It seems like a noble goal: tighten up the rules on ships emptying ballast water in order to keep invasive and foreign species from contaminating the Great Lakes.

To hear some in the industry speak, it could be the end of the world as we know it. A group of mayors and industry types is pushing for the state to essentially do nothing.

Steve Fisher, executive director of the American Great Lakes Association, indicated that Wisconsin's three major ports -- Superior (the largest of the Great Lakes ports), Milwaukee and Green Bay -- would in essence be cutting themselves off from international trade and important agricultural exports if they are forced to follow the proposed permit for their ports.

Fisher said Minnesota, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio and Pennsylvania have adopted the same standards for ballast treatment, but that enacting a different standard for Wisconsin would be like putting up a "jobs not welcome" sign. The proposed statewide permit would apply to ocean-going vessels, which would mean those ships would avoid Wisconsin's ports and do their business elsewhere on the Great Lakes.

"We are foolish to tell the international shipping community to go somewhere else," Superior Mayor Dave Ross said.

Eric Reinelt, Director of the Port of Milwaukee, also predicted shipping would go elsewhere. "We support tough regulation for ballast discharge permits, but this proposal with unrealistic goals doesn't make good economic sense and can't be achieved with available technology," he said.

The proposed DNR permit to regulate ballast water discharges in the Great Lakes would establish standards for Wisconsin that are 100 times more stringent than those proposed by the International Maritime Organization and adopted by the other Great Lakes states.

Right Ranks: The American Conservative Union rated the state's Congressional delegation and -- in a somewhat surprising result -- tabbed Congressman Paul Ryan as the most conservative Badger under the D.C. dome. Ryan scored a 92 with the right-wingers while veteran rep Jim Sensenbrenner was second with an 89. The rest: Tom Petri, 77; Ron Kind, 15; Herb Kohl, 14; Russ Feingold, 12; Steve Kagen, 10; David Obey, 9; Tammy Baldwin and Gwen Moore, 2.

Green Means Green: Milwaukee County Supervisor Marina Dimitrijevic reports that the county government is saving $222,000 in electric bills this year because of her "Green Print" initiative. She made her comments while accepting a $73,482 check for the county from Focus on Energy.

The grant recognizes the reduced energy consumption achieved through a partnership with Honeywell, one of three current performance contracts the county currently has, to perform energy efficient upgrades in the Courthouse and complete the pilot outlined in the Green Print. The major upgrades to the Courthouse include retrofitted light fixtures, the installation of light and motion sensors and more efficient heating and cooling.

Dimitrijevic says projections from Honeywell show that Milwaukee County is on pace to save more than $3 million over the next decade.

"And that's just at the Courthouse complex alone," she said. "We will save taxpayers much more as we retrofit additional facilities."

The ultimate goal, she said, is to upgrade 20 percent of county facilities each year, resulting in reduced energy consumption and considerable cost savings.

The energy savings achieved thus far through the Green Print are comparable to:

• Removing 377 cars annually from Milwaukee County roads.

• Providing electricity for 285 average Milwaukee County homes each year.

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