The state’s largest business group says thousands have come out against the global warming bill. In an attempt to let state legislators know how strong the opposition was to the governor’s global warming bill, Wisconsin Manufacturers and Commerce contacted their members with an online petition. Nearly a thousand signatures were collected in the first day, with around 3,000 received in four business days, according to WMC Environmental Policy Director Scott Manley who calls the response “very significant.”
The legislation seeks to have 25-percent of the state’s energy from renewable sources by 2025. Manley says it would take double digit utility rate increases to pay for the mandate.
Supporters of the bill say it will create green jobs through retrofitting homes and new energy technology. Manley says those temporary positions would be created at the expense of other industries suffering.
“Anytime you increase the cost of energy in Wisconsin you increase the cost of doing business in Wisconsin,” he says. Manley says manufacturing would especially be hit hard in the state.