Water Quality
CAFO Rule Amendment
The
DNR is proposing a rule amendment regarding department evaluation; denial of or condition of construction permits or disapproval or modification of MMPs for confinement feeding operations.
Go to the proposed rule here...
Click here
for more information.
Public hearings will be scheduled at the Wallace Building in Des Moines as well as three additional hearings in the northwest, north central and southeast parts of the state.
Written comments should be directed to Gene Tinker, Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Wallace State Office Building, 502 E. 9th St., Des Moines, Iowa 50319-0034; fax (515)281-8895; email
gene.tinker@dnr.state.ia.us.
On November 14, 2005, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) partially approved and partially disapproved the Iowa Department of Natural Resources' (DNR) Final 2004 List of Impaired Waters. EPA disapproved Iowa’s decision not to list 20 waterbodies and associated pollutants. EPA proposed adding six waterbodies that DNR had removed from the list, and adding 14 new waterbodies and associated pollutants. See the EPA’s decision documents here...
View Iowa's Final 2004 List of Impaired Waters
Clean water belongs to you! Enforce clean water laws, protect aquatic life, hold polluters accountable.
Learn
about Iowa problems and how you can help...
Water Quality Standards Update
The Iowa Department of Natural Resources has proposed rulemaking that addresses two of the Sierra Club priorities for water quality standards. Read more...
Update: Read water quality standards hearing comments here...
Iowa Church and Fishing Groups Join Enviros Saying Federal Mercury Rule Inadequate
In a strongly-worded letter to Governor Tom Vilsack, faith, sporting and
conservation groups called for stronger action on the largest, uncontrolled
source of mercury – coal-fired power plants. Saying the federal mercury rule
doesn’t adequately deal with the problem, groups want the Attorney
General’s office to support the 14 states taking legal action to strengthen
the rule. Read
more...
Read more about the lawsuit here...
A Guide to Keeping Factory Farms Out of Your County
Iowa is home to over three thousand Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations, or CAFOs, that concentrate animals and their waste. The manure produced – 50 million tons every year in Iowa – is mixed with water in enormous lagoons or pits, creating disposal problems and water and air pollution on a scale that would never have been possible in a diversified family farm system. Between 1992 and 2002, 329 reported manure spills in Iowa polluted rivers and killed more than 2.6 million fish. Groundwater pollution is also a serious problem; well water contaminated with nitrates from animal waste can result in methemoglobinemia, or “blue baby syndrome” and has been linked to certain cancers. And air pollution from these factory farms, including toxic hydrogen sulfide and ammonia, destroys the quality of life in many of Iowa’s rural communities, devastates property values of rural homes, and threatens public health. Find out more...
Air Quality
The Department of Natural Resources is proceeding with its rulemaking process after the Environmental Protection Agency promulgates the Clean Air Interstate Rule and the Clean Air Mercury Rule. Begin to learn more about the rule here...
New Poll of Iowa Voters Released
A
2005 poll commissioned by the Sierra Club of voters in five Midwestern states
indicates they want legislation
that will go beyond the new standards establish the federal government
and will require all coal burning power plants to adopt existing technology
that will reduce the level of mercury being emitted from their
smokestacks. Read more here...
Increased Asthma Found Among Iowa Children Living on Hog Farms
Research conducted by investigators in the University of Iowa College of Public Health has found that the prevalence of asthma is elevated among children living on farms where swine are raised. Children living on swine farms where antibiotics are added to feed have a significantly higher prevalence of the respiratory disease, according to the UI study. Find out more...
Arctic
National Wildlife Refuge
Visit the Arctic with Google Earth
Happy Birthday, Arctic Refuge
On December 6, 1960, President
Dwight D. Eisenhower established the Arctic National Wildlife Range. The
Range would later be doubled in size and renamed the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge under President Carter, but it was Eisenhower who began
the bipartisan legacy of arctic conservation. According to Fred Seaton,
the Secretary of the Interior under Eisenhower, the Arctic Refuge
"offers the only opportunity for this Nation to preserve an
undisturbed portion of the Arctic large enough to be biologically
self-sufficient."
Celebrate the Arctic Refuge's birthday by taking action. Honor President
Eisenhower's vision of a protected arctic ecosystem and urge your senators
and your representative to support Wilderness designation for the Arctic
Refuge.
Court orders Revised EIS
On Monday, August 20, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a court-ordered revision to an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Teshekpuk Lake (T-Lake) planning area in America's western Arctic. Find out more here...
