New IUB conflict revealed as DAPL request denied!

Posted on May 18, 2017 by Ed Fallon

To those who say, “The fight against the Dakota Access pipeline is over, so just move on,” we pipeline fighters and water protectors say, “Not so fast!”

Lawsuit plaintiffs at a 2016 press conference

Tuesday, the Iowa Supreme Court sided with nine Iowa landowners and the Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, rejecting Dakota Access’ request to have the landowners’ lawsuit dismissed!

The Court’s order reads: “Dakota Access contends this appeal should be dismissed because the appellant, Sierra Club Iowa Chapter, has failed to establish proper standing in this matter and the remaining appellants’ claims are moot. Upon consideration, the motion to dismiss is denied. Dakota Access may raise the issues regarding standing and mootness in its appellate brief.”

The march after the landowners’ hearing at the Polk County Courthouse in December

Click here to read the complete order: 17. Order – Motion to Dismiss Denied

This is a really big deal. It means the case against the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) and Dakota Access will move forward, with a schedule for court filings being established and a trial likely later this year or early in 2018.

The Court’s order revealed another important and disturbing development. Richard W. Lozier, Jr. requested permission to withdraw as counsel for the MAIN Coalition — a front group for Dakota Access. The Court rightfully granted that request. What’s incredible is that Governor Branstad recently appointed Lozier to the IUB, filling the seat vacated by Libby Jacobs, despite this clear conflict of interest!

Richard W. Lozier, Jr.

If Branstad wanted to inflame pipeline opponents and encourage further criticism of the rampant corruption within his administration, putting Lozier on the IUB was the perfect way to do that.

Now the burden of defending this wolf-guards-hen-house appointment falls to Lt. Gov. Kim Reynolds. It’ll be interesting to see how Reynolds responds. If she kowtows to Big Oil and keeps Lozier on the IUB, don’t be surprised if her Republican opponent(s) make hay with it leading up to next June’s gubernatorial primary.

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Board that Approved Pipeline Again Under Fire

Posted on April 5, 2017 by Ed Fallon

Dear Friends,

The Iowa Utilities Board continues to demonstrate how out of touch it is with both reality and public opinion. Check out this Bleeding Heartland story about Board chair Geri Huser’s unprecedented conflict of interest. Associated Press reporter Ryan Foley originally broke the story. Here’s the link to that: Iowa regulator keeps busy private law practice.

Geri Huser, Chair, Iowa Utilities Board

The Iowa Senate has the opportunity to do the right thing relevant to whether or not Huser remains on the board. Writes Bleeding Heartland:

“Senators don’t need to make this into a complicated question. Iowa Code says each utilities board member ‘shall devote the member’s whole time to the duties of the office.’ Farming on the weekend or driving a cab at night isn’t the same as lawyering during regular business hours. Anyway, those other occupations don’t present potential conflicts of interest. It’s not a coincidence that no other attorney in living memory has continued running a private law practice while serving on the IUB.”

In the meantime, join Indigenous Iowa and Bold Iowa tomorrow as we call out the IUB for this and other conflicts-of-interest, and for failing to represent the public interest on so many occasions during the hasty approval process for the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Here’s an excerpt from Bold Iowa’s press release that went out this morning about tomorrow’s IUB event. Read the full release here:

Members and supporters of Indigenous Iowa and Bold Iowa are invited to join a rally outside IUB this Thursday, April 6 at 1:30 p.m. In addition to comments by organizers and a chance for people to speak out, Native drummers and singers will perform, calling attention to the many ways in which the Dakota Access pipeline is an affront to Native communities in Iowa, North Dakota and across the U.S.

WHAT: Native-led Rally at IUB to Challenge Dakota Access Approval
WHO: Indigenous Iowa, Bold Iowa, Native drummers & singers
WHEN: Thursday, April 6, 1:30 p.m. – 2:30 p.m.
WHERE: Iowa Utilities Board, 1375 E. Court Avenue, Des Moines

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Native Youth Run to Stop Pipeline

Posted on July 12, 2016 by Ed Fallon

Dear Friends,

Yesterday, I learned from sources in southeast Iowa that pipeline construction has started in Lee and Jefferson counties. This is a sad moment for Iowa. But after the Iowa Utilities Board ruling last month, we knew it was coming.

While sad, I’m hardly discouraged. We still have the court case brought by ten landowners over the illegal use of eminent domain. We still await the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision on issuing a permit.

And remember: Construction was initiated on other pipelines elsewhere in the country (Keystone, Constitution, Palmetto) and they were defeated. Don’t give up! We can stop this!

