Questions Remain Over Governor Evers' Office of Environmental Policy

Wednesday, July 26th, 2023 -- 9:00 AM

(Laura Schulte, Marshfield News Herald) More than a year after Gov. Tony Evers created a new office focused on environmental policy, questions remain over what the office does and if any employees are working within it.

According to Laura Schulte with the Marshfield News Herald, Evers created the Office of Environmental Justice in 2022 by executive order, after Republicans removed the office from the previous budget.

The goal for the office was to facilitate collaboration across state agencies to promote environmentally just policies, alongside the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy. The creation of the office came after several attempts to get the Legislature to pass the measure, either through the budget or other measures.

It was repeatedly shot down, leading to Evers' executive action. Evers still struggled to secure state funding to staff the office, leaving the office with no funding behind its priorities. But the administration, through its involvement in the United States Climate Alliance, was able to get funding for Evers' climate priorities through the United Nations Foundation, according to Evan Westrup of the U.S. Climate Alliance.

The UNF is a nonprofit created by CNN founder Ted Turner to advance the goals of the United Nations, according to its website. So far, the state has received $298,000 to "support the work of a climate and clean energy fellow position" from 2020 to 2025, in addition to $88,132 to "support the work of a lead-by-example analyst position" from 2021 to September of this year, Westrup said in an email.

Still, there is still little information online about the office and the work it does, with no state webpage. There is also no information about any employees who may be working within the office.

When asked about the office, Evers spokesperson Britt Cudaback said the governor "believes climate change is real and an imminent threat to our kids’ future, our communities, our agricultural and outdoor recreation traditions, our economy, and our Wisconsin way of life." Cudaback said that the administration was working to fill the position.

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