Senator McKinley was also at the ALEC meeting in Vegas, but was called back to Des Moines after only a day, because the Senate Republicans found themselves unable to muster a majority. (All travel expenses are paid as "scholarships" by ALEC.) Three other legislators were rumored to have been going to LV, but backed out. Please check your memory again regarding the water quality initiative of three years ago. It was Governor Vilsack's top environmental priority, and the Iowa Environmental Council played a key role in moving it forward. Former Sen. Bartz, Farm Bureau, and the ABI strongly influenced its form coming out of the Senate, but we put up a superb battle in the House and made it a good bill in the end. --Bill Witt -----Original Message----- From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jane Clark Sent: Tuesday, April 16, 2002 10:26 AM To: [log in to unmask] Subject: ALEC news Last week in the Des Moines Register, there was an article about three Iowa legislators who skipped the last day of the session for a trip to Vegas where they would attend the ALEC Convention. The article below refers to just a few of the positions ALEC takes on issues we care about. I seem to recall that the "clean water bill" passed in Iowa two years ago was based on a sample bill from ALEC. The three Iowa legislators who attended the meeting are Sen. Sandy Greiner (R), Sen. McKibben (R) and Rep. Delores Mertz (D). Jane Clark [log in to unmask] From: SERC Wildlines Report #15 April 15, 2002 A publication of the State Environmental Resource Center (SERC) bringing you the most important news on state environmental issues from across the country. Watchdog: ALEC Report Rips Four-Pollutants Bill Power plants from 1922 are still in operation, but they are not required to meet the environmental regulations every new facility must follow. Because of this 1970 loophole in the law, dirty plants have been "grandfathered" in from following the Clean Air Act. Senator Jeffords' "Clean Power Act" (S.556) and Rep. Henry Waxman's "Clean Smokestack Act" (H.R. 1256) plug this loophole in the law, stopping old plants from "legally" polluting the at rates up to 13 times higher than new plants with modern emissions controls. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) released a new report this week criticizing federal four pollutant bills. ALEC's report targets federal "4P" legislation that requires substantial reductions in power plant emissions of nitrogen oxides, sulfur dioxide, mercury, and carbon dioxide, the principle "greenhouse" gas targeted by the Kyoto Protocol. ALEC called the reduction of fossil fuels to reduce air pollution a "false premise." ALEC also opposes integrated air quality management, and stated that four pollutant bills are "horrendously wasteful" and "totally useless". For more information, visit SERC's Power Plant's Dirty Air Loophole web page. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask] - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - For SC email list T-and-C, send: GET TERMS-AND-CONDITIONS.CURRENT to [log in to unmask]