LOCAL
THE GREEN NEW DEAL IN IOWA
Natural disasters, clean energy, and new agricultural practices. How would the most progressive environmental policy to date affect Iowa? WORDS BY EMMA BRUSTKERN | ART BY LILA JOHNSON
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he Green New Deal has often been perceived as a plan catered to liberal coastal elites, but not much attention has been paid to how it would affect midwestern states like Iowa. However, with climate change already rearing its ugly head, some Iowans believe the Green New Deal is essential for ensuring the state’s prosperity moving into the future. In 2019, 48% of likely Democratic caucusgoers supported the Green New Deal, according to the Des Moines Register. The Green New Deal, originally introduced by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez of New York and Sen. Ed Markey of Massachusetts in 2019, is a congressional resolution with the goal of tackling climate change in the U.S. The proposal calls on the federal government to significantly reduce greenhouse gas emissions and divest from fossil fuels.
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The proposal also calls on the government to ensure clean air and water and a sustainable environment for generations to come. To do this, the Green New Deal proposes a “10-year mobilization” period in which the government would meet 100% of the country’s power demand through renewable energy, upgrade to energy-efficient smart power grids, work collaboratively with farmers to reduce pollution and greenhouse gases in the agricultural sector, and more. While climate change is often linked to rising sea levels or forest fires, Iowa is already experiencing its effects. The Iowa Department of Natural Resources reports that the state has seen an 8% increase in precipitation from 1873 to 2008. Furthermore, long-term winter temperatures in Iowa have increased six times more than summer temperatures.
