Category: As Seen in the Defender

Can you imagine getting through a Wisconsin winter with no gas heating? The Madison Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends doesn’t have to imagine. They had the gas to their Meetinghouse disconnected in favor of geothermal heat pump technology and solar power.

Some legacy environmental orgs are shifting toward work on climate change at the expense of fighting toxic pollution, but it's essential to address both.

Utility rate cases, although often overlooked, play a crucial role in influencing not only customer costs but also shaping energy policy in Wisconsin.

The changing climate is impacting our health, safety, and the economic well-being of every community in our state, with communities of color and low-income communities disproportionately affected.

As the year comes to a close, we’d like to take a moment to reflect on our accomplishments in 2023.

New Plant Hardiness Zone Maps have caused a stir among Wisconsin farmers and gardeners. They confirm something many avid gardeners have already observed: our climate is changing.

Just one year after President Biden signed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) into law, it’s already creating positive change in Wisconsin.

By Jacob Ahrens-Balwit, Strategic Communications Manager, and Katherine (Kata) Young, Natural Climate Solutions Manager.    Before millions of acres of native oak trees, prairie grasses and wildflowers were replaced by annual rotations of row crops, the landscapes of Wisconsin were a self-sustaining tapestry of life.

  To achieve net-zero carbon emissions by 2050, Wisconsin must harness the power of clean energy. We need to build 31 gigawatts (GW) of solar and 21 GW of wind energy projects by the middle of the century to reach net-zero.

Over half of people of color in Wisconsin cities live within one mile of a facility that emits Hazardous Air Pollution.  By Paul Mathewson, Science Program Director, and Sausann Al Jawhar, Summer Science Research Intern.