Categories
Sustainability

Carbon Capture & Sequestration References

Field Corn

Like it or not, Iowa Republicans have hoodwinked us into a carbon capture and sequestration method of addressing the climate crisis. It is common sense that hooking a polluting ethanol plant, coal-fired electricity generating station, or a propane grain drying operation to a mechanism for carbon capture does nothing to address the root cause of pollution. Nonetheless, here we go.

On June 22, 2021, Governor Kim Reynolds “signed Executive Order 9 launching a task force to explore carbon sequestration and the opportunities it presents for further economic development in the state of Iowa,” according to a press release.

Because of our existing supply chain and emphasis on renewable fuel infrastructure, Iowa is in a strong position to capitalize on the growing nationwide demand for a more carbon free economy. Iowa is a recognized leader in renewable fuel and food production, and this is another opportunity to lead and be innovative, invest in Iowa agriculture, and facilitate new sources of revenue for our agriculture and energy sectors. I am proud to bring together an impressive team of stakeholders that will help formulate smart, commonsense policy recommendations on this issue ahead of the 2022 legislative session.

Governor Kim Reynolds on June 22, 2021

When we talk about the decarbonization imperative across the global economy, carbon capture and sequestration has only limited use. As is typical of statements from the Iowa governor, there was no mention of the climate crisis in the release.

Having been forced to deal with carbon capture and sequestration as a public issue, advocates need references to understand what it is, its consequences, and risks. Below are some links to get started. Expect this post to be updated as new information is found and becomes available.

Carbon Capture and Storage, Center for International Environmental Law.

What is Carbon Capture and Storage?

The Role of Natural Gas Power Plants with Carbon Capture and Storage in a Low Carbon Future, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

Carbon Capture, Utilization and Storage comment to California Air Resources Board, Los Angeles Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility.

Potential for Geologic Sequestration of CO2 in Iowa

The Gassing of Sataria by Dan Zegart, Aug. 26, 2021, HuffPost.

Chevron Concedes Failure at Gorgon.

Summit Carbon Solutions

Public Informational Meetings on the Proposed Summit Carbon Pipeline, Iowa Utilities Board.

Navigator CO2 Ventures LLC.

Public Informational Meetings for Proposed Navigator Pipeline, Iowa Utilities Board.

Bold Iowa

Iowa Sierra Club

The Future of Fossil Fuels Hinges on Two Huge Midwestern Pipeline Fights

Fossil Fuel Industry and Investment in CCS and CCUS.

The Fossil Fuel Industry’s New Rube Goldberg Scheme, Science and Environmental Health Network.

Carbon Capture & Storage: The Facts, Science and Environmental Health Network.

Facts About Carbon Capture and Storage, Sept. 14, 2021, Science and Environmental Health Network.

U.S. House Conservative Climate Caucus

Rational Solutions at COP26, Not Dramatic Alarmism, podcast by Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-TX02)

Landowners: Know Your Rights About Eminent Domain

Iowa Laws and Rules for pipeline construction:

Chapter 9 - Restoration of Agricultural Lands During and After Pipeline Construction
Chapter 479b - Hazardous Liquid Pipelines and Storage Facilities
IUB FAQs on Eminent Domain https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t_fiqcylIzo
IUB Hazardous Pipeline Permitting Process https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1K_w5VzBZ6s

How to submit an objection with the Iowa Utilities Board: 

Written comments or objections to the proposed pipeline can be filed electronically using the IUB’s Open Docket Comment Form, by email to customer@iub.iowa.gov, or by postal mail to the Iowa Utilities Board, Attn: Docket No. HLP-2021-0003 (Navigator) and/or Docket No. HLP-2021-0001 (Summit) , 1375 E. Court Ave., Des Moines, IA 50319. 

Categories
Writing

Postcards from Iowa #13

Copyright: Joan Liffring Zug, photographer.

Reverse side: Made by Dexter Press, West Hyack, New York. Published by Mennonite Historical Society of Iowa, Kalona, Ia. 52247. Old Order Amish and conservative Mennonite daughters wear traditional plain homemade dresses familiar throughout 450 years of Anabaptist history. These are the children of a buggy maker living and working near the Kalona Cheese plant of Twin County Dairy, Inc., Highway 1, Kalona, Ia.

Two girls posing for a photographer who had permission to take their picture. There has been more than a little controversy about photographing Mennonites and Old Order Amish. It is permissible with the former, and against views about graven images with the latter. The images are well-circulated.

