Ralph Rosenberg served in the Iowa legislature from 1981 through 1994 and was director of the Iowa Civil Rights Commission from 2003 through 2010.

The Iowa legislature turned its back on our state’s proud civil rights legacy with last week’s passage of Senate File 2385, which neuters the effectiveness of the civil and human rights agencies and eliminates specific commissions dedicated to marginalized populations.

This combination undercuts Iowa values of respect and protecting the dignity of all Iowans. The bill compounds the removal of legal authority to proactively act on civil and human rights violations, by broadcasting a national message about how the Iowa government devalues diversity in religion, race, ethnic background, gender, or national identity. (Other pending Republican legislation reinforces this message, by calling for K-12 schools to teach history from a Western Civilization perspective, or limiting diversity, equity, and inclusion programming on college campuses.)

(more…)

IOWA FALLS, Iowa (Gray Television Iowa Capitol Bureau) – Landowners in roughly one third of Iowa are waiting to see if Summit Carbon Solutions will be given permission to build a carbon sequestration pipeline through their land. 75% of landowners have signed voluntary agreements with Summit to allow access, but the company may use eminent domain to allow it to force access for the rest.

House lawmakers passed a bill to make private use of eminent domain more difficult, but senate Republicans refused to take up the bill.

Kathy Stockdale’s family has farmed their land in Iowa Falls for more than a hundred years. “Corn and soybeans. And our son in the last eight years has come back to help farm,” Stockdale said.

The proposed Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline will run through her farm. “It will be going all the way down to the road down there and then it will be cutting the whole farm in half all the way down to where our wetlands down at the next road,” Stockdale said.

She’s opposed to the pipeline. “I’m fighting for my property rights. I believe God gave us this land to take care of and with that comes those property rights, and if we lose property rights, we lose all control over anything and everything we want to do on our farms,” Stockdale said.

For the past three years, lawmakers in the Iowa House have passed legislation to reign in the use of eminent domain.

Most recently, a bill by State Rep. Charley Thomson of Charles City would allow landowners and pipeline companies to go to court to ask whether the use of eminent domain was constitutional and benefited the public. “Land is the original asset in Iowa. It’s in our souls. An unjust taking of land without remedy is not only irritating, it’s outrageous,” Thomson said.

State Rep. Bobby Kaufmann of Wilton said, “Government does not exist to make the confiscation of private property easier for you. Government does not exist to make the confiscation of private property more financially advantageous for you.”

But like years prior, the Iowa Senate didn’t take those bills up for debate. Stockdale has been at the capitol nearly every week during the legislative session for the better part of three years, and says she’s talked to enough senators to know it would’ve passed if they brought it up. “As a Republican, and as an Iowan, it bothers me tremendously that only three or four senators can stop any legislation from going through,” Stockdale said.

Despite the setbacks, Stockdale doesn’t plan to stop fighting. “It just makes us fight harder. Especially with the new extensions. We’re already starting to reach out landowners and fill them in on what’s really going on,” Stockdale said.

Stockdale says she has a little more faith in legislation being passed next year, and she and other landowners are also looking at their legal options through the courts.

Summit Carbon Solutions CEO Lee Blank says their goal is to get 100% of landowners to sign voluntary easements. Blank says if and when the Iowa Utilities Board grants them a permit for the project, they expect many of the remaining landowners to sign agreements with the company.

—

Conner Hendricks covers state government and politics for Gray Television-owned stations in Iowa. Email him at conner.hendricks@gray.tv; and follow him on Facebook at Conner Hendricks TV or on X/Twitter @ConnerReports.

Copyright 2024 KCRG. All rights reserved.

The American Lung Association’s annual “State of the Air” report finds positive trends in air quality in two Iowa metros.

“Des Moines is actually listed on the ‘cleanest cities’ list,” said Kristina Hamilton, director of advocacy for American Lung Association of Iowa. “It’s ranked 154th in the nation.”

The Quad Cities saw “slight improvements” in the three types of pollution evaluated in the American Lung Association’s report. Overall results for Iowa were “largely positive,” according to Hamilton.

“I would like to note that we don’t have air quality monitors in every counties in Iowa,” Hamilton said. “Only a select few counties have air quality monitors.”

Sixteen counties of Iowa’s 99 counties have air quality monitors and the Lung Association was able to evaluate data from Bremer, Clinton, Hamilton, Linn, Montgomery, Palo Alto, Polk, Scott and Van Buren Counties.

The Lung Association’s report considers particle pollution, sometimes called soot, as well as ozone or smog and Hamilton said metro Des Moines is considered one of the country’s cleanest cities because it had fewer days with smog last year.

“For short term particle pollution we slightly more high particle pollution days in the Des Moines metro area, but it still ranked 79th, which was a better ranking than last year,” Hamilton said. “For annual particle pollution, we saw the same levels from the previous report, but a better ranking.”

Exposure to air pollution over a long period of time can cause or inflame lung conditions like asthma and C-O-P-D — chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. This is the 25th year the American Lung Association has issued its “State of the Air” report.