In the far northeast corner of Alaska lies one of America’s great natural treasures, the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). Its 19 million acres comprise one of the last places on earth where an intact expanse of arctic and subarctic lands remain protected. It is considered the crown jewel of America’s National Wildlife Refuge System. And yet this truly undisturbed wilderness -- a last vestige of the American frontier that helped shape and define our national identity -- is today in grave danger of being destroyed by those seeking short-term oil profits at the expense of this spectacular national treasure. Find out more here...
Schedule an Arctic Presentation
Iowa Chapter Executive Committee member Phyllis Mains recently traveled to Alaska and hiked in the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge. You can see some of her magnificent photographs here... Phyllis is also available to do presentations about the Arctic for your group. For more information, contact Phyllis at pmains@juno.com.
The Administration Moves Closer to Opening Teshekpuk Lake to Oil and Gas Leasing
On Monday, August 20, the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) issued a court-ordered revision to an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Teshekpuk Lake (T-Lake) planning area in America’s western Arctic. The agency was required to analyze the cumulative effects from activities across Alaska’s North Slope on critical caribou and migratory bird habitat surrounding T-Lake, America's largest arctic lake. Unfortunately, while the plan did consider a number of new factors --from the potentially threatened status of the polar bear to long-term impacts on Native health -- the BLM failed to offer any different alternatives from their original plan.
The release of the draft supplemental EIS marks another step in the administration's quest to open the wetlands around T-Lake to the oil and gas industry. These wetlands constitute the only lands still protected in the 4.6 million acre Northeast Planning Area of the National Petroleum Reserve – Alaska (the Reserve). While the law that established the Reserve in 1976 called for "maximum protection" for fish, wildlife and other surface values during oil exploration, the Bush administration has disregarded the significance of this internationally renowned wildlife habitat. Instead, it has pushed to open the vast majority of the Reserve to the extractive industries. Their management of T-Lake marks a radical departure from past administrations, including those that few would call friends of the environment.
There is now a 60-day public comment period for the SEIS. After this comment period, the administration must release a final plan before it could offer leases around Teshekpuk Lake to the oil and gas industry. At this stage in the process, it is crucially important that we let the administration know that the American public does not support development in the ecologically sensitive wetlands of Teshekpuk Lake.
Please click here to submit a comment about the SEIS. Let them know that that the SEIS does not sufficiently address the concerns that the courts acknowledged last summer. Let them know that you still want to see the T- Lake wetlands protected for the wildlife, for the local communities, and for future generations.
For more information about Teshekpuk Lake and other Alaska issues, click here...
Congress Votes to Repeal Oil Subsidies -- Last Minute Attempt to Insert Arctic Drilling Defeated
On Thursday, January 18, the House of Representatives voted 264-163 to pass HR 6, which in part redirects $14 billion in subsidies from Big Oil to support alternative energy sources. Find out more
here...
Polar Bears Threatened
The US Department of the Interior announced on December 27, 2006, that it was recommending that the polar bear be officially listed at "threatened" under the Endangered Species Act. Citing the growing body of evidence that receding sea ice threatens the existence of the Arctic bears, Secretary Kempthorne stated "based on current analysis, there are concerns about the effect of receding sea ice on polar bear populations...I am directing the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the U.S. Geological Survey to aggressively work with the public and the scientific community over the next year to broaden our understanding of what is happening with the species..."
The proposal to officially list the polar bear as "threatened" can be found at the
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service's
website.
President Bush Lifts Ban on Oil Drilling in Fragile Alaska Waters
On January 9, 2007, President Bush exercised his executive authority to lift the ban on drilling off the southwest coast of Alaska in the fragile, salmon-rich waters of Bristol Bay. Bristol Bay, one of the world's most productive marine systems for fish, marine mammals and migratory birds, has enjoyed federal protection since the Exxon Valdez spill in 1989. Read more here...
On Wednesday, December 21, the U.S. Senate rejected efforts by Republican leadership to attach Arctic Refuge drilling in the defense spending bill. Read more.... Find out how the Senators voted here...
Arctic and Costal Drilling Removed from Budget
On November 9, the House Rules Committee removed the controversial Arctic Refuge and offshore drilling provisions from the budget reconciliation package. The House is expected to vote on a now pared-down version of the bill today and then move to conference with the Senate, which last week passed a budget that includes Arctic drilling but omits coastal drilling. Read more...
TAKE ACTION: Oppose Arctic Refuge and Offshore Drilling
Drilling proponents in the House of Representatives are trying to use the budget reconciliation bill -- the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 -- as a vehicle to open America's shorelines as well as the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to oil and gas drilling.
