Environment

Environment Racine buses
Environment The Green Line: Cities Across Wisconsin Are Making Public Transit More Environmentally Friendly

Buses spew diesel fumes, but more communities are moving away from fossil fuels in their transit options. Smaller cities help lead the charge in Wisconsin.

Jonathon Sadowski Jonathon Sadowski April 5, 2021 7:39 am CDT
Environment Wisconsin Governor Tony Evers (Photo by KEREM YUCEL/AFP via Getty Images)
Environment Critics Say I-94 Expansion in Milwaukee Puts Evers’ Administration at Odds With Biden—and Itself

The governor's climate change task force pointed to the historically detrimental effects of urban freeways and ports on communities of color in a 2020 report. But his administration is pressing ahead anyway.

Jonathon Sadowski Jonathon Sadowski March 19, 2021 4:24 pm CDT
Environment Madison firefighters spray PFAS-free foam during a media demonstration earlier this year. The PFAS-free foam is an alternative to the foam produced at the Tyco plant in Marinette. (Photo by Madison Fire Department)
Environment DNR Says It Would Cost $750,000 to Test All Remaining Municipal Water Systems for PFAS

“We really need some legislators to step up and champion this issue,” says one environmental advocate.

Julian Emerson Julian Emerson February 8, 2021 1:27 pm CST
Environment Firefighting foam is invaluable for extinguishing blazes, but it also contains per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), a group of man-made chemicals also found in other products. PFAS are known as "forever chemicals" because they do not easily break down in nature and become contaminants or health hazards. (Shutterstock image)
Environment Republicans Kill DNR Rules That Would Have Protected WI Water From ‘Forever Chemicals’

Administrative Rules Committee voted along party lines to remove enforcement sections to appease industry.

Christina Lieffring Christina Lieffring December 18, 2020 5:26 pm CST
Environment Madison firefighters spray PFAS-free foam during a media demonstration earlier this year. The PFAS-free foam is an alternative to the foam produced at the Tyco plant in Marinette. (Photo by Madison Fire Department)
Environment Evers Announces Plans for PFAS Standards, Support for Veterans Living Near Contaminated Military Sites

Recommendations outline efforts to boost rural economy, enact environmental safeguards. But GOP may be about to weaken rules on “forever chemicals.”

Julian Emerson Julian Emerson December 16, 2020 4:02 pm CST

continuing coverage

Assembly Speaker Robin Vos (R-Rochester) holds a press conference on April 13 where he demands Gov. Tony Evers accept severe restrictions on local health officials, schools, and the governor himself in exchange for tens of millions of dollars in federal supplemental COVID food aid. (Image via Wisconsin Eye.) Politics Evers and Timberlake Find a Way to Bypass Vos’ Willingness to Lose Millions in Food Aid for Families
An archival image of the Plainfield Tunnel Channel Lakes in Waushara County, which have experienced a reduction in water levels due to groundwater withdrawals for irrigated agriculture. (Photo credit: Wisconsin DNR) Natural Resources Clean Water at Stake as WI Supreme Court Hears Appeals to Take GOP Restrictions Off the DNR
Left: A sewer line under construction along St. Paul Avenue in Milwaukee in 1920. Right: Victor Berger, co-founder of the Socialist Party of America, editor of the Milwaukee Leader, and the first Socialist elected to Congress. Lower: Construction of a Milwaukee sewer line in 1932. (Photos courtesy: Wisconsin Historical Society and Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District. Graphic by Morgaine Ford-Workman.) Infrastructure Infrastructure Is Good Politics—Just Ask Milwaukee’s Sewer Socialists of 1904
The state Capitol in Madison is reflected off the windows of an office building across the street. (Photo by Julian Emerson) Politics Not Allowed: Nonpartisan Analysis Finds a Flaw in GOP Plans for Wisconsin Stimulus Money
Environment Concerns about a proposed pipeline include potential spills, such as this July 2010 oil spill of approximately 840,000 gallons of crude oil into the Kalamazoo River in Battle Creek, Michigan, from a 30 inch-wide pipeline owned by Enbridge Energy Partners. (Photo by Bill Pugliano/Getty Images)
Environment A New Dirty Energy Pipeline Project Is Being Proposed for Northern Wisconsin

Line would run south of Bad River Tribal Land. New pro-energy group announces its existence to support the project.

Julian Emerson Julian Emerson December 16, 2020 11:48 am CST
Environment Wisconsin's Wolf River (Image via Shutterstock)
Environment Company Kills Wolf River Mine Plans, But Will Continue Exploration ‘Within the Region’

The first exploratory drilling in Wisconsin since 2012 comes up empty for the mining company.

Jonathon Sadowski Jonathon Sadowski October 13, 2020 1:17 pm CDT