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Legislative and Policy Action Alerts
Add your voice for a more sustainable Des Moines
posted 11/26/18
The cheapest and cleanest form of energy is the energy that you don’t use. Help us support a local policy that will reduce energy and water usage and contribute to our goal of 100% clean energy for Iowa.
The City of Des Moines is considering a building performance policy that would improve energy efficiency, save billions of gallons of water, lower utility bills, and lead to better indoor air quality for Des Moines citizens.
Benchmarking is a process that helps building operators track their energy and water usage over time to equip them with information they need to use resources more efficiently.
Add your voice to the letter to the Des Moines City Council asking them to support a benchmarking policy.
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Tell Governor Reynolds to Sign HF 631
General Fund dollars supporting the DNR are at a critical low after a decade of cuts, and that puts some of Iowa's most treasured resources and valued traditions at risk. HF 631 would allow for increases in fees for hunting and fishing licenses, with 100% of the funds going directly to the Fish and Wildlife Trust Fund.
These additional funds would support critical wildlife habitat, which benefits Iowa. Better habitats deliver improved water quality. And better habitats improve hunting and fishing, an $800 million industry in Iowa generating more than 11,500 jobs and $77 million in tax revenue.
HF 631 was a win-win in both the House and Senate, passing with overwhelming bipartisan support, and was supported by a large contingent of conservation and wildlife groups.
Now it's time to make this bill a win-win for Iowa and deliver vital dollars for the benefit of Iowa's land, water, wildlife, economic development, and all Iowans' quality of life.
Register your opinion with Governor Reynolds by clicking the 'Take Action' button below and copying the text above into the Governor's form or call 515-281-5211.
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Save Iowa's Solar Tax Credit
The legislature’s attack on clean energy continues with a major tax reform bill that repeals the Iowa solar tax credit effective July 1, 2018. This attack will undermine Iowa’s growing solar market and threaten jobs, investment, and consumer savings across Iowa.
Since 2012, the $21.6 million provided to Iowans by the solar tax credit has delivered more than $166 million in investments across all 99 counties in Iowa. 800 people come to work each day in Iowa in the solar industry.
Your action is needed to prevent this repeal. Contact your legislators now and ask them to maintain the vital solar tax credit.
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Tell Governor Reynolds to Veto SF 2311
SF 2311 stifles innovation, hits the Iowa economy where it hurts the most, and only benefits monopoly utility companies. Please ask the Governor to veto this damaging bill!
SF 2311, by cutting more than $100 million from Iowa’s nation-leading energy efficiency programs, will cost Iowa ratepayers more than $200 million as utilities build more transmission lines, more generating plants, and use more fuel instead of saving energy. The bill will decimate programs customers rely on like home energy audits, insulation and furnace rebates, and lighting and efficient motors needed by businesses large and small to be more cost-competitive, by cutting available funds by up to two-thirds.
The bill risks the jobs of 20,000 Iowans in all 99 counties who spend their days getting their hands dirty installing insulation, using their engineering degrees to evaluate industrial facilities for cost savings, and studying for HVAC certifications to help homeowners and businesses get the most for their heating and cooling dollars. These are the types of jobs that sustain rural Iowa and the types of investments that make housing available and affordable even as they keep energy costs low for everyone across the state.
This anti-innovation bill also allows monopoly municipal utilities to add fees on customers who install solar, refuse to interconnect people, or find other creative ways to stop customers from generating their own electricity. In addition to making discrimination legal, the bill removes oversight of the Iowa Utilities Board so that customers having problems with installing solar will be forced to sue their municipal utility in court instead of going through a swift and low-cost Board process.
Send your comments to Governor Reynolds by registering your opinion to the governor by using this form or call 515-281-5211.
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Take Action to Restore REAP Funding
The House Ag and Natural Resources Appropriations Subcommittee unveiled a budget proposal that cuts REAP from last year’s extremely low level of $12 million, to only $10 million. The budget diverts the $2 million cut to fund our treasured state parks and allows the DNR to divert another $1 million to state parks maintenance. And even with this shift, state park funding remains flat. This is a double hit – continuing to under fund our state parks while also cutting this critical program. The cut to REAP is a $400,000 cut to the Iowa Department of Ag and Land Stewardship, a $400,000 cut to County Conservation, and a $300,000 cut to city parks and open spaces.
Contact your legislator and ask them to restore cuts to REAP and fund the program at $16M/year. Include an example of your favorite REAP project in your message and let him or her know that investing in REAP is an investment in healthy land and water and vibrant local economies.
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Speak Out Against Harmful Bottle Deposit Repeal
Some lawmakers at the Iowa Capitol are attempting to repeal Iowa’s bottle deposit program. In place since 1979, Iowa’s bottle deposit program has been very successful with an estimated 71% of beverage containers in Iowa redeemed annually. That translates to 1.36 billion bottles that end up being recycled instead of littered across our beautiful landscapes.
States without beverage container deposit programs only see a recycling rate of about 24%. Should Iowa’s deposit program be repealed, we could see an additional 901 MILLION cans and bottles cluttering our roadsides, waterways, fields and parks every year. That is about 16,011 cans and bottles per square mile.
We need you to act now to ensure this harmful legislation does not become law. Please click the “Take Action Now” button to send a message to your state representative, asking them to oppose HF 575. Together, we can keep Iowa beautiful!
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