Wisconsin environmental groups worry second Trump term will undo climate initiatives
There are still things the state can do to protect the environment and fight climate change, advocates say.
November 22, 2024
In the past few years, lawmakers and environmental groups have worked to protect drinking water from toxic forever chemicals like PFAS, help families afford solar panels and electric vehicles, replace lead water pipes, help rural communities convert to renewable energy, and limit pollution. All those efforts could be at risk with President-elect Donald Trump returning to the White House, environmental leaders say.
Trump has repeatedly said that he believes climate change is a hoax, and many of his policies, such as ramping up gas and oil production, would go against environmentalists’ work to combat global warming. He has said he would back out of the Paris climate treaty for the second time — he pulled the United States out of it during his first term, but President Joe Biden rejoined it — and his pick to head the Environmental Protection Agency, former Republican Rep. Lee Zeldin, voted against climate initiatives while in Congress.
Because of the threat the second Trump administration poses to the environment, advocacy groups are preparing to fight even harder to protect Wisconsin’s environment over the next four years. Amy Barrilleaux, the communications director of Clean Wisconsin, a nonprofit that fights climate change and pollution, said the state still has plenty of power to protect the environment if the state Legislature is willing to act.
“We have the ability to do better than the Trump administration when it comes to environmental protection here in Wisconsin; we just have to be really committed to doing that,” Barrilleaux told the Wisconsin Independent.
As a state, Wisconsin can do a lot independent of the federal government. For example, the state can set its own drinking water and groundwater standards to limit and prevent water pollution. The state can also impose stricter laws to protect fragile ecosystems such as wetlands. The state’s Public Service Commission has also shown a commitment to approving clean energy projects, Barrilleaux said.
Still, Barrilleaux said, they are bracing for some of the federal actions Trump might take.On the campaign trail, Trump promised to take back any unspent funds allocated under the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act. The legislation was the largest investment in fighting climate change in U.S. history. In Wisconsin, that funding is helping rural communities and corporations install renewable energy infrastructure, is giving tax incentives to homeowners and small business owners to make homes and buildings more energy-efficient, and is increasing the manufacturing of green technology in America.
“It’s an enormous piece of legislation that touches every level of society, from a homeowner who just wants some new insulation so their energy bills will be lower to a big utility that wants to replace a coal plant with solar energy,” Barrilleaux said. “And everything in between.”
She said Clean Wisconsin is also concerned about actions Trump might take against the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act, which has helped pay for projects in Wisconsin to treat water for PFAS, artificial chemicals that are found in many firefighting foams and nonstick materials and that have been found in much of Wisconsin’s drinking water supply, and to replace lead pipes, among other improvements.
“These are real-world impacts. It’s not just, Oh, that’s going to affect somebody else over there. Those will have real impacts in Wisconsin,” Barrilleaux said.
“Insofar as something is labeled as a climate practice, it is not going to be received with open arms by Trump and the Trump administration. That has been clear,” Margaret Krome, the policy program director at Michael Fields Agricultural Institute, which supports and educates farmers committed to sustainability, told the Wisconsin Independent.
The IRA helped farmers access funding for conservation efforts, such as protecting soil, water and wildlife, Krome said, noting that efforts by farmers to protect the environment are working. For example, Krome said, farmers who are using cover crops to protect their soil are producing successful crops even during droughts and are protecting infrastructure and soil downstream from flooding; minimizing phosphorus runoff from farms is proving cheaper in the long run than cleaning it up later. Conservation practices are important to ensure farmland is still viable for the next generation of farmers.
Educating the public and lawmakers on all of these benefits of conservation is part of what the Michael Fields Agricultural Institute is doing in preparation for Trump’s second term. “Those are some of the things that we’ve been doing to prepare, is just showing people these practices matter to the state,” Krome said.
Barrileaux said Clean Wisconsin is trying to inform the public, saying the organization is asking Wisconsinites to not tune out from what might be a tumultuous four years.
“There are always places where you can have a voice, especially locally. Don’t get distracted by the noise or feel hopeless,” she said.
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