Issue Position: Climate Change

Issue Position

Climate events in 2014 have again focused our attention on the need to address the reality of our changing climate. In winter we had a brutal, intense cold while Alaska was very warm. The Spring stretched the drought until the Summer brought a deluge of rain and flooding which threatened Iowa farm fields, and our cities. California experienced intense drought while massive storms rumbled across the Midwest on a daily basis.

Decades of respected scientific research have shown that climate is changed by both natural and environmental pollutants, including those originating from human activity. The Geological Society of America, the National Academies of Science, the National Research Council, the intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change and a large distinguished group of science faculty members, from academic institutions throughout Iowa, have all concluded that global climate has warmed the earth and that human activity (primarily greenhouse gas emissions) account for most of the warming since the middle of the 1900s.

Global warming is real, undeniable, and demands acknowledgement and action. Decisive leadership -- leadership that embraces the plethora of information that our scientists are providing us, is required to effectively address the challenges.

The consequences of climate change are already affecting Iowa, with unusual weather patterns (severe drought and torrential rains) impacting businesses and jobs throughout the state.

Iowa legislators can help lead the way when it comes to impacting national policy on climate change by committing Iowa as a participant in regional and national atmospheric carbon reduction and sequestration initiatives, by increasing conservation practices in construction and manufacturing, and by expanding Iowa's renewable energy initiatives to harness more renewable energy from wind and solar. You can count me in, as one of the Iowa House Representatives who will be leading and supporting these efforts.

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