Governor Tony Evers turned to his veto pen once again last week, this time killing consumer protection bills that interfered with his far-left climate change agenda, according to the state’s largest business lobby.
The Democrat vetoed Assembly Bills 141 and 142, and Senate Bill 49, among 10 Republican-led bills killed by a governor who has used the state’s powerful veto pen more liberally than any governor in Badger State history.
SB 49 would have prohibited state or local restrictions on utility service based on the energy source, including any municipal bans on natural gas service lines.
AB 141 would have stopped state or local restrictions on the sale or use of a device based on the energy source, such as a ban on a gas-powered leaf blower or lawn mower.
And AB 142 sought to prohibit state or local restrictions on the sale or use of motor vehicles based on the power source, such as a ban on gas-powered cars or trucks.
The bills were in part response to a California measure passed last year requiring all new cars, trucks, and SUVs sold in the state to be powered by electricity or hydrogen by 2035.
“Wisconsin’s business community is deeply disappointed by the vetoes of these pro-consumer energy bills,” Craig Summerfield, director of Environmental & Energy Policy for Wisconsin Manufacturers & Commerce, said in a statement. He noted that the Assembly bills were supported by a broad coalition of business trade organizations and vehicle enthusiasts. The overwhelming majority of Wisconsin businesses and consumers depend on gas-powered motor vehicles and products.
“The bills simply ensured continued consumer access to affordable and reliable leaf blowers, lawn mowers, snow blowers, cars, motorcycles, trucks and many other products,” Summerfield said.
In vetoing the assembly bills, Evers said he objects to the Republican-controlled Legislature “preventing state agencies and local units of government from taking certain steps to limit certain types of devices based on energy source.”
The Democrat, in pursuit of his sweeping, expensive and arguably unrealistic plan to make Wisconsin a “carbon-free” state by 2050, remains a dutiful warrior in the left’s war on fossil fuels. The legislation just aims to keep all energy options on the table, particularly since fossil fuels make up the vast majority of energy sources today and will for the foreseeable future.
Some climate change zealots are leading a nationwide movement to push state and local governments to adopt more sustainable landscaping policies that ban gas-powered mowers and equipment.
As of April, more than 100 local governments had enacted at least partial bans on the devices in recents years, according to an April Yahoo News story.
In vetoing the Senate bill on natural gas, Evers said he objects to the Legislature’s “continued efforts to preempt local control and undermine trust in local governments across our state.”
But, once again, the Evers veto comes back to his extreme climate change policies.
“Additionally, this bill could jeopardize our communities’ and our state’s future ability to transition away from fossil fuels or to collectively combat climate change.The state should be a partner in — not an obstacle to — addressing the unique challenges facing our local communities,” he said, turning similar language.
WMC’s Summerfield said the governor’s veto is particularly troubling because the bill would have protected consumer access to natural gas.
“The natural gas distribution system is especially reliable, and 75% of Wisconsin homes use natural gas,” he said.”Twenty-four states enacted similar legislation to SB 49 with bipartisan support – making today’s veto all the more perplexing.”
Evers’ green dream would cost Wisconsin businesses and families a fortune, an additional $248 billion (in constant 2022 dollars) through 2050, compared to operating the current electric grid, according to a report by the Minnesota-based Center of the American Experiment.
“Electricity costs for Wisconsin families, businesses, and industrial customers would increase by an average of $2,755 per year, every year, through 2050. This has serious implications for the lives of Badger-state residents,” the report, published last October, asserts.
“Energy decisions should be dictated by energy consumers, not heavy-handed government mandates,” Summerfield said. “Today’s vetoes are a step backward for Wisconsin businesses, families and every consumer seeking to use the most affordable and reliable energy products.”
Evers is the king of the veto in the Badger State. In the 2021-23 legislative session he vetoed a record-smashing 126 bills. That doesn’t include the 50 partial vetoes he issued in the biennial budget bill. The old record, according to the Legislative Reference Bureau, was set nearly a century ago in 1927, when Governor Fred Zimmerman killed 90 bills in one session.
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M.D. Kittle is the National Political Editor for The Star News Network.
Photo “Tony Evers” by Tony Evers.
This fool looks like he was in China doing magic mushrooms with Yellen.
The power of the veto should rest in the hands of the legal voters and not any one delusional,
power hungry academic.