The separation of our politicians from the people they supposedly represent has been a disturbing trend for decades now. A number of them insulate themselves from contrary viewpoints and simply do not listen. Some have been so thoroughly bought out and made beholden to a party leader and party line that good governance is impossible in Iowa. This must stop, and it relies in part on an Iowa Democratic Party that will reform itself to listen and act on behalf of the people whom they represent.
David I tried to post this piece to the Spirit Lake Protective Associstion's Facebook spot this week. It was never posted. Earlier this month there was a post from the Iowa Natural Heritage about the Outdoor Recreation fund. Thus I thought your info was timely. I heard from John Smeltzer, SLPA president, after I posted a query about the missing article. John wrote that it was too sensitive in these times. I know how NW Iowa is and still think Dickinson County qualifies as a sunset community. I tried but this is another experience that validates why retiring in the lakes area would not be for me. Great spot on our earth but not the most welcoming if you have a different way. Best regards, Mary C. McCarthy (Ginne's friend)
Trump and the Iowa GOP have people scared all the way down to the local level. It's a disgrace. We are living in very troubled times for our country. I'm happy to be in Colorado. Okoboji is not what it used to be. Thank you for your note. I may talk to John Smeltzer about the issue. Cheers, D
David, thank you for tracking this. I try, usually fail, but try to avoid being overly cynical about these debates. But I cannot avoid thinking that a big reason why the GOP industrialists and MAGA are so unsupportive or even oppositional to preserve natural spaces (for outdoor recreation and just for human observation of nature) is that the more people spend time outdoors in natural or more natural spaces they tend to become better stewards and conservationists. And then they intern demand more environmental protection from government, which is anathema to the "develop-industrialize-monetize" crowd. Any thoughts?
Thank you John. Great thoughts. Yes, more public lands/waters = better stewards = more informed, committed citizens which is antithetic to MAGA GOP. I think it's worth exploring in a column. Maybe you and I could do a Substack Live with Julie on this topic. Thoughts?
Quite frankly, I'm still trying to figure this all out. Historically, many of the great conservation/environmental actions have been done by the GOP. Think Nixon- EPA, Reagan- Ozone Hole, Roosevelt- National Forest Service/Parks/Public lands, etc. But something changed during and after the Reagan Administration. I believe it was climate change, Big Oil and Big Ag. You can track that in Iowa as the laws like the Clean Water Act and WOTUS became the thorns in the side of Big Ag as family farms disappeared, row cropping and CAFOs expanded along with tiling fields, and water pollution became a thing which needed to be skirted. This succeeded when it was decided that ag could exempt itself from regulation because they were producing "non-point source" pollution. Big Oil captured Big Ag with ethanol and also with fossil-fuel based nitrogen fertilizer. Big Ag has now captured the state of Iowa to a point where any available farmland to grow corn for ethanol is up for grabs and the Iowa Farm Bureau is making sure that the DNR, INHF, counties or communities do not purchase this land as, God forbid, we create some nice things for Iowans. Anyway, this is a rambling simplistic non-answer, but my main observation is that some point around 20-30 years ago, the GOP quit caring about conservation/environment and went full-on "industrialist" as you were saying. And Big Oil started funding anti-science disinformation campaigns to confuse the public about the dangers of climate change. And don't forget Citizens United and dark money.
I think you just wrote a significant portion of a column :) and I am appreciating your comment very much. Yes! Let's put our heads together on this, because I think the GOP/MAGA connection to industrial development pressures and the pressure to monetize everything under the sun and the consequent abandonment of conservation and environmental protection is real and powerful. Let's get after that! Let me know how you would like to proceed in putting something together that we could co-author and co-publish. Very exciting!
Thanks David, I posted on the Spirit Lake Protective Association Facebook page. I am a member. I hope your article gets due attention from across Iowa.
As someone who grew up in Clear Lake, I have watched a community rally behind keeping Cerro Gordo's number one natural asset protected through initiatives such as the CLEAR project (https://www.clearproject.net/). Yet, my home county state senator is one of the 17 members leading the bill. Seems a bit out of touch with the community's biggest point of pride!
Perhaps Iowans need a new strategy where we set up a private fund as part of a statewide Community Foundations network or something similar to address the gap in funding for nature projects and protection. ICON has already successfully raised $100M for water trail projects...
Great thoughts. The strategy has to include some kind of outreach to the Iowa Farm Bureau in some capacity. They are the organization holding our legislators hostage. I’m familiar with the great efforts to make Clear Lake great again and the many water trails projects but we have a $$multi-billion water quality nightmare not being addressed. Thank you for your efforts.
The separation of our politicians from the people they supposedly represent has been a disturbing trend for decades now. A number of them insulate themselves from contrary viewpoints and simply do not listen. Some have been so thoroughly bought out and made beholden to a party leader and party line that good governance is impossible in Iowa. This must stop, and it relies in part on an Iowa Democratic Party that will reform itself to listen and act on behalf of the people whom they represent.