I used to visit the Twin County Dairy when bicycling from Iowa City. Cycling alone for the exercise, I would stop and buy cheese curds at the dairy. That is, if it were open. Often my trips were predawn when the glow and flicker of kerosene lamps came from house windows and the doors of barns. I no longer travel to Kalona as I learned how to produce almost everything I formerly bought at Stringtown Grocery and other shops scattered in the rural area.

Twin County Dairy, established by a group of Amish and Mennonite farmers as a cooperative in 1946, was shuttered in 2014. Kalona Creamery, a part of Open Gates Business Development Corporation bought it the following year. Their businesses included Kalona Organics®, Kalona Farms, Farmers Creamery, Awesome Refrigerated Transit of Iowa, and Provision Ingredients. I don’t know if they have a retail store that sells cheese curds. Since there is a creamery a few miles from home, I have no need to go and find out.

Author David Rhodes wrote about the area in his novel Rock Island Line. I have a library copy of the first edition, published in 1975. No doubt I bought it at a thrift shop. There is a rubber stamp inside the front cover that reads, “Outdated Removed from Circulation.” Young girls in the Mennonite community and their photographs won’t become outdated any time soon.

Categories
Living in Society

Reaching For Status Quo

Voter turnout was high during the recent school board election. The result wasn’t what many had hoped. The election was revealing, just in case we weren’t paying attention during the 2020 general election: conservative voters are rising.

In our school district there were no claims of fraud in the election and almost everyone appears to have accepted the results. One candidate decided to pursue removal of their child from the district after seeing what the electorate had wrought. The simple truth is we live in Iowa and this election result mirrors the state more generally. People have created a life around what they know and don’t want to change. They prefer the status quo.

Change is coming, like it or not because what society is experiencing with extreme weather, agriculture, and work life is not sustainable. The impact for the electorate will be for the majority to further entrench themselves in conservative values. It goes beyond the school board to include religion, women’s rights, agriculture, shopping, coping with this and other infectious disease outbreaks, greenhouse gas emissions, extreme weather, work life, LGBTQ+ rights, the whole shebang. Iowa is in for tough times ahead.

Conservatives I know are good people. The disconnect comes in avoidance of politics in everyday discourse. It is not surprising conservatives feel the litmus test for a candidate is whether or not they approve of abortion. What is surprising is how well this belief is kept hidden and how little people talk about their politics in society. We shouldn’t be surprised when these attitudes show up at the polls.

There is not much to do except go on living. For me that means talking more to neighbors and engaging in community activities as a first priority. I used to work to influence people statewide yet I’m not sure I would do it again.

When I was on the county board of health we addressed the challenges to health of coal-fired power plants with board of health members statewide. I sent a letter to many of them. One chiropractic orthopedist wrote back, “While I can appreciate your immediacy to the proposed power plant, I take exception to the global warming spreading paranoia over an unfounded politically contrived ’emergency.’ We as humans do not control the warming or cooling of the earth. The research is bogus that claims such… In my opinion the global warming paranoia is a Democratic manufactured ploy to simply increase government control of its people.” At least I got him to say what he really means.

I don’t know what “status quo” is other than a good headline. It is malleable, yet people have their limits. There is a lot to do in modern lives and many don’t want to reach much beyond their comfort zone.

To make progress as society, we must.

Categories
Living in Society

Can Iowa Democrats Defeat Chuck Grassley?

Senator Grassley in Williamsburg, Iowa. Jan. 12, 2010.

If Democrats repeat the campaign strategy and tactics of the 2020 Theresa Greenfield campaign, we are destined to lose any challenge to U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley.

Greenfield was a good candidate, despite the loss. She had the best advice and raised a lot of money. If Democrats are engaged, we should now understand support from highly paid consultants, combined with stellar fund raising, did not get the job done. A repeat seems futile as we take on the incumbent’s campaign machine.

What makes Grassley so potent a campaigner? He is like a 1949 Ford 8N tractor. He may look old and out of date yet he’s still working, and for his Republican constituents, gets the job done. I attended a couple of his events over the years and he has been well-familiar with the turf everywhere he spoke. He knows the county margin of victory or loss from the most recent election at each town hall. He has deep connections to local Republicans. His campaign staff provides support to state house candidates in the form of analyzing local voter databases and targeting key voters with his folksy direct mail. Whoever is the Democratic nominee will have a lot of catching up to do.