Need more hope? On Friday, youth from the Standing Rock Sioux reservation will set-out on a 1,500-mile “Run for Our Water” to Washington, DC to protest the pipeline. They’ll cross Iowa from July 19 – 25, and they invite people to run with them, meet them, share a meal with them and hear their stories. They also need to borrow a couple of vans, if you have one to spare or would like to pay for one to be rented. For more information visit their Facebook Page or contact Bobbi Jean Three Legs at bobbi.jean@ocetisakowinyouth.com or Joseph White Eyes at joseph@ocetisakowinyouth.com.

Need even more hope? Support for direct action to stop the pipeline continues to grow, with nearly 1,000 people signing the Pledge of Resistance! This is incredible and unprecedented. Thank you to those who have signed. If you haven’t, please read the Pledge and consider being part of what could be a truly historic moment.

It’s impossible to say exactly when or where direct action will occur, but it could be soon, and it could be anywhere in Iowa. I’ll keep you posted, and please visit the Bold Iowa Facebook Page for additional updates. Thanks again to Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement and CREDO Action for partnering with Bold Iowa to help circulate the Pledge.

*******

Here are the segment topics from this week’s Fallon Forum, with Dr. Charles Goldman co-hosting. Please bear with us while we continue to work out the kinks in our new and vastly-improved podcasting format. Listen to podcasts here.

1. Shootings show America’s worsening racial and economic divide
2. Anna Kalinsky speaks out on Exxon
3. Our militarized police force an invitation to Fascism
4. Clinton foreign policy more hawk than dove
5. Abortion opponents lose…again

Listen to the Fallon Forum:
– Live Mondays, 11:00-12:00 noon CT on La Reina KDLF 1260 AM (Des Moines, IA)
– Outside of central Iowa, listen live here: FALLON FORUM LIVE-STREAM
– KHOI 89.1 FM (Ames, IA)
– KICI.LP 105.3 FM (Iowa City, IA)
– WHIV 102.3 FM (New Orleans, LA)
– KPIP-LP, 94.7 FM (Fayette, MO)

Thanks! – Ed Fallon

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Pipeline Fighters Needed on Monday!

Posted on June 5, 2016 by Ed Fallon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, June 5, 2016

Contact: Ed Fallon, Bold Iowa ed@boldiowa.org, (515) 238-6404
Adam Mason, Iowa CCI adam@iowacci.org, (515) 282-0484

“BROKEN HEARTLAND” RALLY OPPOSES PIPELINE

Des Moines, IA – With the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) meeting on Monday, June 6 to possibly decide to allow construction of the Bakken Pipeline in Iowa, Bold Iowa, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, and the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition are set to rally on Monday, June 6 from 1:30-2:30 p.m. at the far west side of the west Capitol Terrace, on the large granite county map of Iowa, at E Locust and E 7th streets.

The groups will ask the IUB not to reverse its March 10 order requiring Dakota Access to secure all necessary permits and authorizations for the proposed Bakken Oil Pipeline, set to cross 18 Iowa counties and all of Iowa’s major waterways. Participants will present a creative, visual representation of the potential impact of the pipeline on Iowa’s watersheds, with statements being shared by landowners in each of those watershed areas.

Since the March 10 ruling, Dakota Access has still not received the needed Army Corps of Engineers’ authorizations. On May 25, the US Fish & Wildlife Service revoked an Iowa DNR-issued Sovereign Lands permit after discovering a historic and culturally significant Native America site in the pipeline’s path in Lyon County.

Iowans remain concerned about the project’s impact on soil, water, property rights and economic interests.

Bold Iowa, Iowa CCI and the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition will continue building their “Summer of Resistance” against the Bakken Pipeline. At the granite county map of Iowa on the State Capitol grounds, seven Iowans will speak out about their ecosystems and communities that the pipeline imperils, against the backdrop of a huge patchwork heart in this “Broken Heartland” action.

Who: Bold Iowa, Iowa CCI and Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition
What: Rally and creative political theater against the Pipeline
Where: Map on the West Capitol Terrace, E Locust & E 7th
When: Monday June 6, 1:30-2:30 p.m.

Bold Iowa and Iowa CCI are part of a growing number of organizations, landowners and everyday Iowans across the state committed to stopping the proposed Bakken Pipeline. Both groups work closely with and are members of the 30-member Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition. Visit www.nobakken.com.

Bold Iowa is part of the national Bold Alliance, now in five states and building unlikely alliances to fight fossil-fuel infrastructure expansion projects and promote renewable energy. Visit www.boldnebraska.org/tag/bold-alliance.

