I stand committed to curbing the effects of climate change, protecting our shared natural resources, and ensuring the quality of our air, water, and land for current and future generations. I believe in investing in clean energy to protect our fragile ecosystems and I will work to address our biggest environmental challenges, paving the way to a more sustainable Wisconsin, so we can be a role model for America.
By now there is nobody who doesn’t see climate change as the global emergency it is. There is little time left for us to take action to protect our lives and futures. The last several years have seen record-breaking storms, devastating wildfires, and historic floods. Urban and rural communities alike have suffered tens of billions of dollars in economic losses. Roads have washed out in Wisconsin. According to “Combatting the Climate Crisis and Pursuing Environmental Justice” (2019) Farmers’ crops have been drowned in their fields across the Midwest. Coastal communities are facing an existential crisis as a result of sea level rise and stronger storms. Thousands of Americans have died. And Republicans continue to willfully deny the science that explains why so many are suffering.
This problem, like many others, is not concentrated in one area of the state. Communities of color, low-income families, and Indigenous communities in the 87th Assembly district have long suffered disproportionate and cumulative harm from air pollution, water pollution, and toxic sites. What is most tragic to me is that the youngest generations of Americans have contributed the least to this catastrophe, yet they stand to lose the most as they suffer from the impacts of runaway carbon pollution for decades to come. These people are my grandchildren, and yours.
I believe there is a better way. We can and must build a thriving, equitable, and competitive clean energy economy that puts workers and communities first and leaves no one behind. We can start a clean energy revolution. I believe the scientists when they warn us that the window for necessary action is closing quickly. I–and I hope many others–reject the specious argument that there is a choice between growing our economy and combating climate change; we can and must do both at the same time. We can seek federal resources across all agencies to set up proven clean energy solutions, create many family-supporting and union jobs, upgrade and make resilient our energy, water, wastewater, and transportation infrastructure, and develop and manufacture next-generation technologies to address the climate crisis right here in Wisconsin.
There is little-to-no public transportation in Sawyer and Rusk Counties. We CAN provide this, with a focus on equity, access, benefits, and ownership opportunities for our communities in our huge district, because we believe we must embed environmental justice, economic justice, and climate justice at the heart of policy and justice.
I support taking immediate action to reverse the Republican policies that result in rolling back climate and environmental protections. We will follow science and the law by reducing harmful methane and carbon pollution from the energy sector.
I agree with scientists and public health experts that the United States—and the world—must achieve net-zero greenhouse gas emissions as soon as possible, and no later than 2050.
Every American has the right to breathe clean air, drink clean water, and live without fear of exposure to toxic waste.. We will protect children’s health by replacing lead service lines and remediating lead paint in homes and schools, which has already started under the Biden Administration, via an infrastructure bill that every dishonest Republican in the Senate and Congress voted against, although they are campaigning on its success now. I will work toward ensuring that housing and schools have adequate plumbing and safe wastewater disposal systems.
I oppose the Republican recklessness and scientifically unsound decisions to block well water quality and safety measures in Wisconsin’s heartland. I will set science-based drinking water standards for emerging contaminants like PFOA and PFAS chemicals and, with the help of scientific experts and input from our local farmers, establish plans for remediating dangerous pollution from pesticides and fertilizers. Energy companies should be held responsible for meeting strong standards to protect worker safety, public health, and the environment. I believe that politicians in Madison should not be able to ignore local government decisions about energy production.
We all do (or at the very least should) understand that climate change poses a serious threat to our economy and financial systems. I support asking manufacturing businesses to disclose climate risks and greenhouse gas emissions in their operations and supply chains. We will hold polluters and corporate executives accountable for intentionally hiding or distorting material information that can affect the health and safety of workers and communities.
I have always taken action to help our communities as an individual. I will empower and stand with workers and others in our district who have put their health and lives on the line and who have been impacted by the changing job and energy market, including by fighting to protect retirees’ health and pension benefits. I will support locally-driven economic development priorities. We will hold fossil fuel, sand and other mining companies accountable for cleaning up abandoned mine land and industrial sites, as well as the rivers and lakes so essential to life in Wisconsin. We will make it so that these facilities are no longer able to pollute local environments.
Wisconsin’s parks and other public lands, as well as marine protected areas, are treasures that should be held in trust for future generations. We will protect these precious places and preserve Wisconsin’s unspoiled wildernesses for hunting, fishing, hiking, and camping and grow our outdoor recreation economy, which supports hundreds of jobs in our rural district. I will take action to protect wilderness, wildlife, and waters, and require full, rigorous, and transparent scientific and environmental reviews of any proposed mining projects near national treasures.
The environment needs our help to survive. Water is life.
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To all of you who have donated to my campaign—a hearty thank you! And we still have a long way to go. Our campaign relies on small dollar donations from people like you, and our average contribution is around $21. This is our toughest race yet and every dollar makes a difference as we work hard to reach voters all across the Wisconsin 87th! Can you chip in $10, $23, or whatever you can afford today to help us get Elizabeth Riley into the Wisconsin Assembly? We are here for you! Help us get there for you.
Paid for by Riley for Democracy, Carolyn Snyder, Treasurer