Wisconsin Could See More Movement in Clean Energy

Thursday, August 11th, 2022 -- 9:00 AM

(By Hope Kirwan, Wisconsin Public Radio) Wisconsin advocates say historic investments in clean energy passed by the U.S. Senate could be the catalyst the state needs to move more quickly on clean energy goals.

According to Hope Kirwan of the Wisconsin Public Radio, the U.S. Senate passed the Inflation Reduction Act Sunday, moving along the largest federal clean energy investment in U.S. history.

The $370 billion dollars in funding will go toward renewable energy infrastructure programs and tax credits for electric vehicles among other climate policies. Senate Democrats have said the legislation will help the country cut greenhouse gas emissions by 40 percent from 2005 levels by 2030.

The Inflation Reduction Act also includes measures to reduce costs for Medicare recipients and several tax changes that are expected to bring in around $300 billion in new revenue.

Chelsea Chandler, climate, energy and air program director for Clean Wisconsin, said the historic investment is an opportunity for Wisconsin to take action on the clean energy plan released by Gov. Tony Evers' administration earlier this year.

"We have the vision, certainly, and now we just need help moving it along," Chandler said Monday. "Ultimately, we need more supportive legislation at the state level. We need to use our state budget to prioritize these goals. And you know, those are sometimes heavier lifts and so it's really great that we have different levels of government that are working towards this clean energy transition."

Chandler said tax credits created for energy storage, new wind and solar infrastructure and electric vehicles will help these technologies be adopted more quickly in Wisconsin. She also applauded investments to help homes and buildings transition away from gas-powered furnaces to electric heat pumps.

Chandler said Johnson’s comments about the impact on consumer energy costs presents what she called a "false choice." She said opponents of clean energy adoption have long argued that the cost of transitioning from traditional energy sources is too high.

But Chandler said Wisconsinites are already facing the growing costs of climate change. "We are already experiencing extreme weather events, flooding, damage to infrastructure, tons of health impacts related to extreme heat," she said. "If we don't make these investments now, we're gonna be stuck with a really huge bill later, and all of those devastating consequences."

Chandler said the legislation also sets aside funding for "climate-smart" agriculture projects, like sequestering carbon into soils and reducing methane emissions on livestock farms.

Michael Vickerman, policy director for RENEW Wisconsin, said one of the most important aspects of the legislation is the commitment to a policy for 10 years. He said previous clean energy incentives have been much shorter lived, which created what he describes as a "roller coaster dynamic" for the industry.

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