Vice President Al Gore made an unscheduled appearance at an environmental conference in Des Moines today. Gore touted his support of the environment during a speech to participants in the “Iowa Earth Year 2000” conference. He also gave them the charge to look upon it as an opportunity to make their communities better.Gore says Iowa has a lot to gain by using good environmental practices.The conference is the kick off to a year-long initiative intended to get Iowans to focus on environmental projects. Governor Tom Vilsack also spoke at the conference. He told participants they have the support of the state government.Vilsack also defended a proposal in his plan to clean up Iowa waterways that uses money from the state infrastructure fund. He says the air, land and water are basic infrastructure, despite what some legislators might say.Vilsack’s plan would help clean up the 159 Iowa waterways designated as “impaired” by the Environmental Protection Agency.
