WI Budget proposal gets amended to protect tar sands pipeline from ins. requirement

[HereSince1628]

Dane County’s efforts to require a Canadian company to carry special environmental insurance for a pipeline running through the county could see its actions reversed by a last-minute state budget provision added by Republicans Thursday.

The provision, which was added to the proposed state budget anonymously, would block a county measure to require Enbridge Energy to carry$25 million in pollution insurance before it can proceed with a planned pipeline capacity expansion.

Under the change, towns and counties would be blocked from imposing additional insurance requirements. Although the measure did not specifically mention Enbridge, the company has been feuding with Dane County for months over pollution insurance.

Enbridge’s Line 61 carries Canadian tar sands crude across Wisconsin from Superior to Flanagan, Illinois.

Read more: http://host.madison.com/news/local/govt-and-politics/state-budget-provision-exempts-enbridge-from-dane-county-insurance-requirement/article_904f12d0-c13e-5872-900c-86dc63885eb1.html#ixzz3f1E9zq1B

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It's probably fair to wonder, as did WiRep Gordon Hintz, if this anonymous legislator was 'in' on the amendment to the budget that rescinds public access to communications about budget building...

Rep. Hintz: Changes to Wisconsin’s open records laws: What are you hiding?
7/3/2015

Contact: Rep. Gordon Hintz, 1-608-266-2254

Madison – After another late night of Joint Finance Committee debate, a provision was snuck into the Republican’s 999 grab-bag motion which significantly changes Wisconsin’s open records laws. A motion to delete the open records items from the 999 was offered by JFC Democrats but was not allowed to come before the committee for a vote. Representative Hintz (D-Oshkosh) offers the following statement on the changes significantly affecting transparency and accountability in government.

“A day later, I remain shocked and disgusted at the open records law changes in the Republican’s 999 grab-bag motion late last night. The open records laws in Wisconsin do not belong to partisans, they belongs to the public. This removes public access, politician’s responsibility to their constituents, the very people they work for. This has to be the lowest moment in this budget process.

Changing these laws does not benefit the public, this benefits politicians and this is a bad idea that no one wants to own up to. None of the Republicans, who voted in favor, were willing to take responsibility when directly asked. With these new changes, the tracks are being covered up and we probably will never know. This looks defensive and is a selfish, short-sighted decision.”

[MH1]

1. When taxpayers have to subsidize polluters, republicans don't care

It's only things like food and housing for low-income people that repubs don't want their tax dollars used for.

[gratuitous]

2. They're already carrying $100 million in insurance

Unfortunately, the story doesn't note whether that $100 million is available, or if it is diminished by the amount Enbridge Energy will spend trying to deny liability when their pipeline leaks (note that I said, "when" not "if"; pipelines always leak). The story does helpfully note that a similar spill on the Kalamazoo River has taken four years and $1.2 billion so far to clean up. That's 12 times as much as Enbridge is carrying in insurance; I wonder who might make up the additional money a clean up would cost, if it happened unfortunately close to a navigable waterway? Probably best not to conjecture about such a thing - it takes away the "who could have predicted" excuse Enbridge has all ready to go for the day when its pipeline turns a portion of Wisconsin into an uninhabitable moonscape.