Clean Wisconsin

Clean Wisconsin plays a crucial role in addressing and solving multiple environmental issues in our state. For the past 45 years, this NGO has contributed to cleaning, protecting, and preserving Wisconsin. Peter Anderson and Doug Lafollette are the ones who founded this organization in 1970 on Earth Day! Their headquarters is placed in…. Madison, Wisconsin. They have done numerous contributions to improving land and water quality, but in our case, they have done and are still doing a lot in terms of air pollution and air quality.

Here is a quick history lesson. In 1984, they helped pass the Wisconsin Acid Rain Law which requires reduction of sulfur dioxide emissions from big electric companies/industries. This is obviously huge because putting a law on how much sulfur dioxide can be emitted into the atmosphere can decrease the chances and the amount of acid rain. In 1999, Clean Wisconsin had done lots of work educating legislators and doing lots of promoting in regards to the Statewide Energy Efficiency Fund. In 2004, there is the Mercury Reduction Rules. They helped become the first state in the Midwest to require coal fired power plants to cut their mercury pollution. This will improve air quality, health of the people and the land and waterways. The year 2008, the Mercury Reduction Rule became more detailed in having the coal-burning companies reduction be by ninety percent! 2005 was a big year, Clean Wisconsin helped get the Great Lakes Compact. This big compact directly impacts Wisconsin to cleaning waterways, the air, and energy use. Another big year in 2006 where the Clean Energy Act was passed, yippee! This is known as the “historic” bill and it is said that Clean Wisconsin helped out in creating this Act. It is defined to be a major commitment to have clean energy resources and to reduce electric/heat bills. In 2009, Clean Wisconsin promotes renewable energy by helping with the Wind Siting Reform Law. You can see how this actor plays an important role at a state level.

In general, Clean Wisconsin has basic goals in helping and improving the air quality. They want to promote clean and renewable energy use. They support wind development, trying to expand solar energy, and trying their best to strengthen commitment with more efficient energies. Another goal is to reduce pollution ,and one aspect they want to accomplish is striving toward stronger EPA carbon pollution standards. They in the past have fought dirty coal-powered energy plants and continue to do so. Trying to curb reliance on fossil fuels and expanding energy efficiency is something Clean Wisconsin and other similar organizations like Wisconsin Clean Cities, Renew Wisconsin, Wisconsin Environment, Sierra Club, and many more strive to do.
In my opinion, I think Clean Wisconsin seems like they have contributed a lot in improving in Wisconsin's air quality from many standpoints and also other aspects in improving the well-being of our environment. They are especially looking to improve and solve these environmental issues by being apart of creating or altering certain laws and regulations.
To learn anything and everything about Clean Wisconsin and what they do, just visit their website. Sources for pictures are all credited by Google.

WE Energies

A major actor in the air quality of our state is our own power company, WE energies. We Energies headquarters is located in downtown Milwaukee, on 231 W Michigan street. Due to recent acquisitions, the company has since changed its name to WEC Energy Group and now has expanded into four states. We Energies began making electricity in 1896, to power rail service, as the Milwaukee Electric Railway and  Light Company. It later evolved into WE energies and has been a major Midwestern supplier of power. It has many acquisitions under its belt, the most notable is the purchase of Wisconsin Gas, which created a single utility company for the Milwaukee area.
They run 3 coal fired power plants in the Milwaukee metropolitan area which contribute 12 million metric tons of greenhouse gases. This information was compiled using the Facility Level Information on Greenhouse Gases Tool located at:  http://ghgdata.epa.gov/ghgp/main.do

Valley Power Plant

We Energies is heavily involved in environmental management and policy decisions. According to opensecrets.org  The WEC has spent millions in lobbying efforts throughout the state. Some of the notable decisions they have been involved in are the utility replacement costs for the street car, the rate restructuring cases that discourages solar power, and consistent rate increases, all approved through the state public service commission. The commission is appointed by the Governor and it is supposed to regulate utilities on behalf of Wisconsin residents. It seems a bit of "regulatory capture" has happened, as the utility consistently is victorious with the PSC.

