Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker has championed the idea, in part because he left college in his senior year for a job opportunity and never finished his degree.

WSJ: College Degree, No Class Time Required

Earth Day was the idea of the late Gaylord Nelson, a U.S. senator from Wisconsin who in a speech in September 1969 proposed a day for an environmental teach-in.

CNN: STORY HIGHLIGHTS

The idea of moving on and finding a new industry that will help revitalize the manufacturing states like Wisconsin and Michigan and Ohio and Indiana, that's not very popular here.

NPR: U.S. Auto Industry Still Reeling