Letters to the editor

Why I Don’t Believe in Climate Change

When someone asks me if I believe in climate change, my answer is an unequivocal “no.” Allow me to explain.

There are many things that are subject to belief. Some, for instance, believe that a fetus, regardless of how long it has existed in the womb, must be protected at all cost, even in cases of rape or incest, while others believe that a woman should have complete autonomy over her own body, including the right to terminate a pregnancy.

Here’s another example. Some people believe that affirmative action is the least we can do to make amends for our history of enslaving African Americans, while others believe that these policies unfairly discriminate against white people.

OK, one more. Some people believe that same sex couples should not have the right to marry or to adopt children while others believe they should have all the rights afforded to heterosexual couples.

All of these positions are based on one’s beliefs, whether rooted in politics, religion, or simply one’s subjective sense of right and wrong.

Climate Change is different. It is a reality based on overwhelming scientific evidence, in the same way that so many other fact-based phenomena are. Take for instance, the earth being round, not flat; or the link between smoking and lung cancer; or the fact that our planet revolves around the sun, not vice versa. In all of these cases, asking someone if they believe in such indisputable and long-established scientific knowledge borders on the absurd.

So it is with Climate Change. The only legitimate question is not whether one believes in Climate Change, but whether one accepts the conclusions of nearly every climate scientist in the world. Here’s a list of those conclusions:

1: Carbon dioxide in the atmosphere traps heat from the sun, making our planet fit to support life as we know it.

2: For the 400,000 years prior to the Industrial Revolution, the concentration of CO2 remained in a safe zone: under 280 parts per million (ppm).

3: Since the Industrial Revolution, our fossil fuel consumption has poured 1.5 trillion tons of CO2 into the atmosphere, resulting in concentrations jumping 50% to 419 ppm. And we continue to generate 150 million more tons of CO2 every single day.

4: This jump in heat-trapping gas has begun to rapidly warm our planet, upsetting the “just right” conditions that nurture life, causing increasingly severe floods, droughts, killer heat-waves, and storms — to mention nothing of sea level rise or the explosion in climate refugees — that will only continue to get worse as the planet gets hotter.

So when people ask me if I “believe” in climate change, of course I say “no.” But I am quick to add that, “I do accept the near unanimous conclusion of the world’s climate scientists, based on nearly 90,000 published studies, that Climate Change is as real as the ground we stand on.”

Some things are matters of belief; Climate Change is not one of them.

Jonas Magram

Fairfield

Executive Order Number Ten Threatens Communities and Water Quality

Governor Reynolds’ Executive Order Number Ten will have significant and far-reaching consequences for Iowa and deserves much greater public awareness and attention. It establishes a moratorium on administrative rulemaking and requires every state agency, board, and commission to conduct a comprehensive overhaul of the Iowa Administrative Code in order to promote private sector development.

While this directive will greatly affect every state agency, I am especially concerned about its impact on the Iowa Department of Natural Resources (DNR) and the agency’s ability to protect Iowans’ health and safety particularly with regards to regulating concentrated animal feeding operations (CAFOs).

The Iowa Administrative Code is comprised of rules and regulations that interpret and implement all statutory laws passed by the Iowa State Legislature. The Executive Order bans rulemaking until a retrospective evaluation, including a rigorous economic cost-benefit analysis, of each existing administrative rule is undertaken.

Further, the order directs each agency to rewrite the rules. From scratch. Within one year.

Duplication of rules and regulations do exist within the Iowa Administrative Code, and review is not without merit. However, every Iowa agency is already charged with conducting five-year reviews of each chapter to eliminate outdated, redundant, inconsistent, or incompatible rules.

This blanket directive has the potential to throw our state government into chaos, fostering the financial gains of private business at the general public’s expense.

The DNR, chronically underfunded and unstaffed for years, administers 349 chapters of the Code and manages many areas crucial to environmental and public health.

Chapter 65, which regulates CAFOs, is 220 pages. With an additional 348 chapters, is it even possible for the DNR to review, comprehensively analyze, and rewrite each and every rule it oversees within 12 months while still continuing its critical functions of oversight and enforcement? The DNR is already challenged to investigate all CAFO complaints in a timely manner.