Iowa CCI is a statewide, grassroots people’s-action group that uses community organizing to win public policy that puts communities before corporations and people before profits, politics and polluters. CCI has fought to put people first for 40 years. Visit www.iowacci.org.

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Endorsements

Posted on June 3, 2016 by Ed Fallon

Dear Friends,

Due to multitudinous requests for more detail about the candidates I’m endorsing . . . .

PRESIDENT: BERNIE SANDERS – This is relevant if you live in California, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, North Dakota and South Dakota, or if you have friends who live in those states. In other words, it’s relevant for all of you!

This race is not over. Not even close. If Sanders wins next Tuesday, the Democratic convention in Philadelphia is going to be, well . . . . HUGE! Any American who understands that a Donald Trump presidency couldn’t lead to fascism should be fighting as hard as possible for the candidate best able to defeat Trump in November. Nearly every single poll shows Sanders trumping Trump by significant margins. Hillary Clinton either wins by margins that are sometimes too close for comfort or, in some key states, actually loses to Trump.

A Trump presidency is a risk we can’t take.

I dislike polls as much as anybody. But as I learned when I ran for Congress, professional polls are remarkably accurate. Democrats supporting Clinton need to face the fact that Sanders is the strongest candidate to avert what could be the greatest threat ever to our liberty and freedom.

So, tell your friends and their friends in the states listed above to vote for Bernie Sanders on June 7. If you want to get even more involved, in a brilliant piece of campaign strategy, the Sanders campaign has launched a coordinated effort to ask supporters across the country to call voters in these states. Click here to get on the phone for Bernie.

U.S. SENATE: ROB HOGG – I have good friends who are supporting Bob Krause or Tom Fiegen. I respect that. I would be content with either of them as my U.S. Senator. But Hogg has absolutely distinguished himself as one of not just Iowa’s but America’s most vocal and effective advocates for serious climate action. With Hogg in the Senate, the U.S. Congress will no longer be able to ignore the climate crisis. He feels that strongly about it, and understands it that thoroughly.

And now, to utter words that the Iowa Democratic Establishment dreads . . . . I will not vote for Patty Judge in November. I will vote for Hogg, Fiegen or Krause if any of them wins the nomination. But not for Judge, and I know there are lots of Iowans who feel the same way. The last thing the U.S. Senate needs is another pawn of corporate interests. On this account, Judge has a long and distinguished record. My interests, and I suspect your interests, will be not be those that drive Judge as a U.S. Senator. As when she was Iowa Secretary of Agriculture and Lt. Governor, it will be corporate donors who have her ear, not us.

So, not only is Hogg the best candidate to fight the climate crisis, he’s also the best candidate to beat Judge in the primary and Chuck Grassley in November. Want to learn more from the man himself? I’m hosting a house party and concert for Rob at 735 19th St in Des Moines this Sunday, June 5th from 4:30-6:30 p.m. Donations to Rob’s campaign appreciated but certainly not required. Here’s the link to the Facebook invitation.

U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 1: MONICA VERNON – The First District is the northeast quadrant of the state. Honestly, I don’t know Monica Vernon that well. I’ve met her a few times, like her well enough, and hear good things about her. But I know Pat Murphy really well, and when I think of people I enjoyed serving with at the Statehouse, Murphy is not on even on the long list. He was difficult to work with, and often opposed me and others on progressive legislation that the vast majority of voters supported.

This primary election is pretty much a repeat. Murphy won last time, only to lose in the general election in a district that is overwhelmingly Democratic. He had his chance and blew it. I say it’s time to give Vernon a shot.

U.S. HOUSE DISTRICT 3: DESMUND ADAMS – The Third District includes Des Moines, Council Bluffs and southwest Iowa. I’ve been crystal clear that Desmund Adams is my guy. (Click here to see the video from my house party for him.) Adams is a fast study on issues, and as our Congressman, he’d be Iowa’s lone progressive voice in Washington. (Someone pass that along to Congressman Loebsack for me.)

The other Democratic candidates are Mike Sherzan and Jim Mowrer. I’ve only met Sherzan once and don’t have a good sense of his priorities, though I could conceivably vote for him in November.

But as with the U.S. Senate race, I’ll make it perfectly clear that, should Jim Mowrer win the Democratic primary, I will not vote for him in the fall. The last thing Washington needs is another foreign policy hawk whose main claim to political viability is a tenacious ability to rake in money from special interests.

