MADISON – Governor Tony Evers recently appointed Sen. Jeff Smith (D – Brunswick) to the Climate Change Task Force. Sen. Smith is now the Democratic Senator on the Task Force and is replacing retired State Senator Mark Miller (D – Monona).
Governor Tony Evers established the Climate Change Task Force in October 2019. Since it was created, the Task Force held listening sessions and received valuable public input from citizens across the state. The Task Force developed the Climate Change Report in response to these listening sessions, which includes key policy proposals to build more sustainable communities.
Climate Change Task Force members understand the work isn’t over even after submitting the Climate Change Report. Governor Evers included many of these policy recommendations from the report in his 2021-23 budget proposal. Task Force members will continue applying the lessons they learned from conservationists and subject-matter experts to advocate for these proposals to remain in the budget.
Sen. Jeff Smith shared the following statement about joining the Climate Change Task Force:
“Climate Change is the greatest threat to our way of life. I’m honored to join the Climate Change Task Force and develop plans to make our communities more resilient and livable for future generations.
“We’re experiencing the real-world effects of climate change more severely and much more frequently. Here in western Wisconsin, extreme climate change weather events have made flooding even worse and destroyed farmers’ livelihoods. Our roads and existing infrastructure are crumbling from the widespread burden of climate change. There is so much at stake if we continue to ignore the problem. It’s our responsibility to take climate change seriously and act swiftly.
“The Task Force has already found broad bipartisan consensus on solutions to modernize our infrastructure, support family farmers and create good-paying blue-collar jobs. Governor Evers and Lieutenant Governor Barnes know we need to keep putting the work in to make an impact. I’m eager to get involved and advocate for policies to build a stronger, more sustainable state.”
The next Climate Change Task Force meeting is happening Thursday, March 4th at 1:00 p.m. This public meeting will be streamed live on WisEye.org.
