This week in Iowa organizing…
Holy moly - that's what I said when I saw everything going into today's Monday email.
Regardless of where you live, there's something going on this week that you can plug into - from joining us on the phones or doors, adding your voice to let the EPA know we're not backing down, to some 'fun and games' in the vein of hoops and hurdles (of health insurance!), and lots more.
So let's just get to it - read on for some exciting updates and ways to plug in!
Matthew Covington (he/him)
Strategic Operations Director
Take action
Announcing our Des Moines City Council endorsement!
At CCI Action we believe in doing politics differently. That means using elections to advance our key issue campaigns and supporting candidates who believe, like we do, that we need to put people and the planet first, and supporting candidates who understand that change comes from the bottom up.
That’s why we’re excited to announce our endorsement of Chelsea Lepley for Des Moines City Council Ward 2!
Lepley (they/she) has been organizing with her neighbors and with CCI Action for many years to uplift the voices and the stories in her community, and we know she’ll take that energy into office with her.
Early voting begins on October 18. If you want to elect a people's champion, help us get out the vote by signing up here to join our first door knocking shift or here for our first phone banking shift!
This Thursday, September 21 - Des Moines coal plant community conversation
We've spent the summer visiting communities across Iowa that reside next to coal-burning power plants. Our last stop is back home in Des Moines where the corporations (MidAmerican Energy and Berkshire Hathaway Energy) who own these coal plants are headquartered.
Join us for a free dinner from Lucky Lotus and to discuss the:
negative impacts of Iowa's coal plants,
benefits of transitioning to clean energy, and
ways we can take action to reverse the climate crisis while uplifting our communities.
Everyone deserves clean air, clean water, and a habitable environment. Coal-burning power plants endanger those rights for all of us. While we suffer the disastrous consequences, MidAmerican Energy is making record profits. Enough is enough!
Hoops & Hurdles... brought to you by the health insurance industry!
It’d be funny if it wasn’t so true. Navigating America’s for-profit health insurance system all too often feels like we’re jumping through hoops and hurdles with no end in sight.
So we’re calling it what it is – ‘Hoops & Hurdles’! Our health and the well-being of our communities shouldn’t be a game, but health insurance companies are standing in the way of our care.
That’s why we’re pushing back and pushing for a system that puts people first and our care over cost. We’re highlighting stories of the hoops and hurdles everyday people have been forced to jump through just to get the care we need as part of a broader campaign to get profits out of healthcare.
Learn more and join the 'fun' here!
EPA - we don't need more studies, we need action
Last month, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) denied our legal petition calling for Clean Water Act permits. Instead, the EPA is creating an 'advisory subcommittee' to study whether factory farms pollute water.
While the EPA wants to study the problem, we're living with it every day. That ain’t right!
That’s why we’re doing two things to keep the pressure on the EPA:
We sued! It’s the EPA’s job to protect communities from factory farm pollution. So we’re demanding they consider items from the petition that could expand and strengthen Clean Water Act permits for factory farms.
Demanding national EPA administrator, Michael Regan, come to Iowa to meet with CCI members! If they want to “study” the problem, they need to get out of D.C. and come to ground zero. Will you add your name in support?
Iowa’s families deserve a safe and healthy environment for the years to come. We cannot and will not back down. Not until we see headlines that read “EPA gets serious about water quality”.
Transparency in labeling is "COOL"
Earlier this month we sent a letter signed by over 400 Iowa cattle producers to Senators Grassley and Ernst asking them to co-sponsor the American Beef Labeling Act (S. 52). This bill has strong bipartisan support and would restore Country-of-Origin Labeling (COOL) for beef!
For far too long, family farmers and consumers have been taken advantage of by JBS, Tyson, National Beef (Marfrig), Cargill, Smithfield and other meatpacking corporations. These corporate giants have been pocketing massive profits while farmers go broke and consumers pay sky high prices for beef. Will you help us keep this issue front and center by emailing both Grassley & Ernst today?
Here are a few reasons why we support reinstating mandatory COOL:
We have labeling for many other products, it’s a no-brainer to also have transparent labeling for beef
Consumers deserve to know where their beef comes from, and producers deserve fair prices and fair markets
Four big packers - JBS, Cargill, Tyson and National Beef Packing – control over 80% of the cattle market, COOL is an important part of reforming a rigged system
Please take 5 minutes to email Grassley & Ernst here, then let us know what you hear.
September 28 - Let's go to the movies Scott County!
