Iowa Windmill

Five items for August from Iowa Climate Advocates:

1. The Great March for Climate Action is now in Iowa, and is making its way across our state.  The march has events in Atlantic (Aug. 3), Greenfield (Aug. 7), Winterset (Aug. 9), Norwalk (Aug. 10), Des Moines (Aug. 11), Coralville (Aug. 19), Iowa City (Aug. 20), West Branch (Aug. 21), and Davenport (Aug. 24).  For a complete schedule, google “Climate March Iowa Schedule” or visit www.climatemarch.org.

2. Michael Dowd and Connie Barlow are speaking across Iowa in conjunction with the Climate March to promote climate action.  They have presentations in Ames (Aug. 3), Cedar Falls (Aug. 10), Hiawatha (Aug. 14), Cedar Rapids (Aug. 17), and Davenport (Aug. 24 and 26).  For more details, visit www.thegreatstory.org.

3. Citizens Climate Lobby is having its national call on Saturday, August 2, at noon.  In Des Moines, CCL is meeting at the Franklin Avenue library.  In Ames, CCL is meeting at the home of Erv Klaas, 1405 Grand Avenue.  In Cedar Rapids, CCL is meeting at the downtown public library.  In Iowa City, CCL is meeting in the basement at Trinity Episcopal Church.  For other options, visit www.citizensclimatelobby.org.  (In September, the call will be Saturday, September 6.)

4. The Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club is hosting a meeting to help organize the opposition to the proposed Bakken oil pipeline across Iowa on Saturday, August 9, at 10 a.m. at the Des Moines East Side Library, 2559 Hubbell Avenue in Des Moines.

5.  For an advocacy item for August, please contact our Congressional representatives, Senators, candidates for those offices, and other elected officials to support action to fight climate change (such as opposing the Bakken oil pipeline across Iowa).  Climate change impacts are already bad, and their severity is expected to increase substantially in the coming decades.  Climate solutions – like energy conservation, energy efficiency, renewable energy, investing in natural resources, and better watershed management – all work to create jobs, save money, and improve our health and environment.  We urgently need Congress and elected officials at all levels to join the fight against climate change.

Senator Rob Hogg
Cedar Rapids
Iowa Climate Advocates