Tamara Marcus 

Tamara is the Sustainability Program Manager for Linn County, IA. She is also a PhD candidate in the Natural Resources and Earth System Sciences at the University of New Hampshire. One of her research focuses on improving weather and climate data access and applicability to individuals and communities. She hopes to promote collaborative development of conservation policy by both scientists and underserved communities. 

Dolf Ivener

Dolf is the founder of Suncrate Energy and has been involved in the solar industry for over a decade, in addition to being a fifth-generation farmer. His work at SunCrate focuses on offering portable and scalable solar and battery systems that support critical services such as energy first responders, medical care, schools, and other community level facilities. This mitigates outages by backing up traditional grid supply and brings power back to the people.  

Cristina Muñoz De La Torre  

Cristina is a Community Resilience Planner at Astig Planning. She is currently a PhD candidate in the department of Geographical & Sustainability Sciences at the  University of Iowa. In her research, she analyzes federal aid allocations to identify whether socially vulnerable populations affected by disasters are equitably served. Cristina emphasizes the importance of environmental and climate justice in her research and local and national activism work.  

IUB Addresses Electric Vehicle Charging Concerns

The growing electric vehicle market brings with it a rising need for commercial charging infrasturure. In Iowa, the right to sell or resell electricity has historically been limited to electric utility providers, which are consequently subject to a number of regulations. Commercial EV charging presents a need to re-evaluate these definitions, as businesses consider adding these stations in order to meet demand and provide an amenity to their customers. 

The Iowa Utilities Board recently enacted a rule to help clarify some uncertainty surrounding these definitions, and the implications that follow. Read more in our latest blog post from IEC's Energy and Climate Policy Specialist, Steve Guyer.  

New Report Shows Ozone Pollution Concerns for Iowa Counties

The American Lung Association’s “State of the Air 2021” report shows that Scott, Linn, and Polk counties have concerning levels of ozone pollution.   

In Scott (98,105 residents), Linn (225,908), and Polk (487,204), counties, ozone pollution places the health of residents at risk, including populations who are more vulnerable to the effects of air pollution, such as older adults, children and people with prone to respiratory issues.

The report also shows that people of color were 61% more likely to live in a county with unhealthy air than their white people, and three times more likely to live in a county that failed all three air quality grades conducted in the study. 

Perry Transforms former Brownfield Site into Solar Farm

The city of Perry will install a solar facility on a remediated brownfield area where the city has worked for several years to build a renewable energy project. 

Brownfield sites are defined as “real property, the expansion, redevelopment, or reuse or which may be complicated by the presence or potential presence of a hazardous substance, pollutant, or contaminant." The reclamation of this land for clean energy generation marks a significant shift in environmental priorities. 

The city will receive $45,470 annually in rent on the land as well as renewable energy credits that can be used to offset the city’s greenhouse gas and carbon dioxide emissions and help Perry tackle its sustainability goals.

House File 221 would expand and preserve the solar ITC and provide certainty for Iowa's solar economy. If the Legislature doesn’t act now, the program will phase out at the end of the year. We need your voice to connect with senate leadership to make sure this important bill is brought to a vote. 

Looking for useful tools when engaging in conversations about clean energy in Iowa? Our regularly updated Solar, Wind, and Solar State Investment Tax Credit fact sheets provide the stats you need. While you're there, be sure to visit our newsroom for timely news and announcements!

As we  2021 legislative session, it's just as important as ever to stay on top of legislative happenings. Visit our legislative portal to see enhanced resources, including energy program priorities for 2021, forum schedules our latest weekly summary, the bill tracker, and more.