Assembly Democrats take aim at climate change in large package of bills

Proposals that cover agriculture, schools, electric utilities and workforce training are among 20 pieces of draft legislation to address climate change that Wisconsin Assembly Democrats began circulating Thursday.

“The climate crisis is real, and there is no time to waste in taking action,” said Rep. Greta Neubauer (D-Racine), the Assembly’s Democratic leader, at a Capitol press conference. “We need to build our climate resilience, invest in policies that will help grow our green economy, and support Wisconsinites as we build a better future for all of us.”

In an interview, Neubauer said the package is aimed at garnering bipartisan support to pass at least a few measures in this session of the Legislature. But it also offers a comprehensive vision for the public of how Democratic lawmakers would approach the escalating threat that climate change poses, she said.

Assembly Democrats highlighted a number of the bills.

Rep. Supreme Moore Omokunde (D-Milwaukee) listed measures to help finance home solar systems and add programs targeting low-income consumers to the state’s Focus on Energy conservation program. “We’re empowering Wisconsin counties to make their communities more climate resilient, saving our climate, and creating a more equitable Wisconsin,” he said, “and doing so are things we must do now.”

Proposals to support developing biodigesters that can turn waste to energy, encourage the planting of crops that can sequester carbon in the atmosphere so it doesn’t contribute to global warming and add county land conservation staff would benefit Wisconsin farmers, according to Rep. Dave Considine (D-Baraboo).

“Farmers want to have the environment be safe and clean,” Considine said. “They want to fish, they want to hunt. They want a clean environment, and we need to help them.”

Rep. Francesca Hong (D-Madison) called transit legislation and green jobs training “smart, equitable policies that approach climate-related issues at their root.”

Among the measures Sen. Chris Larson (D-Milwaukee) drew attention to was one for “complete streets,” requiring bicycle and pedestrian paths in all new road construction projects. Larson is the lead Senate sponsor on several of the proposals.

He poked fun at some of the ceremonial resolutions that have gone before the Legislature.

“In times of divided government, like we have here in Wisconsin, it’s easy for us to focus on the low hanging fruit,” Larson said. “But, no offense to the state cocktail, state cheese varietals, or even the state microbe — these items have their place to be sure — the people elected us to solve problems that are much bigger and affect far more people far more directly.”

With climate change the future of civilization is at stake, he warned. “If we do not address this problem at a global scale, at a countrywide scale, and here at a statewide scale, there will not be much for humans to measure in the foreseeable future.”

Jennifer Giegerich, government affairs director for Wisconsin Conservation Voters, called the collection of bills “the framework around which we can center a healthy economy, save consumers money, center environmental justice, protect our natural landscapes, generate carbon-free power, and develop the future of transportation.”

No Republicans have yet signed on to any of the measures, which Democrats are now circulating to invite cosponsors, Neubauer said. In an interview she nodded when asked about the routine pattern in which Democratic bills have languished in committee after their formal introduction, never to be given a hearing, much less a vote.

“As the Assembly Democrats we can do two things at all times: to try to pass policy that is going to improve people’s lives in Wisconsin, and to put forward the vision for what we know Wisconsinites need long term, even if we can’t get it passed right now,” Neubauer said. “I know that what is really needed to take on climate change is going to be a longer-term project here in the Assembly.”

Neubauer said she thought Republicans could support and pass some bills yet this session, such as measures encouraging farmland conservation and providing resources to local school districts and local governments to improve energy efficiency and equip them for the changing climate.

“We know that climate change is happening,” Neubauer said. “We are all feeling the effects, and I hope that we are able to get some bipartisan support for helping our communities be prepared for the extreme weather events that are coming.”