‘Speak Up Now for a Clean, Green Iowa’ Saturday with guest David Osterberg

Do you want to have an influence on which climate crisis and farm laws are passed in Iowa? Find out how you can be an effective citizen advocate at the kick-off of Speak Up Now for a Clean, Green Iowa at 2 p.m. Saturday at the Fairfield Public Library.

Guest speaker David Osterberg, co-founder of the Iowa Policy Project and a former Iowa state representative, will speak on the need for citizen advocates and how to get a message heard by state legislators.

The latest report by the International Panel on Climate Change, released this fall, says there is 12 years to limit a climate change catastrophe, and warns that urgent changes are needed to cut the risk of extreme heat, drought, floods and poverty. Energy companies are spending big dollars to lobby legislators to maintain the status quo.

According to Speak Up Now, industrial agriculture practices are depleting soil and polluting waterways. Big Ag spent over $500,000 this year alone lobbying for state laws that benefit the industrial hog corporations. State legislators need to hear directly from more concerned constituents with an interest in protecting the environment, and not just corporations with enormous lobbying budgets. It's time to give citizens a bigger voice.

Speak Up Now is organizing a volunteer citizens group that will send at least two members each week to the Iowa State House in Des Moines to speak with legislators on factory farm and climate crisis legislation to protect the environment. The goal is to have enough citizen advocates so that individuals will travel to Des Moines once or twice between mid-January and the end of April. Speak Up Now will provide talking points on specific legislation so the citizen advocates will go armed with solid information.

The meeting Saturday will provide an opportunity to learn how the lobbying process works in Des Moines and will go over how to be an effective citizen advocate. Those interested will be able to sign up to be an advocate and schedule a week to go to the Capitol.

The legislative session starts Jan. 14, and visits to the State Capital will start shortly thereafter on a rotating basis.

Guest speaker Osterberg is no stranger to the State House or environmental issues. He served as Iowa State Representative for 12 years and was chairman of the House Energy and Environmental Protection and Agricultural Committees. Osterberg co-founded the Iowa Policy Project in 2001 and served as its executive director until June 2013. He currently researches and authors Iowa Policy Project reports and speaks widely on the findings. Osterberg has a Master of Arts in water resources, another in agricultural economics, and is currently a professor in the Department of Occupational and Environmental Health at the University of Iowa.

For more information, contact Speak Up Now via email at SUNSEIowa@gmail.com or call Diane Rosenberg at 472-9332 or Mary Tarnoff at 919-0130.