At a conference on energy in Madison Monday, Representative Tammy Baldwin, D-Wis., said the federal cap and trade bill is important for reducing greenhouse gas emissions, while Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., said the current legislation is unrealistic.

The “Focus on Midwest Energy” conference included keynote addresses on federal climate change legislation, as well as issues facing Wisconsin’s future in green energy.

“We passed all of those other bills and the House sent them to the Senate and started waiting,” Baldwin said. “As a house member I can tell you I’m very frustrated by that.”

Baldwin was quick to add that both Wisconsin senators have been proactive in pushing for reforms. At the end of the day, most people just want the government to get things accomplished.

“If you’re without a job, if you’re behind on mortgage payments or dip into your kids college fund to make ends meet … if you’ve faced any of these challenges, and most in our community have, then the sort of finger-pointing that I’ve just engaged in, in the House and the Senate or between Democrats and Republicans, is really just noise,” Baldwin said.

Ryan also spoke about the cap and trade legislation, saying that passing the legislation would be the “equivalent of shooting yourself in the foot.” He is confident the bill will not make it out of the Senate this session.

Although he does not support cap and trade legislation, Ryan did say climate change is a real issue and hopes that at the end of his lifetime the country will no longer be relying on fossil fuels. He supports using federal funds to invest in research to lower the price of supplying energy to the state and to invest in nuclear power.

“Our economy went through what we call ‘the great recession’,” Ryan said. “We should be slingshotting out of this recession and we’re not. We’re not growing to the extent we should. We’re practicing horrible economic policies in Washington right now.”

The three gubernatorial campaigns also sent representatives to the conference to talk about each candidate’s vision for the state if elected governor.

Neumann said creating jobs would be his main priority as governor, as well as getting the state’s spending under control to cut taxes.

“I would like to see the state of Wisconsin completely energy independent,” Neumann said. “The market needs to drive solutions, not government subsidies.”

Former representative Peter Bock, D-Milwaukee, spoke on behalf of Barrett, saying Barrett is the kind of person who “does the right thing when no one’s watching.” Barrett believes in creating jobs by investing in energy, including bringing companies like the Spanish train manufacturer Talgo to Milwaukee.

“Tom [Barrett] understands that we can implement energy policy that strikes a balance between creating jobs and protecting the environment,” Bock said. “This balance has been at the heart of his work as mayor.”

Representing Walker’s campaign, Rep. Mike Huebsch, R-West Salem, said Walker has promised to create 250,000 jobs in his first term as governor. Walker wants to remove the burden of increasing taxes and regulations that the government has put on residents in the state. Other legislators have openly criticized the reality of the goal.

“[Walker wants to] create an environment whereby our companies and people can thrive and grow,” Huebsch said. “It shouldn’t cost green to be green.”

Correction: Due to editing errors, the original copy said Assembly instead of House in two instances. We regret the errors.