Wisconsin is experiencing some of the most dangerous air quality in the country as smoke from Canadian wildfires blankets our region. During a time of the year when Wisconsinites relish being outdoors, people across the state are being warned to stay inside.
“We cannot accept this as our new normal in Wisconsin,” says Clean Wisconsin climate, energy and air program director Chelsea Chandler. “The public health threat we’re enduring must be a wakeup call for policymakers. Fires in Canada are both products and causes of climate change. There is action we can take right now to ensure that Wisconsin is part of the climate solution.”
As a state that is both impacted by and contributes to climate change, Wisconsin must take bolder action to mitigate these harms, including:
- Rapidly shutting down Wisconsin’s remaining coal power plants
- Ending investments in fossil fuel-burning infrastructure like new methane gas plants and oil pipelines
- Drastically increasing funding for programs that help Wisconsinites save energy and money
- Investing in public transit and electric vehicle charging infrastructure
- Supporting large-scale wind and solar development
- Removing barriers to rooftop and community solar
- Incentivizing farming practices that truly store carbon in the soil and restore soil health
”These ideas are not new; in fact, many other states are already taking action. For example, Wisconsin is last in the Midwest when it comes to wind energy production, far behind our neighbors,” Chandler says. “We’ve got to realize that Wisconsin is not an island. No community is safe from the impacts of climate change. The question is, what are we – and our state leaders – doing to help?”
