Candidates' records in office paint a stark contrast when it comes to the environment

As home to such pioneers in the field as John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Gaylor Nelson, Wisconsin boasts a rich history of environmentalism. 

The fight to maintain the state’s strong environmental laws and commitment to battling the effects of climate change will be waged in this fall’s governor’s race.

Neither candidate can run from the realities. Wisconsin has been beset by extreme weather incidents this summer, from drought to floods to tornadoes.  Extreme heat, coupled with extensive fires, affected air quality throughout Wisconsin and the Midwest. And PFAs in water continue to plague communities and farmers.

Whoever wins in November will be replacing a governor who took environmental issues seriously. Tony Evers created the Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy (OSCE), which developed the Wisconsin Clean Energy Plan.  The OSCE recently released the 2026 Clean Energy Plan Progress Report, highlighting progress made during Evers’ tenure.

The question for voters will be if they want to continue on the path to energy sustainability or choose a different direction. As with almost all the other issues in this election, David Crowley and Tom Tiffany offer starkly different ideas, though when it comes to data centers that all becomes a bit murkier. 

Crowley advocates for statewide investments in solar infrastructure, clean grid technology, utility oversight, and energy building upgrades that he says will create thousands of union jobs. He prioritizes clean water and insists he will hold polluters accountable.

As Milwaukee County Executive, Crowley has achieved a nearly fifty percent decrease in Milwaukee County operational greenhouse gas emissions since 2005. That resulted from vehicle reductions and facility efficiency upgrades.  He also signed the Climate Action 2050 Plan with the goal of reaching full operational carbon neutrality.

Crowley has earned major endorsements from prominent advocacy groups, including Wisconsin Conservation Voters and the Clean Wisconsin Action Fund.

Crowley recently clarified his position on data centers, insisting that it would be up to individual communities to determine whether they wanted one in their area.

“It shouldn’t be steamrolled,” he said. “It should be brought to the table. If they don’t want a data center, they shouldn’t be forced to have one. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about that.”

Crowley has created a list of requirements and restrictions he said he would impose, including:

• Commit to full transparency by banning non-disclosure agreements
• Provide 100% renewable energy 
• Cover 100% of the costs of infrastructure and grid upgrades 
• Require contributions to the state’s Focus on Energy fund, which could be used to bring down utility rates for Wisconsinites statewide
• Build the data centers with union labor, project labor agreements, and community benefit agreements
• Protect local water and the environment as a whole 

Tom Tiffany’s record on the environment has been robustly pro-industry and anti-regulation.

As a state legislator, Tiffany authored a bill to significantly reduce the Department of Natural Resource's regulatory powers, including in regard to open-pit mining in northern Wisconsin. That drew sharp criticism from the Bad River Chippewa Tribe and earned him the nickname “Toxic Tom.”   

He also voted to defund Wisconsin's bipartisan Knowles-Nelson Stewardship Program, which buys and protects public conservation lands.

While in the U.S. House, Tiffany supported mining near the Boundary Waters watershed in northeastern Minnesota. He also voted against international climate funding, blocked state-level cleaner truck standards, and voted to defund critical oil and gas leasing reforms.

Tiffany voted for the SPEED Act (Standardizing Permitting and Expediting Economic Development Act), which was designed to speed up the build-out of infrastructure key to artificial intelligence. He was also the deciding vote on President Donald Trump’s One Big Beautiful Bill, which included a 10-year regulation moratorium on AI models. If the Senate had not voted it down, the states would have had no authority to regulate AI.

Tiffany says Wisconsin should not allow new data centers without strong standards to protect ratepayers, farmland, water, local communities, and the electric grid. He has said he wants to ban NDAs and sales tax exemptions for data centers. Still, he received a $5,000 campaign contribution from the lobbyist for the Wisconsin Data Center Coalition, which opposes those two bans.

He has received a 0% rating from environmental groups such as the League of Conservation Voters and Wisconsin Conservation Voters.

“The contrast with Tom Tiffany is stark,” the Crowley campaign said in a statement. “He has never introduced legislation regulating data centers in Congress, has never backed a moratorium, and is pushing to keep aging coal plants online to help power the very data centers he claims to be tough on.

“Instead, he has voted for trillions of dollars in permanent corporate tax breaks through the One Big Beautiful Bill and a 10-year ban on state and local governments enforcing any AI regulation.”

Candidates' records in office paint a stark contrast when it comes to the environment © 2026 by Carol Lenz is licensed under CC BY-NC-ND 4.0