Classic Scott Walker dodge:
Just as he tossed out last-minute, ineffective and insincere 'solutions' to voting obstruction he'd caused with suppressionist legislation because spot-on lawsuits and a US District Court Judge were breathing down his neck, Walker has made an ineffective and insincere proposal to 'resolve' feedlot runoff and contamination in rural wells because the US Environmental Protection Agency is gearing up after citizen complaints to call out Walker for five years of intentional, special-interest obeisant non-compliance with the US Clean Water Act.
Walker has rush out a proposal for private sector manure digesters which can turn animal waste into natural gas - - though one such operation in Dane County was stalled by an explosion and overflow problems - - and routine, big-project delays in construction of more digesters will do nothing for those in Kewaunee County and elsewhere whose well water contamination is a health hazard right now.
What the stubborn, anti-federal governme-admit-no-error Walker won't do is enforce the Clean Water Act, as he could do with a simple memo to the DNR, and feds told him he should do in writing in 2011 because Wisconsin's adherence to the law was deficient in 75 categories.
All this while the number and scale of big feedlots rapidly expands in the state, and the DNR, with permission from Attorney General Brad Schimel upon request of GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, is not setting limits on the amount of ground water these animal feeding and other large agricultural business can extract.
Is it a coincidence that some of the recent DNR's big water withdrawal permits have gone to large-scale Scott Waller campaign donors?
Water in - - manure and urine out - - and seep into nearly wells, lakes, streams and downhill and downstream it will.
Bottom line:
* Rural water systems will remain contaminated as residents wait for digesters - - where, how many, at what cost, with what operating success?
* Walker will not move further or faster unless compelled by litigation or court orders.
* And whatever lobbyist or industry insider whom President-elect Donald Trump installs atop the EPA - - as Walker has done with the DNR - - will slow down or remove any federal initiative to hasten clean water compliance in Wisconsin.
This is but a taste of what will happen at the intersection of Trumpism and Walkerism - - and in this case, the taste is rotten and unhealthy.
Just as he tossed out last-minute, ineffective and insincere 'solutions' to voting obstruction he'd caused with suppressionist legislation because spot-on lawsuits and a US District Court Judge were breathing down his neck, Walker has made an ineffective and insincere proposal to 'resolve' feedlot runoff and contamination in rural wells because the US Environmental Protection Agency is gearing up after citizen complaints to call out Walker for five years of intentional, special-interest obeisant non-compliance with the US Clean Water Act.
Walker has rush out a proposal for private sector manure digesters which can turn animal waste into natural gas - - though one such operation in Dane County was stalled by an explosion and overflow problems - - and routine, big-project delays in construction of more digesters will do nothing for those in Kewaunee County and elsewhere whose well water contamination is a health hazard right now.
What the stubborn, anti-federal governme-admit-no-error Walker won't do is enforce the Clean Water Act, as he could do with a simple memo to the DNR, and feds told him he should do in writing in 2011 because Wisconsin's adherence to the law was deficient in 75 categories.
All this while the number and scale of big feedlots rapidly expands in the state, and the DNR, with permission from Attorney General Brad Schimel upon request of GOP Assembly Speaker Robin Vos, is not setting limits on the amount of ground water these animal feeding and other large agricultural business can extract.
Is it a coincidence that some of the recent DNR's big water withdrawal permits have gone to large-scale Scott Waller campaign donors?
Water in - - manure and urine out - - and seep into nearly wells, lakes, streams and downhill and downstream it will.
Bottom line:
* Rural water systems will remain contaminated as residents wait for digesters - - where, how many, at what cost, with what operating success?
* Walker will not move further or faster unless compelled by litigation or court orders.
* And whatever lobbyist or industry insider whom President-elect Donald Trump installs atop the EPA - - as Walker has done with the DNR - - will slow down or remove any federal initiative to hasten clean water compliance in Wisconsin.
This is but a taste of what will happen at the intersection of Trumpism and Walkerism - - and in this case, the taste is rotten and unhealthy.