Energy Efficiency: We can reduce the amount of energy we waste

with insulation, duct sealing, and installing more efficient light bulbs

and windows. We support increased investments in energy

efficiency through the Focus On Energy program. Since Wisconsin

utilities started investing 1.2% of their revenues this program in 2001,

we have created over 16,000 jobs, saved homeowners and

businesses $1.68 billion on energy bills, and reduced carbon dioxide

emissions by over 5 billion pounds. The Sierra Club is working to

enact energy efficiency goals at the state and federal level.

Clean Transportation: We have seen how dirty offshore oil drilling and tar sands oil threatens ecosystems from the Gulf Coast to boreal forests in Canada. We are working to reduce Wisconsin’s dependence on oil by promoting transit, and bicycle and pedestrian paths, and more efficient vehicles and fuels. Transit protects people from rising gas prices, increases mobility for disabled and elderly riders, and connects people to where they work and shop. Transit not only benefits riders, it also creates jobs, reduces traffic and cleans up our air. Every dollar in transit yields about $3.61 in economic benefits for local communities. We support giving local governments the tools they need to raise dedicated funds for transit through statewide authorization for regional transit authorities.

Moving Beyond Coal: Wisconsin depends on coal to meet 66% of our electricity needs. Coal-fired power plants are the largest source of mercury emissions in our state. Mercury, a known nerve toxin, has contaminated fish in every water body in Wisconsin. Coal-fired power plants also emit carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that is the main cause of climate change. They also emit sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxides that form fine particulate pollution that leads to asthma, heart attacks, stroke and premature death. The Sierra Club won a lawsuit in 2007 that requires all state-owned coal plants to comply with the Clean Air Act. We defeated Alliant Energy’s proposed coal plant in southwestern Wisconsin in 2008 that would have cost ratepayers $1.3 billion in construction costs. We are pushing the EPA to create strong regulations for mercury to protect our health. Cleaner, safer alternatives to coal are available now, and investing in renewable energy will create thousands of jobs.

Renewable Energy: The Sierra Club strongly supports increasing the amount of solar, wind, biomass and geothermal energy in Wisconsin. Investing in renewable energy reduces the $16 billion per year that Wisconsin sends out of state for fossil fuels to meet our energy needs. The Sierra Club supports goals for Wisconsin to obtain at least 25% of our energy from renewable sources by 2025. We also support policies that promote small, distributed renewable energy projects, such as net metering and fair uniform wind siting rules to overcome the patchwork of local regulations that has threatened clean energy jobs. We support careful development of offshore wind resources in Lake Michigan, which offer strong, steady wind resources of Class V and above, and could provide power near population centers where transmission loss is low and demand is high.

Protecting Water Quality: Wisconsin depends on our 15,000 lakes, 12,600 rivers and streams, and countless creeks for drinking water, biodiversity, recreation, and industry. Phosphorus pollution threatens water quality by causing toxic algal blooms that decrease lakefront property values, threaten public health, and jeopardize Wisconsin's $12.1 billion tourism and our $2.75 billion sport fishing industries. In 2010 we supported strong rules to control point and non‐point phosphorus pollution, and laws to restrict phosphorus in lawn fertilizer and household cleaning agents. We are working to reduce threats to water from unsustainable agricultural practices through monitoring and increased regulations in karst regions, which are vulnerable because of cracks and sinkholes in these areas. We also support policies to stop Asian carp and other introduced, invasive species from entering the Great Lakes.

Conserving Water: In 2008, the Sierra Club helped pass the strong Great Lakes Compact, designed to prevent water from being diverted from the Great Lakes, which contain 20% of the earth’s fresh surface water, to other states or countries. We support updating groundwater regulations to reduce drawdowns with protections for springs and science‐based permitting for high‐capacity wells. We also support statewide water conservation policies.

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The Sierra Club is the oldest, most influential grassroots

environmental organization in the US. Our mission is to

explore, enjoy & protect wild places through education,

outings, lobbying, endorsing pro-conservation

candidates, and litigation.

Help Protect Wisconsin’s Future- Volunteer! Sierra Club – John Muir Chapter

http://wisconsin.sierraclub.org

(608) 256-0565

222 South Hamilton St, #1, Madison, 53703

john.muir.chapter@sierraclub.org