The Iowa Department of Natural Resources recently released its 2010 Condition of the Environment, which details problems and opportunities in outdoor Iowa.
Click here to read the document
For more information, go to iowadnr.gov/status.html
House Democrats have supported the use of the Iowa Power Fund for a number of innovative projects building Iowa’s renewable energy infrastructure. This has included everything from wind energy development to waste disposal technology. The Cedar Rapids Gazette has an interesting story about how the Power Fund is being used to promote sustainable rebuilding in flood ravaged areas (below the fold):
http://www.iowahouse.org/2009Highlights/Environmental_Protection_End_of_Session_2009.pdf
Great post over at Daily Kos from the excellent Meteor Blades. They regularly have great material discussing the way we “talk” about the environment and energy security. Iowa is at the forefront of this effort with our committment to renewable fuels and wind energy development leading the way. They talk about an article in the Columbia Journalism Review – “The Price is Right: Energy Edition”:
Monday morning, President Barack Obama signed two executive orders to spur an economic recovery plan founded upon clean energy and environmental protection. It is a move that is sure to please the many journalists who long ago realized that the success of sustainability goals would ultimately depend on strong financial incentives.
A poll released last week by the Pew Research Center found that addressing the nation’s energy problems ranks sixth among a list of twenty voter concerns, with sixty percent of those polled agreeing that it should be a “top priority” for government. On the other hand, concern for protecting the environment and dealing with global warming has declined precipitously in the last few years, with those issues ranking seventeenth and dead last, respectively. The takeaway message for journalists is that those “stewardship” frames will not be sufficient in terms of galvanizing support for clean energy. In the pursuit of public engagement, the press would be better advised to link sustainability issues to economic growth and “green” jobs.