Note: Today's clips contains over a week's worth of stories as time constraints have made daily clips releases difficult. Clips will likely be a weekly or bi-weekly email from this point forward.

IA Energy/Environment/Politics News for Friday, July 20

Burlington Hawk Eye: 'Forward thinking: capturing methane, farming fish'
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Edit_7_16___Going_green

Burlington Hawk Eye: 'Cutting timber waste'
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Trees_072107

Burlington Hawk Eye OpEd: 'We're doomed' 
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Donald_Kaul_7_20

Burlington Hawk Eye letter: 'Money Saver' - cool counties
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/Anytime___letter_gerst

Cedar Rapids Gazette: 'CR bus boondoggle' - electric buses 
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070718/NEWS/70718111&SearchID=73287633332669

Cedar Rapids Gazette: Buy these stylish new home energy products
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070710/REALESTATE/70710011&SearchID=73287633332669

Cedar Rapids Gazette: 'Edwards calls for green collar training' - very BlueGreen
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070714/IOWACAUCUS/70714003&SearchID=73287633332669

Cedar Rapids Gazette: Giuliani plan: ethanol, nukes, coal and drilling
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070719/IOWACAUCUS/70719004&SearchID=73287633332669

Council Bluffs Nonpareil: 'Biomass study to get underway'
http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18610782&BRD=2703&PAG=461&dept_id=553867&rfi=8

Council Bluffs Nonpareil Editorial: 'Is the Register out to get ethanol?'
http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18593961&BRD=2703&PAG=461&dept_id=553867&rfi=8

Des Moines Register: Richardson: more renewables, and refineries?
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707210354

Des Moines Register: Biden: ethanol a good start, not the answer. 40 mpg CAFE
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707210341

Des Moines Register: 'IA Congressmen should lead march on energy policy' - RES/HR 969, below
http://desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070717/OPINION01/707170348/1035/OPINION

Des Moines Register: 'Shift the focus to stewardship' - farm bill
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707160336

Des Moines Register: farm bill draft winners and losers, at bottom
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707200370

Des Moines Register: 'Ethanol stirs fear of water shortage' - above fold 19th, below
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707190414

Des Moines Register: 'New board to promote biodiesel only'
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707180366

Des Moines Register: 'New business offers diaper alternative'
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707190334

Des Moines Register(AP): 'Court says EPA can protect farms from suits'
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=200770717071

Des Moines Register OpEd: 'Make farm bill about providing healthful food'
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707180357

Des Moines Register Editorial: 'New vision: making conservation pay' - farm bill
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707160333

Des Moines Register: 'Wetlands stay forever natural'
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707080353

Des Moines Register: 'Farm subsidy proposal called a step backward'
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707180372

Des Moines Register: 'computer parts need recycling'
http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070720/BUSINESS/707200376/1029/archive

Des Moines Register Letter: 'Global health is the goal'
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707210304

Dubuque Telegraph Herald(AP): New twist in environmentally friendly dance clubs
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=166334

Dubuque Telegraph Herald(AP): 'Green power circles earth'
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=165101

Iowa City Press-Citizen: kindness to animals with 'Veggie Hot Dog Day'
http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007707180304

Mason City Globe-Gazette OpEd: Sen. Kibbie on ethanol, environment
http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2007/07/19/opinion/doc469eda4bd720d659581881.txt

Mason City Globe-Gazette: 'Green on wheels'
http://www.globegazette.com/articles/2007/07/08/local/doc4690539b9215e761793790.txt

Quad Cities Online: getting some value after ash borer attacks
http://qconline.com/archives/qco/display.php?id=347090&query=

Quad City Times: 'Learn about ecology at Green Christian retreat'
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/07/21/news/religion/doc46a1807504bd8975953271.txt

Quad City Times: 'Equistar will pay millions to settle lawsuit'
http://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/07/19/news/local/doc46a03b691d5c6410971301.txt

Sioux City Journal: 'Keeping it clean, ethanol improving' - fairly balanced
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/07/19/special_sections/ethanol/01ethanol.txt

Sioux City Journal: 'Victory wind project waving near Arcadia'
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/07/19/special_sections/progress_ind_dev_07/02.txt

Sioux City Journal: 'Renewable fuel boom yields uncertain future' - beyond corn
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/07/19/special_sections/ethanol/06ethanol.txt

Sioux City Journal: 'The Ethanol Boom'
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/07/19/special_sections/progress_area_ag_07/01.txt

