Dear Friend,

With the start of the new school year and Labor Day just around the corner, summer is quickly coming to an end.

August is a time when many Wisconsin families decide to pack up the car and take a vacation. Summer vacations are opportunities to enjoy quality time with our loved ones, as well as the pristine beauty of our state and country. As someone who cares deeply about the protection of our environment and the public's health, I would like to share with you some of my work on issues related to our environment.

Conservation at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant

One of the finest Wisconsin parks is Devil's Lake State Park in Sauk County. With its beautiful lake set in the Baraboo hills, it is one of Wisconsin's treasures. Adjacent to the park is the Badger Army Ammunition plant that is in the process of being disposed of by the Army. In anticipation of the land transfer, a group of citizens and interested organizations participated in a year long effort to reach a community consensus on the future of this very special land. The work of the Reuse Committee is a model of citizen participation in their government and community.

I was pleased to secure the funding for the Badger reuse process, and continue to work hard to see that the recommendations of that group-to preserve the land for conservation and recreation-are fully implemented. I continue to work with officials from the State of Wisconsin, the Ho Chunk Nation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to make that vision a reality.

Preserving Our National Parks

On the federal level, our national parks are among the most popular tourist destinations in the country.

Families visiting our national parks can see breathtaking landscapes, take back country hikes, or camp a night or two in one of the cabins maintained by the park system. Unfortunately, they are also likely to see dense haze clouding the mountain views, overgrown trails, and leaky lodge roofs. Sadly, many of our national parks are in poor condition due to increased pollution and inadequate maintenance budgets.

As a candidate in 2000, President Bush pledged to eliminate the backlog of park maintenance projects and "restore and renew" America's national parks. But his Administration has never provided adequate funding for this, and since then the backlog has gotten progressively worse.

Recently, I wrote to Congressional appropriators, seeking an additional $240 million for national park operations in the fiscal year 2005 budget. While this would not be enough money to address the entire backlog, it would help fix some of the most unsafe trails, repair a few crumbling bridges, and keep some parks from shortening their operating hours. Clearly, Congress and the President should be doing much more. I will continue to fight for adequate funding to completely erase the maintenance backlogs.

Cleaner Air and Water

A recent report authored by the National Parks Conservation Association also found that the Administration's decision not to enforce certain clean air laws is the prime reason for the increasing amount of air pollution that is causing serious damage to the health of many national parks. The poor air quality in our nation's parks is due to the Bush Administration efforts to rollback protections of the Clean Air Act. I have steadfastly opposed these efforts.

Two years ago, I led the effort opposing the Administration's decision to erode air quality protections which required that older power plants install the best available pollution-control equipment when upgrading their facilities. As many as 600 existing power plants are between 30-50 years old and are up to ten times dirtier than new power plants built today. I also recently stood up to the Administration and opposed their plans to weaken rules that would reduce mercury emissions from power plants.

As you may know, mercury is a naturally occurring element and neurotoxin that is of great concern to public health. In February 2004, a new EPA analysis found that about 630,000 children are born in the United States each year with blood mercury levels above what the EPA considers safe. Forty-four states have fish advisories that warn anglers that fish caught in lakes, streams and rivers may be too contaminated for women and children to eat. That includes 15,000 lakes in Wisconsin. Mercury is also found in hundreds of ordinary products, which can be just as harmful as mercury discharged from power plant emissions. For example, the amount of mercury contained in just one thermostat is enough to poison a 60-acre lake for one year.

I recently introduced H.R. 4260, the Safe Communities and Safe Schools Mercury Reduction Act, which will go a long way in helping to facilitate the safe disposal and recycling of mercury products.

Good Decisions Based on Sound Science

Wisconsin has a strong tradition of relying on the knowledge of scholars and experts in crafting legislation and shaping public policy. "The Wisconsin Idea" of service to the state by the University of Wisconsin faculty is central to that tradition.

Today, one of the greatest threats to our environment is a movement that advances public policy based on ideology over science. For example, last year I wrote to the President expressing my outrage about the White House decision to remove data and analyses regarding climate change in the EPA's annual report on the environment. Scientific evidence indicating that global warming is a problem was deleted from the report.

Recently, more than 4,000 scientists, including 48 Nobel Prize winners and 127 members of the National Academy of Sciences, expressed concern that the Bush Administration is distorting and suppressing science to suit its political goals. I believe having sound scientific data is imperative when writing and debating important public policies that will affect our families and communities for generations to come. We simply cannot afford to put ideology ahead of the public's health.

I assure you that I will continue to confront the challenges that threaten the well-being of our environment and will continue the fight to make certain the air we breathe is clean, the water we drink is safe, and the environment we enjoy is protected.

As always, I welcome your thoughts.

Thank you for your feedback!

Warm regards,

Tammy Baldwin
Your Member of Congress