There is no doubt Milwaukeeans suffer from poor air quality. With air advisories and ozone days, attempts are being made to ameliorate these issues. Yet it seems there is no sense of partnership with WE energies. Coal fired plants exist in Oak Creek, Milwaukee, Wauwatosa, and Germantown. The Valley power plant is one of the last remaining power plants in the country without modern pollution controls. Fortunately, a citizens group for the area called "Cleaner Valley Coalition" has put pressure on the company, enough so that they are converting the power plant to natural gas. Don't assume this move is entirely altruistic though. WE energies ratepayers will be stuck with the bill. Stakeholders always act in self interest. The move to natural gas was probably necessary for the state to meet new EPA air quality standards.

Good environment is supposed to be good business( Evans,2012), but renewable energy threatens the business models of power companies, and they haven't exactly played nice, Policy implementation and development occurs in close alignment with industry (Evans, 2012) and they have used there influence to keep the status quo in regards to Milwaukee air quality. It seems they take a paternalistic viewpoint in regards to engaging the community as a fellow stakeholder.

If you are interested more in the involvement of WE Energies on local policy, a group called Citizen Utility Board is an activist group that represents residential and small business owners against the utility. The website is www.wiscub.org

MMSD and Air Quality

An actor involved in air quality issues within Milwaukee is the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District (MMSD).  The MMSD is headquartered on Seeboth Street, just across the Menomonee River, east of the Harley Davidson Museum. It has facilities at Jones Island, as a water reclamation facility, a South Shore water reclamation facility, and the flushing station that is located at the Colectivo coffee on Lincoln Memorial Drive. It is considered a regional government agency, which provides flood management and reclamation services to the greater Milwaukee area. Although this organizations main purpose is to protect the waters of lake Michigan, it is involved in innovative projects that help reduce air pollution in the greater Milwaukee area, which i will discuss later on in greater depth. 

The MMSD was established in 1921, after a long history of sewage issues within the city. Check out this link to learn more about Milwaukee’s history dealing with lake Michigan and the development of adaptive methods to sewage issues in Milwaukee, http://www.mmsd.com/about/history. 

With industrialization of a developing city and population growth, the sewage systems were a major issue which required a good deal of effort to stop the dumping of raw sewage into lake Michigan. with population growth came the expansion of Jones Island, the major water treatment plant in Milwaukee at the time, and still to this day. Check out the photo below, showing Jones Island as a lovely little fishing village before it became a waste water treatment facility.   

Picturesque fishing village before Jones Island as we know today 

But enough with sewage, this post is about air quality, and MMSD’s role in it. MMSD is taking landfill gas and transforming it into power to fuel the water reclamation facility at Jones Island, recycling at its finest, or dirtiest? The title on the site « Garbage Fueling Clean Water in Milwaukee » surely would grab anyones attention, and to some, would be considered radical and innovative. 

Through this initiative, MMSD is supporting renewable energy and reducing carbon emissions, reducing operating and maintenance costs for the facility, and often a very important factor, bringing cheaper water services to customers in the greater Milwaukee area. 

As the Executive Director, Kevin Shafer says, “This project created jobs, is good for our customer’s wallets, and for the environment, reducing air  pollution from traditional energy sources.” On the website (listed at the end of the post), it was stated that the majority of energy needed during dry weather could be supplied by landfill energy. In opposition, wet weather requires addition sources (as water reclamation is more intensive when it rains or snows), but still the landfill energy plays a crucial role in energy sources. 

Heres a picture of a landfill flare;
 the gas has to go somewhere if not used! 

You might ask where this landfill gas is coming from? 19 miles away! All the way in Muskego at the Emerald Park Landfill, some nice ladies and gents supply MMSD with their excess landfill gas. The MMSD makes a point on the website to state that the pipeline is low pressure, about the same or a little less pressure of what is required for a bicycle tire (100 PSI, pounds per inch). Maybe they anticipated some uproar piping gas 19 miles into the city?  If thats not the case, they just wanted to be extra specific of how they acquire their gas. 

Back at the Island, MMSD invested in three new turbines accommodating the landfill gas transforming them into usable electricity. These new turbines replaced two dirty, natural gas during  turbines which were quiet outdated. Out with this old, in with the new! 

The new turbines at Jones Island 

So, although the Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District is mostly concerned with water quality, it seems that theirs hearts extend to the air as well. By utilizing landfill gas to power Jones Island, they are reducing landfill gas wastefully being emitted into the atmosphere, reducing the need for carbon powered energy sources, and are saving some money at the same time. Plus, saving some money surely grabs customers attentions and allows them to support an environmentally friendlier initiative.