By Andrea Germanos Food system justice and environmental advocates on Wednesday urged all Democratic presidential hopefuls to follow in the footsteps of Sen. Elizabeth Warren in signing a pledge rejecting campaign cash from food and agribusiness corporations. The Massachusetts senator, said advocacy group Friends of the Earth, is “leading the way.” BREAKING: Elizabeth Warren has […]
By Jessica Corbett More than 50 groups are demanding that Iowa lawmakers urgently pass landmark legislation to enact a moratorium on factory farm expansion in a state that is home to more than 10,000 of them. “Across the nation, factory farming destroys communities and contaminates drinking water supplies and air quality,” said Krissy Kasserman, the […]
By Steve Horn The Iowa Senate has advanced a bill which critics say could lead to the criminalization of pipeline protests, which are being cast as “terrorist activities.” Dakota Access pipeline owner Energy Transfer Partners and other companies have lobbied for the bill, Senate Study Bill 3062, which opens up the possibility of prison time […]
By Brett Walton State of the State speeches are where governors sketch their legislative priorities and report on the overall health of their dominions. The state of the state is almost always “strong” and water issues are occasionally mentioned. Below are summaries of the governors’ references to water, climate and the environment. This post will […]
Iowa is already a wind energy superstar, and now, the state’s largest utility is looking to completely transition to renewable energy sources. Des Moines-based MidAmerican Energy, owned by Berkshire Hathaway’s Warren Buffett, recently invested $3.6 billion for its 2,000 megawatt Wind XI project, that’s hailed as “the largest economic development project in Iowa’s history” as […]
By Julie M. Rodriguez It’s no secret that bee populations have declined in recent years. Last year, beekeepers across the U.S. reported losing a staggering 44 percent of their colonies over the course of the winter and summer. It's Official: First Bumble Bee Species Listed as Endangered in 'Race Against Extinction' https://t.co/7Kl4bXYqtw @xercessociety @bpncamp — […]
Iowa Gov. Terry Branstad has been nominated to serve as U .S. Ambassador to China in Donald Trump‘s Administration, a pick that has some of Big Ag’s biggest players celebrating. Donald Trump has chosen Iowa Governor Terry Branstad as ambassador to China. Twitter Branstad is the longest-serving governor in U.S. history with 22 non-consecutive years […]
Rachel Serslev is a junior at the University of Iowa, studying Environmental Policy and Planning and Economics. This essay appears as part of the Climate Narrative Project, a special media arts initiative in the Office of Sustainability. Let’s begin with Aldo Leopold, Iowa’s beloved conservationist. Leopold said land ethics rest upon a single premise: that […]