I supported Mike Franken in the 2020 Democratic primary and am inclined to do so again. There are too many shades of Greenfield with Democrat Abby Finkenauer, who could not win reelection to her congressional seat. While Franken served decades in the U.S. Navy away from Iowa, we are at a point where a high level military veteran and Washington insider could best represent our interests as U.S. Senator. There are other Democratic candidates running to beat Grassley. None of them is as strong a candidate as Franken.

Is this an endorsement? Endorsements of baby boomers matter less each election cycle. It is time for my cohort to let go the grip we had on the Iowa Democratic Party. While I’m saddened to see long-time Iowa senators and representatives with whom I worked call it quits, it is time to move on and let the next generation work on campaigns. If successful, they should take the reins of power. Given the shellacking Democrats took in 2020 there is no case for letting old timers run the show.

One might say, “isn’t Franken old?” What matters more than age in the race to beat Chuck Grassley is policy and experience. The only Federal office holders with whom I spent more time than with Mike Franken are Dave Loebsack and Tom Harkin — I know him. Franken is right on policy and his experience is relevant, timely and evident. I don’t know if others will like him, but I do. I believe he could win the seat.

If I have been enamored of a political campaign for the experience alone, that time is past. Like most people I seek a secure, livable future. I believe Iowa Democrats can beat the incumbent if we avoid mistakes of recent campaigns, if we adapt to the times. I believe Franken is here for that.

In the meanwhile, we have a primary next year in which we will have to choose sides. I hate the distraction yet it’s part of the Democratic process. Here’s hoping we can rally around the winner and defeat Chuck Grassley next November. Our chances are better with Mike Franken as our candidate.

Categories
Living in Society

On a Clear Day You can See Forever

Closeup of Antoine LeClaire Monument
On a Clear Day You Can See Forever
Retro Post from Jan. 11, 2012

It was another clear, warm day yesterday. When I ran the trash cart and recycling bin to the street this morning, the sky was clear, stars bright. The waning gibbous moon illuminated the house, driveway and yard with its silvery light, reminding me of how minuscule earthly troubles are in the scope of life in the universe.

Inside the trash cart were remnants of chicken wire from Monday’s garden work and a number of old pillows, one of which I brought back from Germany with me in 1979. No real trash as we did not generate enough this week to make a full bag.

The Iowa House of Representatives implemented new video webcast functionality at the beginning of the legislative session. I viewed Governor Branstad give his 17th condition of the state address to a joint session of the legislature. He focused on two things: economic growth and education reform. President of the Iowa Senate, Jack Kibbie, could be seen behind the governor applauding politely from time to time. Hopefully, the governor will find common ground with the legislature this year. As House Speaker Pro Tempore Jeff Kaufmann pointed out with regard to property tax reform, there are three versions, the governor’s, the House version and the Senate Democratic version. This three part division seems likely to follow everything the legislature does this year.

I drove to Runge Funeral Home in Davenport for visitation, memorial service, and interment of the mother of a long time friend. My mother came for the visitation and we sat in the parlor, waiting to speak to Dennis, whom we have both known for a long time. Mom drove separately and when she left the visitation, we went to nearby Mount Calvary Cemetery to visit the graves of family members. Many people from my childhood are buried there.

As one enters the cemetery, the road passes Antoine LeClaire’s grave. He was one of the founders of Davenport who interpreted the autobiography of Black Hawk. Our family is buried further back. This visit I noticed one of my grade school classmates is buried next to my father’s plot. My classmate died in 2010. We visited my father, my grandmother and my great grandparents. At least three of my grandmother’s sisters are buried in the cemetery. We visited Pauline and Margaret’s graves, which are near their parents.

Mom brought a holiday fruitcake for me which I transported in the passenger seat, a simple pleasure.

When Mom went home, I returned for the memorial service which was conducted by a Lutheran minister. The music was Anne Murray, “Can I have this Dance?” Willie Nelson and a Polka with bird chirps superimposed on it. We said the Protestant version of the Lord’s Prayer.

At the interment, Dennis invited me to his sister’s home for sandwiches and we sat at the dining room table talking about diverse issues. In our younger days, we discussed Bellow, Hegel, Nietzsche and Sartre. Now, we discuss oncology, magnetic resonance imagery, physicians, and a too long list of human diseases and ailments. We did manage to work Joan Didion, Richard Ford and Philip Roth into the conversation.

