(The Center Square) – Wisconsin’s two largest dairy groups can continue with their case against Wisconsin’s special environmental prosecutor.
A judge in Calumet County last week said the Wisconsin Dairy Alliance and Venture Dairy Cooperative can move forward with their lawsuit against Attorney General Josh Kaul.
"Plaintiffs appear to be opposed to both how the fellow was acquired and what she will do in her role. These parties clearly have adverse interests,” the judge wrote. "Plaintiffs have a legal interest to contest governmental actions leading to what they believe is an illegal expenditure of taxpayer funds."
Kaul signed a deal with the State Energy and Environmental Impact Center at New York University in 2021.
Republicans and a number of business groups say the Environmental Impact Center is little more than a Bloomberg-funded effort to push a climate change agenda through state attorneys general offices.
Last month, The House Oversight committee launched an investigation into the center.
The Dairy Alliance and the Dairy Co-op say Kaul doesn't have the power to outsource environmental cases to the special prosecutor.
“The Attorney General did not have the authority to make the agreement with NYU,” the groups said in a statement. “It violates constitutional principles by denying due process and equal protection under the law to the groups and their members.”
“[This] ruling moves us one step closer to holding AG Kaul accountable for his decision to cater to out-of-state interests ahead of Wisconsin citizens and businesses. We look forward to ending DOJ’s unlawful and harmful practices,” Venture Dairy Co-op’s executive director Kim Bremmer said.
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