Besides, in terms of winning the general election, Adams presents the greatest contrast with Rep. David Young — and contrast is never a bad thing in a swing district such as the Third.

IOWA HOUSE DISTRICT 29: DAN KELLEY – Dan Kelley has done an excellent job over the last six years representing Jasper County at the Statehouse, where he’s admired for his sincerity, integrity and hard work. He’s been Iowa’s most vocal opponent of the Bakken Pipeline — which is, I suspect, one reason he has a primary opponent from . . . you guessed it: The Democratic Establishment.

More than anything, Dan needs boots on the ground, so to speak. Come join me in Newton on Saturday, June 4 at 10:00 a.m. to knock on doors for Dan so we can send him back to the State Capitol where he has done so much good for his constituents and for all of Iowa. Click here for detail on Saturday’s door knocking event.

IOWA HOUSE DISTRICT 41: EDDIE MAURO – I first met Eddie Mauro when I was helping deliver meals to the homeless along the Des Moines River one day. No, Mauro wasn’t homeless. He was delivering meals, too. That impressed me, and suggested that he has the heart and sense of compassion needed of a true public servant. So, if you live in Sherman Hill, southwest Des Moines or west-central Des Moines, please consider giving Mauro your vote.

*******

Check out podcasts from this week’s Fallon Forum:

1. Trump Watch
2. Pipeline Grinds to a Halt
3. Allergies Worsen in New Climate Era
4. Veggie Thumper
5. Soylent Beef

Thanks! – Ed Fallon

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Pipeline Opponents Will Continue Fight

Posted on February 11, 2016 by Ed Fallon

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
3:00 p.m. CST – Thursday, February 11, 2016

Contact: Ed Fallon, 515-238-6404 or fallonforum@gmail.com
Kathy Holdefer, 515-491-8468 or kholdefer@hotmail.com
State Rep. Dan Kelley, (641) 521-9260 or dan.kelley@legis.iowa.gov
Pam & Bill Alexander, (641) 682-5905 or wha-lex55@hotmail.com

Pipeline Opponents Will Continue Fight
Vow to remain vigilant, active, engaged

DES MOINES — Iowa pipeline fighters commended the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB) for taking further time to deliberate on Dakota Access’ request for a permit to build a crude oil pipeline across 350 miles of prime Iowa farmland. It is uncertain how the process will continue to unfold, but after a week of IUB meetings, pipeline opponents made it clear they will continue to be involved, vigilant and outspoken.

“I continue to be proud of how far we have come in resisting this attack on Iowa landowner rights as well as on our soil and water,” said Kathy Holdefer, a Jasper County landowner whose land is just a few hundred yards from where the pipeline is proposed to run. “I think Dakota Access thought it would bulldoze us through this process, similar to how they want to bulldoze our land. We will continue to fight this until we drive this out-of-state, private company out of Iowa.”

“I commend the board members for taking further time to address this unprecedented and extremely damaging proposal,” said Ed Fallon, a former lawmaker who walked the length of the proposed pipeline in 2015. “Some board members’ comments concern me. But much of their inquiry is spot-on. And staff have done a decent job at presenting not just Dakota Access’ view point but the perspective of opponents as well. The fact that board members are willing to further slow down the process is encouraging.”

“I’ve opposed this project on behalf of Jasper County farmers and landowners from the beginning,” said State Representative Dan Kelley (D-Newton), who attended the IUB meeting today. “Our environment must be protected from spills – both catastrophic and chronic. Our addiction to oil may be fatal, and our focus must be on clean renewables.” Kelley wouldn’t speculate on the IUB’s eventual decision, saying it could go either way.

“Our whole family is affected by this,” said Pam Alexander, whose family owns land in Mahaska County that would be compromised by the pipeline. “It’s been nerve-wracking, not knowing what’s going on from one step to the next. It seems like we landowners are almost second-class citizens when it comes to our role in this pipeline. But I am at least glad the Board is taking time making a decision.”

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Pipeline Battle Moves to Courts

Posted on August 9, 2015 by Ed Fallon

Dear Friends,

Keith Puntenney

Good news in the battle to stop the Bakken Oil Pipeline! Landowners and attorneys have formed the Private Property Rights Coalition (PPRC) to take the fight to the courts. PPRC’s lawsuit maintains that “the Iowa Utilities Board has no legal authority to grant eminent domain to Dakota Access,” and that “the Legislature did not intend for a nonresident interstate crude oil pipeline to be able to use our eminent domain laws to take farmland from Iowans and then not be subject to Iowa’s pipeline safety regulations.”

Continue Reading →

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