The past month has been a truly exciting one for folks focused on the clean energy movement in Iowa, and we are excited to share some highlights with you. The month began with a protest rally at the Berkshire Hathaway shareholders conference in Omaha. IEC and its partners in the Clean Up MidAm coalition brought together scores of activists from Iowa, Nebraska, and around the country to demand that the parent company of MidAmerican Energy immediately transition away from fossil fuels. You can view highlights from the rally here. This was followed by a landmark report published by IEC in partnership with the American Lung Association, Physicians for Social Responsibility, and the Winnebago Tribe Comprehensive Healthcare System. Released on World Asthma Day, Coal in Siouxland examines the unsettling relationship between coal plant pollution and lung disease in Woodbury County, site of Iowa's two oldest coal-fired power stations. Watch the press release event on Youtube. After submitting comments opposing Alliant Energy's discharge of toxic coal ash waste into the Des Moines River upstream from the city of Ottumwa, we learned that Alliant has agreed to stop the discharge! Read more about this on our blog. And finally, we submitted comments to the Iowa Utilities Board with our partners at the Environmental Law & Policy Center supporting the Board's proposal to repeal its Renewable Energy Verification rules. These rules, while perhaps well-intentioned, were having the effect of enabling the utility monopolies like MidAmerican Energy to mislead the public. Read all about this in our newsroom. |
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