In his State of the Union speech, President Barack Obama touted his plans for alternative energy generation and high-speed rail construction, And he's on the road today, visiting a solar power component production facility in Manitowoc, Wisconsin. But the strange thing is: new Wisconsin Republican Governor Scott Walker rejected federal funding for a high-speed rail segment, and has proposed wind turbine restrictions called the most industry-hostile in the nation.
So how exactly does Walker welcome Obama to Wisconsin in the light of Wisconsin's new hostility to modern rail and wind energy?
UPDATE: The itinerary also calls for a visit to a wind turbine manufacturer. This is getting bizarre.
Wisconsin's $810 million federal rail funding went to Illinois, Florida and California so that Walker could keep a campaign pledge to "kill the train," and the Spanish train assembler Talgo, Inc. recruited specifically to Wisconsin to serve the budding high-speed rail industry announced as a result that it would move those jobs to a more rail-friendly state, presumably Illinois.
And Walker's legislative proposal made at the behest of real estate interests to prohibit most wind turbine sitings with unreasonable distant setbacks from neighboring property lines - - not just residences - - will have two negative consequences: minimize new installations and thus clean power generation and hurt turbine makers, including - - again - - a company building an assembly plant in Milwaukee.
Illinois wind power interests have has said they would welcome Wisconsin's turbine manufacturing industry to relocate across the border..
Both the wind turbine firm and train assembler were locating in economically-challenged neighborhoods.
Walker won with a pledge to create 250,000 jobs, but, to date, the major beneficiary of his actions have been other states more open to new and green ideas, while Milwaukee, with high unemployment, has seen two new plants take a direct hit via Walker's anti-urban, "old ideas," special-interest agenda.