Tag Archives: Indigenous Iowa

Save the date to march with us

Dear Friends, Often when there’s a crisis, people respond by traveling great distances on foot. Marches often transform the participants, and have changed my life, too. (Stay tuned for the upcoming release of my first book, Marcher, Walker, Pilgrim.) Most important, marches change history. Consider: The Women’s Suffrage March Gandhi’s Salt March The 1965 March for Voting Rights The 1986 Great Peace March, which mobilized support for a nuclear test ban and citizen diplomacy between Americans and Russians From September 1 – 8, fifty people Continue reading →

Industry’s New Colonial Outpost: Rural Iowa

Ed Fallon’s Weekly Blog: Two things before I explain why Iowa is becoming a colonial outpost: First, I’m sad to say that the pro-DAPL bill (SF 2235) passed this week despite hundreds of Iowans contacting their lawmakers. Visit the Fallon Forum and Bold Iowa websites for news coverage and to learn how your senator and representative voted. The silver lining is that Bold Iowa’s coalition of environmentalists, landowners, farmers and Native allies worked with labor unions on a common cause. Let’s build on that! Second, Continue reading →

First Nation – Farmer Climate Unity March

September 1 – 8, 2018 Landowners who had their property taken by force for the Dakota Access Pipeline have joined with the Iowa Sierra Club in a lawsuit against the Iowa Utilities Board (IUB). They allege that the IUB illegally allowed Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) to use eminent domain to build the Dakota Access Pipeline. Their case is strong and has potentially historic significance. To raise awareness of the importance of this lawsuit, Bold Iowa and Indigenous Iowa are organizing an eight-day, 90-mile march. Fifty Continue reading →

Iowa Pipeline Fighters Head to Super Bowl to Pressure US Bank to Divest

Dear Friends, Go Tom Brady! Yeah, I just had to get that out of the way. Across the country, people are turning up the heat on politicians and corporations intent on destroying our water, land, and planet for satiate their lust for power and money. US Bank is one of them, and it’ll be in the spotlight on Super Sunday when the Pats and Eagles tangle at US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The day before the Super Bowl — let’s call it Super Saturday — Continue reading →

Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women

Dear Friends, This weekend, an estimated five million people turned out for 673 Women’s March events across the U.S. and around the globe. I attended the Des Moines rally where an estimated 6,000 people showed up at the Iowa State Capitol. The organizing team — including former congressional candidate Kim Weaver, West Des Moines City Councilwoman Renee Hardman (at right) — did an incredible job in a short span of time. I was encouraged to see the voices of Indigenous women featured prominently in rallies Continue reading →

One Year Ago Today . . .

Dear Friends, One year ago today, Iowans rallied at the Polk County Courthouse to support landowners suing state government over the abuse of eminent domain to build the Dakota Access pipeline. That case now advances to the Iowa Supreme Court. Its ramifications for other eminent domain fights, climate change and water quality are significant. Today, one year later, Bold Iowa issued the following press release. Please take a few minutes to read and share it . . . and please make a donation to support Continue reading →

Wanted: Bold Iowans

Dear Friends, I’m writing with an urgent appeal. Since March of 2016, Bold Iowa has been a key leader on climate change and eminent domain. In fact, our work is recognized not just in Iowa but across the country. Yet for Bold Iowa to continue, we need your help NOW! We’ve built a powerful rural-urban network of environmentalists, farmers, Indigenous communities, landowners, and property-rights advocates. But our funding is perilously tight, and we truly need your support NOW! If even 10% of those receiving this message contribute $25, that would Continue reading →

Delivery of Petition to Remove Lozier from the IUB

On Friday, September 8 at 11:00 a.m. at the Iowa State Capitol, Bold Iowa, Indigenous Iowa, Iowa CCI and Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition held a brief press conference then delivered a petition to Gov. Kim Reynold’s office calling on removal of Richard Lozier from the Iowa Utilities Board. The event was in conjunction with the national #StopETP Day of Action. The petition: We call on Governor Kim Reynolds and other members of the Executive Council of Iowa (Paul D. Pate, Secretary of State; Michael L. Fitzgerald, Treasurer Continue reading →

Call on Gov. Kim Reynolds to Remove Richard Lozier from the IUB

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 10:00 a.m. CT, September 7, 2017 Contact: Heather Pearson at (402) 452-0534 or [email protected] Ed Fallon at (515) 238-6404 or [email protected] CALL ON GOV. KIM REYNOLDS TO REMOVE RICHARD LOZIER FROM THE IUB Citing “gross partiality” as referenced in the Iowa Code Des Moines, IA — Bold Iowa and its partners call on Governor Kim Reynolds and other members of the Executive Council of Iowa (Paul D. Pate, Secretary of State; Michael L. Fitzgerald, Treasurer of State; Bill Northey, Secretary of Agriculture; and Mary Continue reading →

National Call to #StopETP

Dear Friends, I’m so excited about my new flock of chickens! Over the past two months, they’ve made solid progress toward becoming fully enrolled members of the Des Moines Society of Colorful Egg Layers. Like an overly protective parent, I worry about them when I leave town. But fortunately, I have two wonderful friends, Emily and Johanna, who mind them in my absence. (Emily, Johanna, in terms of chicken sitters, you’re the best!) On the other end of the chicken-sitter spectrum is Mr. Fox. If my only option were to put Continue reading →