Blog

posted by Kerri Johannsen on Thursday, April 2, 2020 On March 12, 2020, Governor Reynolds signed SF 583 – a bill IEC and our partners had dubbed the “Sunshine Tax” that failed a year earlier. In the course of that year, Senate File 583 evolved into something that is rarely achieved: legislation with unanimous support from both political parties in both houses of the legislature.

posted on Tuesday, March 24, 2020 More than 25 organizations tabled at Environmental Lobby Day on March 11, sharing information with legislators and attendees about the issues facing Iowa's environment.

posted by Angelisa Belden on Monday, March 16, 2020 IEC offices are closed and staff are working remotely until April 17.

posted by Ingrid Gronstal Anderson on Wednesday, February 26, 2020 With their votes in 2010, Iowans made it clear that they support a sales tax increase for a permanent, protected funding source to improve water quality, enhance outdoor recreation opportunities, preserve our natural areas, and support Iowa communities. This year's proposal to fund the Trust is exciting, but we've identified several areas for improvement.

posted on Monday, February 24, 2020 As the watershed coordinator for Dry Run Creek in Black Hawk County, the Natural Resource Conservation Service's motto of “helping people, help the land” comes to mind just about every day. There are wonderful folks all over our state, and especially here in the Dry Run Creek watershed, who want to see their land preserved and communities improved for generations to come.

posted by Steve Guyer on Tuesday, January 21, 2020 The City of Des Moines has committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions 28% citywide by year 2025. As part of its emissions reduction goal, Des Moines joined a growing number of major U.S. cities in passing an Energy and Water Use Benchmarking Ordinance in 2019. The city is now providing more information as implementation gets underway.

posted on Friday, January 10, 2020 Welcome to 2020 and IEC's 25th Anniversary year! IEC has plans for a number of events this year to celebrate and acknowledge the people and their work who have gotten us to where we are today and to those who are leading us into the next 25 years.

posted on Friday, December 13, 2019 Newly elected IEC board member Kevin Griggs shares his reasons for providing leadership to the Council and his visions for Iowa's future.

posted on Monday, November 4, 2019 Drake University recently announced it earned a Bronze STARS rating demonstrating Drake's commitment to environmental sustainability. According to the announcement on Drake's website, Drake, just like the rest of Iowa, needs to make water management and nutrient reduction an important goal, says Megan McDowell in this guest blog post.

posted by Angelisa Belden on Friday, November 1, 2019 The leaves are changing, the temperatures are dropping- even snow is falling in Iowa! Here at IEC, that means we're turning our attention to the Capitol in preparation for the next legislative session.