Aldo Leopold is arguably the greatest conservationist of the 20th century. His formative experiences with the natural world occurred right here in Iowa, providing the foundation for the revolutionary thought and influence that would mark his career.
Environmentalism
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Al Gore endorses Patty Judge
In an email sent yesterday to Patty Judge supporters, former U.S. Vice President Al Gore made a formal endorsement for Judge, the democratic challenger to Chuck Grassley’s senate seat. Gore, like Judge, is an ardent environmentalist. “Patty Judge firmly believes that protecting our environment and natural resources for future generations must be a priority,” Gore […]
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The Paris Agreement marks an unprecedented opportunity to quell the tide of climate change, and Iowans have a role to play
In the wake of the recently released World Meteorological Organization (WMO) Statement on the Status of Global Climate 2015 report, which warns that the world is warming faster than predicted, the Paris Agreement on climate change (the “Agreement”) — negotiated at the 21st session of the Conference of the Parties to the United Nations Framework […]
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Film screenings launch Regenerative Landscapes initiative
Inhabit screenings Sunday, Jan. 17 at 1:30 p.m. Prairiewoods Franciscan Spirituality Center, 120 E. Boyson Rd. in Hiawatha Sunday, Jan. 24 at 1:30 pm Shambaugh Auditorium, University of Iowa Main Library Several Iowa organizations are partnering to host film screenings in Hiawatha (Jan. 17) and Iowa City (Jan. 24) to raise awareness around environmental issues. […]
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On climate change: Jane Smiley writes a dystopian ‘letter to the future’
Scientists have warned for decades that greenhouse gas emissions have put the Earth on track for calamitous storms, floods, droughts and rising oceans. But the world’s governments have yet to sign a legally binding agreement to do what it takes to avert climate disaster. The UN Climate Change Conference in Paris in December 2015 could […]
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Bringing the Mediterranean’s Migration Stories to the Stage
Jeff Biggers reading Prairie Lights — Tuesday, Nov. 17 at 7 p.m. Jeff Biggers is the Writer-in-Residence in the University of Iowa Office of Sustainability, where he founded the Climate Narrative Project. Biggers, an American Book Award–winning author of several works of history and memoir, including State Out of the Union: Arizona and the Showdown […]
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NextGen urges students to quiz candidates about climate change
Zack Davis, the State Director of NextGen Climate, toured college campuses in Sioux City, Ames, Cedar Falls and Iowa City last week to push his group’s message into the forefront of the Iowa caucuses. Davis spoke with fellow students about transitioning to a 50 percent clean energy energy production goal by 2030, encouraging them to […]
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Chauncey tower question splits council candidate forum
Less than fifteen minutes into last night’s city council candidate forum on environmental issues, moderator Tom Carsner split the field with a question about the direction of the tax-increment-financed (TIF) development known as the Chauncey Tower. Sitting councilors Rick Dobyns and Jim Throgmorton went back and forth on the project after Carsner asked the field, […]
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Iowa City-area landowner raises concerns over local mine’s impact
I meet Loren Southwick at the Ryerson’s Woods parking lot. We shake hands, and I hop into a black pickup. Southwick, a retired contractor and engineer who currently lives in Missouri, owns four properties about a mile away, just south of Iowa City limits on the Camino Del Rio, a secluded road that traces the Iowa […]
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New Pi Co-op nixes plastic bags
“Paper, or plastic?” New Pioneer Food Co-op shoppers won’t hear that question after August 31. The Co-op announced a plan to phase out plastic bags, citing their notoriously negative environmental impact. (“Plastic,” notes their press release, “is the number one polluter of our oceans.”) According to 100 Grannies, an environmental organization working with New Pi […]
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Iowa school district makes major investment in solar power
Waco Elementary in Crawfordsville, Iowa, looks like any small town schoolhouse, but something about the building sounds different. Humming behind the three-story…
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Iowa poised to meet carbon reduction goals
Due to future investments and an increase in wind energy production over the last decade, Iowa is poised to reach its EPA-proposed carbon dioxide reduction goal of 16 percent (compared to 2012 levels) by 2030. A report released Monday by the non-profit Iowa Wind Energy Association (IWEA) indicates that Iowa, which generated 28.5 percent of […]
