Des Moines is the home base for ReEnergizeIA, the Iowa contingent of the Sierra Student Coalitions ReEnergizeUS campaign this summer. As I write, the rest of the ReEnergizeIA team is at the West Des Moines farmer’s market, collecting petition signatures, striking up conversations about how to fight global warming and making connections with local Iowans. In the last two days alone we obliterated our weekly goals. Team Iowa is pumped up and ready to make waves in Iowa. With the help of the current attention of the national media, the time is right for Iowa to take the lead in calling for national action.
Let me give you a little perspective on the scope of our project. Global warming is everywhere in the media, and has recently come full swing into the political discourse. Here in Iowa, in the heartland of the country, folks are taking action on global warming. The Mayor of Des Moines was the first Iowa mayor to sign the Mayor’s Climate Protection Agreement and is hosting a conference next week to urge all of the other mayors in Iowa to do likewise. Iowa has the third most developed wind capacity in the country, behind California and Texas. In the last two weeks, 23 mayors in Iowa have signed on to be Cool Cities.
These actions are fantastic, but so far Iowans’ influence has mostly been limited to Iowa. With the March to ReEnergizeIA, we have the opportunity to mobilize the largest climate action ever seen in the state and bring Iowa to the forefront in calling for smart, comprehensive climate policy. Not only will national leaders be called on for action, but it will be Iowans in the heartland who do so.
This can be Iowa’s tipping point. At the march we will see the citizens of Iowa demand a clean energy economy and stand up against fossil fuels. By early August we will see Iowa take the lead in the fight against global warming. Come join us at the March to ReEnergize IA from August 2-5, and be a part of changing the climate around global warming.
This post will be part on an ongoing series reporting on youth leaders reporting from a summer making Global Warming a political priority, as part of our new It’s Getting Hot in Here Reporting Team.
