Thursday, April 9, 2015 – Storm Lake, Iowa

{Celebrate the completion of the Iowa Pipeline Walk: Earth Day Rally to Stop the Pipeline, Wednesday, April 22 from 5:00-6:00 p.m. at Locust and E. 7th in Des Moines. For the latest route and schedule detail, click here.}

So much news to share! Most of it good. But first, a brief recap from last week’s final day of walking:

The weather whooped me good last week. Thursday’s trek was a fitting conclusion to four water-logged days. During the final mile, I relied on the full force of my walking stick to drag me through a headwind laden with rain, changing to sleet.

The end point of that final mile provided some encouragement, as the blades of the mid-size turbines of Iowa’s oldest wind farm seemed to cheer me on. Sitting on Buffalo Ridge north of Alta, these turbines are the older variety. Ok, not this old.

Not even this old.

Here, this one here.

And one that looked like this, struck by lightning during the previous night’s thunderstorm. Ouch.

This wind farm shows how far one sustainable energy technology has come in so little time. With this kind of progress being made on so many fronts, there is no reason to further entrench the risky, dirty, heavily-subsidized oil industry with an pipeline forced upon landowners who understand the many liabilities they would be stuck with if their land is condemned by Dakota Access.

Ok, the news:

1. Eminent domain legislation is coming this week! I was in touch this weekend with two key lawmakers who assured me that, before week’s end, we’ll have companion bills with bipartisan support in both House and Senate. This is very encouraging. Stay tuned.

2. In related eminent domain news, the Iowa Supreme Court last week sided with farmers and landowners who have for years battled to prevent condemnation of their land for a recreational lake in Clarke County. More on that soon.

3. Dakota Access is growing more aggressive with landowners who refuse to allow surveyors on their property. Look for developments this week as the company seeks injunctions to force landowners to grant them access to farmers’ fields – just in time for planting, too.

4. This could be the week that the Keystone Pipeline is finally laid to rest. Great news, of course, but it also shifts the focus to the Bakken Oil Pipeline, which I fear would become the new Keystone, eventually tapping into the vast supply of tar sands oil in Alberta, locking in Iowa for decades to come as a conduit for the dirtiest oil in the world.

5. And finally, Hillary Clinton announces she’ll run for President. Ok, that’s not really news. But help make news by getting her – or any of the other prospective Republican or Democratic presidential candidates – to answer this simple question: “As President, will you use both your executive authority and your bully pulpit to oppose the Bakken Oil Pipeline?”

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Tune-in to discuss this news and to hear the latest developments on the Iowa Pipeline Walk on the Fallon Forum on Monday, April 13 at 11:00 a.m. on KDLF 1260 AM La Reina (Des Moines) and online. State Rep. Dan Kelley hosts the program, and his other guest is State Rep. Scott Ourth, who will discuss developments with the House Natural Resources Committee.