What do you call a consultant paid six figures to lobby for a coal power plant outside of Madison? According to 77th State Assembly Democratic candidate Brett Hulsey, the term is “environmentalist.” At least, that is how Hulsey has been portraying himself in this fall’s race to replace longtime 77th District Assemblyman Spencer Black.
Anyone even vaguely familiar with politics in this country has seen more than their fair share of cynical maneuvering on behalf of elected officials and candidates for office. Still, in a part of the state as educated and progressive as the West side of Madison, this sort of hubris strikes a chord. Since all students in residential halls outside of Ogg and Smith can vote in the 77th race, students need to be informed about the representatives they have to choose from on November 2nd.
Hulsey apparently wants voters to focus on his piecemeal environmental advocacy on the country board and his time working for the Sierra Club instead of his more dubious, lucrative and consequential activities in the private sector.
Between 2006 and 2008, Hulsey’s consulting outfit earned nearly $200,000 in fees from Alliant Energy, playing a major role in a multi-million dollar campaign to build a coal power plant in Cassville, WI. Being called out by a number of his former environmentalist colleagues, Hulsey insisted that the plant would be a prominent combustor of biomass fuel, up to an apparently lofty 20 percent of its total. In reality, even burning 10 percent biomass seemed unlikely. Mark Redsten, executive director of Clean Wisconsin, elaborates: “Brett focused his comments on the plant’s ability to burn biomass, but our analysis, supported by the Wisconsin Public Service Commission staff, showed that the utility intended to burn all types of coal, and even refinery waste, and only a small amount of biomass,” adding that the proposed plant would generate “significant amounts of nitrous oxide” while spewing “more greenhouse gas emissions than existing coal plants in Wisconsin.”
Some Hulsey apologists insist this was merely one slip-up in a career speckled with environmental triumphs. Perhaps I’m missing something, but working for the coal and gas industry with highly questionable motives in mind while making a fat paycheck equates to a bit more than an unintentional mistake.
Of course, where there is blatant co-optation there is often a bevy of other dubious political maneuverings. This appears to strike true in Hulsey’s case and seriously undermines his image as a progressive Democrat.
His recent endorsement by the Wisconsin State Journal – a paper that endorsed George W. Bush not once, but twice, should make more progressive-minded voters hesitate. Since that endorsement, he has come out in opposition to an innocuous resolution on the county board to create a citizen’s panel to study the University of Wisconsin-Madison’s immense primate research facilities. Regardless of what you might think about experimenting on our close evolutionary cousins, that Hulsey would simply vote against the legislation in the face of widespread concern in the community says little for his dedication to Democratic principles.
Appraisals from former County Board colleagues seem to substantiate this point. Former District 5 Supervisor Ashok Kumar claims he met opposition from Hulsey when he drafted and attempted to pass a Domestic Partner’s Equal Benefits Ordinance early in his term; he says Hulsey deemed the issue “too controversial.” Kumar described Hulsey’s behavior as part of a pattern: “He made sure to line up others in [the liberal] caucus against it, and it never came to the floor until the end of my term. This is indicative of Hulsey’s political positioning. [He’ll] make sure nothing progressive comes to the floor and if it does, [he’ll] vote for it because his political aspirations will be impacted if he doesn’t.” At best, such behavior indicates a cowardly reticence toward opposing injustice; at worst, his tacit opposition speaks of something much worse.
Hulsey has opposed the rights of other marginalized groups as well by repeatedly supporting Sheriff Mahoney’s family-shattering policy of arbitrarily reporting minor offenders to federal immigration authorities. He has even voiced support for background checks of high school students suspected of ‘gang affiliation.’ Should such a policy be enacted it would inevitably lead to deportations, most likely under circumstances where no serious crime has even been committed. I can scarcely imagine a better way to tear communities apart and detract from more effective anti-gang programs.
Before the Democratic primary earlier this month, there were two candidates in the race who were prioritizing the full funding of the UW System and lowering tuition, Democrat Fred Wade and Wisconsin Green Ben Manski. Since Hulsey beat out Wade and emerged victorious from the primary, there is only one candidate taking a bold, pro-student stance.
When students go to the polls – and they should, in droves – they’ll have to ask themselves, who will stand up for those without big bank accounts or other forms of institutional power? Overwhelmingly, the young voters in the 77th District are such people. All those who were planning on voting a straight party ticket the first Tuesday in November might want to reconsider exactly who is on the party slate. Not all Democrats are created equal, and as Brett Hulsey has shown, not all believe in equality.
Sam Stevenson ([email protected]) is a graduate student in public health.
