Wisconsin
Governor Scott Walker (R) came out with Wisconsin’s state budget. Hidden deep
inside was a little budget jewel supporting environmental research. This is
quite surprising since Walker has been in bed with the Heartland Institute
which is a big supporter of oil and gas and is a loud and proud member of ALEC.
In
2013, ALEC and
Heartland got together to fight the Renewable
Portfolio Standard (RPS) which requires utility
companies to produce part of the energy from renewable sources.
In
addition, the
Heartland Institute was exposed in leaked documents vigorously
supporting Walker and fighting any attempt to impeach him, naming their
pro-Walker campaign, “Operation Angry Badger.” In these same leaked documents, the
Heartland Institute revealed their anti-global warming plan which entailed
undermining the teaching of and the teachers teaching about it in public
schools.
It
would now appear that Walker’s budget is paralleling the Heartland’s message
with massive cuts to education and
no funding for global warming issues. Instead, Walker has set aside a nice little research budget to expose those nasty wind
turbines as a health issue.
It seems that citizens living close to the turbines located at Shirley Wind Farm in Brown County complain of lack of sleep, ear noise issues, headaches and nausea.
Interestingly, two recent studies, one in Canada and one in Massachusetts as
well as a Wisconsin advisory group investigated these exact health issues and
found no support to tie them to the wind turbines of
the size in question.
There was an issue of some noise, shadows and possible
blinking lights on the larger ones, but not the ones in question at Shirley
Wind Farm and nothing that was a health concern.
Environmental
groups have suggested that another study won’t hurt as long as it is based on
‘sound science.’ Why would anyone believe that Walker, as he is funded by Koch
and the Heartland Institute care anything about ‘sound science?’
This
is Walker doing an end around science to help his friends in Big Oil to squash
renewable energies in his state.
I
always feel awful for the citizens of Wisconsin when Walker’s name comes up.
Walker is such an absolute waste of leadership and everything he does, he does
to advance himself. One day he will leave Wisconsin for a high paying job in
one of those ‘right-wing think tanks’ (the perfect definition of an oxymoron)
and the devastation to this once wonderful state, to its workers and to its educational system will
be catastrophic.
Author Debi Johnson-Champ:
I was born in Kansas to a Republican elected Sheriff and a beautiful,
hard-working and giving Republican wife. At very young ages, they realized that
they had liberal hearts and headed to Colorado in the early 60's and were
lifelong liberals. They raised me to help my neighbor and to look to the
political process for putting into place the laws that would govern our lives.
I am a self-described bleeding heart liberal. I found myself a liberal husband
and raised two liberal hard-working kids with kind hearts and big dreams. I,
too, have big dreams. Stop by and chat with me on Facebook or find me on Twitter.