This goes beyond pipelines as well. I think when we reflect on the next decade in Iowa, some landmark moments for many communities in Iowa will be what has happened around energy companies and their land practices. The road signs along county roads and highways all look the same. They're generally white with some kind of red indicator. And if they don't say "No Carbon Pipeline" they'll say "No Wind Farm" or "No Commercial Solar". In Tama County where I live, the grassroots effort to oppose wind development is the biggest, most organized political movement to be taken up in our area in decades. The painful irony in it all though is that it feels like Iowa landowners have long since sold our land and water quality down the river in the name of commercial ag interests. And so these energy developments feel somewhat inevitable to me. I wouldn't want a turbine or a pipeline in my backyard of course. But I don't want corn fields tiled to high heaven or the 23 million head of hogs we now have with their stench and waste issues either. But I didn't get a say in any of those things. I think we're beginning to reap the consequences of voting in leaders like Terry Branstad, Chuck Grassley, Tom Harkin and others for historically lengthy tenures. That complacency has helped to hollow us out and leave our resources and institutions vulnerable for exploitation. And the leadership is not changing any time soon. So communities are left to self-organize efforts that no grassroots group is equipped to undertake. In Tama County, the Anti-Turbine movement has tried and failed at multiple law suits. They've recently gotten voters to approve enlarging the county board of supervisors from three members to five. They show up at each weekly supervisor meeting and troll the board members until they're forced to stop commenting. It reeks of bitterness and desperation and I'm sad to see it like it is. It shouldn't and doesn't have to be like this. But yet feels beyond us to a degree as well. I would imagine other counties are experiencing similar things. Maybe the anti-pipeline efforts have garnered more solidarity among their members given the larger footprints. I hope for at least that.
Thank you Cheryl for presenting this article. While the pipeline plans do not come near us, many of my friends are fighting hard to keep this questionable solution to carbon capture at bay.
This goes beyond pipelines as well. I think when we reflect on the next decade in Iowa, some landmark moments for many communities in Iowa will be what has happened around energy companies and their land practices. The road signs along county roads and highways all look the same. They're generally white with some kind of red indicator. And if they don't say "No Carbon Pipeline" they'll say "No Wind Farm" or "No Commercial Solar". In Tama County where I live, the grassroots effort to oppose wind development is the biggest, most organized political movement to be taken up in our area in decades. The painful irony in it all though is that it feels like Iowa landowners have long since sold our land and water quality down the river in the name of commercial ag interests. And so these energy developments feel somewhat inevitable to me. I wouldn't want a turbine or a pipeline in my backyard of course. But I don't want corn fields tiled to high heaven or the 23 million head of hogs we now have with their stench and waste issues either. But I didn't get a say in any of those things. I think we're beginning to reap the consequences of voting in leaders like Terry Branstad, Chuck Grassley, Tom Harkin and others for historically lengthy tenures. That complacency has helped to hollow us out and leave our resources and institutions vulnerable for exploitation. And the leadership is not changing any time soon. So communities are left to self-organize efforts that no grassroots group is equipped to undertake. In Tama County, the Anti-Turbine movement has tried and failed at multiple law suits. They've recently gotten voters to approve enlarging the county board of supervisors from three members to five. They show up at each weekly supervisor meeting and troll the board members until they're forced to stop commenting. It reeks of bitterness and desperation and I'm sad to see it like it is. It shouldn't and doesn't have to be like this. But yet feels beyond us to a degree as well. I would imagine other counties are experiencing similar things. Maybe the anti-pipeline efforts have garnered more solidarity among their members given the larger footprints. I hope for at least that.
Thank you Cheryl for presenting this article. While the pipeline plans do not come near us, many of my friends are fighting hard to keep this questionable solution to carbon capture at bay.
Cheryl, your columns are informative and a pleasure to read. You bring an important voice to so many issues. Thank you.