University of Wisconsin students placed 81 calls to state legislators on Library Mall Tuesday urging them to increase funding for public transportation in the economic recovery package being considered by the U.S. Senate this week.
Wisconsin Student Public Interest Research Group organized the two-day call-in event where volunteers petitioned students to call the offices of Sens. Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl.
Students read a prepared statement in support of public transit funding as a way to create jobs and cut greenhouse gas emissions.
“Transportation is the second leading cause of global warming pollution in our country,” said Connor Cahill, a UW freshman involved with WISPIRG.
Both Feingold and Kohl have already stated their support for the stimulus plan, but WISPIRG hopes to motivate the senators to petition for more funding supporting public transit.
“People don’t realize that the facts are there: Taking the bus could actually make a huge difference. It’s up to us to get that message out,” Cahill said.
Cahill went on to say more public transportation in Wisconsin means fewer people driving cars and more people carpooling, leading to decreased emissions and a cleaner environment.
Standing out in 9-degree weather with blustering winds, WISPIRG students were able to generate 81 calls in 2.5 hours to the senators and a total of 128 calls between Monday and Tuesday.
State Sen. Glenn Grothman, R-West Bend, opposed WISPIRG’s petition to increase spending on public transportation.
“Any increased spending will only drive the country further in debt, as many buses around the country already are running empty anyway,” Grothman said.
Grothman went on to question the validity of the climate change movement.
“Global warming is something cooked up by people who want to make money off it,” Grothman said. “There have been hot years and cold years since I was a child. It is silly to say that since there have been a few hot years recently greedy people should be able to profit from it.”
According to WISPIRG representatives, a call-in organized last week helped convince legislators in the U.S. House of Representatives to include an additional $3 billion for public transit in their version of the recovery package.
The recovery package, which passed the House last week, is being voted on by the Senate this week and faces a much sterner test there.
The additional public transportation funding passed in the House version of the bill could potentially create up to 133,000 new jobs.
“By the end of the day the senators’ secretaries were reading the prepared statement back to us and telling us that they would be sure to notify the senators. I think we definitely got through to them,” Cahill said.
A significant portion of President Barack Obama’s $825 billion economic recovery plan is dedicated to renewable energy and green technologies.
