Editor
I've been in the energy business for 40 years and been a pioneer in both the demand side energy reduction and supply side renewable energy generation fields, so when I read Wisconsin Environment's "strategies" for reducing climate change I couldn't help but wonder, "Who are these guys talking to?" ("Global Warming Hits Home, Jan. 31)
Addressing climate change (if that's possible) is going to require MASSIVE energy reduction in a very rapid time frame and certainly not 50, 20 or even 10 years time.
The most realistic energy reduction estimates I've been preaching are a 30% cut statewide in 3 years and perhaps even 50% reduction in 5 years to MAYBE stand a chance of slowing climate change down (if we send Texas into space with all it's CO2 pigs).
Not the energy psycho babble on some ecoweb sites of 1% reduction in 10 years. 30% in 3 and 50% in 5.
Period.
How do we do this? By mimicking what a growing number of eco smart public school districts in Wisconsin have done. Some (like Oconomowoc) have cut their energy use by 20% in ONE year! Waukesha, West Allis, Oak Creek, S.Milwaukee, Greenfield, LaCrosse, Sun Prairie, White Fish Bay, to name a few more have all cut 20-30% in 3 yrs. It's doable and saves huge $$$$.
If Jim Doyle weren't a "dirty air Dem" he'de, with a stroke of a pen, declare that all state government buildings cut their energy use by 30% in 3 years thus saving taxpayers $40 million a year. He'de also reinstate the 55 mph state speed limit in spite of what the Fed's would hold back from our road funds.
The DNR has already done a CO2 reduction study in the late 1990's but the research has been buried (the DNR author is now retired) by Doyle since he took office in 2002.
As for Wisc Env's "recommendations" such as energy saving replacement tire, this might make me laugh if the consequences of climate change weren't so dire.
It actually makes me cry to realize these self proclaimed "eco-experts" in Madison don't have a clue about what it takes to mitigate climate change.
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God protect us from the environmentalists for they know not what they do.
Mitigating climate change in Wisconsin will require long range vision, guts and patience, none of which I've ever seen in Madison, and don't have much hope to see after reading these brain dead strategies coming from Wisconsin Environment.
Mike Mangan, C.E.M., C.D.S.M., C.S.D.P., C.P.O.
