The Defender

With the recent election of President Joe Biden, there is a new focus on strengthening environmental protections and building the momentum to take action on climate change at the federal level. We’re also seeing leadership and opportunities for climate action in Wisconsin.

In today’s episode, we sit down with Clean Wisconsin’s Climate Solutions Director Chelsea Chandler to dive into how climate has become a winning political issue, the new momentum for climate action in various levels of government and what it all means in terms of opportunities to advance climate solutions in Wisconsin.

Background Reading:

Read the Biden-Harris administration's statement on the executive orders signed in the first days of Joe Biden's presidency to tackle climate change.

Learn more about Clean Wisconsin's recommendations on what we can do now to tackle climate change in our policy team's mini-report "Strategies for Climate Action in Wisconsin."

Read the full report from the Governor's Task Force on Climate Change to learn more about their policy recommendations.

Subscribe to State of Change on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Be sure to rate our show and give us a review. It helps other people find us.

You can learn more about Clean Wisconsin and our work at www.cleanwisconsin.org

Sign up to get the latest news from Clean Wisconsin in your inbox at www.cleanwisconsin.org/email

Imagine turning on your faucet to get a glass of water or to fill up a pot for dinner but that water is contaminated with dangerously high levels of nitrates. That's the reality for hundreds of thousands of Wisconsinites who use groundwater as their drinking water source through private wells or public water systems, limiting their access to clean drinking water and putting their health at risk.

In this episode, we sit down with Clean Wisconsin's water program director Scott Laeser to learn where the nitrate contamination is coming from, who is most at risk and why the solutions are so complex.

Subscribe to State of Change on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Be sure to rate our show and give us a review. It helps other people find us.

You can learn more about Clean Wisconsin and our work at www.cleanwisconsin.org

Sign up to get the latest news from Clean Wisconsin in your inbox at www.cleanwisconsin.org/email

Like State of Change? Help support our podcast and our work to protect Wisconsin’s environment at www.cleanwisconsin.org/donate

2020 has been a challenging year as the coronavirus pandemic continues to surge across Wisconsin and the rest of the country. Despite having to transition working from home during these difficult times, Clean Wisconsin has been able to continue its work to protect our environment and public health. 

In this episode, we speak with Clean Wisconsin President and CEO Mark Redsten about the organization’s big accomplishments in the past year, as well as priorities for 2021. We also sit down with Clean Wisconsin’s new content manager and producer of State of Change Molly Dove to talk about the exciting episodes planned for the podcast starting in January. 

Background reading: 

• Summaries of Clean Wisconsin’s priorities centered around clean air, clean water, clean energy and climate change 

• Clean Wisconsin’s staff scientist Paul Matthewson’s research on health and economic impacts of nitrate pollution in Wisconsin 
• Gov. Evers’ Task Force on Climate Change recommendations for legislative action and policies 

Subscribe to State of Change on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Be sure to rate our show and give us a review. It helps other people find us.

You can learn more about Clean Wisconsin and our work at www.cleanwisconsin.org

Sign up to get the latest news from Clean Wisconsin in your inbox at www.cleanwisconsin.org/email

Like State of Change? Help support our podcast and our work to protect Wisconsin’s environment at www.cleanwisconsin.org/donate

The ongoing crisis of PFAS pollution in Wisconsin drinking water centers around one primary source: firefighting foams. While some are trying to take aim at tackling this major threat to public health, others are standing in the way.

In this episode of the podcast, we talk with our policy expert, Carly Michiels, about industry efforts to upend emergency rules for 'forever chemical' pollution, and what it could mean for drinking water in public health around the state.

Background:

In Episode 2, we talk more in-depth with Carly about PFAS pollution in Marinette, which has been the epicenter of 'forever chemical' pollution in Wisconsin.

According to the DNR, roughly 2 out of every 3 fire departments have PFAS-laden firefighting foams, while 62% of fire departments don't have any policy about how to handle or dispose of the products.

Take Action:

Tell the Natural Resources Board to put public health over profit and pass these emergency rules at their October Board meeting.

Two years ago, the small village of Mazomanie, in Dane County's northwestern corner, saw the small creek that runs through the center of their town grow into a raging river as record rains fell in an unprecedented storm.

After it was all over, the region saw more rain in a 24 hour period than has ever fallen in Wisconsin before, costing small communities like Mazomanie homes, businesses, and millions of dollars in damage.

The science community has long pointed to climate change as a major reason for an increased heavy rain events leading to more flooding. But local communities like Dane County--and now state officials--are taking action to limit the impacts of climate change, as well as tackle the root cause: carbon emissions.

In this episode of State of Change, we talk with the Mazomanie Village Administrator about his experience with the 2018 flooding that rocked his community. We also talk with Dane County Executive Joe Parisi about Dane County's leadership in local action on climate change, and we chat with Chelsea Chandler, our new Climate Solutions Director, about efforts at the state level through the Governor's Task Force on Climate Change.

Background reading:

--A post on our blog on Dane County's Climate Action Plan that was released earlier this year. --Our science team created this local climate action map. --They also looked at whether we're seeing more heavy rain events in Wisconsin. --A post on our blog in the aftermath of Dane County's record rainfall and devastating flooding --Great collection of photos from the Wisconsin State Journal documenting the aftermath of flooding in Dane County

A special thanks to Peter Huebner of Mazomanie, Dane County Executive Joe Parisi, and Chelsea Chandler of Clean Wisconsin.

