Our Take: Dashboard needed on the road to environmental repair

By Kim McDarison 

The last in a series of virtual community listening session was held earlier this month. Those weighing in had an opportunity to join in the discussion as the state brings together four agencies — the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Administration (DOA), Department of Health Services (DHS) and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) — to develop the Wisconsin Environmental Equity Tool (WEET), a public health and environmental equity mapping dashboard.

The concept of the WEET dashboard in Wisconsin was rolled out by Gov. Tony Evers on Oct. 28. 

Last Saturday, a small group, myself included, shared ideas about what the dashboard might do. As a reporter, I asked for transparency in all things: the identification of need, the identification of specific projects, the identification of committed, project-specific funding, and the identification of accountability so such funding goes to the projects for which it was intended.  

I stressed what I thought was the obvious: Without identified and dedicated pathways to funding, communities will have little opportunity to improve their environmental conditions, however specifically or broadly defined, in a robust or meaningful way. 

Others offered concerns that revolved around specific projects within their regions and communities, while still others spoke about frustrations associated with using some of the state-supported online tools already in place.

Department representatives listened.

It’s a start. One hopes state policies will develop in tandem with this dashboard to ensure that the tool will be something more than discussion, moving into a growing, living, online document of actionable items. A place where one can track the progress of such initiatives, with real results, supported by real funding.

Leaving our children a functioning, sustainable planet, although maybe less sexy, seems more plausible than trying to populate Mars. If one day the sun blows up or burns out, Mars, too, will feel the impacts. 

One must don their latest Star Trek cosplay costume to find seriousness in this discussion. 

As Tesla Roadsters and rockets leave and orbit the Earth, in Jefferson and the northernmost reaches of Walworth counties, ideas that promote good stewardship of the resources and planet we already populate rotate in people’s minds and enter into the atmosphere of discussion.

Fort Atkinson Online has published several stories over the last year, giving evidence that people understand the climate is changing, and that our environment needs triage and care.

Here’s a partial list:

• Residents express frustration over Enbridge’s handling of Jefferson County spill: https://fortatkinsononline.com/residents-express-frustration-over-enbridges-handling-of-jefferson-county-spill/.
• Trippe, Cravath lakes Chemical Aquatic Application public meeting set for Oct. 6: https://fortatkinsononline.com/trippe-cravath-lakes-chemical-aquatic-application-public-meeting-set-for-oct-6/.
• Trippe, Cravath herbicide application reevaluated, mowing to being Friday: https://fortatkinsononline.com/trippe-cravath-herbicide-application-reevaluated-mowing-to-begin-friday/. 
• (Rock-Koshkonong) Lake district: Shumaker keeps seat: $322,000 operating budget approved: https://fortatkinsononline.com/lake-district-shumaker-keeps-seat-322000-operating-budget-approved/.
• Heart of the City: Regional solar panel group-buy program to close Oct. 31, nearing maximum goal: https://fortatkinsononline.com/heart-of-the-city-regional-solar-panel-group-buy-program-to-close-oct-31-close-to-reaching-maximum-goal/.
• Heart of the City announces several initiatives in advance of ‘No Mow May’: https://fortatkinsononline.com/heart-of-the-city-announces-several-initiatives-in-advance-of-no-mow-may/.
• Purdy Elementary plants vertical hydroponic ‘garden’: https://fortatkinsononline.com/purdy-elementary-plants-vertical-hydroponic-garden/.
• Whitewater Area League of Women Voters to host virtual program about climate change: https://fortatkinsononline.com/whitewater-area-league-of-women-voters-to-host-virtual-program-about-climate-change/. 
• FACTalks lecture series beginning March 16: https://fortatkinsononline.com/factalks-lecture-series-beginning-march-16/.

Some offered concern; some offered solutions and innovations. All offer an opportunity to begin a serious conversation. 

While the WEET online listening sessions have completed, the opportunity for public discussion has not. 

Those interested in sharing their ideas with the department heads who are working to create the WEET dashboard can still do so by writing to: https://wedc.org/rural-prosperity/environmental-equity/.

Comments will be accepted until the end of November, according to information shared by state leaders during last week’s online listening session. 

Wisconsin is a state of many traditions, among them agrarian pursuits and tourism, many of which flourish due largely to our beautiful and bountiful environment. Farming and food production are essential to human health, but we must also be good stewards. 

As we continue to engage in the debate about housing shortages, business and monetary growth, job opportunities, farmland, food production, floods, drought, stormwater runoff, wetlands, pollution, and sustainability in virtually all things, we must recognize that our ecosystems, lifestyles and the concepts we deem as “best practices,” like the climate itself, are changing. Our most worthwhile traditions must evolve with human need, best practices and sustainability for the present — which means right here, right now — and in the future. 

Embracing new concepts to produce the outcomes we need, including food, jobs and housing, requires that concerns for a healthy environment become intertwined with concerns for a healthy economy. These ideas are not mutually exclusive. 

The road ahead, which requires change on our part to meet such goals, is long, and, dare I say, bumpy, but we must move forward. 

It’s from the dashboard that we start the engine. 

And even if your heart soars with each rocket launch, the larger achievement is that newly-developing spacecraft safely re-enter the Earth’s atmosphere, because even the most daring of modern-day adventurers recognize their dependency on the planet they call home. 

A press release announcing the development of the WEET dashboard in Wisconsin follows:  

WEET dashboard

Gov. Tony Evers recently announced that four state agencies and partnering organizations are developing the Wisconsin Environmental Equity Tool (WEET), a public health and environmental equity mapping dashboard. 

The collaboration between the Department of Natural Resources (DNR), Department of Administration (DOA), Department of Health Services (DHS) and the Wisconsin Economic Development Corporation (WEDC) is designed to locate and compare public health and environmental impacts across the state to advance equity.

The dashboard will allow community members, government and elected officials, public health professionals and nonprofits to pinpoint Wisconsin’s communities most impacted by environmental, public health and climate vulnerability. This information will also help identify the environmental challenges and prioritize funding priorities to build healthy, resilient communities. 

The public is invited to participate in a series of upcoming online listening sessions in November to ensure the mapping tool reflects the experiences of people affected by gaps in environmental and public health protections.

The sessions are also an opportunity for state agencies to connect directly with underserved communities often facing the greatest environmental and health consequences, including Tribal Nations, communities of color and low-income families. Agency staff and environmental health experts will facilitate the sessions’ small group discussions. 

Wisconsin is joining other states in applying technology like the WEET dashboard to reduce health and environmental inequities. Other states such as California, Maryland and Washington have all created environmental justice screening and mapping tools. WEET and other state tools give state and local leaders a complete picture of the cumulative impacts of health and environmental inequities and to help them make informed decisions to improve the health, resilience and sustainability of affected communities.

Those unable to attend the scheduled listening sessions are encouraged to provide written comments and sign up for project news here: https://wedc.org/rural-prosperity/environmental-equity/.