The Kochs' Georgia-Pacific paper plants are dumping thousands of pounds of phosphorus into the Fox River. This is all part of Walker's payback to the Kochs in the form of environmental deregulation -- a big "thank you" for their generous funding of Walker's campaign. The Kochs have invested hundreds of thousands of dollars in their little stooge, donating to his campaign, funding pro-Walker ads during the budget fight, supporting a bus tour around the state and more.
Think Progress reports:
In 2005, the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources’ (DNR) issued a permit to Koch’s Georgia Pacific company to nearly double its phosphorus pollution in the Fox River. A group of Wisconsin citizens challenged the permit the following year, claiming the DNR’s permit violated the Clean Water Act. In 2010, the Wisconsin Third District Court of Appeals ruled that the public has a right to challenge the permit, and that the DNR did not appropriately hold public hearings. Around the same time, the Wisconsin Natural Resources Board adopted “sweeping regulations” to control phosphorus pollution to slow down “runaway algae growth.”
How did Walker get around these "sweeping regulations"?
First, he hid revisions and reductions to phosphorus limits in the budget bill--the same bill that also stripped workers of their collective bargaining rights. The same bill that passed without a single public hearing.
Second, he relied on his judicial clone, David Prosser. In March, Prosser cast the deciding vote to overturn the lower court's decision that allowed a public challenge to the permit. That ruling gave the Kochs' Georgia-Pacific leeway to dump more phosphorus into Wisconsin waterways.
Finally, Walker also ordered a two-year delay of any phosphorus regulations passed last year will face a two-year delay.
But by 2013, the
