Students push for hog confinement rules

Eighteen students from a variety of Iowa colleges are at the statehouse today, asking lawmakers to enact tougher rules for hog confinements. Shelby Hayhoe, a Grinnell College sophomore studying biology, is a spokesperson for the group, called Iowa STEP: Students Toward Environmental Protection.Hayhoe says legislators need to stop sitting on the bench and step up to the plate and take action for the environment. The student group wants lawmakers to enact new standards for manure application, and establish registration fees for livestock confinements.Iowa Students Toward Environmental Protection also wants Iowa’s Bottle Deposit Law expanded to cover new kinds of containers, like juice and water bottles. She says it’s widely popular and effective in controlling liter.Hayhoe is from Minneapolis, Minnesota.