Possible new group: Republicans for Shorter Lifespans

Irony and self-abasement are alive and well in Wisconsin man's Twitter feed.

And note that it takes a special kind of hypocrite to turn down $1 billion in federal funds to fully expand Medicaid health care coverage to eligible Wisconsin residents - - money which, by the way, would have brought treatment services to opioid abusers during an epidemic which took hold during the hypocrite's tenure in office  

ER Visits For Opioid Overdose Double In Wisconsin

- - to then retweet GOP propaganda critical of universal Medicare coverage.

Who might that be, and why are Republicans continuing their war against health and longevity they've been waging since the earliest attacks on Social Security and Medicare?

Scott Walker

@ScottWalker

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21h

Check this out:

Quote Tweet

Senate Republicans

@SenateGOP

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A lot of talk about Medicare for All today. Here are the facts:

Foul political runoff polluting the State Capitol, rural Wisconsin today

There have been repetitive manure runoffs from big animal feeding operations in Wisconsin - - 

Manure flows off a Kewaunee County livestock feeding operation

- - and now fresh political contamination is seeping into government rule-making that is supposed to protect people living near big animal farming operations.

Remember when a powerful WI GOP legislator in September threatened to kill stronger rules which govern how and where livestock feeding operations could be located - - a rule-making process in which the duly-elected Democratic Gov. Tony Evers now has a major hand? 

A key Republican lawmaker vowed Wednesday to block new state restrictions designed to protect farmers’ neighbors from the stench of manure following a flurry of complaints from Wisconsin’s agricultural community.

The Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection has spent the last three years drafting revisions to farm siting regulations. The latest version calls for dramatically expanding manure storage facility setbacks from neighbors’ property lines for new farms and farms looking to expand.

Sen. Steve Nass, R-Whitewater, co-chairman of the Legislature’s rules committee, issued a terse statement Wednesday accusing department “bureaucrats” of ignoring the industry’s concerns and making life harder for farmers. He promised to do everything he can to block the rules if they reach his committee in their present form.

Some observers have said the proposed DATCP rule-changes were not as consequential as various Republicans or special interests have argued.

Here is a link to the rule packet as proposed.

Nonetheless on Friday it felt like Nass's threat had moved forward because there was reporting which does not bode well for Evers' cabinet preferences, his control of the Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection, (DATCP), and addressing the very groundwater health and safety issues which he has made a statewide priority.

Friday's events included a) Senator Majority Leader Scott Fitzgerald's warning that the GOP Senate may kill Gov. Evers nomination of Brad Pfaff as DATCP-Secretary designee - - a nomination which Evers is refusing to pull  - -

Fitzgerald pushes for Pfaff’s outster as DATCP secretary, guv rejects call

- -  and b) the announcement by Pfaff's agency that it will delay the development of the very toughened livestock feeding operations' siting rules to which some legislative Republicans are opposing:

MADISON – Today, Secretary-designee Brad Pfaff of the Wisconsin Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection (DATCP) announced that the agency has decided not to bring ATCP 51, its proposed updates to the state’s livestock siting regulations, to the DATCP Board for a final vote....

“Since holding public hearings earlier this year, the department has held ongoing, constructive meetings with stakeholders on this complex rule. Given the tremendous importance of our dairy and livestock industries to the state of Wisconsin, we’ve decided to take more time to continue these discussions.”

The administrative rule sets standards and procedures that local governments must follow if they choose to require permits for new or expanding livestock operations. DATCP is required to review this rule every four years...Prior to this proposal, there have been no updates to ATCP 51 since its adoption in 2006.

Reporting this evening framed Friday's events this way: 

Hours after Evers and Fitzgerald spoke about Pfaff's nomination, the secretary canceled a vote by the DATCP board on farm siting regulations, which have received heavy opposition from agricultural groups and some Republicans. The vote had been scheduled for next week. 

A DATCP spokeswoman didn't respond to a request for comment.

Killing the Pfaff nomination would be a very unusual step, but would line up with the one-sided, lame-duck, precedent-be-damned power grabs Republicans pushed through late last year to weaken Evers and Democratic Attorney General Josh Kaul by undermining their traditional authority.

Note that Pfaff and WI GOP legislators had tangled earlier this year.

And if Republicans successfully stymie this DATCP rule-making process, people already dealing with environmental and rural drinking water pollution will be further frustrated in their legitimate yet oft-delayed efforts to get relief.

One more thing: Fitzgerald is running for an open Congressional seat in northern Wisconsin, so anything he does until that election informs and influences agendas and constituencies which extend beyond his State Senatorial district or leadership position.

In other words, this isn't just a battle over arcane rules, their drafting and implementation.

And the kind of inter-departmental coordination Evers wants and the voting public expects from the Cabinet of his choosing to deal with the complex issues Walker created, ignored or worsened is going to a fight every single day. 

Evers begins to wash away Walker's 8-year environmental stain

Evers reviving underwater Lake MI study sanctuary Walker blocked

Remember when Walker killed a popular, positive, multi-agency plan to create an underwater shipwreck study sanctuary in Lake Michigan, because, well, negative and nasty is how he liked state policy when it came to water and the people, as I wrote: 

He initiated the creation of a mapped, so-called sanctuary zone in Lake Michigan off the shoreline of several lakeshore counties to help study, explore and preserve shipwrecks which are part of the state and Great Lakes history.

All to attract tourist, business and scholarly interest and also to promote clean, productive and appealing waters.

Until he abruptly killed his own idea - - reinforcing his reflexive caving to special interests when the environment and the Great Lakes are in the conversation.

[Updated, 3/19/18 - - Wisconsin Democracy Campaign has tracked down the tea party groups and Koch interests organizer who got Walker to deep-six the initiative.

