Tag Archives: CO2 pipelines

Marijuana: Legalize it!

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During my 38 years as a politician and activist, I’ve frequently been out of step with mainstream opinion on controversial issues. One of those is cannabis. After meeting Carl Olsen in 1992 during my first legislative campaign, I agreed to help push legislation to legalize marijuana.

Carl’s my guest on the first segment of this week’s program — and a veritable encyclopedia of weed wisdom. Carl has spent his adult life pushing to decriminalize marijuana. He understands the ins and outs of federal and state drug policy better than anyone I know.

With Carl’s guidance, in 1993 I was one of ten House members — nine Democrats and one Republican — who introduced HF 404. That bill would have authorized the lawful possession of marijuana for therapeutic purposes. Not surprisingly, in the Republican-controlled Iowa House, it went nowhere. Continue Reading →

Walking across the Mojave Desert

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I talk with Tim Takaro, a professor and researcher who spent months sitting in a tree to block construction of an oil pipeline across British Columbia, Canada.

Then at the 20-minute mark, Iowa Senator Brad Zaun (R-Urbandale) joins me to discuss CO2 pipelines, eminent domain, climate change, education, the US Supreme Court nomination circus, and (for the heck of it) Chris Rock vs. Will Smith.

Finally, at the 46-minute mark, Kathy and I address the frightening specter of a grain shortage and increased global hunger, given the continued war in Ukraine. Continue Reading →

If Iowa Democrats lose in November, blame this

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Why do I think Democrats are headed for another train wreck? Let me take you back to 2006, when I ran for governor. Rural Iowans of all political stripes were fed up with Republicans’ unwillingness to fix the Confined Animal Feeding Operation (CAFO) problem. That issue was a key factor in Democrats winning the governor’s office that year and taking control of the Iowa House and Senate.

With a new party in charge, Iowans expected results. Voters gave Democrats four years to fix the CAFO problem. Democrats failed — miserably, in fact, arguably making the problem worse.

Today, the political landscape in Iowa is much the same. Republicans refuse to help rural Iowans threatened by 2,000 miles (yes, 2,000!) of CO2 pipelines. Once again, they’ve handed Democrats a winning issue.

And what does the leadership of the Iowa Democratic Party do? So far, it has refused to take a stand against this property-rights-trampling, public-health-menacing, faux-climate-solution greenwashing scheme. Continue Reading →

Navigator Pipeline Hearings Scheduled

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Two carbon dioxide pipelines are now formally proposed to tear through approximately 1,600 miles of Iowa farmland. That’s over four times the length of the Dakota Access Pipeline’s footprint across Iowa!

With Iowa landowners and other concerned residents still trying to process information from thirty Summit Pipeline public hearings that just wrapped up, the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) wasted no time announcing a new set of hearings for the Navigator Pipeline.

We can’t sit back. We’ve gotta respond. These big corporations and their bought-and-paid for allies in state government hope to wear us down. Continue Reading →