Our two Republicans claim it's obsolete because they dealt with water quality in other ways!
True. Your two Republicans have allowed polluters to keep polluting.
David I tried to post this piece to the Spirit Lake Protective Associstion's Facebook spot this week. It was never posted. Earlier this month there was a post from the Iowa Natural Heritage about the Outdoor Recreation fund. Thus I thought your info was timely. I heard from John Smeltzer, SLPA president, after I posted a query about the missing article. John wrote that it was too sensitive in these times. I know how NW Iowa is and still think Dickinson County qualifies as a sunset community. I tried but this is another experience that validates why retiring in the lakes area would not be for me. Great spot on our earth but not the most welcoming if you have a different way. Best regards, Mary C. McCarthy (Ginne's friend)
Trump and the Iowa GOP have people scared all the way down to the local level. It's a disgrace. We are living in very troubled times for our country. I'm happy to be in Colorado. Okoboji is not what it used to be. Thank you for your note. I may talk to John Smeltzer about the issue. Cheers, D
David, thank you for tracking this. I try, usually fail, but try to avoid being overly cynical about these debates. But I cannot avoid thinking that a big reason why the GOP industrialists and MAGA are so unsupportive or even oppositional to preserve natural spaces (for outdoor recreation and just for human observation of nature) is that the more people spend time outdoors in natural or more natural spaces they tend to become better stewards and conservationists. And then they intern demand more environmental protection from government, which is anathema to the "develop-industrialize-monetize" crowd. Any thoughts?
Thank you John. Great thoughts. Yes, more public lands/waters = better stewards = more informed, committed citizens which is antithetic to MAGA GOP. I think it's worth exploring in a column. Maybe you and I could do a Substack Live with Julie on this topic. Thoughts?
Quite frankly, I'm still trying to figure this all out. Historically, many of the great conservation/environmental actions have been done by the GOP. Think Nixon- EPA, Reagan- Ozone Hole, Roosevelt- National Forest Service/Parks/Public lands, etc. But something changed during and after the Reagan Administration. I believe it was climate change, Big Oil and Big Ag. You can track that in Iowa as the laws like the Clean Water Act and WOTUS became the thorns in the side of Big Ag as family farms disappeared, row cropping and CAFOs expanded along with tiling fields, and water pollution became a thing which needed to be skirted. This succeeded when it was decided that ag could exempt itself from regulation because they were producing "non-point source" pollution. Big Oil captured Big Ag with ethanol and also with fossil-fuel based nitrogen fertilizer. Big Ag has now captured the state of Iowa to a point where any available farmland to grow corn for ethanol is up for grabs and the Iowa Farm Bureau is making sure that the DNR, INHF, counties or communities do not purchase this land as, God forbid, we create some nice things for Iowans. Anyway, this is a rambling simplistic non-answer, but my main observation is that some point around 20-30 years ago, the GOP quit caring about conservation/environment and went full-on "industrialist" as you were saying. And Big Oil started funding anti-science disinformation campaigns to confuse the public about the dangers of climate change. And don't forget Citizens United and dark money.
Let's put our heads together.
I think you just wrote a significant portion of a column :) and I am appreciating your comment very much. Yes! Let's put our heads together on this, because I think the GOP/MAGA connection to industrial development pressures and the pressure to monetize everything under the sun and the consequent abandonment of conservation and environmental protection is real and powerful. Let's get after that! Let me know how you would like to proceed in putting something together that we could co-author and co-publish. Very exciting!
I like this idea very much. Let's do it. We should plan to talk this weekend and kick around some ideas. Julie will love this! Cheers, D
My cell is (206) 910-6171 Pls drop me a text with your contact and let’s have chat at your convenience.
Thanks David, I posted on the Spirit Lake Protective Association Facebook page. I am a member. I hope your article gets due attention from across Iowa.
Thank you Mary
As someone who grew up in Clear Lake, I have watched a community rally behind keeping Cerro Gordo's number one natural asset protected through initiatives such as the CLEAR project (https://www.clearproject.net/). Yet, my home county state senator is one of the 17 members leading the bill. Seems a bit out of touch with the community's biggest point of pride!
Perhaps Iowans need a new strategy where we set up a private fund as part of a statewide Community Foundations network or something similar to address the gap in funding for nature projects and protection. ICON has already successfully raised $100M for water trail projects...
Great thoughts. The strategy has to include some kind of outreach to the Iowa Farm Bureau in some capacity. They are the organization holding our legislators hostage. I’m familiar with the great efforts to make Clear Lake great again and the many water trails projects but we have a $$multi-billion water quality nightmare not being addressed. Thank you for your efforts.