The drive west went quickly. I was too late for the veterans meeting in Coralville, so I went directly home, tired from the day and ready for a long sleep. In this morning’s silvery, predawn light, Orion sat on top of our house as I walked back to the garage. I stopped and pondered, knowing that my recognition of the constellation was transient, and that I was ready for another day.

Categories
Kitchen Garden

Vegan Apple Crisp

Vegan apple crisp.

It’s the end of apple season and with a vegan in the house, using butter in a dessert is out the window. I took the apple crisp recipe from my hand written cookbook and modified it after reading a couple of vegan recipes. The first test batch didn’t meet standards so I tweaked it and came up with this keeper.

Vegan Apple Crisp

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Shelf positioned so the baking dish is in the middle of the oven.

Filling:

  • 8 good sized apples
  • 2 tbs wheat flour
  • 2 tbs lemon juice
  • 1/4 cup apple cider or juice
  • 3 tbs arrowroot (mix together with lemon juice and apple cider)
  • dash salt
  • 1-1/2 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp ground ginger (fresh if you have it)
  • a few grates of nutmeg

Grease the baking dish. Reserve the arrowroot mixture and mix everything else in a mixing bowl. Don’t beat it to death! Add the liquid and incorporate. Pour into the baking dish.

Topping:

  • 1 cup rolled oats
  • 1/2 cup each of wheat and almond flour
  • 1/2 cup brown sugar
  • dash of salt
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil

Using a pastry blender mix everything together and make sure it is well incorporated. Don’t beat it to death! Sprinkle on top of the filling and bake for 30-35 minutes, making sure the topping starts to brown.

Philosophy of cookery. Peel and slice enough apples to fill whatever baking dish you want to use. Mine is 9 x 13 x 2 inches. Adjust the amount of topping to match the amount of apples. The batch can be doubled or halved. It would likely freeze well in an airtight container.

Categories
Living in Society

Veterans Day 2021

Free Veterans Day breakfast in 2010.

I canceled today’s trip to North English for an Iowa County Democrats meeting featuring U.S. Senate candidate Admiral Mike Franken. It wasn’t important enough to reverse my policy of avoiding hour-long drives for a one-hour meeting. Few people knew I was planning to attend so I won’t be missed.

Iowa House District 91 political organizing can wait. I’m not running for office and don’t know anyone who is. When someone steps forward there will be plenty of time to prepare for the general election. I doubt there will be a primary for this seat. It may be difficult to find a qualified candidate.

Veterans Day will be a mostly indoors day as it is expected to rain this morning, dampening the ground for the rest of the day.

I spent time considering veterans I have known. Mostly that was World War II veterans who were part of my life. Neighbors in Northwest Davenport, and associates after we formed our chapter of Veterans for Peace. I thought of General Omar Bradley who “inspected” our formation in U.S. Army basic training. He rode by in a closed vehicle with his five-star flag flying on the radio antenna.

I’ve known a lot of veterans. Time was when a male felt obligated to join the military at least for a single tour. Such feelings were not universal and they do not persist. Today’s military includes more females, which is positive. Instead of such feelings we find ourselves at a weird intersection of commercialism and patriotism.

The hair stylist is offering free haircuts for veterans. I’m tempted to drive across the lakes to get one as my pandemic shag is more pronounced. The grocery store offers free breakfast. I’ll pass as I’m a better cook. Our local chapter of Veterans for Peace sent a list of dozens of merchants offering free meals and retail discounts at a variety of national franchise stores and restaurants. There will be ceremonies from which I feel distant. I have not been part of the crowd that wears military service on my sleeve. I believe veterans should do their duty, then return to society if they can.

I’m all for helping veterans assimilate, and for providing medical and mental health services to those who need it because of their service. In particular, the suicide hotline is important for veterans. If we can let our military experience recede into the background we should.

Portrait of U.S. Army Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Carney (Uncovered) U.S. Army Photo by Mr. Russell F. Roederer. Photo Credit: Wikimedia Commons

I looked up my former battalion commander, Thomas P. Carney, and discovered he died in 2019 at age 78. I worked as his battalion adjutant in the 2nd Battalion, 87th Infantry Regiment in Mainz, Germany. He was part of the group that re-purposed U.S. Army training and doctrine after the Vietnam War. Among other things in his post-retirement life, Carney served as acting deputy librarian for the Library of Congress in 1996. He was also on the board of directors of my auto insurance company. He was a Democrat and one of the smartest people I have known.

Veterans Day rally in 2010. Ed Flaherty speaking with Sam Becker behind him.

