Here is the press release FOE sent out yesterday.  Please feel free to
distribute as you see fit. Keep up the fight.

 Thanks,

Mike

*
*

*For Immediate Release*

*Wednesday, March 21, 2012*

* *

*Contact:*
Mike Carberry, 319-594-6453, [log in to unmask]
Kelly Trout, 202-222-0722, [log in to unmask]


Watchdog Group: Iowa Pols Should Release
Campaign Cash Info Before Nuclear Vote   *Initial Info Shows Branstad,
Gronstal Consistent Recipients from MidAmerican Energy* * * *Upcoming Vote
Could Make Ratepayers Pay for
Dangerous and Costly New Reactors*

*DES MOINES, IOWA* — A watchdog group today released campaign finance
information about leading Iowa politicians pushing for a consumer rate hike
for new nuclear reactors, and called for all Iowa politicians to reveal
their ties to MidAmerican Energy before a vote on the plan.

 The data released by Friends of the Earth looks at Governor Terry Branstad
(R) and State Senate Majority Leader Mike Gronstal (D), who have both been
pushing for the plan to allow MidAmerican Energy to increase electric rates
before nuclear reactors are even built. According to a recent poll, 77
percent of Iowans oppose the bill.



“Something is broken in Iowa politics if Governor Branstad and Senate
Majority Leader Gronstal can come together and ignore what 77 percent of
Iowans want,” said Mike Carberry, Iowa nuclear campaigner with Friends of
the Earth. “Iowans deserve to know if this is bipartisanship – or
buy-partisanship.”



Among the key findings of the analysis:



·         MidAmerican Energy Company Executive PAC donated $30,000 to
Governor Terry Branstad in 2010 and 2011. [IECDB Web Reporting System,
accessed 2/23/12]

·         Governor Branstad served on MidAmerican’s Board of Directors in
1999. [PR Newswire, 4/15/99]

·         MidAmerican Energy Company has been a steady donor to State
Senator Mike Gronstal.



­    From January of 2003 to January of 2012, MidAmerican Energy has
donated $14,750 to Senator Gronstal, donating at least annually, and in
some cases several times a year. [IECDB Web Reporting System, accessed
2/23/12]



­    In addition, The Des Moines Register reported…that MidAmerican Energy
donated $70,000 to a political committee with ties to Majority Leader
Michael Gronstal. [Des Moines Register, 4/18/11]



"This rate hike would set up MidAmerican for windfall profits, while
strapping consumers with the financial and safety risks,” Carberry said.
“We challenge all members of the Iowa legislature to reveal any campaign
contributions they've received from MidAmerican Energy. Iowans deserve to
know whose interests their legislators are representing."



Friends of the Earth recently ran an ad campaign in the lead-up to
consideration of the bill, explaining that the state's consumers would be
saddled with higher electric rates for years to come — even if the reactors
never get built. The ad warns, "Investors won't take the gamble so
MidAmerican wants you to foot the bill." The 30-second ad can be viewed
online at: http://www.youtube.com/user/FriendsoftheEarthUS#p/u/0/BLa1J3j0R94





*###*


*Friends of the Earth is fighting to defend the environment and create a
more healthy and just world. Our current campaigns focus on promoting clean
energy and solutions to climate change, keeping toxic and risky
technologies out of the food we eat and products we use, and protecting
marine ecosystems and the people who live and work near them.*







-- 
Mike Carberry
Green State Solutions-Director
Friends of the Earth-Iowa Campaign Coordinator
319-594-6453
[log in to unmask]
www.foe.org

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