Sioux City Journal: 'More power blows into Siouxland'
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/07/19/special_sections/progress_industry/9cab72d37313734186256fc8007ce4c5.txt

Sioux City Journal: 'The energy-efficient apartment home'
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/07/19/special_sections/home_show/7744aaa9e3e930d786256cd900806fd9.txt

Sioux City Journal: 'Make a change for the better with Energy Star'
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/07/19/special_sections/home_show/2677d10fa33bc1f586256cd900806c54.txt

Sioux City Journal: 'MidAmerican offers 'TreesPlease!' grants'
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/07/19/special_sections/progress_ind_dev_07/03.txt

Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier: 'VeraSun Energy holding opening' - Obama to speak
http://wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/07/20/business/local/bf5c7be8c81a5e0e8625731e0048fdc9.txt

Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier: 'Waverly Light and Power receives award'
http://wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/07/18/waverly/community/doc469d1c2a6b677169710132.txt

Waterloo/Cedar Falls Courier: Giuliani, ethanol and big ties to Big Oil
http://wcfcourier.com/articles/2007/07/20/news/top_story/039329eecd2481a58625731e004e2551.txt

--
Iowa congressmen should lead unified march on energy policy
By PAUL NEPPEL
SPECIAL TO THE REGISTER

July 17, 2007

This July, as we march in celebration of our nation's birth, let's ask our Iowa congressmen to march as one on energy policy. The times greatly demand it. As a country, we're hugely dependent on imported natural gas and oil. Energy analysts predict that this dependence will require us to increasingly rely on the fossil-fuel-rich tyrannical regimes of the Middle East, Central Asia, Africa and South America if we do not change our energy-producing ways.

Iowa's congressional delegation is in a unique position to lead the nation's energy policy towards independence from these regimes. Iowa has played a remarkable role in the ethanol boom, and we are dynamic leaders in the wind-energy industry. That gives us strong credibility to persuade far-flung areas of the country that renewable energy works - it brings good-paying jobs and investment and represents a growing industry for 21st-century America.

Yet our Iowa congressmen are half-hearted in supporting the Federal Renewable Electricity Standard (RES), which would galvanize the national renewable-energy industry and put us far on the path of energy independence from hostile regimes.

HR 969, expected to be voted on in mid-July in the U.S. House, would require 20 percent of the nation's electricity to come from renewable resources, such as wind, solar and biomass, by 2020. A 2007 study by respected energy analysts Wood Mackenzie predicts that a bill like HR 969 would reduce our natural-gas usage - which increasingly comes from overseas - and would cut billions in consumer energy costs. Other studies suggest that thousands of "net jobs" would be created by this type of bill.

Right now, Rep. Bruce Braley and Rep. Dave Loebsack have co-sponsored HR 969, but Representatives Leonard Boswell, Steve King and Tom Latham - representing our most rural districts - remain silent. Why are congressmen representing communities that would so richly benefit from the prosperity of renewable energy being silent on such a bill?

In a state blessed with one of the country's largest wind resources, good transmission infrastructure and a central location to large energy markets in Chicago, St. Louis, and other Midwestern cities, Iowa would be positioned to accelerate the growth of its wind and biomass industry under a Federal RES. Gov. Chet Culver and, separately, major Iowa investor-owned utility Alliant (in a letter signed by 200 major companies and organizations throughout the United States), have lent their strong support for a Federal RES, underscoring the confidence of state leaders in Iowa's success under this bill.

Let us hope in the critical days ahead that Boswell, King and Latham join Braley and Loebsack in support of HR 969. We'll then look back at the 2007 Independence Day celebration with a special feeling of satisfaction that our congressional delegation is committed to policies that really do keep us independent and free from tyrants.

PAUL NEPPEL is a farmer and wind-turbine owner from Armstrong.

--

Ethanol stirs fear of water shortage
Some say Iowa fuel plants may be depleting supplies

By JASON CLAYWORTH
REGISTER STAFF WRITER

July 19, 2007
21 Comments

The mass quantity of water needed for Iowa's booming ethanol industry - billions of gallons each year - has raised concerns among state officials who say laws may be needed to prevent a water shortage in the state.

Several lawmakers say that a close look at the issue is necessary and that laws may be needed to require ethanol facilities to recycle water.

"As it relates to water, I'm more concerned about the production of ethanol right now" than with the proximity of livestock facilities to streams, said state Sen. Matt McCoy, a Des Moines Democrat. "That's got me very, very concerned."