Drilling in the Arctic Refuge would spoil this last great wilderness for a speculative amount of oil. In fact, the U.S. Department of Energy recently estimated that if we drilled for oil in the Refuge tomorrow, it would lower gas prices by roughly a penny per gallon...in 20 years. In addition, this bill includes controversial provisions to revoke the 24-year old bi-partisan moratorium on offshore drilling that protects our sensitive coastlines. The Minerals Management Service has estimated that the vast majority of natural gas and oil located in the Outer Continental Shelf is already available for drilling, so it makes little sense to damage coastal marine habitat, marine life, and coastal economies for small amounts of oil or gas.
The vote in the House is expected as early as Thursday, November 10, 2005.
PLEASE CALL YOUR REPRESENTATIVE TODAY
Call the Capitol switchboard (202-224-3121) and urge your representative to vote against any budget reconciliation bill that authorizes the opening of America's coasts or Arctic Refuge to drilling.
Members Demonstrate for Arctic National Wildlife Refuge
On
July 30, 2005, Iowa Chapter members demonstrated against drilling for oil in the
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge.
Read more...
Arctic National Wildlife Refuge Information
The Sierra Club and millions of Americans have fought for decades to protect the Refuge. Oil industry lobbyists paint the Refuge as an instant cure-all for high gas prices. But the expert consensus is that sacrificing the Refuge would lower gas prices by only a penny per gallon -- in 20 years. Read more...
Senate Vote on Arctic Drilling
The Senate voted 51-49 in
March 2005 to take the first step toward drilling for oil in the Arctic National
Wildlife Refuge as part of the Federal Budget Resolution. Iowa Sen. Tom
Harkin voted for the amendment while Iowa Sen. Charles Grassley voted
against it. Read
more... The
vote...
In July, a coalition of 12 of America’s largest public interest and environmental groups, including Sierra Club, launched a new campaign called “ExxposeExxon.com.” Read more...
Endangered Species
Petition to Add the Mountain Lion to the list of Threatened and Endangered Species Rejected
In June 2005, the Natural Resources Commission rejected a petition to add the mountain lion to Iowa's list of threatened and endangered species. Read the Department of Natural Resources report and recommendation here...
Threatened and Endangered Species Lists
Want to know what species are included in Iowa's list of threatened and endangered species? Find out here...
A list of all endangered or threatened plants and animals in the United States can be found here...
Energy
From
mining to burning to combustion wastes, using coal for electricity scars
lungs, tears up the land, pollutes water, devastates communities, and
makes global warming worse. Learn about coal's dirty secrets that have
serious societal and economic consequences in Sierra Club's brand new report,
"The Dirty Truth about Coal: Why Yesterday's Technology Should Not Be
Part of Tomorrow's Energy Future."
In November 2005, MidAmerican Energy hosted a tour of its Intrepid wind farm in Sac County for environmentalists. See photographs and more information about the tour here...
Oil Company Executives Defend Profits
Executives from five oil companies appeared before a Senate committee November 10, 2005, and defended their exorbitant profits. There is a "growing suspicion that oil companies are taking unfair advantage," Sen. Pete Domenici, R-N.M., said, opening the hearing. "The oil companies owe the American people an explanation," he declared. Read Associated Press Writer H. Josef Hebert's account of the hearing here...
OIL PROFITS: Will They Plead the Fifth?
Last week, oil companies and their friends in Congress mustered enough votes to pass the Senate's Budget Reconciliation Bill with a provision to open the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to drilling. Attention now turns to the House, where these same companies are lobbying hard to open the Arctic as well as to revoke the 24-year old bipartisan moratorium on offshore drilling. But first they will have some questions to answer. Tomorrow, top executives of ExxonMobil (just posted $9.9 billion in third-quarter profits, up 75%), Chevron, ConocoPhillips, BP America Inc., and Shell Oil Company will all testify on Capitol Hill, where just three months ago Congress passed an energy bill laden with billions of dollars in subsidies and tax breaks to these same companies. Don't expect Congress to hold hearings on itself any time soon.
Read the Los Angeles Times article, "Lawmakers Eager to Grill Oil Executives."
OIL PROFITS: Embarrassment of Riches
While Americans have been emptying their wallets to keep up with record high gas prices, giant oil
companies have been filling up their coffers with record high profits. According to last week's
quarterly reports, Big Oil just got a whole lot bigger. ExxonMobil took the top prize, raking in
$9.9 billion (up 75 %). BP and ConocoPhillips also enjoyed excessive profits -- $6.5 billion
and $3.8 billion respectively. Now Congress is considering making these rich a whole lot richer,
by giving them the keys to the Arctic for a pittance.
Read the Washington Post
article.
Updated 12/07/2007