Wisconsin Can’t Afford Another Trump Presidency
July 12, 2024
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As the Republican National Convention comes to Wisconsin, Wisconsinites have a clear choice between President Biden’s climate and clean energy progress and another anti-science Trump presidency. A second Trump term would put the interests of Big Oil over everyday Americans, pollute our air and water, eliminate environmental protections, and end clean energy investments that are providing Wisconsinites with new opportunities in the economy of the future.
- Wisconsin has already received over $7 billion from President Biden’s clean energy plan. The plan has also spurred nearly 2,000 good-paying clean energy jobs and expanded opportunities for households to save money. Trump’s record speaks for itself — he lost 1.1 million clean energy jobs while in office and is now pledging to end the clean energy plan’s landmark climate investments should he win a second term.
- President Biden’s clean energy plan invests in fighting air and water pollution in Wisconsin. While Trump was in office, his administration rolled back pollution standards and allowed corporate polluters to pump chemicals into our air and water. And he has pledged to cut pollution protections again if elected to another term.
- President Biden’s clean energy plan invests millions to mitigate the impacts of climate change and promote climate resiliency across Wisconsin. While extreme weather threatened Wisconsin, Trump denied reality and made us less prepared to handle climate disasters. In the past decade, Wisconsin faced 30 billion-dollar climate disasters while extreme weather events increased across the U.S. While in office, Trump cut funding to mitigate and respond to extreme weather events and stalled climate resilience efforts.
- Over a quarter of Wisconsin’s economy was vulnerable to the impacts of climate change. President Biden’s clean energy plan is helping Wisconsin minimize the impacts of climate change. In stark contrast, Trump has denied climate change, lied about it, and hampered the government’s ability to respond. While fossil fuels are the largest contributors to climate change, Trump is in the pocket of Big Oil. Should he get elected again, Trump has promised Big Oil billions of dollars in tax breaks and plans to wage an all-out war on climate science.
President Biden’s Clean Energy Plan Has Invested In Wisconsin, Trump Has Pledged To End Those Investments
President Biden’s Clean Energy Plan Invested Over $7 Billion In Clean Energy In Wisconsin
- Thanks to President Biden’s clean energy plan, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Rural Energy for America Program (REAP) awarded nearly $5 million to 40 Wisconsin farmers, ranchers, and businesses to invest in renewable energy, upgrade to energy-efficient equipment, and cut their energy costs.
- The USDA’s ‘From Learning to Leading: Cultivating the Next Generation of Diverse Food and Agriculture Professionals Program’ awarded the College Of Menominee Nation $9 million to provide training and support to the next generation of diverse agricultural professionals.
- Two projects in Wisconsin were selected to receive funding from the USDA’s Increasing Land, Capital, and Market Access Program.
- The Menominee Indian Tribe of Wisconsin will work to establish an equity capital fund to provide support for Tribal producers’ land, equipment, and operational needs. Additionally, this project will work to provide targeted technical assistance to Tribal producers in developing comprehensive farm and food business plans.
- The University Of Wisconsin System will work to combine capital source innovation with community-specific technical assistance to both keep disadvantaged farmland owners on their land and help new disadvantaged farmers become landowners for the first time.
- In September 2023, Wisconsin received a total of $13.5 million from the Urban and Community Forestry Grants to support two projects to combat climate change, expand access to green spaces, and create healthier communities in the City of Milwaukee and Dane County.
- President Biden’s clean energy plan will further lower the cost of clean energy in the state, reducing the costs of solar and wind power by 33% and 25%, respectively, over the next 30 years in Wisconsin.
But Trump Has Pledged To End Those Investments
- Trump has promised to end Biden’s “green new scam” “on day one”
- In May 2024, Trump told a crowd in Wisconsin that he would impose a “moratorium on all new spending grants and giveaways under the Joe Biden mammoth socialist bills like the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.”
President Biden Created Nearly 2,000 Clean Energy Jobs In Wisconsin While Trump Lost 1.1 Million And Would Rip Our Progress Away
President Biden’s Clean Energy Plan Created Nearly 2,000 Clean Energy Jobs In Wisconsin
- Since President Biden passed the Clean Energy Plan, companies have announced 12 new projects in Wisconsin, driving over $940 million in new investment and creating over 1,900 new clean energy jobs.
- The clean energy plan is expected to bring $4 billion of investment in large-scale clean energy power generation and storage to Wisconsin by 2030.
While Trump Was In Office, He Lost 1.1 Million Clean Energy Jobs
- While Trump was in office he imposed tariffs on solar and slow-walked the leasing and planning processes for renewable energy projects.
- Trump’s actions cost Americans 1.1. million clean energy jobs.