Ethanol advocates say the fear is unfounded and that, in general, the industry already pushes itself to conserve and maintain a reliable source of water.

Such mandates could damage Iowa's growing renewable fuels industry, they said.

"Just because we're in the news a lot doesn't mean we're the right industry to single out," said Monte Shaw, executive director of the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

Part of the issue is how most of Iowa's 27 ethanol plants obtain their water: by pumping it out of deep underground supplies, often known as aquifers.

Aquifers often feed Iowa's drinking water supplies. Their gradual release of water prevents many streams and rivers from drying up in the summer.

For $25, the Iowa Department of Natural Resources grants a 10-year license for such plants to pump as much water as they need from the ground.

It's unknown how much groundwater exists. A state official acknowledged that many people believe the process has become more of a registry than a licensed program designed to protect a natural resource.

"In the words of the people who do the permitting, we've almost been turned more into a registration program," said Bob Libra, a state geologist. "We try to look at what we can on it, but the staffing is really insufficient to do a real detailed analysis of every permit that comes in."

Every gallon of ethanol produced requires roughly four gallons of water, Libra said.

Currently, Iowa produces 1.9 billion gallons of ethanol. Construction of new plants or expansion of existing ethanol facilities would increase production by almost 1.4 billion gallons, according to information from the Iowa Renewable Fuels Association.

About 12 years ago, a statewide water-use inventory found that biofuel plants used less than 5 percent of the state's water. The proportion is now around 7 percent and could grow to 14 percent by 2012, according to an October study by the Minnesota-based Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy.

Shaw said water used by ethanol facilities is "a drop in the bucket" compared with the total groundwater usage in the state.

More than half of the water used by ethanol plants evaporates during production or is treated and released back into streams. That, essentially, continues the natural cycle of water, Shaw said.

Singling out ethanol companies would bring a halt to the state's growing renewable fuels industry, he said.

"We want to make sure that we're part of any solution that's needed, but at the same time we would caution people to get the facts," Shaw said.

Charlotte Hubbell, a member of the state's Environmental Protection Commission, said the possibility that Iowa's underground water systems are being drained is a major concern to her.

Members of the commission will likely make recommendations to the Legislature about possible changes, she said.

"Unless the DNR does studies to show we've got plenty of water, even when we've got 200 ethanol plants down the road," conservation is necessary, Hubbell said. "I just want to know who is paying attention. I haven't seen anything come across my desk about this, and I've asked."

The Legislature this year allocated almost $500,000 to study the state's water system.

Some of the results may be available before the 2008 legislative session begins, Libra said.

One of the main issues being studied by the DNR is how sustainable Iowa's water system is and if the increasing demands can be met in future years.

State Sen. David Johnson, the top-ranking Republican on the Senate Agriculture Committee, said he will not support regulations on how ethanol facilities use water until he sees proof that Iowa's aquifers are in trouble.

Johnson, of Ocheyedan, lives in the northwestern part of the state, where wind energy farms have been constructed in the past few years.

Stricter laws could hurt the state's renewable fuel industry, he said.

"My concern is that we continue to find ways to revitalize rural Iowa and we've hit on something here with biofuels and renewable fuels," Johnson said.

State Sen. Jack Hatch, a Des Moines Democrat, said a law requiring ethanol facilities to recycle water is not imminent, but discussion and studies on the issue are necessary.

"What I think you're going to see is a major push to try to understand this issue, and it may turn into the beginning of a series of legislative actions," Hatch said. "I think it's clearly overdue. We will pursue legislative actions, but first we really have to understand the big picture."

Reporter Jason Clayworth can be reached at (515) 699-7058 or [log in to unmask]

--

Corn, soybean, tobacco growers come out ahead in farm bill draft
- New legislation approved by the House Agriculture Committee keeps the existing subsidy system largely intact.
- Lawmakers used budget tricks and spending cuts to increase subsidy rates for many crops and expand conservation programs.
- Some of the winners and losers.

By PHILIP BRASHER
REGISTER WASHINGTON BUREAU

July 20, 2007
Washington, D.C. - Early farm bill winners:

- Hunters.

- Consumers looking for more U.S.-grown organic foods.

- Brewers and barley growers.

- Schools that want to serve healthier snacks.

- Tobacco growers.

Some unconventional players in farm policy emerged on top as the House Agriculture Committee approved its version of the farm bill Thursday. But farmers fared well, too.

