The Iowa House this week approved new rules out of concern for global warming. Under the legislation, industries which emit greenhouse gases would, over time, be required to measure their emissions. The bill would also create a greenhouse gas registry to cooperate with other states to track emissions. Critics like

Representative Dwayne Alons, a Republican from Hull, questioned the seriousness of the problem of global warming. Alons says "It is impossible to tell if the recent small warming trend is natural, a continuation of the planet’s emergence from the last ice age, or recovery from the more-recent little ice age, or unnatural, the result of human greenhouse gas emissions."

Alons said Iowa’s recent cool weather indicates global warming is not an issue. Alons says "Global climate is always warming or cooling. Change, not stability, is the natural condition. Boy, we saw that just a few days ago. In the absence of humans, temperatures would not stay the same year after year." Under the bill, the Department of Natural Resources would devise a method for collecting data from greenhouse gas producers by next year.

Also, a new advisory council would come up with a way to cut emissions in half by the year 2050. Critics said it is not the role of the states to reduce greenhouse gases and warned of harm to Iowa business and industry. The bill goes back to the Senate.