IA Energy/Environment/Politics News for Thursday, June 21


Ames Tribune: 'Comments on the power fund and budget' - Rep. Deyoe
http://www.midiowanews.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18502631&BRD=2700&PAG=461&dept_id=554188&rfi=8

Burlington Hawk Eye: 'Culver announces grant for Geode'
http://www.thehawkeye.com/Story/culver_21

Cedar Rapids Gazette: Brownback, 'bleeding-heart conservative', carries corn carpet
http://www.gazetteonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070621/IOWACAUCUS/70621047&SearchID=7328495913741

Council Bluffs Nonpareil Editorial: 'Fuel-injected' - pro CAFE increase
http://www.zwire.com/site/index.cfm?newsid=18502908&BRD=2703&PAG=461&dept_id=553867&rfi=8

Des Moines Register OpEd: Warming and IA delegation, 'Hot Seat' - text below
http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706210376

Dubuque Telegraph Herald(AP): 'Peabody in final stage of plant' - Club quoted
http://www.thonline.com/article.cfm?id=162966

Iowa City Press-Citizen Letters: Pettengill trustworthiness, and IA CAFE support
http://www.press-citizen.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2007706200304

Quad Cities Online(AP): 'Senate passes pro-renewables energy bill'
http://hosted.ap.org/dynamic/stories/C/CONGRESS_ENERGY?SITE=ILMOL&SECTION=HOME&TEMPLATE=DEFAULT

Sioux City Journal: 'Rounds on Gorilla: company not asking for help'
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/06/21/news/latest_news/ad7870d6592464bb86257301005622c7.txt

Sioux City Journal: 'Rounds gives support to Gorilla' - hydrogen powered?
http://www.siouxcityjournal.com/articles/2007/06/22/news/local/a95a1a2df874a4b6862573010071ab94.txt

--

Cleveland Plain Dealer: 'Coal plants still generate most mercury pollution'
http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business-2/118242541043140.xml&coll=2

MSNBC: 'Senators reach deal on fuel economy' - 35 mpg fleetwide by 2020
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19352490/

MSNBC: 'Glacial lake disappears in Chile'
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19353905/

MSNBC: 'Sex toys turn green' - sorry, but it's 'most viewed', green momentum...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/19333870/

Washington Post: 'Provisions in Senate Energy Bill' - overview
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/21/AR2007062101533.html

Washington Post: 'EPA Chief Proposes Tougher Ozone Standards'
http://www.cleveland.com/business/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/business-2/118242541043140.xml&coll=2

Washington Post: House to cut consumption - 'Green the Capitol'
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/06/21/AR2007062101008.html

Washington Post Video: 'Bush delivers remarks on energy initiatives'
javascript:void(popitupbig('http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/photo/2007/06/21/PH2007062102071.html',650,850))

There should be a lot of national and hopefully local news tomorrow surrounding Energy Bill and CAFE...


--

Iowa delegation should lead on global warming
By KELLY MITCHELL
IOWA VIEW

June 21, 2007 
18 Comments

The recent Register editorial "Focus Energy Bill on Conservation, Research" hit the nail right on the head. Congress has a choice: It can work to stop the coming climate disaster caused by global warming or continue to do nothing while the Earth grows increasingly hotter, more unpredictable and more dangerous.

The good news, as the Register said, is that Congress has options. Renewable energy, combined with energy efficiency, can meet half of the world's energy needs by 2050. Technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels, biomass power plants and biofuels are not futuristic fantasies - they're here now and rapidly becoming mainstream.

The know-how to make cars more efficient is with us, too. To stop global warming and increase our energy independence, we need a significant increase in the national fuel-economy standards, to at least 40 miles per gallon.

And, as we are learning, solving global warming isn't just feasible, it's economically desirable for Iowa. The Union of Concerned Scientists, an alliance of more than 200,000 citizens and scientists, estimates that a national standard for renewable energy would create more than 5,000 new jobs for Iowa, one and a half times more than from burning fossil fuels. The group also estimates $1.6 billion in new capital investment, $430 million in income to farmers and rural landowners and $400 million in consumer savings from lower electricity and natural-gas bills.

The bad news is that time is running out for Congress and the planet. The overwhelming scientific consensus is that if global warming is left unchecked, it will have disastrous effects for Earth's ecosystems and societies. Already, we are seeing more extreme weather, flooding and drought. Here in Iowa, warmer temperatures from global warming will damage crops, requiring more expensive irrigation, and threaten our wildlife, risking Iowa's $900 million hunting, fishing and tourism industries.

The Federal Safe Climate Act, sponsored by Rep. Henry Waxman, D-Calif., and 139 of his House colleagues, is the gold standard for smart, effective global-warming legislation. The bill contains the three elements that Greenpeace believes must be in any realistic attempt to stop global warming.

- A national cap on global-warming pollution that produces real reductions from today's levels within a decade and reaches 80 percent reductions by 2050.

- A national renewable electricity standard of at least 20 percent by 2020 that includes incentives for solar and other distributed renewable-energy installations.

- A significant increase in the national fuel-economy standards to at least 40 miles per gallon.

Our congressional representatives should do what is right for Iowa. Already, Rep. Bruce Braley, 1st District Democrat from Waterloo, has taken the initiative to co-sponsor the Safe Climate Act and has signed onto legislation that will create a national renewable electricity standard of 20 percent by 2020. Rep. David Loebsack, 2nd District Democrat from Mount Vernon, has co-sponsored the renewable electricity standard as well.

In the 3rd District, Rep. Leonard Boswell of Des Moines sits in a particularly fortunate position to affect national global-warming policy. As a longstanding member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, he can set a strong example by sponsoring effective global-warming legislation.

That's why Iowans concerned with their family's future are joining with Greenpeace's Project Hot Seat campaign to call on Rep. Boswell to protect our way of life and fight for smart global-warming solutions. If he does, he'll create jobs, improve the security of America's energy supply, protect Iowans from volatile energy prices and help us all avoid the worst impacts of global warming.

KELLY MITCHELL of Des Moines is field organizer for Project Hot Seat for Greenpeace USA.

Andrew Snow
Regional Representative
Sierra Club

603.361.0218
[log in to unmask]

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
To unsubscribe from the IOWA-TOPICS list, send any message to:
[log in to unmask]

Check out our Listserv Lists support site for more information:
http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/faq.asp

Sign up to receive Sierra Club Insider, the flagship
e-newsletter. Sent out twice a month, it features the Club's
latest news and activities. Subscribe and view recent
editions at http://www.sierraclub.org/insider/