Farmers Have Long Memories: Trump’s Climate Record Could Hurt Him in Iowa Farmers Have Long Memories: Trump’s Climate Record Could Hurt Him in Iowa In rural Iowa, farmers bearing the brunt of climate change may play an outsize role in electing the next president. by Judith Lewis Mernit Published on October 14, 2020 Keith Puntenney never gave his permission for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cut through his Iowa farmland. When, in 2016, the state took the land anyway, he and several other landowners sued
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In a startling turn of events, when a group of Bold Iowa bird dogs went to a Biden event at Urban Dreams, little did they know that their recorded efforts would go viral and their interactions with Biden would end up featured in the mainstream media, from the The Guardian to Newsweek, Fox News to GQ, along with every social media platform out there, especially Twitter. Four days after Ed and Biden’s “discussion,” the video has reached over 2 million hits! Excerpt from Newsweek: While
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Last week, a Polk County District judge ruled against the Climate Defenders Five, finding us guilty of misdemeanor trespass in our protest against President Trump's abject denial of climate science during the president's visit to West Des Moines in June.
With all due respect, the Court completely failed to understand the growing urgency of the climate emergency, and thus the necessity justification of our defense. My fellow defendants, Channing Dutton (our attorney), and I feel pretty strongly that the Court erred. Will we be filing an appeal? Hell yes! Stay tuned.
“Women's right to vote. Civil rights. Stopping the Vietnam War. Environmental protections. The Women's Movement. LGBTQ rights and marriage equality. These and so many other significant social justice shifts were accomplished because ordinary citizens were willing to take to the streets, and in many cases, willing to commit civil disobedience,” said Kashia. "History tells us that this is what has turned the tide.”
Bird Dogs Kathy Byrnes and Ed Fallon were interviewed by Isabella Murray for the Iowa Starting Line website at Sanders’ Climate Summit with guest speaker Alexandria Oscario-Cortez. They discussed Bernie’s possible status as the new “Climate Candidate” and what he could do more on his campaign regarding climate change. The following is excerpt from the article: Kathy Byrnes, director of Birds & Bees Urban Farm in Des Moines, said she doesn’t yet know if Sanders can take the ‘climate candidate’ title. “If Bernie would bump
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This article featured our favorite agitator-in-chief, Ed Fallon, talking about the latest pipeline protest laws and how the labor unions are now worried about what these prospective laws mean for ALL protesters, including members of labor unions. Excerpt from Urban Milwaukee: Ed Fallon, a former Iowa legislator who now heads an environmental advocacy organization called Bold Iowa that focuses on combating climate change, says that his organization and the union have often found themselves on opposite sides where the pipeline project was concerned. The project,
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“Given the absolute urgency of the climate crisis and our concern about a million species that will soon be extinct if we don’t act to reverse this crisis immediately, we felt totally justified to be there and to confront Republican donors and the president himself to take action to address climate change, before it’s too late,” said Miriam Kashia of 100 Grannies for a Livable Future, one of the five arrested.
Dear Friends, Earlier this summer, President Trump visited West Des Moines for a GOP fundraiser. Bold Iowa was there to expose the president’s climate denial to the donors who came to support him. Five of us — Todd Steichen, Kathy Byrnes, Miriam Kashia, Martin Monroe, and I — blocked an entrance to the facility’s parking lot. We then carried our banner toward the building and were arrested by West Des Moines police. We were charged with simple misdemeanor trespass. WE GO TO TRIAL AND NEED YOUR SUPPORT!
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Thirty Bold Iowa supporters called out the president’s climate denial to the donors who came to support him. Protestors blocked one of the entrances to the facility’s parking lot. Later, five carrying a banner approached the building, hoping to enter and bring their urgent message to the attention of president and his supporters. At that point, they were arrested by West Des Moines police for simple misdemeanor trespass.
We Are Iowa TV Channel 5 Excerpt: Those arrested are from a group called “Bold Iowa” that is protesting the denial of climate change. West Des Moines police say the group marched onto private property at Hy-Vee’s corporate offices. Officers asked them to leave and the five that didn’t were taken into custody. Ed Fallon, the director of Bold Iowa, explained the group’s mission. “None of us want to go to jail,” said Fallon. “But given the severity of what scientists are telling us about
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