental divide.

A few million a year, total, from projected sales to many communities, based on your standard utility operating checklists: wholesale water rates, certain service charges, etc., etc.

This is the same narrow view of the water issue framing the ongoing area supply study by the Southeastern Wisconsin Regional Planning Commission:

Straight Econ 101 - - supply and demand.

Who needs water? Waukesha, et al.

Who's got excess pumping capacity, and access to Lake Michigan water?

Why, none other than Milwaukee, whose Water Utility Manager, Carrie Lewis, is quoted in the Journal Sentinel story as a willing water supplier.

The same Carrie Lewis who voted at the water committee against an effort to broaden the foundation of its study, and to take into wider issues that moving water around the region might effect.

The committee's focus is supply and demand, and fitting its final recommendations into SEWRPC's existing land use plan - - a plan that has existed for decades as the suburbs grew, Milwaukee declined, affordable housing was ignored, highways were expanded, open land was paved and developed, transit atrophied, and minority employment collapsed.

In order to fully recognize the value of water to communities eager to buy it from Milwaukee, sellers and recipients absolutely have to add two more parameters to that supply/demand equation after conservation standards and other legal requirements are met.

They first have to agree that payment for water will include a share of the development improvements in the buying communities linked in any way to new and reliable supplies of water.

Second parameter:

If water is to be shared regionally, then so do solutions to the region's systemic problems that have been heaped disproportionately into Milwaukee - - the city that now has the water access, the treatment facilities (best in the country) and the pumps and the pipes to get it to the wanting communities.

The principle in water sales negotiations should be:

You can't have one without the other, because water - - if its transfer meets all the legal criteria - - and an agreement to move some of it - - are too precious to waste.

Subdivisions, malls, office complexes, hotels, golf courses, water parks, hospitals, and factories will be attracted to, improved and retained in the outlying communities if and when pipelines are built from Milwaukee.

You can see and hear the ads already:

"Buy Your New Home In Gushing Springs, Supplied With Lake Michigan Water..."Bring The Kids To Diversion World, With Waukesha County's Biggest Water Slide!...Get Rid Of That Water Softener And Build Yourself A Backyard Pool: We're Hooked Up To The Lake Now."

A decent percentage of that new development beyond the Great Lakes basin will include business relocation from Milwaukee, too.

Water will follow the capital, and vice-versa, so the buyer and seller need to figure out how to share the benefits and make them work for both parties, since we're all in the same region.

Look at it like this.

You sell your business. The buyer purchases the fixed assets, both sides of the ledgers, and a calculation for good will/future earnings.

You know - - the business's real, or total, value.

The same goes for Lake Michigan water.

The water will add value to the buying communities.

A group of economists, planners, and politicians should be able to negotiate a fair formula, and then a fair calculation - - as a floor.

And opening access to that water needs to also open discussions and produce new approaches to help remedy all the disparities between city and suburb - - not just the disparity between whose got Lake Michigan water and who doesn't.

Anything less would undervalue the water.

And please don't get all huffy about this, the way State Sen. Mary Lazich, (R-New Berlin) or others have done, calling a proposal like this for some sort of tax-base sharing, or water-based policymaking "extortion," or hatred for the suburbs.

That's bunk, and rhetoric, and they know it.

Don't be diverted from the real issue, which is to make a genuine effort to conserve water, then fully falue and utilize if it is legally moved.

And to recognize the opportunities that water sales can play to address a wider range of issues to boost the entire region, broadly defined: housing availability, balanced transportation, land use protections, water conservation, and more fully open municipal borders.

Given the growing scarcity of water nationally and worldwide, an honest effort to establish the full economic and social value of water in the Great Lakes region would send a message that we take our roles as water stewards seriously.

And understand that water, a life-giving necessity, should be used to add value to everyone's life.

Al Gore Launches New Climate Change Awareness Effort

Though Al Gore is committing much of his own resources to expanding awareness of climate change, expect the flat-earthers to go nuts.

The rest of us, and our children and grandchildren, thank him.