The bill largely keeps the existing farm subsidy system enacted in 2002 largely intact. But lawmakers used some budget tricks to expand several conservation programs, including those that promote wildlife habitat, and targeted cuts to increase subsidies for many crops, including malt barley.

Iowa corn and soybean farmers who were worried that their fixed annual payments might be cut are winners, too. Those payments, which total about $500 million a year in Iowa, are about the only type of crop subsidies that farmers are expected to get for the foreseeable future because of the sharp increases in corn and soybean prices brought on by the surge in demand for biofuels.

Although there was talk early on of cutting the fixed payments to fund other programs, the payments are left intact in the legislation.

As a result, the bill will have little effect on Iowa agriculture, said Bruce Babcock, director of Iowa State University's Center for Agricultural and Rural Development.

"Iowa agriculture's fortunes are determined more now by biofuels policy than commodity policy," he said.

A look at some of the winners and losers in the bill:

Hunters, fishers, wildlife enthusiasts

The chairman of the committee, Rep. Collin Peterson, D-Minn., is an avid hunter, and the bill shows it.

The legislation creates an "open fields" grant program to help states pay landowners to open their land to hunting and fishing. "Sportsmen win because it ... gives them places to go," said Dave Nomsen of Pheasants Forever, an advocacy group.

The Wetlands Reserve Program, which pays for restoring and maintaining sloughs, prairie potholes and other wetlands, was expanded from 2.3 million to 3.6 million acres. The program is popular with people seeking to hunt ducks and other wildlife.

Wildlife groups fought off pressure to shrink the Conservation Reserve Program, which pays farmers to retire environmentally sensitive land. Under the bill, the enrollment cap remains at 39.2 million acres.

More than 36 acres are currently enrolled nationwide, including 2 million in Iowa.

Organic food

The bill attempts to increase availability of organic foods.

It authorizes up to $10,000 per farm in cost-share payments per year to help farms convert to organic agriculture. Transitioning to organic can be a costly process because farms can't get the higher prices for organic commodities until they've been following organic practices for at least three years.

The bill also has additional money for organic research and certification and it requires the U.S. Department of Agriculture to start collecting data on organic commodities.

School snacks

More schools will get to participate in a program that provides free fruits and vegetables as snacks. At least 35 schools in every state will be eligible for the program. The program is now limited to 25 schools in Iowa and each of 13 other states. Advocates of the program say it's needed to address the nation's obesity problem. It's also a top priority with fruit and vegetable growers, who don't benefit from traditional crop subsidies.

Tobacco growers

The bill benefits some not-so-healthy crops, too.

U.S. tobacco would qualify for a program that pays for promoting overseas sales of American commodities, under a provision added to the bill by a North Carolina lawmaker.

The provision is certain to be attacked by critics of the tobacco industry. But the measure has the enthusiastic support of Peterson, who is a smoker.

"In my opinion we just have too much telling people what they should be doing," the committee chairman said.

Brewers

The bill creates a special subsidy for malting barley to encourage more farmers to grow the crop. Farmers would be guaranteed a price of $2.50 per bushel, 65 cents more than the current subsidy rate for conventional barley.

At today's strong market prices - barley is selling in North Dakota for about $3.60 a bushel - the higher subsidy rate isn't needed, but it would encourage farmers to keep growing the crop when prices fall.

Conservation Security Program

One of the biggest losers in the House farm bill is the Conservation Security Program, enacted in 2002 to reward farmers for practices that prevent pollution and improve wildlife habitat. The program has been hurt by budget cuts, and the House bill would block new enrollments in the program until 2012.

The House won't have the last word on the program, however. The program's author, Iowa Democrat Tom Harkin, is chairman of the Senate Agriculture Committee. He has not yet released a draft bill.

Biodiesel producers

The bill revives a special subsidy program that will help biodiesel plants cope with the rising price of soybeans and soybean oil. Conventional corn ethanol producers would no longer be eligible for the subsidies.

Wealthy landowners

People who make more than $1 million a year, or as little as $500,000 if they don't get most of their income from agriculture, would be cut off from farm subsidies and conservation payments. Under current law, the limit is $2.5 million.

Reporter Philip Brasher can be reached at (202) 906-8138 or [log in to unmask]

Andrew Snow
Regional Representative - Iowa
Sierra Club

515.331.0260 office
603.361.0218 cell
[log in to unmask]

www.sierraclub.org

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