Chet Culver and Patty Judge turned
The Governor is
responsible for the reversal of the forward trend. Tell him how you feel
about his leadership!
Here’s another example: The
Governor campaigned for local control but refuses to lead on the issue.
Leopold started undermining local control the minute he was appointed. Included
below is a resolution that my county has already passed – I encourage all
of you to take a copy of this resolution to your own caucuses and ask your
county to endorse rural communities and to tell the politicians to put people
before polluters.
RESOLUTION
Local Control for Siting of Industrial
Animal Production Facilities
Whereas,
the Iowa Democratic State Platform includes the statement of principle: “As
temporary stewards of our natural resources, we demand that our governing
bodies develop policies and laws promoting sound energy practices and
permanently protecting our environment from wasteful and indiscriminate use.
Clean air, clean water, and diverse ecosystems, including our national parks,
oceans, and ancient forests, are part of our children's future and must be
protected. As stewards of
Whereas,
the Iowa Democratic State Platform includes the issue statement: “We
support legislation regulating CAFOs (concentrated animal feeding operations) providing
for county control in applying state guidelines, with a temporary moratorium
until zoning is returned to counties, requiring an environmental impact
statement, repealing the tax abatement for waste systems, creating an indemnity
fund to allow aggrieved parties damages associated with CAFOs, ensuring the
ability to file lawsuits against CAFOs, and no restrictions on filing
complaints with the IDNR/EPA.” And,
Whereas,
Governor Chet Culver made repeated public endorsements for local control of the
siting of industrial-scale livestock facilities during his gubernatorial
campaign and the issue of county control played a pivotal role in motivating our
county voters to support Democratic candidates in the 2006 elections.
And,
Whereas,
Therefore,
BE IT RESOLVED THAT
Signed by: __________________________________
Title:
______________________________________
Date:
___________________________
From:
Sent: Friday, December 28, 2007
4:30 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Water Quality - The Fox
Guarding the Chickens
Hello,
I just submitted the letter below to the Des Moines Register. In
light of the caucuses taking up all of the editorial space over the next few
days, I don't really think it will get printed before the Jan 2
deadline, but here it is anyway.
Steve
*********************************************************************************************************************
Dear Editor,
For just a moment I was encouraged to read DNR Director Leopold's
statement that "we'll get to the right place" in regards to stream
designations protective of aquatic life and recreational
activities. Then I recalled all of the broken promises, half-truths
and obfuscation the agency has used over the years to deny, dodge, and delay
implementing proper protections for our rivers and streams. So
please excuse me for being a bit skeptical when the fox tells me what a great
job he is doing protecting the chickens.
The frustrating part is that these are not bad people, but every
decision they make about improving water quality is in the context of running
pollution permit programs. The polluters are quite literally,
"the customers". So until we demand that our local government
officials and business leaders protect water quality, and until we own up to
the fact that we all need to pay a bit more to poop, don't expect to see
changes implemented any time soon.
In the meantime, let's not buy into DNR's spin that downgrading these
streams is somehow an improvement. Through some sort of twisted logic,
they want to assign an aquatic life designation that protects the fish but not
the people who eat the fish. They want to protect for people swimming,
but not for kids splashing and playing and learning to swim. It
only makes sense when you recognize that it costs money to reduce pollution,
and that doesn't sit well with their customers. So let's change the
dynamic once and for all by letting them know who their customers really
are. Speak now or forever hold your piece.
**************************************************************************************************************************
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