Local News
Keep factory farms out of the area
In the near future, very important bills that compliment each other will be debated. HF873 would make factory farms more responsible to the environment and their neighbors; SF550 is “Almost Local Control”: HF805/SF553 enables Iowan to start having voter-owned elections instead of politicians bought by the highest bidders. History shows us we won’t have cleaner air and water until we have cleaner elections. The more the polluters pay the politicians the more they can pollute.
Case in point: Lt. Gov.Patty Judge has a long history of accepting campaign funding from factory farm players, as do many key legislators, especially those who used to hold the majority. The “new” majority players have evidently said “Me, too, please.” To avoid disclosure they are trying to use 527 funding.
Results to date? The gutting of the EPC, the firing of a DNR leader who showed some backbone, Murphy and Gronstal trying to derail these bills. The Democratic leadership is delivering on promises made to an industry that contributes about $1 billion to Iowa’s $105 billion gross state product (total of all earnings, profits and wages) while being the leading air polluter and detriment to the quality of life in rural Iowa. Before we heard of factory farms, all of agriculture contributed about 16 percent of the GSP, now it is about 5 percent. Why in the world would we want more of this “Wal-Marting” of production?
Remind your legislators and the governor of their promises during their campaigns to support the environment, local control, etc. Public pressure, not political leadership, kept these bills alive to this point. It will take more public pressure to get them to Culver’s desk and even more to get him to sign them. Remind your legislators they are committed to you, the voter, not to the polluters. Without this legislation a factory farm could soon be coming to your neighborhood or town.
Ron Kielkopf
Iowa Master Farmer, Yr. 2000
Fremont
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