As rain keeps falling and waters keep rising, WisGOP failures require new leaders, policies

As there are 5 more days of rain forecast this week on top of the catastrophic flooding we've already seen in this state, we need to realize that these situations are becoming more common, and that many of the people running Wisconsin government have not done anything to deal with it.

There have been a number of articles that have come out in the last 2 weeks describing the floods, cleanup efforts, and policy choices that have been made. Let's start with an excellent article from Dylan Brogan in Isthmus on Madison's flooding situation. Brogan talks with State Rep. Chris Taylor and a UW-Madison professor, who both express surprise and disappointment that more isn't being done to combat the worsening situation.

“The storms are worse. I don’t even care why [GOP lawmakers] think they are worse. But let’s address what’s confronting us. The weather doesn’t care if you’re a Republican or a Democrat. The damage is the same,” says Taylor. “For us not to address this is irresponsible and it puts people’s lives in danger.”

Taylor cites changes to wetland permitting and the state curbing local regulatory authority as actions that have made it more difficult for communities to prevent damage from severe weather.

[UW Professor Emily] Stanley says the potential for flooding in Madison and other communities should not surprise anyone.

“We don’t know when big storms will come but we do know they seem to be coming more frequently. We are aware that there is a link between these events and the changing climate,” says Stanley. “From a personal point of view, it is frustrating. We had the opportunity to address this on a global scale. This isn’t just a Wisconsin issue.”

As an example of this increasing frequency of big storms, the Baraboo River between Baraboo and Portage has kept river stage records for over 100 years. Now maybe they only tracked the “big ones” in decades long ago, but it’s still worth noting that if you include this latest flood, 1/4 of the 16 crests have been in the last 3 years, 9 of the 20 highest have occured since 2000, and 4 of the top 6 have been in the last 25 years. Today, that River sits near 24.5 feet, more than 50% above flood stage, and the 3rd highest level ever.

This is where you see climate change cause real problems – severe weather events have always happened, but they’re happening a lot more often in recent years. Former Baraboo State Rep. Fred Clark had an article in Friday's Capitol Times noting this trend of increasingly severe weather events. Clark also calls out the Walker Administration for refusing to admit that these floods and other weather events are an increasing problem in Wisconsin, let alone take legislative action to deal with this changing situation.

While the costs and impacts from climate-related events to our economy, public health and safety mount, agencies such as the Department of Natural Resources; Department of Agriculture, Trade and Consumer Protection; and Public Service Commission have stopped acknowledging climate change as a threat. In the case of the DNR, the employees who created one of the most comprehensive websites in the country dedicated to climate change were the same employees ordered to remove its content after Scott Walker’s DNR Secretary Cathy Stepp took control of the agency.

Public servants at all levels are responding heroically to climate-related crises when they occur. However, as the frequency and intensity of floods, storms and other climate-related impacts grow, the Walker administration’s policy of feeding its base by refusing to say the words “climate change” or act strategically about it is becoming increasingly absurd….

Preparing for and adapting to the climate-related impacts we are already experiencing and those we are likely to experience is one of our most important obligations. In addition to adapting, mitigating climate change by reducing greenhouse gas emissions is a global challenge that requires coordinated action by governments, businesses and mission-driven organizations at every level. Wisconsin can join other states like California in driving greenhouse gas reductions that are good for business and our quality of life.

But without policies and resources to address these issues at a strategic and sustained level, even our most well-intentioned responses will be inadequate. We need to reinvest in science so we have the best understanding possible of the most profound threat our planet has ever faced. We need to develop coordinated policies and actions within and among state agencies, and stronger partnerships with local governments and stakeholders. And we need to budget the resources to prepare and to respond effectively to events and address impacts as they occur.

Another rural Democrat sounded similar notes as to how we need to better stewards of the land in this state. Kriss Marion is running for the State Senate seat that covers much of Southwestern Wisconsin, including the waterlogged areas of Reedsburg and Rock Springs, and says we must take smarter actions to deals with this changing reality.

How do we do this? First, we look upstream of our communities and consider how land use changes, including wetlands loss, contribute to flood risks and damage. We identify, protect and restore wetlands, so they can function as sponges and holding areas for floods. We protect and enhance shoreline habitat to withstand dramatic rises in water levels. We reduce the use of impervious surfaces in urban areas. We design, plan and zone for more resilient infrastructure.

We are going backward instead of forward on these practices in Wisconsin. My opponent, Sen. Howard Marklein, has voted along party lines over and over to allow accelerated development on wetlands and to prohibit counties from enacting their own water protection ordinances. He voted to weaken the DNR’s protection of wetlands, cut DNR scientists and roll back groundwater management. Water policy is one of my top legislative priorities, and recent events illustrate just one reason why.

We’ll do well to reflect on our experience — just as I’ve taught my children to do when they suffer hard times. While we can’t do anything to avoid 11-, 9- or 6-inch violent precipitation events, we can acknowledge the data that show we’re likely to see more of them. We can accept University of Wisconsin recommendations on how to mitigate the impacts of such events on agriculture, development and infrastructure. Perhaps we can agree that Mother Nature is quite tough, and we’re going to need to work with her to do better by our communities in the future.

Even as Governor Walker has made himself more visible in observing the numerous emergency operations that have been required around the state over the last week, it’s obvious that photo ops and politics are still his first priority.

This was shown again in an exchange that Brogan captured in his article, where Walker tried to use his appearance of sandbagging at a Madison flood site to bait a local person into an incident that would have played into Scotty’s “divide and conquer” method of “governance.”

Another man biked up to Walker to confront him: “Gov. Walker, I want to say that your time and energy would be much better spent enacting policies to counteract climate change rather than shoveling sand into bags. Would you agree?”

“Glad you’re here. Thanks for watching,” replied Walker. “You can say what you want. You can call me a F-word if you want.”
“I’m not doing that,” the man countered. “I’m just saying climate change policy would be more effective than shoveling sand. Otherwise, you’ll be out here next year, too.”

Actions speak louder than photo ops

Walker had better not be out there next year, because that means the voters of this state were stupid enough to re-elect Governor Dropout, which means that nothing will be done to lessen the damage and runoff caused by these weather events.

Let me close with another Isthmus article, this time from writer/cartoonist Alan Talaga, who notes that while Dane County should consider lowering its chain of lakes to lessen the possibility of flooding, the real change (or change back) has to come from the state level.

Lowering Lake Mendota is a crucial policy goal but it is not the only one. For the last eight years, state government, under Gov. Scott Walker, has stripped environmental protections at every level. The Department of Natural Resources has become a rubber stamp for business interests, utterly abandoning the agency’s historic role as a caretaker for the environmental resources we all depend on.

One particularly egregious way state policy is making this worse involves regulations around runoff. Property developers are replacing rain-soaking green space with asphalt, which means that more water becomes runoff and flows into our lakes. But the county is now powerless to stop it. This year, Walker signed a bill forbidding local governments from adopting stronger runoff standards than the state. Over the weekend, Walker stopped for a photo-op at Tenney Park to fill some sandbags. I’m glad he picked up a shovel, but it doesn’t come anywhere near undoing the damage he did with a signature.

We need to restore the balance between environmental protection and the short-term gains of private industry. Luckily, Wisconsinites have a chance to restore some balance on Election Day in November.

Yes we do. And we'd better not mess it up.