And Trump Has Pledged To End Biden’s Investments If He’s Elected Again
- Trump has promised to end Biden’s “green new scam” “on day one”
- In May 2024, Trump told a crowd in Wisconsin that he would impose a “moratorium on all new spending grants and giveaways under the Joe Biden mammoth socialist bills like the so-called Inflation Reduction Act.”
- More than a dozen economists, energy experts, and business leaders said weakening or repealing the Inflation Reduction Act could eviscerate American competitiveness in clean energy.
- If Trump wins, he will end investments in clean energy, which could lead to thousands of workers being laid off and hurt local communities across the country.
While President Biden Invested In Clean Air, Trump Rolled Back Protections
Biden’s Clean Energy Plan Includes Tens Of Millions In Funding To Combat Air Pollution In Wisconsin
- The EPA’s Climate Pollution Reduction Grants program sent Wisconsin $3 million, the Milwaukee-Waukesha metro area received an additional $1 million, and four tribal governments also received funding.
- Four projects in Wisconsin received over $45 million from the DOT’s Low-and No-Emission Vehicle Program.
- In 2024, Green Bay Metro was awarded $3.1 million to replace diesel-powered buses with battery electric buses and charging equipment, improving safety and decreasing greenhouse gas emissions.
- In 2023, Beloit was awarded $653,184 to buy a hybrid bus to replace an older diesel bus.
- In 2023, Madison was awarded over $37.9 million to buy battery-electric buses to replace older diesel buses, install charging equipment and solar panels to modernize its bus maintenance facility and develop a workforce training program.
- In 2022, Racine was awarded over $3.7 million to replace diesel buses with battery electric buses.
- As of June 2024, 38 Wisconsin school districts received over $35 million from the EPA’s Clean School Bus Rebate Program to purchase low- and zero-emission school buses. In addition, the Milwaukee School District and the Madison Metropolitan School District received over $81 million in funding through the first Clean School Bus Program Grants Competition.
But Trump Rolled Back Protections While In Office And Has Pledged To Do It Again
While In Office, Trump’s Administration Rolled Back Pollution Standards
- The Trump administration “weakened or wiped out more than 125 rules and policies aimed at protecting the nation’s air, water and land, with 40 more rollbacks underway.”
- 2019: Trump’s EPA eliminated Obama’s Clean Power Plan, which could have prevented 4,500 premature deaths per year, and resulted in up to $54 billion in health savings annually in 2030.
- From 2011 to 2017, mercury emissions in Wisconsin decreased by more than 87%. Despite this improvement, the Trump administration rolled back the legal justification for limits on the amount of mercury allowed from power plants, threatening the health of Wisconsinites.
And Trump Has Pledged To Cut Pollution Protections Again
- 2024: Trump’s campaign website said he planned to abolish protections from carbon pollution again.
- And Trump asked for $1 billion from Big Oil to support his campaign, promising to cut environmental protections.
As President, Trump Attacked Vehicle Standards And Pledged To Roll Them Back If Elected Again
- After lobbying by automotive companies, the Trump administration reduced fuel standards by over 30%. After fighting with auto execs over standards, Trump launched a probe of the automakers.
- The Trump administration revoked California’s ability to set its own standards.
- 2020: The final CAFE and greenhouse gas emissions standards went into effect.
- Trump’s clean cars rollback was estimated to cost Wisconsinites over $427 million per year.
- Trump’s 2024 campaign website said he “will also end Biden’s insane CAFE fuel economy standards.”
President Biden Invested In Wisconsin’s Clean Water, While Trump Rolled Back Protections
President Biden Invested Hundreds Of Millions In Clean Water For Wisconsin
- In April 2024, the Biden administration issued a final rule, which will designate two widely used PFAS chemicals as hazardous substances and help ensure that polluters pay to clean up their contamination.
- In May 2024, the EPA announced more than $83 million for Wisconsin lead pipe replacement to advance safe drinking water.
- In February 2024, the EPA announced $120 million for Wisconsin drinking water, wastewater, and stormwater infrastructure upgrades.
- In October 2023, $402 million was invested in 106 Wisconsin municipalities for clean water infrastructure projects. The funding came from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law to replace lead service lines and address emerging contaminants such as PFAS.
- In Milwaukee, $41 million from President Biden’s Bipartisan Infrastructure Law has helped put the city on track to replace all of its lead pipes within ten years instead of the initially estimated 60 years. The city planned to use a high proportion of union labor to replace its lead pipes.
- In April 2024, the Biden Administration announced that the EPA and DOT would set up a Workforce Hub in Milwaukee to ensure the city had skilled workers for the lead replacement project and to invest in the city’s clean water infrastructure.
