Environmentalists: Rein in CAFOs, coal-fired power plants
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By Tom Saul | Friday, December 21, 2007 |
A small group of environmentalists took on some big topics as they tried to decide what issues affecting water, air and soil should be elevated to the level of party platform planks on presidential caucus night.
Thursday during an environmental caucus in a community room at the Davenport Police Department sponsored by Plains Justice, a state environmental law center, confined animal feeding operations, or CAFOs, and halting further construction of coal-fired power plants probably got the most attention.
The concentrated hog waste stream that comes from CAFOs pollutes water, land and air, said Molly Regan, of Progressive Action for the Common Good, who fought plans for the Triumph Foods processing plant in East Moline.
“The pollution around CAFOs really affects the health of kids,” Regan said. “Kids around hog confinements have a lot more asthma.”
One way make CAFOs responsible for the pollution they generate would be to require owners to insure them for the true cost of any environmental harm they cause, said Frank Hurtte of Davenport, a member of Plains Justice. Now, if they have inadequate insurance and they are sued, “they just fold up and go away and all of us are left to pay for the cleanup.”
For Pam Kaufman, of Bettendorf, a higher state bottle and can deposit would encourage more people to pick them up and return them, she said. The law should also be expanded to include more than just carbonated beverage and alcohol containers. The current law requires a nickel deposit for some, but not all, containers.
“There is a ball diamond behind my house and, in the summer after games, I take my dog walking there and I’ll find about 20 water bottles there,” Kaufman said.
Iowa City based, Mike Carberry, of IowaGlobalWarming, raised a host of environmental issues, many of which were aimed at reducing carbon dioxide emissions that are a leading cause of planetary warming. But, nothing can be accomplished in the environmental arena until the “evil” of money is removed from politics, he said.
“There are three silver bullets needed to control global warming,” Carberry said. “There needs to be control of big carbon, big oil and the forces of evil, the forces of money. We need to get money out of politics. Until we do that, we’re not going to pass any of this stuff.”
Jane Duax, of Plains Justice, said the information gathered at the meeting will be used to try and develop party platform planks on caucus night Jan. 3. It will also be used during planform discussions at upcoming county party conventions and will be used to lobby the Iowa General Assembly.
A series of caucuses by the group are being held around the state.
Tom Saul can be contacted at (563)383-2453 or tsaul@qctimes.com. Comment on this story at qctimes.com.
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