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posted on Tuesday, February 11, 2025 The Iowa Environmental Council and Moms Clean Air Force hosted an event in Siouxland with the goal of empowering residents and policymakers with better data on the kinds of air pollution unique to the area. By installing air quality monitoring devices at the homes or businesses of local volunteers, the citizens will gather better data on the spread and concentration of pollution in Siouxland, including from the two coal-fired power plants operated near Sioux City by MidAmerican Energy, a privat

posted by Sarah Howe on Tuesday, February 4, 2025 Iowa faces the fastest rising cancer rate and the second highest rate of cancer incidences in the country. The most common cancer diagnoses in Iowa are breast cancer, prostate cancer, skin melanoma, lung cancer, and colon cancer. IEC and our partners who work on water quality, air pollution, and land stewardship see it: Iowa's cancer crisis is a direct result of our policymaking. Read on.

posted by Cody Smith on Saturday, January 11, 2025 Iowa's largest city should embrace climate leadership, not abandon it. Even as climate disasters and extreme weather increase in Iowa, city government officials are considering closing the Des Moines Sustainability Office, which drives climate progress and action. Here's what we can do to protect a climate-resilient future in the capital city.

posted by Michael Schmidt on Tuesday, December 10, 2024 Agricultural runoff contributes the vast majority of nutrient pollution to Iowa's waters, in part because there are few restrictions on it. One of the few conditions in place is a provision adopted in the 1985 Farm Bill called Swampbuster, which conditions federal subsidies on protecting wetlands from agricultural development. This longstanding provision has discouraged destruction of Iowa's few remaining wetlands. But what if that protection were revoked? Read on to learn more.

posted on Monday, December 9, 2024 MidAmerican Energy has released a resource evaluation study, outlining potential retirement dates for their six coal-fired power plants. Although IEC and our partners were included in the closed-door process, the process was extremely flawed and not responsive to stakeholder input.

posted by Sarah Howe on Friday, December 6, 2024 Iowa's Impaired Waters List identifies the lakes, wetlands, streams that do not meet water quality standards for point source and non-point source pollutants. The DNR analyzed 1,428 waterbody segments for the state's Impaired Waters List. EPA evaluated the state's submission and determined in November that it was not fully consistent with the requirements of the Clean Water Act. Read on for more.

posted by Guest Blogger on Tuesday, November 12, 2024 Gabriel E. Lade, Associate Professor of Economics at Macalaster College, provides insight on his newest publication: 'Improving Private Well Testing Programs: Experimental Evidence from Iowa'. This intervention served to better understand private well water quality monitoring, while exploring interventions to improve current testing rates. Read on to learn more.

posted by Sarah Howe on Tuesday, November 5, 2024 In May, Water & Climate Resiliency Specialist Sarah Howe wrote Lead Service Lines and Replacement Efforts in Iowa to dig into the legacy of lead service lines (LSLs) in Iowa and share information from the DNR and federal resources to help Iowans as they think about their infrastructure needs. In October, the Biden-Harris Administration released their final Lead & Copper Rule Improvements as part of the Investing in America Agenda. Read on to learn more.

posted by Guest Blogger on Tuesday, October 8, 2024 This guest blog comes from Dan Haug, Water Quality Specialist for IEC Member Organization Prairie Rivers of Iowa, a not-for-profit organization based in Ames. Read on below to learn more about his work and the legacy of the IOWATER Program.

posted by Guest Blogger on Friday, August 23, 2024 Read this week's guest blog from Kristen Morrow, a Johnson County Conservation Naturalist. This blog features a first-hand account of what inclusivity and accessibility can look like in environmental education. Kristen discusses the programs in Johnson County that seek out marginalized groups to foster environmental awareness, stewardship, and recreation. Read on to learn more.