Will Trump Continue to Abandon Wisconsin in the Face of Wildfire Smoke and Extreme Heat?

Madison, WI—Wisconsinites are increasingly experiencing extreme heat and severe air pollution due to smoke from an ongoing Canadian wildfire. Unfortunately, this crisis comes at a time when federal support for disaster relief is under direct threat.

In the last several months, Trump has gutted our federal disaster response and threatened to eliminate it entirely. Trump ended federal aid for communities to prepare for extreme weather and slashed funding for emergency management— that Wisconsin communities count on to prepare for and respond to disasters. Equally troubling, Trump has slashed funding for weather forecasting, threatening the life-saving alerts communities rely on while facing extreme weather.

Between 2010 and 2024, Wisconsin saw 41 billion-dollar extreme disasters, totaling up to $20 billion in damages. In the past decade, Wisconsin has received $976,447,139 in FEMA disaster assistance funding.

These cuts leave Wisconsinites at risk and will put a major strain on Wisconsin’s budget when responding to emergencies. This summer, extreme heat is also driving up energy bills due to surging power demands and straining our overburdened energy grids.

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) recently attempted to revoke a longstanding pollution policy that obligated the federal government to protect communities from pollutants in our air, part of a pattern of the Trump Administration’s actions to weaken environmental and public health safeguards.

With Members of Congress back in their districts for the next few weeks following the passage of a historically unpopular bill and deep cuts to our disaster preparedness and response, the question remains: will Republican Members face their constituents’ mounting concerns about our decimated federal emergency response system?

The people of Wisconsin deserve answers and action in the face of a summer of wildfire smokes and extreme heat.

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.