Walker Gives GOP Presidential Field a New Anti-Climate Leader

Wisconsin Governor Scott Walker joined the crowded field of Republican contenders vying for the White House in 2016 on Monday, and immediately stands out for having one of the poorest records on environmental and climate issues, according to green groups and political experts.

Since taking office in 2010, Walker has dismantled several longstanding policies protecting wetlands and waterways, fast-tracked mining projects, fought climate action, slashed funding for dozens of state scientists and environmental education positions, and impeded development of wind energy in Wisconsin.

"He's one of the worst," said Heather Taylor-Miesle, director of the Natural Resources Defense Council's Action Fund, the political arm of the New York City-based green group. "His state record shows that he has little regard for the facts. All the things he's done, whether it is rolling back phosphorous pollution standards or deregulating frac sand, points to the big question of 'why?'"

Walker has not officially stated whether he believes climate change is happening and caused by human activities, mainly the burning of fossil fuels. He is, however, a vocal critic of President Barack Obama's climate policies, arguing White House efforts to reduce carbon dioxide emissions from power plants would be "a blow to Wisconsin residents and business owners." In April, Wisconsin joined 13 other states in a lawsuit against the Environmental Protect Agency challenging its upcoming carbon regulations. Walker is also a signatory of the "No Climate Tax Pledge," which aims to stop legislative attempts to raise taxes to fight climate change.

"Gov. Walker makes it clear that he would block the Clean Power Plan, condemning millions of Americans to prolonged exposure to air pollution that can trigger asthma attacks and other serious ailments," said Daniel Weiss, senior vice president for campaigns at the League of Conservation Voters.

Walker has also helped transform Wisconsin into a critical player in the expansion of fracking nationwide through the production of "frac sand," a type of quartz sand that helps keep fractures open underground so oil and gas can be extracted more easily. Under his guidance, the number of frac sand mining, processing and transportation facilities in the state have increased from seven in 2010 to 135 today, a 20-fold increase. Walker's 2016-2017 budget cuts funding for the Department of Natural Resources, the state's environmental protection agency, by $24.5 million and eliminates 66 jobs, and he supported legislation that would limit local control of frac sand mining operations.

He has also appointed several high-ranking state officials critical of environmental regulation and climate action. Cathy Stepp, a former Republican state senator, owner of a construction company and Walker's 2011 choice for head of the state's DNR made news when she said her staff consists of "unelected bureaucrats who have only their cubicle walls to bounce ideas off of," and who "tend to come up with some pretty outrageous stuff that those of us in the real world have to contend with," according to Scientific American.

Some experts worry Walker's anti-environment agenda has created a hostile atmosphere for discussion of climate change in Wisconsin. The state is expected to face several severe climate impacts such temperature increases of up to 7 degrees Fahrenheit by mid-century and heavier rain events. In April, Wisconsin officials voted to ban state employees who manage thousands of acres of forests from working on or talking about global warming. (The ban was eventually amended to prevent staffers from participating in climate advocacy, not all climate work, after a public outcry.)

Walker has polled favorably for months, consistently ranking second or third behind Jeb Bush and Marco Rubio. Now that he is officially in the race, Walker could soon receive a windfall of money that could help solidify his position near the top. Fossil fuel billionaires and top conservative donors Charles and David Koch told donors in April that Walker was their top choice for a Republican nominee in 2016, according to the New York Times. The Koch brothers and their network of like-minded donors are expected to spend $900 million over the next two years to help conservative candidates around the country get elected.

Mother Jones: Scott Walker Is the Worst Candidate for the Environment

Scott Walker is killing it with Republicans. The Wisconsin governor is one of his party's rising stars—thanks to his ongoing and largely successful war against his state's labor unions, a fight that culminated Monday with the signing of a controversial "right-to-work" bill.

Now (for the moment, anyway), he's a leading contender for the 2016 Republican presidential nomination. At the Conservative Political Action Conference a couple weeks ago, he polled a close second to three-time winner Sen. Rand Paul (Ky.), beating the likes of Sen. Ted Cruz (Texas) and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush by a significant margin.

It probably won't surprise you to learn that none of the prospective GOP presidential candidates are exactly champions of the environment. Probably the least bad is New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie, who at least acknowledges that climate change is real and caused by human activity. Walker just might be the worst. He hasn't said much about the science of global warming. (In the video above, you can watch him tell a little kid that his solution to the problem will center on keeping campsites clean, or something.) But his track record of actively undermining pro-environment programs and policies while supporting the fossil fuel industry is arguably lengthier and more substantive than that of his likely rivals.

"He really has gone after every single piece of environmental protection: Land, air, water—he's left no stone unturned," said Kerry Schumann, executive director of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. "It's hard to imagine anyone has done worse."

Here's a rundown of Walker's inglorious history of anti-environmentalism.

Attacking Obama's climate agenda: Walker is a key figure in the GOP's battle against President Barack Obama's flagship climate policy—the proposed Environmental Protection Agency rules that are designed to reduce the carbon footprint of the nation's electricity sector 30 percent by 2030. The rules will likely require states to retrofit or shutter some of their coal-fired power plants. That could be a big deal in Wisconsin, which gets 62 percent of its power from coal.

Walker "has gone after every single piece of environmental protection," says Kerry Schumann of the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters. "It's hard to imagine anyone has done worse."