The order requires rules and regulations to be eliminated or simplified without compromising Iowans’ health and safety. But this directive does just that and flies in the face of the DNR’s mission, “to protect the quality of life in Iowa.” We already have weak CAFO rules and regulations that compromise water quality and public health. CAFO rules need to be strengthened, not diminished.

We’ve limited confidence that an agency run by political appointees favorable to the pork industry can conduct a fair cost-benefit analysis that doesn’t benefit the CAFO industry at the expense of public health and further water quality deterioration.

We’re especially concerned about the long-term threat to vulnerable communities and our already polluted waterways if rules and regulations are eliminated or weakened. Rules and regulations have purpose: they guard against harm.

At the very least, the DNR should be exempt from Executive Order Number Ten.

Iowans deserve a government that puts the health and well-being of its residents before the financial gains of the CAFO industry. If you’re also concerned, the Governor’s Office needs to hear from you.

Read the executive order here. bit.ly/3KPhgWZ

Diane Rosenberg

President of Jefferson County Farmers & Neighbors, Inc.

Attack ad on Dickey was unfair

Since 1942, the Iowa Motor Truck Association (IMTA) has been a strong, steady, and respected voice for Iowa’s trucking industry. IMTA’s volunteer leaders not only possess the knowledge and expertise required to own and operate trucking companies but also have the courage and leadership skills that are required to defend and advocate for the trucking industry.

IMTA has had many outstanding leaders over the years and this year we celebrated the election of our first third generation volunteer leader when Adrian Dickey was named Chairman. Following in the footsteps of both his grandfather (Harold) and father (Dave), Adrian proudly stepped into our top leadership position with the enthusiasm, passion and dedication that is required to lead an industry as important and valuable as trucking.

For many decades Adrian and his family have been servant leaders and have continued to give back to their communities, the trucking industry, and the State of Iowa. Adrian is steadfast in his desire to serve and because of that desire, he pursued public office and now serves as your State Senator. Serving in a public office is far from easy or glamorous. The amount of time and energy that is required is tremendous and Adrian has never walked away from hard work. He spends hours fulfilling the duties as your State Senator.

As he does for IMTA, he pours his heart and soul into being a state senator and proudly works on your behalf every day. And as a public official, he endures criticism from individuals and groups that may not agree with him but more likely are threatened by his leadership. Adrian is unrelenting in his desire to create positive change and make the State of Iowa a great place to live and work. We are proud and most appreciative of Adrian’s leadership. Iowa’s trucking industry is grateful to have such a bold and passionate advocate.

We look forward to our continued work with Sen. Adrian Dickey and we urge you to continue to support this effective Senator that is dedicated to working on your behalf.

Brenda Neville, CAE President & CEO Iowa Motor Truck Association

Dickey supports common sense tort reform

Last week, in the Iowa Senate chamber, Sen. Adrian Dickey spoke out boldly and passionately in support of SF 228. In doing so, he put a target on his back, which resulted in a group of trial attorneys running a full-page advertisement in your newspaper attacking him.

The legislation that Sen. Dickey was advocating for called for common sense reforms to Iowa’s tort laws, which have become eroded and imbalanced in recent years. The bill was supported by a large majority of senators from across Iowa, from different backgrounds, careers, and communities. It was also supported by a large coalition of farmers, business owners, contractors, and yes, even trucking companies.

To insinuate that Sen. Dickey’s leadership on this issue was motivated by self-interest is wholly untrue, and quite ironic. It is a classic case of trial attorneys accusing their opponent of doing the very thing they themselves are doing. They have become accustomed to receiving large contingency fees on unlimited non-economic damage recoveries, and do not want their cash flow limited in any way.

The fact that Sen. Dickey is bold enough to stand up for Iowans and risk antagonizing a group as powerful as the trial attorneys just proves that there is no giant he won’t take on for his constituents. Thank you, Sen. Dickey. You deserve our gratitude and support!

Darla Arends

Orange City, Iowa