A coalition of Iowa organizations is launching an “energy platform” that it says will benefit the state environmentally and economically. The platform includes four steps: reducing Iowa’s dependence on oil, harnessing renewable energy sources, using energy-efficient appliances, and investing in research and development.
Policy advocate Nathaniel Baer says they’re asking congressional candidates to take a pledge to support the platform. Baer says the key to the platform is that you can’t do one of those things alone and get to a “new energy future.” He says the comprehensive approach looks at taking “significant but realistic steps” and that embracing all four measures we can make a real difference in how we use and generate electricity generally.
Baer says the pledge is open to any candidate, and the coalition’s hoping this month that congressional candidates will embrace and endorse the platform, and pledge to work in the next Congress. “What we haven’t had is federal leadership on changing energy policy, and so the goal of our campaign is to really build support for new leadership for a new energy future.” The coalition includes, among others, the Iowa Public Interest Research Group, PIRG.