At a news conference in Nevada, Iowa, Gov. Terry Branstad addressed the Environmental Protection Agency’s new rules that scale back the national transportation fuel supply use requirement by a few billion gallons.
“We’re not just fighting big oil, we’re fighting ignorance,” he said. “We’re fighting ignorance of ethanol.”
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Governor Terry Branstad visited flooded cities in Iowa on Monday including New Hartford, Coralville and Iowa City. Continue reading
Last year, DNR director Chuck Gipp told Governor Branstad about the EPA’s proposed plan for inspecting large livestock operations. According to Gipp, the plan would require 11 new livestock inspectors in Iowa.
Branstad has decided to put only five new inspectors into his budget. Some environmentalists feel that this is not enough personnel to properly inspect livestock operations. There’s also a risk that the EPA will take over inspections if they don’t feel the job is being done thoroughly.
The governor believes that five new inspectors are enough, and that it would not be fiscally responsible to add more.
The major environmental concern with large livestock operations is the possibility for manure to enter Iowa’s waterways.
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Listen to this week’s radio segment here or read the transcript below. This week’s segment discusses a proposal by Governor Terry Branstad to reduce Iowa’s nutrient runoff.
Governor Terry Branstad has released a 200-page proposal to reduce Iowa’s impact on the Gulf of Mexico’s dead zone.
This is the Iowa Environmental Focus.
Iowa Environmental Focus 