Foxconn Seeks to Raid the Great Lakes
Conservationists launch campaign to stop them
Foxconn chairman Terry Gou and Governor Scott Walker signing a memorandum of understanding. Photo from the State of Wisconsin.
MADISON – In an unprecedented betrayal of the core intent of the hard-won, bipartisan Great Lakes Compact, Gov. Scott Walker and his allies want to give away seven million gallons a day of Great Lakes water to Foxconn via the City of Racine.
If approved, the plan would allow the City of Racine, which sits inside the Great Lakes basin, to divert seven million gallons of water per day – that’s equivalent to 875 tanker trucks – to Mount Pleasant, a township that’s only partially in the basin. There, Foxconn will consume 2.7 million gallons a day to manufacture flat screen TVs.
Under the compact, diversions are meant to provide water for uses such as municipal drinking water and groundwater replenishment for family wells. This is the first time a state in the compact has been so brazen as to suggest a diversion almost exclusively for a private company’s manufacturing needs.
As part of its continuing commitment to hold Walker, his administration, and lawmakers who supported the Foxconn giveaway accountable – and provide tools to take action on behalf of Wisconsin’s natural resources, Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters is launching its “FOXCONN” campaign.
The campaign will provide tools and information to the public through a website, social media, events, and citizen engagement. Its first opportunities include a sign-on statement that will be delivered to the Department of Natural Resources as it contemplates the diversion plan and a registration form to attend its hearing in March.
“It wasn’t enough for Gov. Walker to hand Foxconn a check for $4.5 billion of our tax money, it wasn’t enough to allow Foxconn to trample on our wetlands – now he’s giving away our Great Lakes water,” said Kerry Schumann, executive director. “Our Foxconn campaign will hold him accountable and make it easy for concerned citizens to oppose this unprecedented raid on our Great Lakes water.”
For more information visit conservationvoters.org/foxconn
NOTE: This press release was submitted to Urban Milwaukee and was not written by an Urban Milwaukee writer. It has not been verified for its accuracy or completeness.
More about the Foxconn Facility
- Foxconn Will Get State Subsidy For 2022 - Joe Schulz - Dec 11th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Approves Microsoft Deal on Foxconn Land - Evan Casey - Nov 28th, 2023
- Mount Pleasant Deal With Microsoft Has No Public Subsidies - Evan Casey - Nov 14th, 2023
- Microsoft, State Announce Massive Data Center Expansion, Land Purchase - Joe Schulz - Nov 11th, 2023
- Gov. Evers Announces Microsoft Makes Major Investment in Wisconsin - Gov. Tony Evers - Nov 10th, 2023
- State Can’t Regulate We Energies $100 Million Project for Microsoft - Joe Schulz - Sep 20th, 2023
- Foxconn Selling Green Bay, Eau Claire ‘Centers’ - Joe Schulz - Aug 16th, 2023
- Murphy’s Law: Foxconn Deal Is Still Costing Taxpayers - Bruce Murphy - Jul 6th, 2023
- Microsoft Will Pay $50 Million For Mount Pleasant Data Center Site - Evan Casey - Apr 20th, 2023
- Microsoft Data Center Proposed for Foxconn Land - Evan Casey - Mar 29th, 2023
Read more about Foxconn Facility here
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