Gov. Jim Doyle is really taking advantage of his lame duck status. In a move rank with politics, Doyle vetoed a bill, allowing him to retain appointment privilege of Department of Natural Resources secretaries. Subsequently, the Republican bloc handily defeated the veto effort.
Both moves come as no surprise because of Doyle's weak conservation record and a Republican representation dominated by private interests. But Doyle's desire to use the environment for his own political power plays indicates a deeper ambivalence toward the issue.
The bill recently put forth by Rep. Spencer Black, D-Madison, would strip Doyle of his ability to appoint DNR secretaries, a power that has become more politicized since its inception in 1995 by then Gov. Tommy Thompson. Since then, the power has consistently been abused, as you would expect when you turn what should be a scientific position into a political one.
As a government agency, the DNR protects and preserves our natural resources in Wisconsin. They enforce state laws as well as federal laws when applicable, and give us the opportunity to enjoy the state's wilderness. The DNR secretaries, the position in question, are the people who enforce all of these rules on a case-by-case basis.
This is where the breakdown occurs. When asked about the kind of person he envisions as a DNR secretary, Black didn't hesitate.
""Buzz Besadny,"" he said. Besadny served as a DNR secretary in the 80's and was a man with a ""strong scientific background and integrity beyond doubt.""
For 70 years the Natural Resource Board voted on the DNR secretaries. They voted for people of compassion, people who really cared about preserving Wisconsin's resources for the future, people like Besadny. This system of environmental stewardship reaches all the way back to the time of Aldo Leopold, conservationist and writer of ""The Sand County Almanac."" When Leopold worked at UW, the DNR was a cooperative of scientists, most of them from the university. Recreating this forum for conservation and environmentalism was Black's intention when he introduced the bill.
""What we need are decisions based on science and what's best for the environment,"" said Black. ""Not decisions based on political pressure.""
But instead we get people who are appointed based on special interest and political favors. The Wisconsin State Journal reported lobbyists for and against the bill spent around 3,000 hours making sure that the appointment power remained with the government. Lobbying hours probably aren't the best barometer to measure private interest involvement. People can spend a lot of time without spending a lot of money. But there are groups in Wisconsin that have the resources to do both.
The business association Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce have a vested interest in keeping DNR regulation lenient. A lenient DNR equates to less regulation and cheaper construction costs. Of course this comes at the cost of the environment. One of WMC's agendas as an organization is to limit government spending. Looking at campaign expenditures over the years, they have shown no inclination to abate their own. WMC have shown a willingness to spend as much as they need to ensure their interests are considered. They have the resources—it all comes back to resources—and their voice gets heard loudly above the rest.
So the politicians remain in the pocket of organizations like WMC, and the environment suffers as a result. We are seeing this sort of negligence all over Wisconsin. Already fragile ecosystems continue to stumble, strained by poorly planned construction and a disregard for ecological leakage. And scientists cannot keep up with the new variables interacting with the environment.
We cannot keep trading money for resources. The marginal cost of producing cheap goods will not outweigh the benefits for much longer. The DNR needs to be able to select its own representatives so that science and the community are chosen over business interests. This is politics at its finest, a game that Doyle would give up if he cared at all about the environment.
This is the state of Wisconsin, a state that his given us environmentalists like Leopold as well as the then Senator Gaylord Nelson. Artist Robert Rauschenberg focused on Nelson's environmental contributions in his print ""Earth Day 1970."" The print shows an eagle inundated with polluted imagery. Harsh contrasts and decay reign. But for all the despondence that surrounds the eagle the message is still clear. It only takes one person, one action, to stand up and make a difference.
Anthony Cefali is a senior majoring in biology and English. Please send responses to opinion@dailycardinal.com.
