Edwards in DM: Slash emissions
By TONY LEYS<mailto:[log in to unmask] in DM: Slash emissions>
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
March 20, 2007
America should cut greenhouse-gas emissions by 80 percent by 2050, increase fuel economy of its cars and decrease electricity use, former U.S. Sen. John Edwards said in Des Moines this morning.
"The way America uses energy today will be changed and changed dramatically, and in the process we're going to deal in a really serious way with the issue of climate change," he said.
http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/NEWS/70320010/1001&lead=1<http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/NEWS/70320010/1001&lead=1>
You can also download Edwards' energy policy from this site.
--------------
Trout restocking rescheduled
JULI PROBASCO SOWERS
REGISTER STAFF WRITER
March 20, 2007
The planned March 23 trout stocking at Banner Lakes at Summerset State Park
between Des Moines and Indianola has been rescheduled to March 29 due to
poor ice conditions.
http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/NEWS/70320007/1001<http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/NEWS/70320007/1001>
-----------
Editorial:
Protect New Orleans by preserving wetlands
REGISTER EDITORIAL BOARD<mailto:[log in to unmask] New Orleans by preserving wetlands>
March 20, 2007
"Hurricane on the Bayou" is playing at the Science Center of Iowa's Blank IMAX Dome Theater. Yes, it has all the thrills people expect in an IMAX. Viewers get to fly over land and ocean without leaving their theater seats.
But this film is more than just a firsthand look at the destruction of Hurricane Katrina. It delivers an education on the importance of preserving this country's wetlands.
http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/OPINION03/703200365/1035/archive<http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/OPINION03/703200365/1035/archive>
-------------------
As water grows scarce, nuclear power can help
By CAROLYN D. HEISING
IOWA VIEW
March 20, 2007
Because nuclear power produces large amounts of energy without emitting global-warming gases, it is drawing increasing attention. But it also can play a key role in dealing with another environmental problem that we can't afford to ignore: water shortages.
Few things are more important than fresh water. And until a few years ago, few things seemed more basic. In the Midwest, we've had an abundant supply of water for so long, we've taken it for granted.
http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/OPINION01/703200362/1035/archive<http://dmregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20070320/OPINION01/703200362/1035/archive>
-------------------
LTEs:
Keep zoo out of Fort Des Moines park
March 20, 2007
Why are people even talking about letting the Blank Park Zoo destroy such an accessible, beautiful park as Fort Des Moines Park ("D.M. Zoo Lobs New Idea: Swap Land for Park Site," March 9)? Now it wants to trade 62 acres east of S.E. 5th Street for the heart of the park and connect it to what's left by a tunnel. That lake is the jewel in the park, and it would be gone.
Why not take the Blank Park Golf Course? You can't drop a line in the water on a golf course. You can't row a canoe on a golf course.
Families can't enjoy a picnic, and people in wheelchairs can't drive the roads and enjoy nature on a golf course.
Either leave the zoo as it is, expand to the golf course, relocate the zoo director, Terry Rich, or let the zoo leave. I can't stand blackmailers, and I smell money in the air. Let's not fix what ain't broke.
- Oscar D. "Bud" Overton,
Des Moines.
----------
Farm runoff dirties Iowa streams
March 20, 2007
During a recent drive through central Iowa, it became clear once again, through the murky Iowa streams, that Iowa's supposed "land-steward" farmers are not protecting Iowa's fragile water resources.
In almost every mile of the countryside, there is bare, open ground that was tilled last fall. The result is that with the heavy snow runoff we've had, the streams and rivers are running black with topsoil sediment. Iowa's farmers should be penalized for tillage and for not adopting common-sense, modern no-till methods. They are failing at protecting a valuable resource for all Iowans.
The effects of the farmers who refuse to adopt modern farming techniques extend far beyond the edge of their farms, although they do not seem to comprehend it.
- Ron Dunek,
Ankeny.
-------
Stay and fight for Iowa's natural resources
March 20, 2007
A friend of mine from Florida and I stood at the edge of the pool of clear water bubbling from the ground at Twin Springs outside Decorah. He said he used to love to fly-fish in these cold-water streams in Northeast Iowa until one day when he found my favorite stream ruined by feedlot runoff. Citizen complaints could not stop the fouling of his favorite trout stream. He left Iowa in disgust.
A beautiful little valley cradled a clear-water steam that fed the North Raccoon below Perry back in April of 2005. A year later the stream was putrid, and it remained that way all summer. One Iowa stream after another is losing its life-giving ability to pollution.
Many retirees and baby boomers are old enough to have fished, waded and paddled in clear water in Iowa in their youth. One letter writer said recently in the Register that retirees will leave the state if something is not done about the pollution of our waters. Where will they go? I just returned from a trip to Costa Rica to savor some natural areas. I was disappointed to find ATV trails being carved out of the cloud forests of Monte Verde.
I read the other day that 90 percent of Madagascar has been logged. The Florida Everglades are out of balance and released pet pythons are breeding like rabbits. Wounds are being inflicted upon the Earth everywhere.
I hope the retirees don't leave Iowa. I hope they stay and fight for the nature that is left in this state. I hope they will counter the pressure currently being applied to our legislators to wipe out the Iowa Environmental Protection Commission; that they will stay and demand some reasonable water-quality standards; that they will support efforts of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources to protect our wildlife.
It is better to stand and fight than to wander off in search of pristine areas in far-off places. Commercialization is now global.
- Mike Delaney,
Des Moines.
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
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
To view the Sierra Club List Terms & Conditions, see:
http://www.sierraclub.org/lists/terms.asp