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Making Appliances More Energy-Efficient
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Efficient Appliances—WISPIRG is working with State Sen. Bob Wirch (Kenosha) to raise efficiency standards for appliances, meaning lower bills for rate-payers and less global warming pollution. |
WISPIRG is working with State Sen. Bob Wirch (Kenosha) to introduce legislation that would increase energy efficiency in Wisconsin, saving consumers money and reducing global warming emissions.
“Whether it is filling up your gas tank or paying to heat your home in the winter, energy costs are increasingly hitting Wisconsinites in the pocketbook,” said Bruce Speight, WISPIRG advocate. “And what’s worse, we pay more than we have to, because we waste too much energy.”
As part of a broader effort to increase efficiency, this legislation would update standards for common residential and commercial appliances, including furnaces and boilers. WISPIRG is working with Clean Wisconsin and the Wisconsin Energy Conservation Corporation to move this important measure forward. In addition, WISPIRG helped to pass strong efficiency measures in the House version of the federal energy bill that passed in August.
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Protecting Consumers
From Check Scams
In August, WISPIRG testified in support of the Check Scam Protection Act, which would protect consumers from the misleading practice of sending a check that, when cashed, commits the victim to products or services that he or she does not intend to purchase.
“Consumers have the right to full disclosure,” said WISPIRG Advocate Bruce Speight. “They should not be tricked into purchasing products or services unknowingly and unwillingly.”
Consumers and businesses in Wisconsin have cashed checks for as little as $4 that then commit them to $50 per month in Internet business postings.
The bill has been introduced by State Reps. Mark Pocan (Madison) and Mark Gottlieb (Port Washington) and Sens. Jon Lehman (Racine) and Luther Olsen (Ripon), and has already been co-sponsored by a third of the Legislature.
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States Snuff Out Secondhand Smoke
When the Baltimore City Council made the decision to join hundreds of communities across the nation in prohibiting smoking in restaurants and bars on Feb. 26, they reached an important tipping point.
The state’s General Assembly passed the statewide Maryland PIRG-backed ban shortly thereafter. Coalition members, including Maryland PIRG, had been working with bar and restaurant workers and owners since September to bring the bill to fruition.
Oregon and Illinois, thanks in part to the work of OSPIRG and Illinois PIRG, respectively, will also join the 35 states with some kind of smoking ban. Here in Wisconsin, WISPIRG is cheered by our allies' victories as we kick off our own campaign to protect all of Wisconsin's workers from the dangers of secondhand smoke.
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Combined Reporting Levels The Playing Field
When the state of Michigan revamped its business tax code, they joined 20 other states in adopting “combined reporting,” a method that prevents companies from sheltering their income from tax levies through out-of-state subsidiaries. By adopting this reform, advocated by PIRGIM, the state PIRG in Michigan, Michigan turns the tide toward combined reporting: 51 percent of the U.S. economy now uses the system, compared to just 29 percent four years ago.
State PIRG campaigns for combined reporting are under way in Maryland, Massachusetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and here in Wisconsin. MASSPIRG recruited 60 businesses to sign on in favor of combined reporting and a series of other reforms that would level the playing field between businesses. WISPIRG has advocated the reform in a series of letters-to-the-editor in state newspapers. |
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