The Wisconsin Climate Table is a coalition of nearly 40 member organizations working toward zero greenhouse gas emissions in Wisconsin by 2050. It is a private network for sharing resources, drawing upon the expertise of its diverse member base of grassroots activists, interfaith organizers, policy leaders, researchers and groups representing different areas of Wisconsin. As the state has become more amenable to environmental issues, the Climate Table has provided input to Governor Evers’ Task Force on Climate Change in 2020 and driven engagement around federal funding opportunities available to Wisconsin communities during the 2022 rollout of the state’s Clean Energy Plan. It is currently involved with the Wisconsin Climate Action Navigators, a network organized by the Wisconsin Office of Sustainability and Clean Energy, and advocating for the inclusion of evidence-based transportation measures to reduce carbon emissions in the state’s first comprehensive climate action plan.
Wisconsin Climate Table members attend a Wisconsin Climate Action Navigators meeting in 2024.
The organization is coordinated by Susan Gaeddert of the land use and transportation advocacy group, 1000 Friends of Wisconsin, and employs a grassroots organizer in Milwaukee part-time. In 2023, the Wisconsin Climate Table released its Tool Kit for Equity & Justice in Local Climate Action Planning — a resource intended to help municipal staff, policymakers and local elected officials create policies and programs targeting climate change, with a focus on prioritizing marginalized communities who are usually left out of the decision making process and the benefits that come with the transition to a carbon-free future. The Wisconsin Climate Table has also released an oral history project highlighting the voices of eight people burdened by utility shut offs and rate increases, on top of living in neighborhoods with histories of redlining and pollution. Additional funding would allow the Climate Table to expand its storytelling efforts beyond Milwaukee and into more communities.