Since the late 2000s, growth in hydraulic fracturing has created a new demand for sand deposits around western Wisconsin. Of highest value is hard, fine-grained sand perfect for cracking underground rock formations that hold oil and natural gas.
A bill with the potential to hobble government agencies' ability to propose regulations, known as the REINS (Regulations from the Executive in Need of Scrutiny) Act, has passed in both chambers of the Wisconsin Legislature and Republican Governor Scott Walker's office has told DeSmog he intends to sign it into law. REINS has been pushed for…
Sea level rise is real, and it’s getting worse. A study published in the journal Nature Climate Change shows that global sea level rise jumped by 50 percent from 1993 to 2014, the most recent year for which data are available. In 2014, sea levels rose 3.3 millimeters—more than an eighth of an inch—while in 1993…
If we want a smooth transition into a sustainable future, we need to act fast. A comment article in the journal Nature says we have to act fast if we hope for a painless transition to a low-carbon society. Pexel If you want to lose 10 pounds by a certain date there are, broadly speaking, two…
(editor's note - we've been running occasional stories from Reuters Media Connect, which has allowed us to run a small number of Reuters stories for free. That experiment is coming to an end at the end of June, so this is likely going to be the last of these stories until we become successful enough financially to subscribe to their new service plan).
In a state where the landscape tends towards low-lying swamps, flat fields and rolling hills, northern Wisconsin's Penokee Range of mountains are a dramatic outlier. Though their elevation is relatively modest — the Penokees are often just called hills — the range stands out. Billions of years of geologic processes, a cataclysmic meteor impact and changes in Earth's atmosphere all contributed to shaping a land with striking visual and physical properties.
Deep in Gov. Scott Walker’s budget proposal is a seemingly benign item formalizing the transfer of 15 scientists within the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources.
Two years ago, Walker and lawmakers enacted a budget that cut 18 DNR science service bureau researchers amid complaints that their research related to climate change, pollution and wildlife habitat were controversial and unneeded.
Wisconsin citizens’ right to clean water, clean air and a good quality of life is endangered by water pollution frequently caused by agriculture. Wisconsin’s industrial agriculture industry generates more manure than crops can safely use as fertilizer leading to excess phosphorus and nitrate levels in the soil and groundwater. As a result, our local streams, lakes, and waterways are quickly becoming damaged beyond repair.
The Sierra Club released a status paper on CAFO's and water quality in Wisconsin at a release meeting in Menomonie on June 14. We attended the meeting and bring you both the paper and a video of the entire meeting where several concerned citizens testified about the issues of groundwater contamination from CAFO's, the status of some of the CAFO approvals in the state, and the lack of enforcement on the part of the DNR.
Frac sand mining, processing, and trans-load still pose major issues in Wisconsin.
On June 5, the Hudson, WI City Council heard testimony from citizens and others about processing sand. Follow this meeting at the link below:
