Debbie,

About the legislative committee, Bob Mulqueen told me last time I talked to him that Senator Jack Kibbie had various bills for local control that he’s introduced over the years. I think Kibbie will be one of Mulqueen’s first contacts for proposed legislation. Should “we” (ok, sorry) contact Kibbie too? Jack Kibbie was my senator until the 2000 redistricting. He got me going on industrial ag when he helped bring the Water keeper’s Alliance to Emmetsburg. I was so sickened by that meeting that I’ve been working this issue ever since. Our local group, IA Network for Local Control, has also been in contact with Representative Marci Frevert. She has past House bills for local control too.

Do we have an Excom meeting in November? If so, maybe the legislative committee could meet then too, and I could gather some of these old bills (or Lyle? Is this something you have access to?) to use as a starting point for proposed legislation that Sierra will support?

Donna

From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Debbie Neustadt
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 10:16 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Denise O'Brien

Since we have a state PAC we can use our resources to let everyone know who we have endorsed. I will check with the state and see if there is a value to this or if it is covered as one of those things that a C-4 can do. National is always good to touch base with in order to disucss what to do about comunication regarding members of congress we have endorsed.

Donna Buell wrote:

Sierra Club has endorsed Denise O’Brien for Secretary of Ag. Let’s help her get out the vote!

Donna

From: Iowa Discussion, Alerts and Announcements [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of MJ Hatfield
Sent: Wednesday, October 11, 2006 5:13 AM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FW: Denise O'Brien

-------- Original Message --------

Subject:	NY Times Editorial on Secretary of Ag Race
Date:	Tue, 10 Oct 2006 09:52:55 -0500

New York Times Editorial

A Farm Race in Iowa

Published: October 10, 2006

There is a governor’s race going on in Iowa Culver vs. Nussle, a tossup but the race to watch is the one for secretary of agriculture. Both candidates support ethanol production, and who wouldn’t when ethanol has given Iowa the lowest fuel prices in the nation? But otherwise they are about as different as it is possible to be and still be an Iowan for agriculture. Bill Northey, a Republican, farms corn and soybeans and has been endorsed by the Farm Bureau. His Democratic opponent is Denise O’Brien, who raises poultry, apples and strawberries. She and her husband farm organically, and her campaign vehicle is a green biodiesel school bus.

The candidates capture a real split in the farm world in Iowa and the nation as a whole. Mr. Northey proudly represents the industrial vision of farming that has turned Iowa into the land of the two-crop, corn-soybean rotation, a place where the chance to produce corn-based ethanol looks like diversity. Ms. O’Brien has been unfairly accused of belonging to “fringe” groups, and she is clearly not the Farm Bureau candidate. “Organic” is anathema to the Farm Bureau. But she is a reminder that Iowa would be better off with greater agricultural diversity, stronger communities and a greater emphasis on the health of its natural resources.

The sharpest difference between these two candidates concerns the ability of counties and towns to restrict the siting of feedlots and farm operations that concentrate huge numbers of animals. Mr. Northey believes in a single set of regulations across all of Iowa’s 99 counties. Ms. O’Brien argues that factory farms should be regulated by the state but that communities should be able to voice their concerns too. After all, they are the ones who have to live downwind.

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  ><((((º>`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸.·´¯`·...¸><((((º>

Deborah Neustadt

Des Moines, IA

Sierra Club

Water Committee, Chair

Wildlife and Endangered Species Committee, Member

Iowa Chapter, Executive Committee Member, Political Chair

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