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Dozens of CA events this weekend honor Latino Conservation Week; Kamala Harris joins Oprah Winfrey in emotional campaign event; Report finds poor working conditions in Texas clean energy industry; AI puts on a lab coat, heads to technical schools.

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Rising threats of political violence, a Federal Reserve rate cut, crypto industry campaign contributions and reproductive rights are shaping today's political landscape.

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A USDA report shows a widening gap in rural versus urban health, a North Carolina county remains divided over a LGBTQ library display, and Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz' policies are spotlighted after his elevation to the Democratic presidential ticket.

Climate Change for Real, Iowans Can Help Turn it Around

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Friday, April 6, 2007   


Des Moines, IA - Since 2001, the United Nations Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change has been releasing reports on global warming. Each one has substantiated the problem and the human role in causing it. Today the second report this year will be released, and Jerry Schnoor, co-director of the University of Iowa Center for Global and Regional Research expects even more convincing statistics about the impact of climate change on the people of the world, such as more smog-related deaths, water scarcity and wildfires. He says we still have a chance to stop it by reducing greenhouse gases.

"The reduction has to be substantial, perhaps as much as 70 or 80 percent by the middle of this century. We can turn this thing around."

Schnoor believes first we need to do more to conserve, like requiring vehicles to get better mileage, changing building code requirements and switching to renewable fuels such as wind power.

"Wind power in Iowa really makes sense. It's cost competitive with a new coal-fired power plant, and we have a wind rich state."

Lynn Laws with the Iowa Environmental Council notes there are important pieces of legislation pending in Iowa that could make a difference. One would establish a Climate Change Commission charged with exploring ways Iowans can reduce global warming emissions by 20 percent by the year 2020. It would establish a state global warming gas registry, and allow the Department of Natural Resources Director, or the Environmental Protection Commission, to include global warming gases as a factor when issuing conditional construction permits for power plants.

Highlights of the IPCC report can be viewed online at www.ipccinfo.com.


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