Wisconsin Conservation Voters
Press Release

Death by a Thousand Straws (AB 874)

Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters' Statement

By - Feb 16th, 2016 12:09 pm

MADISON, WI — Today, the Assembly Committee on Environment and Forestry held an executive session committee vote on Death by a Thousand Straws, AB 874. The high capacity well bill was voted out of committee by a 7-6 vote, and will be on the floor of the full Assembly on Thursday. In response, Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters Executive Director, Kerry Schumann, issued the following statement:

“From the start, the intent of the Death by a Thousand Straws Bill has been clear. Big Ag has lobbied legislators to advance the interests of their thirsty clients at the expense of the state’s valuable groundwater and the many people who rely on it.

Today, in the year 2016, there are people whose drinking water wells are running dry and lakes and rivers are drying up because high capacity wells are over pumping our groundwater supply. Yet, Death by a Thousand Straws moves forward and heads to the floor of the Assembly later this week.

We are very concerned that, despite an outpouring of opposition from thousands of Wisconsinites, including many who are directly impacted by loss of groundwater, legislators chose to listen to special interests rather than their constituents. We have a real groundwater crisis in this state and Death by a Thousand Straws not only refuses to address this problem – it makes it so we can never reach a commonsense, bipartisan solution.

The people of Wisconsin – especially those affected by careless and irresponsible groundwater management – deserve better.”

Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters was disappointed to see Representatives Mursau, Krug, Czaja, Kitchens, Swearingen, Edming, and R. Brooks vote in favor of AB 874 during the executive session committee vote. Representatives Mason, Milroy, Hebl, Stuck, Considine, and Allen voted against the bill.

Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters is calling on members of the Assembly to stand in opposition to Death by a Thousand Straws and with their constituents who have taken action thousands of times and urged their decision makers to vote no on this bill.

Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization dedicated to electing conservation leaders, holding decision makers accountable, and encouraging lawmakers to champion conservation policies that effectively protect Wisconsin’s public health and natural resources.

You can follow legislation impacting natural resources on our Conservation Vote Tracker, a real-time accountability tool that provides you with a complete picture of what conservation issues are in play and how legislators are performing: http://conservationvoters.org/vote-tracker/.

NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. While it is believed to be reliable, Urban Milwaukee does not guarantee its accuracy or completeness.

Comments

  1. David Gorski says:

    I am running against Scott Krug for the 72nd Assembly District. Scott is owned by big ag. I am working on a fund raiser with a water theme.

    My dea is to have retired DNR employees speak out about the changes in the department since Walker took office. Additionally, these speakers will educates the public on the possible impact of all the terrible water bills being considered in this legislation session.

    Water is life. We have one blue marble to live on. The next inhabitable planet is more than eleven light years away. We need to be good stewards of our air and water or we will perish.

    We need definitive laws that protect our water. We need to hold the Wisconsin Trust Doctrine front and center and say the water belongs to all of us, and it is the job of the DNR to protect it.

    I know you are a non-partisan organization. So you can’t say what I can: it’s time to end one party rule in Madison.

    Sincerely,

    Fighting David Gorski
    Your next representative in the Central Sands

Leave a Reply

You must be an Urban Milwaukee member to leave a comment. Membership, which includes a host of perks, including an ad-free website, tickets to marquee events like Summerfest, the Wisconsin State Fair and the Florentine Opera, a better photo browser and access to members-only, behind-the-scenes tours, starts at $9/month. Learn more.

Join now and cancel anytime.

If you are an existing member, sign-in to leave a comment.

Have questions? Need to report an error? Contact Us