On the eve of “Earth Day” this Sunday a handful of state senators got into a partisan squabble over “climate change.” It was Senator Rob Hogg, a Democrat from Cedar Rapids, who got things started by reading a statement from a group of Iowa religious leaders, including his own Catholic bishop. The statement read “Climate change is one of the most pressing challenges facing our world today and as religious leaders representing diverse faith traditions we are called to reaffirm our commitment to be responsible stewards of Earth’s resources and to act in love to our neighbors both locally and globally,'” Hogg said. “‘Scientists, including those representing 28 Iowa colleges and universities who recently released a statement, have warned us that changes in global climate patterns are brining more extreme weather events to Iowa, the United States and our world.'” 

That prompted Republican Senator David Johnson of Ocheyedan to ridicule the idea that humans are the main cause of climate change. “With all due respect to our religious leaders…how much are you willing to spend to reverse what you call global warming?” Johnson asked. “…The country of Spain made a huge transition to their economy for green energy. What was the result of that? Bankruptcy?” Hogg suggested ignoring climate change would wreck the U.S. economy.
“How much better off would this country be if there hadn’t been a $6 billion drought last year in Texas? How much better off would our state be if we hadn’t suffered $20 billion in flood damage over the last 20 years,” Hogg said, his voice rising to a yell. “You want to ruin our economy, Senator Johnson, you stick your head in the sand and ignore this issue.” Johnson responded with a little yelling of his own.

I’m on the side of the scientists I served with in Antartica and Greenland and I’m the only member of this body that has done that,” Johnson said. “And there is no agreement in the scientific community, no consensus that things have really changed because change happens.” Senator Joni Ernst of Red Oak openly admitted to being a Republican who drives a fuel-efficient Prius. “I did it just because I’m fiscally conservative and driving a Buick Enclave all around my rather large (senate) district was just not affordable,” Ernst said. That prompted Senator Tom Courtney, a Democrat from Burlington, to admit he drives a gas-guzzling Corvette convertible. “That’s my choice and I think it makes a 64-year-old man look pretty good, so that’s why I drive that,” Courtney said, to laughter.

Key leaders expect the 2012 legislative session to wrap up sometime next week, but big decisions remain on budget issues and an agreement on property tax reform.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)

Governor Terry Branstad will be the featured speaker this (Saturday) afternoon at the Republican Party of Iowa’s 3^rd District Convention, in Stuart. The district convention takes place at the Stuart High School, beginning at 9:30-a.m.  Branstad is scheduled to address the convention at 2-p.m.

Other Iowa GOP District Conventions will be held today in Grinnell, Mt. Pleasant, and Fort Dodge.

The Guthrie County Board of Supervisors have unanimously approved a request by Sheriff Marty Arganbright, to hire a deputy to replace one of his men, who went to work for the Guthrie Center Police Department. The man Arganbright hired to replace Neil Lemke, was Audubon County Sheriff’s Deputy Kent Gries, who is scheduled to begin his duties with Guthrie County, on April 25th.

The 26-year old Gries is a K-9 officer, who served with the Carroll County Juvenile Detention Center and Coon Rapids Police Department, before becoming a deputy in Audubon County. According to the Guthrie Center Times, Sheriff Arganbright told the Board of Supervisors last Tuesday, that Gries is interested in training a dual purpose replacement dog for K-9 Raven, who retired from the force last year.

Gries, he said, would like the force to train a combination tracker/drug dog. In comparison, Raven was trained only as a drug dog. If a dog is purchased to replace Raven, Arganbright said it will be accomplished through private donations, and not taxpayer funds. He also noted that there was still nearly $2,500 in Raven’s account which could be applied to a new dog.

U.S. Ag Secretary Tom Vilsack is suggesting the Army Corps of Engineers should be more nimble in responding to weather events that impact the agency’s management of the Missouri River. “It would be well for the Army Corps to be more attentive to the needs and to listen more closely to the concerns along the river systems. I think there’s a tendency for the Army Corps to say, ‘Hey, we’ve got the answer,'” Vilsack says. “You know, you really have to have better dialogue and better communication with folks.”

Farmers and others along the Missouri River have complained about the way the Corps managed the release of water from upstream dams last year — leading to massive, long-term flooding along the river corridor. Vilsack says the Corps needs to build “more flexibility” into its management plan for the Missouri. “When they saw record snowfalls and snowpack, there should have been, ‘Hey, how does this fit into our overall strategy and does it still fit and does it still work?'” Vilsack says. “We’re seeing more extreme weather conditions and I think that put the emphasis and a requirement on all of us to constantly rethink whether or not our assumptions were correct in whatever plan we’ve developed.”

Vilsack says the Corps should “be more engaged” in an on-going review of its management plan for the Missouri or any other river. “Not just well, ‘Well, we’ve done this plan and we’ve put a lot of effort into it and we can park that plan and we can just work that plan because it’s the right plan,'” Vilsack says. “Well, maybe it was the right plan at the time. Who knows? But you now have changing weather conditions and you should be saying, ‘Does this plan still fit?'” Vilsack, a former Iowa governor, made his comments Friday, during and after taping of an appearance on Iowa Public Television’s “Iowa Press” program, which airs Sunday.

(O. Kay Henderson/Radio Iowa)