Welcome back to HEATED, a newsletter for people who are pissed off about the climate crisis—written by me, Emily Atkin.

Today we’re attempting to bring some climate accountability to the midterm elections. If you enjoy it, and can afford it, please support this work with a paid subscription. We can’t do it without you.

Tim Michels doesn’t know about the wild rice problem

Wisconsin’s GOP gubernatorial candidate has claimed ignorance about one of the state’s most pressing environmental issues. Wonder why?

Emily Atkin

Oct 21

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The Wisconsin governor’s race is one of the most closely-watched elections this midterm. It is the most expensive general election in the country, with Democratic incumbent Gov. Tony Evers and Republican challenger Tim Michels spending a combined $55 million since the August primary. It is also one of the tightest races, with every recent poll showing the candidates effectively tied.

The stakes are high for both Wisconsin and the country. Evers’ veto pen is the only thing preventing more than 100 conservative bills from becoming law in Wisconsin, including measures to restrict voting rights; to restrict abortion; and to expand gun access. Trump-endorsed Michels is also an election denier who has not committed to certifying the 2024 results if they don’t go his way. So this critical swing state race could decide the fate of the next presidential election.

All this has been talked about at length in local and national media—if you want to read more about it, here are some good resources.

But today, I want to highlight something in the Wisconsin governor’s race that so far has not garnered as much media attention: Michel’s stunning ignorance about how climate change is harming the state he wants to run, and his massive financial stake in remaining ignorant as long as possible.

Last week, in the only debate between Evers and Michels, WJFW-TV reporter Dan Hagan asked Michels what he would do about the steady decline of Northern wild rice, also called manoomin, in Wisconsin due to climate change.

The decline has been a big problem in the state for over a decade. Wild rice grows in water, and Wisconsin’s Great Lakes region holds part of the largest and last remaining extensive coastal wild rice bed in the world. Wild rice is a keystone species for the regional ecosystem, as well as a cultural and economic staple for the Anishinaabeg peoples of the Great Lakes.

Anyone who wants to be governor of Wisconsin should know about this. But Michels, a multi-millionaire businessman who owns the state’s largest construction company, said he had never heard of it. At the same time, despite never hearing about it, he said he was sure it was not because of climate change, because climate change is not real.

Here’s the full exchange (emphasis mine):

HAGAN: Climate change is already affecting Wisconsinites. I’ve reported on Ojibwe people in Northern Wisconsin, and their reliance on wild rice. But more frequent extreme weather events tied to climate change are disrupting wild rice beds, threatening a source of food and culture for the Ojibwe. How should Wisconsin respond to a changing climate?
MICHELS: Thank you for that question. I have to admit I was unaware of the wild rice problem. But you’re tying it to climate change. Look, I want a clean planet, for my children, my future grandchildren. I want clean drinking water. I want to make sure that everyone does the right thing. At Michels Corporation, we’re a very responsible operator. We’re an environmental leader. We have a Green Tier 2 award from the DNR for all of our great environmental initiatives.
So, climate change, you know, there’s a lot of discussion about that. Has the temperature gone up? Temperature has always fluctuated throughout the history of this world. And we can’t just say that it all happened because of man’s actions in the last 100 years. But, we should be all responsible, like we are at Michels Corporation, and do everything we can to make sure we have a healthy planet for future generations.

Of course, we absolutely can say that recent climactic changes are all attributed to human actions in the last 100 years. The IPCC’s 2021 report confirmed human-caused carbon emissions from fossil fuels are “unequivocally” causing climate disaster.

But that wouldn’t be a great thing for Michels to admit, considering his wealth is partially dependent on fossil fuel expansion. His construction company routinely does work on major oil pipelines, including building over 300 miles of the Dakota Access Pipeline. Michels was also personally invested in the Keystone XL pipeline’s completion; his company was awarded a contract by TC Energy to build 8 pump stations for the project.

More importantly, Michels’s company is currently the mainline contractor to reroute Enbridge’s Line 5 pipeline—a project which indigenous and environmental groups say further threatens the wild rice beds. The pipeline goes through northern Wisconsin and carries up to 23 million gallons of oil and natural gas liquids per day. According to the Sierra Club, “Two iconic, beloved resources put at risk by the Line 5 reroute are the Kakagon Sloughs and Copper Falls State Park. The Kakagon Sloughs are critical to maintaining genetic diversity of wild rice in Lake Superior.”

Unsurprisingly, Michels has pledged to "make sure that Line 5 gets built” if he becomes governor. He also says he’ll divest himself from his business if elected, but it’s still unclear how that will work.

Michel’s remarks on climate change at last week’s debate were not covered by many in the mainstream press. Debate re-cap articles published in CNN, NBC, the Milwaukee Journal-Sentinal, Wisconsin Public Radio, The Wisconsin State Journal, The Capital Times, and Milwaukee’s CBS affiliate didn’t mention Michel’s climate denial or purported ignorance of issues exacerbated by his company.

Of course, Michels said many ridiculous things during the debate, so it was likely difficult to choose just a handful of moments to highlight. And some outlets did mention his climate comments in their re-cap articles, including PBS Wisconsin.

But overall, it’s safe to say that climate change has not been a priority in this race. And that’s a shame, because the stakes are high. Wisconsin experienced 22 billion-dollar extreme weather events that caused more than $120.9 billion in damages and 388 deaths in the last decade alone. Climate change is estimated to cost Wisconsin $5.1 billion a year by the year 2100.

HEATED exists to bring to light important climate accountability stories that aren’t getting the attention they deserve. If you see an important climate accountability story that needs attention before the midterm elections, let us know at media@heated.world.

In the meantime, I’ll leave you with a few more climate-related tidbits about the Wisconsin governor’s race:

Michels’ gubernatorial campaign website does not mention climate change. It does vow to “Increase American energy production and distribution to provide low cost and reliable energy for families and businesses all across the state.”
Michels has taken at least $12,776 from the oil and gas industry in his race for governor. He received $34,350 in campaign contributions from the oil and gas industry in his 2004 bid to represent Wisconsin in the U.S. Senate.
Gov. Evers is by no means a climate saint. In 2019, he signed into law a bill designed to criminalize protest against fossil fuel projects, and used oil and gas industry talking points to defend the decision. (Notably, the climate-denying Heartland Institute applauded the move).
But Evers does have a clean energy plan, which is estimated to generate 40,000 new jobs in the state by 2030.

AND NOW, A PALATE CLEANSER: About two months after the newsletter went on hiatus last spring, I moved out to Southern California to be closer to my partner. This week, we’re moving back to Washington, D.C. together, and driving across the country to get there. Yesterday, we spent the afternoon at Arches National Park, and it was the most beautiful place I’ve ever been.