Changing the Conversation on Climate

March 27, 2019 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends, [SIGN UP HERE FOR BOLD’S CLIMATE BIRD DOG WORKSHOP, APRIL 25!] Our hearts and minds strain to process the flood of climate-enhanced destruction in Iowa, Nebraska, and eastern Africa. Yet in the broader fight against climate chaos, signs of encouragement are growing: There’s this story: Citing climate change, U.S. judge blocks oil and gas drilling in large swath of Wyoming. And this: Court upholds ruling that bars Keystone XL pipeline work. Hopefully, these rulings bode well for a favorable outcome in the landowner/Iowa Sierra Continue reading →

A flood of hopes and fears

March 19, 2019 by Ed Fallon
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Many of us continue to feel the benefits of our time together last September during the First Nation – Farmer Climate Unity March. As Manape Lamere said, “We walk together today so we can work together in the future.” Something like that. If I botched the quote, Manape will correct me, right? So much is going on these days, it’s hard to know where to start. These are both the most encouraging and discouraging of times, as attested to in this message from Jeff Kisling: Continue reading →

School Strike for Climate!

March 7, 2019 by Ed Fallon
454 comments
Dear Friends, Socrates was condemned for corrupting the youth of Athens. At the risk of being accused of corrupting the youth of Iowa, I ask K-12 and college students to join School Strike for Climate on March 15 … and beyond. All successful movements are built on a foundation of failure interspersed with moments of incremental progress. It’s important to recognize the seeds of climate action sown in the past. But with only eleven years to transform our world to keep global warming below 1.5° Continue reading →

“Everything needs to change, and it has to start today.”

February 28, 2019 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends, “Everything needs to change, and it has to start today.” Those are the words of 16-year-old Greta Thunberg of Sweden. If even 1 percent of the 8,500 people receiving this email watch Greta’s speech and embrace her call to “change everything,” we’d have another 85 people committed to tackling the climate crisis. What an impact that would have! So please, invest eleven minutes and eleven seconds RIGHT NOW in this simple ask. Watch Greta’s TED talk. And if you’re as inspired as I Continue reading →

Another win in the courts

February 19, 2019 by Ed Fallon
469 comments
Dear Friends, Whew! Just when I was starting to fret about how we pipeline fighters were going to come up with $900 million, a federal judge swoops in and saves the day. Two years ago, Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) sued a whole bunch of pipeline opponents, seeking nearly a billion dollars in damages! On Valentine’s Day (for what that’s worth), District Judge Billy Roy Wilson dismissed the lawsuit. This is a big deal and sends the message that big corporations with seemingly bottomless pockets shouldn’t Continue reading →

Make climate the litmus test for presidential candidates

February 15, 2019 by Ed Fallon
342 comments
Dear Friends, “It’s so easy to look at the big picture and get completely disheartened. … What we need to remember is what is my own personal moral obligation. When I wake up each day thinking about what I might do from that perspective … when I come at it from a deep sense of moral obligation, it really doesn’t matter what the results are. What matters is am I doing the right thing, and am I doing all I can right now at this Continue reading →

Packing dirt around glaciers to slow climate change?

February 8, 2019 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends, Bold Iowa’s effort to bird-dog presidential candidates on climate change is going well. What’s missing is more people doing it. SIGN UP TO BIRD-DOG PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES ON CLIMATE CHANGE! We’re at 54 volunteers, which is a great start. But we’ll need at least 250 climate patriots across Iowa to maximize this tremendous opportunity to shape the national debate. And “shaping the national debate” isn’t an overstatement. Not even close. In just three weeks, we’ve already seen results from this effort: — Our questioning Continue reading →

Are Democrats also climate deniers?

January 30, 2019 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends, “The Democrats Are Climate Deniers.” That’s the jarring headline of an article this week in Jacobin that Jon Neiderbach brought to my attention. The sub-heading reads, “If the Democrats really believed the science on climate change, they’d be offering far more radical proposals. We have to make them.” Sad but true. It’s one thing for a politician to say, “I support the Green New Deal (GND).” But when pushed for specifics, most aren’t on board with GND’s “transition to 100% renewable energy within Continue reading →

Be a Climate Bird Dog!

January 24, 2019 by Ed Fallon
26 comments
WANTED: Climate patriots to bird-dog presidential candidates. We’re assembling a squad of supporters to persistently “bird-dog” presidential candidates about Bold Iowa’s agenda. Voters have a right to know if candidates will: — Support the Green New Deal and transition to a renewable-energy economy by 2030; — Oppose the expansion of oil pipelines, fracking, and other destructive fossil-fuel projects; — Stand with Indigenous communities to defend their sovereignty, land, and water; and — Stop the abuse of eminent domain for private fossil-fuel companies. SIGN UP TO Continue reading →

DAPL lion underestimates Iowa Lambs

January 17, 2019 by Ed Fallon
438 comments
For those who feel Big Oil always gets its way, think again. In a battle of Lamb vs. Lion (read on and you’ll see what I mean), the little guy and gal just accomplished something impressive. When the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) was still under discussion, most Iowa landowners I met as I walked the pipeline route were against it. In the end, many signed voluntary easements — not because they wanted to but because they felt they had no choice. Dick and Judy Lamb, Continue reading →