The Great Lakes Zephyr - Wind Energy & Hydrogen Journal

UW-Madison News Release--Environmental conference

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

1/5/05

CONTACT: Terry Shelton, (608) 262-3038, shelton@lafollette.wisc.edu



GLOBAL EXPERTS HIGHLIGHT ENVIRONMENTAL CONFERENCE



MADISON - Experts from around the world will gather at a University of Wisconsin-Madison conference on Monday, Jan. 31, to examine innovative policies in environmental protection, including Wisconsin's Green Tier law.



The conference, "Environmental Law in a Connected World," will feature a rare, three-way exchange among environmentalists, policymakers and business representatives from around the globe.



The daylong session, which will be held at the Monona Terrace Convention Center, will feature experts from Germany, the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, China, Australia and the United States. The public is welcome.



Participants will contrast traditional environmental regulatory models that focus on minimum compliance with those that promote exceeding base expectations.



Wisconsin's voluntary Green Tier law rewards superior environmental performance beyond that required by law. Under the innovative regulatory concept, companies, communities and governments negotiate agreements that are flexible, efficient and enforceable.



The conference grows out of a three-year study by Graham Wilson, a faculty member of the university's Robert M. La Follette School of Public Affairs, into public-private agreements regarding environmental regulation.



As part of his research, Wilson traveled with a Wisconsin delegation to Bavaria in October. Wisconsin has a regulatory innovation agreement with Bavaria.



"In Bavaria, we saw examples of how a governance system can work," Wilson says. "They are achieving real environmental results through the cooperation of government, business and environmental groups - a practice I hope we can import."



The conference is sponsored by the La Follette School, with the cooperation of Gov. Jim Doyle and an advisory board that includes state Sens. Neal Kedzie and Mark Miller, Pat Schillinger of the Wisconsin Paper Council and Steve Hiniker of 1,000 Friends of Wisconsin.



Funding and sponsorship support are provided by the Ira and Ineva Reilly Baldwin Wisconsin Idea Endowment; the UW-Madison Center for World Affairs and the Global Economy; the American Transmission Co.; the European Union Center; the Wisconsin Department of Natural Resources through its Dairy Gateway Cooperative, which is funded by the Joyce Foundation; and the Multi-State Working Group on Environmental Performance and its Policy Academy on Environmental Management Tools.



Registration for the conference is $30, including lunch. Those interested can register online by visiting: http://www.lafollette.wisc.edu/research/environmentalpolicy/index.html.



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- Dennis Chaptman, (608) 262-9406









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