In March 2020, a group of Wisconsin residents traveled to Washington, D.C., to advocate lawmakers in Congress to support funding and protections for our Great Lakes.

These Wisconsin residents come from many different backgrounds and communities along Lakes Michigan and Superior, but one thing connected them all: water, and the aim to protect it from the threats brought by invasive species, pollution and climate change.

In this episode of the podcast, we head to nation’s capital to meet up with three of these advocates and learn that human connection may be our best hope of protecting our Great Lakes.

Background reading:

You can read more about the Great Lakes Restoration Initiative and how it helps Wisconsin’s Great Lakes communities at the DNR’s website.

In January, the DNR and EPA announced they are spending over $29 million over the next 8 years to address polluted sediment in the Milwaukee Estuary Area of Concern. The goal is accelerate the cleanup of the estuary and to delist it as an Area of Concern.

Take Action: Tell members of Congress to support funding for clean water and public health in COVID-19 response legislation.

A special thanks to Brenda Coley and Joe Fitzgerald at Milwaukee Water Commons.

Learn more about the Healing Our Waters—Great Lakes Coalition.

Marinette is defined by water. From industry like shipbuilding to its location where the Menominee River empties into the Bay of Green Bay, water is at the center of life there.

But it's also been the Wisconsin community at the center of a drinking water pollution crisis from a class of chemicals called PFAS, which has been linked to serious health issues including cancer. Residents in the area have struggled to get access to clean drinking water after it was found that the chemical had been leaching into private wells from a nearby firefighting training facility.

Despite this crisis being a top issue for lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, the State Assembly failed to pass meaningful legislation that had bi-partisan support before adjourning for the year.

We talk with Oliver Redsten about how this issue is impacting the residents of Marinette. We also catch up with Carly Michiels, our government relations director, about how the Assembly failed to pass bold legislation to address this crisis, and what it could mean as more communities around the state discover PFAS pollution in their drinking water.

Background reading:

• Read Oliver’s story about his journey to Marinette to understand the PFAS issue that has impacted many residents in the area.
• Read up on the CLEAR Act and why we called on lawmakers to support this legislation.
• Here’s an explainer on PFAS pollution and how it’s impacted communities around the state.

You can also send a message to the State Senate to tell them to veto the Assembly’s failed attempt at addressing PFAS pollution.

Special thanks to Chuck and Cindy Boyle of S.O.H2O; Ruth and John Kowalski of Marinette; Darsi Foss of the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources; and Carly Michiels of Clean Wisconsin.

…

Subscribe to State of Change on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Be sure to rate our show and give us a review. It helps other people find us.

You can learn more about Clean Wisconsin and our work at www.cleanwisconsin.org

Sign up to get the latest news from Clean Wisconsin in your inbox at www.cleanwisconsin.org/email

Like State of Change? Help support our podcast and our work to protect Wisconsin’s environment at www.cleanwisconsin.org/donate

Superior, Wisconsin, was once home to booming industries, which have all but disappeared. But recently, a new opportunity for economic development came knocking: a 625 megawatt gas-fired power plant on the banks of the Nemadji River, which feeds into Lake Superior.

While for some this sounds promising, for others in Superior and nearby communities, there are serious concerns: not only would the plant contribute billions of tons of carbon emissions over its lifetime, contributing to climate change, but it would also require destroying wetlands along the river, the very wetlands that help to reduce the flooding that have ravaged this community in recent years from heavy rain events.

Plus, the plant would require more water each day than the entire City of Superior uses per day, threatening to put a strain on the groundwater many people rely on.

In this episode, we go to the banks of the Nemadji River in Superior to talk with local residents and learn about what this gas plant could mean for the area if it is built.

Learn more about this proposed project and sign up for updates about ways you can help block this plant at www.cleanwisconsin.org/stop-nemadji

Background reading:

• We bust the myth that gas plants help support renewable energy, as the utilities behind this proposed plant have argued.
• We don’t get into it in the episode, but a big reason why we don’t need gas plants is because of the rise of energy storage solutions. We unpack how batteries will play a role in Wisconsin’s energy future.
• Katie Nekola mentions that the lifespan of this plant conflicts with Gov. Evers’ goal to have Wisconsin carbon-free by 2050, which he announced in August 2019. We delve into the governor’s goal and why it matters.
• You can watch our video on this issue, which features many of the people you heard in the episode.

Special thanks to Dr. Jonathan Patz of the Global Health Institute at the University of Wisconsin-Madison; Pastor Bridget Jones of Bethel Lutheran Church in Superior; Sandy Gokee of the Red Cliff Band of the Lake Superior Chippewa; and Katie Nekola of Clean Wisconsin.

…

Subscribe to State of Change on Apple Podcasts, Google Play Music, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.

Be sure to rate our show and give us a review. It helps other people find us.

You can learn more about Clean Wisconsin and our work at www.cleanwisconsin.org

Sign up to get the latest news from Clean Wisconsin in your inbox at www.cleanwisconsin.org/email

Like State of Change? Help support our podcast and our work to protect Wisconsin’s environment at www.cleanwisconsin.org/donate

Wisconsin's environment is changing faster and more dramatically than anyone expected. But there's another kind of change happening, too. Around the state, there's a growing movement to try and stop the dangerous trends before it's too late. From Clean Wisconsin, this is State of Change, a podcast telling the stories of Wisconsin's rapidly changing environment and the people who are trying to do something about it.