To the Editor:

Previously, I shared ideas about the impact on Wisconsin of “Peak Oil 2” after the fracking boom has turned to U.S. Oil production bust, 2025. Now, all of us both in and out of government will need to find solutions, quickly.

The good news is that your Wisconsin Association of Mobility Managers (WAMM), who serve our county’s guiding policy on mobility of our citizens, have offered one solution. A key WAMM priority for 2016 has been passing enabling legislation for regional transit authorities (RTA), which includes taxing power, through the Wisconsin legislature.

Given that your Legislature disabled RTAs in the 2011 session, this is going to be a political struggle, to re-enable such authorities – and in a bigger way than the original 2009 enabling legislation.

Our Wisconsin Green Party Coordinating Council meeting approved RTA enabling as a priority for WIGP over the next decade, until meaningful, measurable steps towards sustainability are made. There will be fierce resistance from all the corporate syndicates which benefit from keeping Wisconsin dependent on oil and gas production, and our urban design focused on suburban sprawl.

In order to move such a big project through such resistance, we suggest that citizens and all levels of local elected officials form a statewide network of nonpartisan local citizens’ alliances promoting renewable-energy-powered, regional transit authorities. Interested? Write [email protected]

The full narrative and rationale for this proposal can be found online at

greenpeoplesmedia.wordpress.com/rtas.

Bob Gifford

Portage County Board of Supervisors