Community members from 5 different organizations across the United States-- including two of Iowa's very own experts, Diane Rosenberg and John Ikert--share their stories and experiences living near factory farms in 'Right to Harm'.
This film exposes the health issues and damages to quality of life that surround industrial agriculture and shares how government agencies have failed to regulate factory farms.
Join us on Thursday, September 28th from 7-9PM at Scott County Park to watch and discuss how citizen groups have rallied against Big Ag and industry-loving politicians to fight for clean air, water, and land!
October 1 in Dubuque: The People's Housing Forum
On September 5, CCI members in Dubuque attended the city council meeting to speak on the need for low and mixed-income housing to truly meet the needs of the community.
While the housing development being considered is moving forward without mixed-income units, CCI members aren't backing down from our vision for housing justice. Our elected officials need to hear from people about the need for renter protections and affordable housing development.
That’s why on October 1st from 4-5:30pm as part of the Dubuque Week of Peace we are hosting The Dubuque People's Housing Forum.
This is going to be an open mic forum. Anyone can ask a question, share a story, or give a statement on housing. This is a chance to ask a question, share a story, or give your thoughts on what needs to improve with housing in Dubuque. RSVP here to join us on October 1!
Iowa Utilities Board - do the right thing!
Did you see the news? South Dakota’s Public Utility Commission has filed a motion to deny Summit Carbon Solutions pipeline permit! They are hitting roadblocks left, right, and center. Our job is to keep sustained public pressure on the Iowa Utilities Board commissioners as they similarly consider Summit's pipeline permit in our state. Will you help us by adding your name to our “Dear IUB” letter?
Iowa CCI members will personally deliver the letter and any comments you add to the IUB commissioners. We are asking the IUB to stop these pipelines from being built! Thousands of Iowans oppose them because:
They tear up valuable farm ground, destroying our land and soil.
They’re dangerous and potentially deadly.
They use “technology” that has consistently failed to reduce carbon emissions.
They rely heavily on public money – taxpayer dollars – for financing.
They put millions of dollars in the pockets of CEOs and leave us holding the bag.
They want to use eminent domain for private gain, and that’s not right!
Add your name to our letter by clicking here!
Join our next Clean Water Book Club for The Swine Republic
Interested in the truth about water quality in Iowa? Don't look to the state's agricultural and political leaders. Many stakeholders have a vested interest in keeping the facts quiet. But The Swine Republic, by research engineer and author Chris Jones, is a hard-hitting collection of essays that brings all the facts to the surface with nowhere to hide.
And now we are ready to do it all again with The Swine Republic.
Here's how to participate:
Sign up to host or participate at this link. This is the best way to get updates and announcements about the Clean Water Book Club.
Coupon code CCI5 for $5.00 off when ordering through the publisher at: Ice Cube Press
Email the publisher steve@icecubepress.com to be invoiced and mention the code for $5.00 off
Register for the Zoom call with author Chris Jones on Oct 26
Let us know you're in! Sign up for the book club here
Updates
New Report - Roadmap for Rural Progress
As a country, we are at an important crossroads that has massive implications for the future of rural communities. We will either continue on the path of reinvestment, inclusion, and prioritizing working people, or forces of extremism and unchecked corporate greed will block these efforts and attempt to keep communities divided.
That's why we're excited to announce the release of the 2023 Rural Policy Action Report! Iowa CCI joined over 30 organizations and local elected officials from various geographic and strategic backgrounds to identify the most pressing and popular policies impacting our communities.
The report outlines policies, priority legislation and executive action that supports working families and strengthens rural communities.
More than a document discussing policy, the report also serves as a call to action. Policies that work for working people and rural communities, work for America. When grassroots organizations, policy groups, and rural leaders work alongside state and federal leaders to advance policies that make a difference, we all win. Together, we can build an economy from the bottom up and the middle out.
What We're Reading
These are a few links that are informing our work - we've shared them so that you can read, too!
Iowa's legendary soil, the bedrock of its economy, is losing its richness, new research shows [Des Moines Register]
Billionaires are using an abusive farmworker scam to rake in more profits [Jacobin]
Iowa State Senator Ken Rozenboom Loses his Cool [Deep Midwest]
US child poverty rate more than doubled in 2022 thanks to Manchin and GOP [Common Dreams]
Who's most responsible for the monopolization of America? [Robert Reich]
Potential auto strike is a key fight for establishing a people's economy [Nation of Change]