Burning the Rainforest

August 22, 2019 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends, Over the past few weeks, unprecedented melting in Greenland and the Arctic has dominated news stories about the escalating climate crisis. This week, attention shifted to the tragedy unfolding in Brazil’s Amazon rainforest. “Brazil has had more than 72,000 fire outbreaks so far this year, an 84% increase on the same period in 2018, according to the country’s National Institute for Space Research. More than half of them were in the Amazon.” “It is unclear which fires have been deliberately set by farmers Continue reading →

Standing with frontline communities

August 15, 2019 by Ed Fallon
448 comments
Dear Friends, As Energy Transfer Partners pushes to double the flow of oil through the Dakota Access Pipeline, it’s important to remember not only fossil fuels’ impact on the climate crisis but the devastation pipelines and extraction projects have on “sacrifice zones” — often communities of color, and almost always in regions with little economic and political clout. I found this message and the accompanying photos from Jennifer Falcon a powerful statement about what we’re fighting for. Thanks to Regina Tsosie with Sage Sisters for Continue reading →

Bold Iowa straw poll

August 13, 2019 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends, Last Friday, 75 Bold Iowa supporters came to Ritual Cafe and cast votes for their top five presidential candidates. While not scientific, the results are instructive, with four takeaways of particular interest. Here’s how it broke out: 16.6% – Elizabeth Warren                     2.7% – Marianne Williamson 12.7% – Bernie Sanders                       1.2% – John Hickenlooper 10.4% – Kamala Harris           Continue reading →

Let’s Celebrate Our Success!

August 7, 2019 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends — Whether it’s last week’s historic melt-off in Greenland or the Trump administration’s latest attack on climate science, it’s easy to lose sight of the fact that we truly are making progress. With that in mind… COME TO BOLD IOWA’S CELEBRATION/FUNDRAISER THIS FRIDAY! (If you can’t attend, please consider a donation to support our work.) On August 9, 2014, the Great March for Climate Action stopped at Ritual Cafe in Des Moines during its 3,100-mile trek across the US. Exactly five years later, Continue reading →

Second debate’s top three casualties

August 1, 2019 by Ed Fallon
431 comments
Dear Friends, Bold Iowa likes to give out prizes. (See Climate Hall of Fame Awards.) While we heard some encouraging remarks about the climate emergency during this week’s debate, three moments stand out as worthy of awards. I’ll simply call them the Wrong, Wronger, and Wrongest Awards. The WRONG AWARD goes to Joe Biden. After Jay Inslee criticized the slow timeline in Biden’s climate plan, moderator Danna Bash asked, “Would there be any place for fossil fuels, including coal and fracking, in a Biden administration?” Biden’s response: “No. We Continue reading →

In defense of survival, is any action too radical?

July 25, 2019 by Ed Fallon
318 comments
Dear Friends, Earlier this month in testimony about climate change before the British Parliament, renowned naturalist, David Attenborough, said, “We cannot be radical enough in dealing with the issues that face us at the moment.” Indeed, as people wake up to the utter urgency of our situation, it’s easy to understand how desperation might set in. I witnessed that five years ago on the Great March for Climate Action, when marchers proposed actions that, to me, seemed crazy: Blocking Chicago commuter trains at rush hour. Continue reading →

An error of judgement

July 18, 2019 by Ed Fallon
404 comments
Dear Friends, This past weekend, Bold Iowa held an action intended to dramatize the severity of the climate crisis. Our inspiration came from students in Germany, who stood on melting blocks of ice in a gallows with nooses around their necks. Our message — As the Arctic melts, the climate noose tightens — was well received by many. Yet we inadvertently hurt some individuals whom we had hoped to inspire, either because the image of the noose raised the specter of lynchings or because it kindled sadness over a Continue reading →

Climate warnings from the North

July 11, 2019 by Ed Fallon
325 comments
Dear Friends, With human survival on the line, we all need to be as fully engaged as possible. There’s just no way to sugar-coat it: Earth’s climate news is not good, especially up North: Wildfires burned across the Arctic last month. Anchorage recorded a record-high temperature of 90 degrees. Greenland is seeing unprecedented ice melt. It’s easy to feel despair, but we can’t give up. The stakes are too high. Now more than ever, we need climate action at both the personal and political levels. Continue reading →

Bold Iowa to Host Climate Debate

June 28, 2019 by Ed Fallon
423 comments
Bold Iowa today announced it will host a debate this fall specifically focused on the climate crisis. Bold’s 270 Iowa Caucus volunteers, known as Climate Bird Dogs, are shifting their focus to get Democratic presidential candidates to commit to participate in the climate debate, even at the risk of being barred from future DNC-sponsored debates.

Bakken Oil Fuels Chinese Repression

June 27, 2019 by Ed Fallon
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Dear Friends, Last week, Bold Iowa achieved a small victory in regard to the Dakota Access Pipeline. Dakota Access wants to drastically increase the flow of oil across Iowa — from 570,000 barrels per day to 1.1 million! The carbon emissions from this increased capacity would be the equivalent of thirty coal-fired power plants. Our planet simply can’t take any more. The only path to sanity and survival is to leave the oil in the ground and quickly reduce our fossil-fuel consumption to net zero. Continue reading →