Up and down his Lake Michigan lakeshore of shame.

Lake Michigan in late October 

So add this to a growing list of Walker omissions and fails, like groundwater pollution and climate science, that Evers is working to correct:

Gov. Evers Announces Support for the Wisconsin-Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary Designation Project

MANITOWOC — Gov. Tony Evers, joined by U.S. Sen. Tammy Baldwin, Wisconsin Dept. of Natural Resources Sec. Preston Cole, and local officials, today visited the Wisconsin Maritime Museum to express support for the Wisconsin-Lake Michigan National Marine Sanctuary designation process.  This sanctuary would be the second of its kind in the country, and would protect, conserve, and enhance public access to a significant number of historic shipwrecks in Lake Michigan within Wisconsin state boundaries.  “These shipwrecks help tell the story of Wisconsin and they are a reminder of the enduring relationship between the people of Wisconsin and the Great Lakes,” said Gov. Evers. “This project will expand on state and local tourism initiatives, create a heightened appreciation of the Great Lakes, and provide educational opportunities on the historical significance of this lake shore.” “We’ve been working towards a National Marine Sanctuary designation in Wisconsin for a long time, and we have reached this milestone because of the incredible vision and hard work of community leaders, business owners and residents up and down the Lake Michigan shoreline. I’m pleased this effort can finally move forward thanks to the support of Governor Evers,” said Sen. Baldwin.  “Our Great Lakes are an important part of our nation’s economic engine, and of our maritime heritage. This national designation will ensure that the Lake Michigan coast gets the recognition it deserves as a premier national coastal destination, and will provide the public with new opportunities for recreation, tourism and learning.” Sen. Baldwin has been a staunch advocate of the proposed National Marine Sanctuary from the very beginning of her time representing Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate, and her work at the federal level and with local partners is helping secure a designation in Wisconsin.  As a member of the Senate Appropriations Committee, Sen. Baldwin has pushed for federal funding to ensure NOAA has the resources needed to support development of a marine sanctuary in Wisconsin. In coordination with this public announcement, Gov. Evers sent a letter to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration's (NOAA) Office of National Marine Sanctuaries establishing renewed interest in completing this designation process. This process began in 2014 and was temporary delayed in February of 2018. The governor's letter to re-initiate conversations and negotiations with NOAA can be found here.

Hearings set next week on unsafe rural WI well water. Demand action, now.

There is a surplus of documentation about Wisconsin's rural well water nitrate contamination crisis - - examples, here and here - - and ad infinitum back to at least 2015:

Nitrate in water widespread, current rules no match for it

In fact, The New York Times came to rural Wisconsin a year ago and posted this story a year ago come this Sunday:

Rural America's Own Private Flint; Polluted Water Too Dangerous to Drink

ARMENIA, Wis. — The groundwater that once ran cool and clean from taps in this Midwestern farming town is now laced with contaminants and fear. People refuse to drink it. They won’t brush their teeth with it. They dread taking showers.

Rural communities call it their own, private Flint — a diffuse, creeping water crisis tied to industrial farms and slack regulations that for years has tainted thousands of residential wells across the Midwest and beyond. 

So when you weigh in at next week's long overdue round of state rule-revision hearings, or send in a written comment (directions below) make sure you emphasize that the foot-dragging has got to stop, as Kewaunee County clean water activist Nancy Utesch explained nearly a year ago.


Manure flowing from a Kewaunee CAFO several years ago.

And note that the manure discharge show below from one of 16 major animal feeding operations in Kewaunee County alone is a repetitive event:

This post from River Alliance of Wisconsin has the hearing schedule, comment links and excellent analysis.

Let me also say that the scheduling of all the hearings long distances from Kewaunee County, and the concentration of so many large animal feeding operations in NE Wisconsin, is ridiculous.

Source: Wisconsin Groundwater Coordinating Council Report to the Legislature 2018, (DNR)

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We know the health risks posed by consuming nitrate-contaminated water. 

We know which parts of the state have high nitrates in their water and which soils are most susceptible for nitrate contamination. 

We know the primary source of nitrate pollution is runoff from agriculture. 

We know—to begin to address this problem—we need targeted solutions to help farmers reduce their runoff and impact on our waters, and still continue to be profitable...

Please take a moment to submit comments to the DNR by November 8th. 

The very simple message is (you can personalize, copy and paste): 

I approve of the scope statement 077-19 for rule WT-19-19. Wisconsin’s nitrate contamination problems need to be addressed. The DNR needs to be allowed to start the process of engaging stakeholders to determine the targeted performance standards in places that have both high levels of nitrate and highly susceptible soils. The health of people and our waters can’t wait any longer for solutions. 

NOTE: If you have a personal story about high nitrates in your well water, or if you are a farmer that has taken or is willing to take steps to reduce nitrates, please add a that to your comments to the DNR. 

• Use the DNR’s online comment form.

Or, you may mail your comments to:

Brian Weigel; Dept. of Natural Resources, Bureau of Watershed Management
P.O. Box 7921

Madison, WI 53707-7921.... 

If you would like to attend a hearing in person, the dates and locations are: 

Hearing 1 | Hancock, WI:

• November 4, 2019
• 1PM to 2:30PM
• Hancock Research Station; Headquarters Building
  N3909 County Road V; Hancock, Wisconsin

Hearing 2 | Janesville, WI:

• November 6, 2019
• 1PM to 2:30PM
• Blackhawk Technical College; Room 1400B (North Commons)
  6004 South County Road G; Janesville, Wisconsin

Hearing 3 | Fond du Lac, WI:

• November 7, 2019
• 1:30pm to 3PM
• University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh, Fond du Lac Campus
  Room UC-114 (also known as “Large Group Instructional Room”)
  400 University Drive; Fond du Lac, Wisconsin