In a letter to the EPA in December, Walker said the plan would be "a blow to Wisconsin residents and business owners." He cited an analysis from his state's Public Service Commission that predicted household electric bills would skyrocket. They won't, necessarily, since the state has a lot of options—including boosting renewables and energy efficiency—that it could use to meet its EPA carbon target without jeopardizing the power grid. But rather than preparing for the new rules, Walker seems bent on stonewalling them. In January he announced that his new attorney general was already preparing a lawsuit against the EPA, a move that was lauded by the Wisconsin director of the Koch Brothers-backed group Americans for Prosperity. Walker has also signed a pledge, devised by Americans for Prosperity, that he will oppose any legislation relating to climate change—presumably a cap-and-trade plan or a carbon tax—that would result in a "net increase in government revenue."

Indeed, Walker has close ties to Charles and David Koch, the billionaire brothers who made a fortune in fossil fuels and who for years poured money into groups that cast doubt on the science of climate change. They own paper factories and a network of gasoline supply terminals in Wisconsin, and they have an interest in the state's trove of "frac sand" (more on that below). Koch Industries gave $43,000 to Walker's 2010 election campaign, and just after he took office, the Kochs doubled their lobbying force in Madison. In 2011 and 2012, David Koch and Americans for Prosperity spent $11 million backing Walker's agenda and his successful effort to avoid being recalled.

Turning off clean energy: As much as he apparently supports fossil fuel development, Walker has taken steps to put the brakes on clean energy. Last month, he released a budget proposal that would drain $8.1 million from a leading renewable energy research center in the state. That same budget, however, would pump $250,000 into a study on the potential health impacts of wind turbines. (Wind energy opponents have long suggested that inaudible sound waves from turbines can cause insomnia, anxiety, and other disorders, although independent research has repeatedly found these claims are more connected to NIMBYism than legitimate medical concerns.) Walker's budget would also cut $4 million in state subsidies for municipal recycling programs. That, at least, is an improvement over his first budget as governor, which proposed to eliminate recycling subsidies altogether.

Budgets aren't the only avenue for these attacks: In 2011 Walker introduced legislation backed by the Wisconsin Realtors Association to restrict where wind turbines could built. (That bill was ultimately killed by the Legislature.) And the state's Public Service Commission—which oversees the electric grid and is comprised mainly of Walker appointees—recently launched a campaign to redesign power companies' rates in a way that solar companies say is meant to kneecap their competitive edge. The commission wants to impose a high fixed charge on monthly bills that homeowners would have to pay even if they purchase their own solar panels.

There is, however, one alternative energy source that Walker suddenly seems willing to support. Pandering to corn farmers in Iowa over the weekend, he flip-flopped his stance on biofuels—as governor he was opposed to a federal ethanol mandate, but now, as a likely candidate, he's in favor of it. Backing ethanol may help Walker win support from Iowa caucus-goers, but the climate benefits of biofuels are very much in doubt.

Open to open-pit mining: In 2010, a mining company called Gogebic Taconite LLC began to push hard to establish a large open-pit iron ore mine in the state. Environmentalists vehemently opposed the project, warning that it could damage fragile wetlands and contaminate local air and water with toxic chemicals. But Walker supported it. (In 2012, the company gave $700,000 to the pro-Walker Wisconsin Club for Growth.) In 2013, Walker succeeded in pushing through a bill to relax environmental standards for iron mines that paved the way for the project to be approved once it was reviewed by federal regulators.

Walker's pick to head the state's environment agency was "like putting Lindsay Lohan in charge of a rehab center," one lawmaker said.

Walker also reportedly cultivated an industry-friendly atmosphere at the state's Department of Natural Resources, the agency charged with enforcing environmental standards. One Democratic state representative said Walker's pick to head the DNR, a former Republican state senator who was a vocal critic of environmental regulations, was "like putting Lindsay Lohan in charge of a rehab center." One of the Walker DNR's first moves was to delay phosphorus pollution standards that were opposed by a Koch-owned paper factory.

In the case of the iron mine, it was all for naught: Last month the mining company announced it was putting the project on indefinite hold, blaming "cost-prohibitive" federal regulations.

A blind eye to fracking sand: Wisconsin doesn't have much in the way of shale gas, but it still plays a vital role in the fracking boom. The state is home to a major supply of "frac sand," a superhard, chemically inert type of silica that props open cracks in underground rock formations during the fracking process. Since 2010, the number of sand mines in Wisconsin has grown more than tenfold, despite widespread complaints that the operations are turning idyllic rural communities into industrial wastelands and that the type of dust produced by the mines is linked to a wide range of serious respiratory health hazards. Walker has been a vocal proponent of the industry, touting it as a source of jobs and investment in an otherwise lackluster economy.

Here again, Walker's weakened DNR is an issue. In 2013, the state's independent, nonpartisan Legislative Fiscal Bureau estimated that at least 10 full-time DNR employees would be necessary to ensure proper oversight of the frac sand industry. But the report noted that the agency had chosen to hire just two.

"It's really going, to a large extent, unregulated," said Tom Thoresen, a veteran DNR conservation officer who retired before Walker became governor but still has friends in the agency. (Thoresen currently sits on the Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters board.)

Indeed, citations for various environmental infractions from the DNR fell 28 percent under Walker compared to the previous administration, according to the Journal-Sentinel.

"The messaging," added Thoresen, "is to be business-friendly, don't enforce."

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