|
Wisconsin Green Party
www.wisconsingreenparty.org
May 11, 2005
Contacts:
Jill Bussiere, Co-Chair, Wisconsin Green Party, 920.388.0529 jdt@wisconsingreenparty.org
Bill Hurrle, 920.866.3648
Governor Doyle has proposed to cut $56 million from
the Public Benefits Fund, which funds the Focus on Energy program. His
proposal, if accepted, would redirect $35 million from this fund to the
Department of Administration, and would cut another $21 from this fund
elsewhere in the budget. The Public Benefits Fund is defined by law as
being separate and to be used only for its intended purpose.
“Oil and natural gas prices are rising, and oil
and natural gas supplies are dropping as the demand for them rises,”
said Jill Bussiere, Co-Chair of the Wisconsin Green Party. “We have a
program in place in Wisconsin, Focus on Energy, to help citizens
conserve energy, use energy efficiently, and increase their use of
renewable energy sources. This is exactly what is needed to help prepare
for our uncertain energy future.”
"We are at peak oil now. Efficiency and
renewables are our only sane option." said Bill Hurrle, a Wisconsin
Green Party member who works with renewable energy and high performance
housing.
The Legislative Fiscal Bureau has proposed 5
alternatives to the Governor’s proposal, which range from accepting
the Governor’s proposed cut, to eliminating ratepayers’ fees for
this program, to deleting the Governor’s proposal entirely.
The Wisconsin Green Party urges that the
Governor’s proposal to cut $56 million from the Focus on Energy
program be deleted from the budget, and urges full funding for the Focus
on Energy program.
“Ratepayers have been paying fees for this fund
for several years, expecting that those fees would go towards a
Wisconsin that is better prepared for the energy challenges that we are
certain to face,” said Bussiere. “Any other use of fees already
collected for that purpose would be a misuse of the funds.”
The Wisconsin Green Party is affiliated with the
Green Party of the United States, and stands on the four pillars of
Social & Economic Justice, Grassroots Democracy, Nonviolence, and
Ecological Wisdom.
For more information, visit
http://www.wisconsingreenparty.org.
The Green Party of the United States' website is
http://www.gp.org.
|
