Walker Responds To Criticism On Environmental Policies

Governor Walker spent a moment of Earth Day responding to criticism of his record on environmental issues.

The state Democratic party Monday added to earlier criticism from local and national environmental groups. They all say that Walker is promoting businesses over the environment. In Milwaukee, Walker said his record on the environment is positive.

“Some of the detractors like to measure environmental protection by how many citations one gives out. I think they ought to measure how clean the environment is and how solid things are, and I think what we’ve found in the last few years with the DNR, in this state, is that we’ve tried to be much more proactive to help both individuals and employers in advance find ways to provide for cleaner air, cleaner land and cleaner water in this state.”

The state DNR has just released an air pollution report that says ozone and fine particulate levels are generally decreasing statewide; but that last year’s hot summer resulted in weather conditions conducive to the formation of ozone. The DNR says that information is currently being assessed. The DNR has also responded to criticism about its water pollution efforts by saying it’s trying to move faster to reduce phosphorus contamination.