By Kate Bruns
The world has experienced a seismic shift since January 2020, when Gov. Tony Evers announced the formation of Wisconsin’s Blue Ribbon Commission on Rural Prosperity.
COVID-19 underscored and exacerbated some of the very issues — rural broadband service child care access — the commission set out to tackle. In addition, the pandemic changed our thinking about health. Environmental, mental and economic health are all better understood in COVID’s wake.
Through the last two years, the Wisconsin Economic Development Corp. has charged ahead, including the Blue Ribbon Commission’s formation and initial report. Among dozens of central issues cited in the report is climate justice — specifically, the disproportionate impact of climate change on rural, tribal and economically stressed communities, as well as communities of color.
In October, Evers announced the creation of the Wisconsin Environmental Equity Tool (WEET) to address this issue — including not only the impacts of climate change but also pollution, socioeconomics and public health.
Aggregating data already being collected by state agencies, WEET will be available online this spring to the general public as a way to better understand where public health infrastructure problems like PFAS contamination (per-and polyfluoroalkyl substances — “forever chemicals”) and lead pipes, for example, come together with issues like access to child care and economic prosperity.
The project is a collaboration between WEDC, the Department of Health Services, Department of Natural Resources and Department of Administration. The group is also forming an advisory committee.
“We want to make sure that we have a complete picture of what’s going on in our community so we can focus our resources and precisely target the tools we have to help communities that are most in distress,” says WEDC Deputy Secretary and Chief Operating Officer Sam Rikkers, who oversees multiple WEDC programs including the Office of Rural Prosperity.
WEDC provides grants and programs based largely on the kind of data a tool like WEET can provide. But it’s also data that, if made easily accessible, can be used broadly by a wide range of constituencies, including community and health care leaders. Once completed, Wisconsin will be the fourth state to maintain an environmental equity dashboard.
Rikkers says the timeline for WEET’s rollout is short because it doesn’t require new data to be gathered; it’s just a matter of bringing together information that’s currently “siloed.” WEET will encourage much-needed collaboration across state agencies and communities.
And like almost everything WEDC touches, it comes back to talent.
“Our employers are still facing the tightest workforce shortage we’ve ever faced,” Rikkers says. “Those communities that have made the investment in infrastructure and health are doing better at retaining workforce. There’s only so much that marketing campaigns can do. Businesses recognize that if (they) want to attract and retain a really talented workforce, it’s got to be a great place not just to work, but to raise a family and enjoy the outdoors.”
Rikkers says businesses are leading on environmental equity issues, particularly in the New North region where the cleanup of the Fox River is an example of a business-driven priority. He describes the business community as one of WEET’s biggest assets thus far.
Savvy leaders are connecting the dots between economics and community health, now more than ever. And WEET is designed to empower decision-makers with better data to support those connections.
“If we simply count jobs created to measure economic well-being, it’s insufficient,” Rikkers says. “I mean, it’s important — but if folks don’t have access to child care, if communities don’t have good housing, if communities don’t have healthy environments and really beautiful places for recreation, those are inhibitors to our sense of economic well-being. Coming out of the pandemic, WEDC’s mission is (fostering) that broader sense of well-being.”
Connecting the dots
The Wisconsin Environmental Equity Tool aims to move beyond simple census tract data analysis to layer data from multiple agencies on health, population, environment and climate. Types of information included are:
• Disease prevalence
• Flood, ozone, hazardous waste, pesticide and emissions data
• Education, housing, insurance and poverty data
• Race and ethnicity
• Birth weight and childhood health
View the complete list of data to be collected and learn more about WEET online at: dhs.wisconsin.gov/climate/env-equity-tool.htm