When Trump Was In Office, He Rolled Back Protections
- In 2019, the Trump White House threatened to veto the 2020 NDAA in part over PFAS clean-up provisions. In 2020, Trump threatened to veto a house-passed PFAS bill that sought to establish a national drinking water standard and clean up PFAS across the country. Trump’s administration implemented a regulation that companies did not have to disclose the presence of PFAS in discharges if it only made up a small concentration of the overall discharge.
- Trump blocked water safety rules and allowed corporate polluters to pump chemicals linked to cancer, health risks for children, and brain damage into our water.
- The Trump administration finalized a rule that rolled back reporting and technology use regulations for wastewater discharges that contain coal ash and toxic heavy metals from coal burning power plants.
- Wisconsin, which has 52 coal ash dumpsites, and Wisconsin’s water, including Rocky Run Creek in Pardeeville, has been contaminated by coal ash.
Extreme Weather Threatened Wisconsin While Trump Denied Reality And Made Us Less Prepared
In The Past Decade, Wisconsin Faced 30 Billion-Dollar Climate Disasters While Extreme Weather Events Increased
- Over the past decade, Wisconsin has faced 30 separate billion-dollar climate disasters, which caused $109.3 billion in damages and killed 427 people.
- And extreme weather events are increasing in frequency and intensity.
But Trump Cut Funding To Mitigate And Respond To Extreme Weather Events
- During Trump’s Presidency, FEMA’s budget was cut by more than half from $12.3 billion in 2018 to $5.3 billion in 2019.
- In 2017, Trump proposed cutting the Pre-Disaster Mitigation Grant Program by more than 60%.
- In 2017, Trump’s proposed budget would eliminate the HUD Fund, which helped communities damaged by natural disasters move on after FEMA left.
- In 2017, Trump’s proposed budget would have cut the National Weather Service’s funding by 6%. This cut included $62 million to update weather models and enable the agency to predict changing weather further out.
Wisconsin’s Economy Was Vulnerable To Climate Change, While Trump Denied Climate Science And Spread Disinformation
Over A Quarter Of Wisconsin’s Economy Was Vulnerable To Climate Change
- Wisconsin’s economy relies on industries like agriculture and outdoor recreation, which are heavily impacted by climate and weather conditions.
- Agriculture generates over $104.8 billion to Wisconsin’s economy and employs 435,700 workers, representing 11.8% of Wisconsin’s workforce.
- Climate change is projected to cause a 9.75% loss in crop yields in Wisconsin, including a 24% loss in grains.
- Outdoor recreation in Wisconsin supports 94,042 jobs and $9.8 billion in consumer spending.
- Since the early 1970s, winter ice coverage in the Great Lakes has decreased by 63% – threatening winter recreational activities.
- In 2023, Wisconsin’s GDP was $413.9 billion.
But Trump Has Denied Climate Change, Spread Disinformation, And Hampered The Government’s Ability To Respond
- Trump called climate change a “hoax” and a “total con job.”
- While in office, Trump made 1,065 false or misleading claims on the environment.
- During his presidency, Trump scrubbed reports of climate change from government websites, including the EPA, DOE, and the State Department.
- In the first two years of the Trump administration, scientists were sidelined or muted and more than 1,600 left the government and 4,900 by the end.
And Should He Get Elected Again, Trump’s Plan Is To Wage An All-Out War On Climate Science
- Politico: “Trump’s campaign utterances, and the policy proposals being drafted by hundreds of his supporters, point to the likelihood that his return to the White House would bring an all-out war on climate science.”
- Project 2025 would sideline and stop scientific determinations in policy-making.
President Biden Invested In Electric Vehicles While Trump Would Rip Them Away
President Biden Invested In Electric Vehicles For Wisconsin, Which Would Save Wisconsinites Money
- As part of the DOT’s National Electric Vehicle Infrastructure program, Wisconsin will receive $78.6 million over five years to deploy EV charging infrastructure.
- Despite regional variances in gas and electricity costs, an analysis from the Union of Concerned Scientists found that charging a vehicle was more cost-effective than filling up at the pump across 50 major U.S. cities, including in Wisconsin.
- In Milwaukee, the median EV driver could save $745 per year compared with the cost of driving the average new gasoline vehicle.
As President, Trump Wanted To End The EV Tax Credit
- As president, Trump wanted to end the EV tax credit
Now, Trump Has Waged A War On EVs
- Trump attacked electric car subsidies from the Inflation Reduction Act and repeatedly vowed to repeal Biden’s “insane electric vehicle mandate” (which, to be clear, doesn’t exist.)