Environment

CONSERVATION: A WISCONSIN TRADITION

“Wisconsin has a long tradition of conservation. Former Governor and U.S. Senator Gaylord Nelson founded Earth Day in 1970. Throughout his life, he was a tireless advocate for environmental protections. I’m deeply honored to hold the seat he once occupied in the U.S. Senate.

Our conservation efforts are indebted to the work of another Wisconsin environmentalist, Aldo Leopold, founder of the Wilderness Society. Wisconsin was also the home state of the legendary John Muir, the first president of the Sierra Club, whose ideas about conservation and the essential role of wilderness in nature inspire environmentalists to this day.

I will continue to work hard to protect our public lands, ensure safe drinking water and breathable air, end environmentally harmful subsidies, and preserve the quality of Wisconsin's environment."

- Senator Russ Feingold

Protecting Wisconsin’s Greatest Natural Resource: The Great Lakes – Russ played a key role in passing the historic Great Lakes Compact. The Great Lakes Compact, negotiated among the eight Great Lakes states and the Canadian provinces of Ontario and Quebec, regulates new water withdrawals and diversions that threaten lake levels and could destroy a major resource Wisconsin counts on for everything from food to jobs, and from power to recreation.

Despite the difficulty of getting any legislation through the United States Senate quickly, as soon as the bill passed through each of the state houses of the Great Lakes region, and was introduced in the Senate, Russ held the first and only hearing - as Chairman of the Constitution Subcommittee - on the bill and worked to secure its passage in the Senate in a matter of days – helping clear a vital hurdle on its way through Congress and to the president’s desk for signature.

Other issues Russ is working on in his effort to protect the Great Lakes include:

• Fighting Invasive Species: In order to stop further economic and ecological harm caused by the introduction of invasive species into the Great Lakes, Russ is working to enact legislation that would regulate the ballast water of ships entering those waters. Ballast water is the primary way invasive species are introduced into the Great Lakes. He’s also cosponsoring efforts to prevent Asian Carp from invading the Great Lakes.
• Investigating Low Water Levels: Russ successfully led an effort to expedite a study by the International Joint Commission (a U.S. – Canadian agency that oversees the Great Lakes) on the record-low water levels of the Great Lakes and continues to push for separate investigations into decreased water levels.
• Supporting a Regional Approach: Russ supports the strategy outlined by the Great Lakes Regional Collaboration – a joint plan developed in part by federal, state, and local leaders of the Great Lakes - to tackle the many challenges facing the Great Lakes region.

Supporting Public Lands and Wildlife – From hunting to tourism to recreation and beyond, Wisconsin’s public lands and wildlife are a staple of our state's economic livelihood. As founder of the Wilderness and Public Lands Caucus in the Senate, Russ continues his efforts to promote wilderness issues.

He led the effort to successfully preserve Wisconsin’s Apostle Islands Lakeshore – which includes 12 miles of untouched shoreline and 21 forested islands. The area is designated the Gaylord Nelson Wilderness.

The country’s National Wildlife Refuge System helps protect wildlife habitats across the nation, making those areas rife with opportunities for hunting, fishing, and experiencing the outdoors at its fullest. However, the Refuge System has been drastically underfunded in recent years and Russ continues to help lead efforts to increase funding for this critically important work.

Russ has been a leader in the effort to prevent harmful oil drilling in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). He is an original cosponsor of the Arctic Refuge Wilderness Act which protects this pristine taxpayer-owned landscape from any future attempts at oil development.

Clean Water for Everyone and Everything – Wildlife depends on clean water in order to survive – we’ve seen all too often what can happen to all sorts of wildlife when their habitat is destroyed. We’ve also seen what happens when our own drinking water is contaminated by bacteria like E. coli or cryptosporidium. Russ has long fought to make sure our water is safe for everyone and everything.

Russ has introduced the Clean Water Restoration Act – legislation that restores to nearly 20 million acres of wetlands habitat, more than 50 percent of our stream miles in the lower 48 states, and the drinking water of 110 million Americans the protections of the original Clean Water Act that have been undermined by recent Supreme Court decisions.

He has opposed numerous efforts to roll back the Safe Drinking Water Act and cosponsored legislation requiring the establishment of a national primary drinking water standard and treatment techniques for harmful bacteria. He has called for increased funding for the Drinking Water and Clean Water State Revolving Funds which help local entities upgrade their clean water infrastructure. He has also pushed for research, development, and funding for critical drinking water infrastructure systems to help local communities in Wisconsin and around the nation comply with environmental regulations.


Protecting Taxpayer Dollars Through Modernization – Given advances in technology and the increasing need for smart environmental and energy policies, it’s surprising to learn that when it comes to mining, our country still abides by rules set forth in the General Mining Law of 1872. Currently, the 1872 law gives mining companies what amounts to a double subsidy when mining on public lands. Russ’s legislation, the Elimination of Double Subsidies for the Hard Rock Mining Industry Act, gets rid of the double subsidy and closes a loophole in the 1872 law that lets valuable minerals on public lands be mined for free by private interests.

Russ has also worked with Senator John McCain (R-AZ) to reform and modernize the Army Corps of Engineers. The Corps does important work but the failure of Corps-constructed levees in New Orleans during Hurricane Katrina only underscores the need for the Corps to be reformed in order to meet the many challenges that lie ahead.

Combating Global Warming – Now, more than ever, we must work to reduce our emissions of greenhouse gases, minimize our individual carbon footprint, and take a comprehensive and scientific approach to addressing Global Warming.  With that in mind, Russ supports the Global Warming Pollution Reduction Act. If we stand by and do nothing, global warming will have serious and possibly irreversible impacts in both the near and distant future.

Recognizing Senator Feingold’s Environmental Record - The League of Conservation Voters has recognized Senator Feingold as having one of the best lifetime voting records of any current U.S. Senator. He has been honored by the Wisconsin Wildlife Federation and National Wildlife Federation for his efforts to protect water quality and fight for wetlands protections. The National Parks and Conservation Association has recognized Russ a number of times for his perfect 100% voting record of supporting legislation to protect and conserve our national parks. He has been honored by the State of Wisconsin for his strong support of State Wildlife Grants and was awarded the Clean Water Champion Award by the Clean Water Network for his leadership on the Clean Water Authority Restoration Act. He has also received the "Mr. Smith Goes to Washington" Award from Taxpayers for Common Sense for his work with Congressman Thomas Petri (R-WI) on reducing the deficit through environmental protection. They led the fight in Congress to scale back the proposed Animas-LaPlata water project in Southwestern Colorado, and saved the taxpayers $450 million.