I thought about Sam Becker who served in the Pacific Theater during World War II. He joined Veterans for Peace and was very active, attending rallies and demonstrations and visiting schools to discuss his service and the need for peace. He was in Guam when the U.S. dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. At the time he favored use of nuclear weapons yet by the time I knew him he changed his mind and thought they should be abandoned.

We would encounter Bill Blunk returning from work with his brother at the construction company they formed after the war. He was present at Pearl Harbor during the Japanese bombing on Dec. 7, 1941. He presented Pearl Harbor reenactments in the alley between our two homes. The war changed him permanently.

The last of the World War II cohort is dying. This Veterans Day is mostly about them. That’s not to diminish the service of veterans of Korea, Vietnam, or any of our most recent conflicts. These were some of the veterans who influenced my life. We live in the shadow of giants who in real life didn’t seem so large.

Don’t thank me for my service today. Instead take time to consider veterans who were important in your life, at least for a while, before memory of them fades into history.

Categories
Writing

Postcards from Iowa #12

Buzz Aldrin on the Moon, July 20, 1969 – Apollo 11. Photo credit: Neil Armstrong.

Reverse side: Cumquat Publishing Co. P.O. Box 4932, St. Louis, MO 63108

When considering this photo the isolation stands out. Besides Michael Collins orbiting the moon while waiting for their return, Buzz Aldrin and Neil Armstrong were alone. The sense of isolation is profound.

They were trained to deal with the mission and by all accounts did well. It was a unique moment in history, one in which many Americans took pride.

I witnessed what I could on television when it happened or on replay. I remember grainy images, a reality that seemed surreal.

It is a great photograph. One I’ll think about all day.

Categories
Sustainability

Innovations in the Climate Crisis – CCS

I viewed the S&P Global Market Intelligence discussion between reporter Taylor Kuykendall and Former U.S. Energy Secretary Ernest Moniz on Nov. 8. The thirty minute video is worth viewing to hear Moniz on major technologies and technological developments that will help prevent and mitigate the effects of global warming on humans.

Dr. Moniz answered the question I posted in the YouTube chat: “Regarding CCS (carbon capture and sequestration), how important is it to leave sequestered carbon in the ground? If a market for CO2 were developed, would there be an interest in digging it back up?”

He sort of laughed at the idea of “digging it up” as something that would not be done, yet gave an answer I hadn’t expected. There may be engineering applications to use captured CO2 in order to address our goal of net zero emissions by 2050, rather than burying it in geologically stable underground rock formations. This has been a point of contention with opponents to the Summit project.

Summit Carbon Solutions, an Iowa company, has proposed construction of a pipeline to transport liquefied CO2 captured from ethanol plants and other Iowa industrial producers to North Dakota for sequestration. The Iowa Utilities Board approved public hearings in the 30 counties the proposed pipeline would cross. One of the sticking points between activists who oppose the pipeline and the company was about Summit making a written commitment to leave any sequestered carbon in the ground permanently. CEO Bruce Rastetter indicated they would not make such a commitment because markets may be found for captured CO2. Moniz’ comments yesterday indicated such markets are under study and may be developed in order to address the climate crisis.

Is carbon capture and sequestration technology a hero that will help society reach net zero emissions by 2050, or is it a villain that will violate landowner rights and cause more pollution than it prevents? Fossil fuels should be left in the ground.

The highlight of Moniz’ interview for me was that advocates against the Summit Project (or the similar Navigator CO2 Ventures project) have a lack of big picture information about addressing the climate crisis using carbon capture and sequestration technologies. The information has not been readily available.

Ed Fallon of Bold Iowa isn’t perfect. However, he is a veteran of multiple pipeline fights. In a Sept. 23 blog post he outlined his concerns about the Summit project. He claimed Summit plans to use sequestered CO2 for “fracking” instead of sequestering it in the ground. He also claimed Summit wasn’t being transparent about their intentions. Summit denies these claims. Fallon is the right person to engage in a pipeline fight, yet his blog post lacked a depth of understanding of CCS beyond his immediate concerns. Ed could use more information as could we all.

Over the coming weeks, I intend to remedy the lack of accessible information about carbon capture and sequestration. In a series of articles, I will explain what it is, evaluate whether the Summit and Navigator projects are boondoggles designed to skim taxpayer money for the richest Americans, and what plans exist for implementing CCS as a solution to the climate crisis. Hopefully, with a better understanding of the technology and its proposed applications, advocates for and against it will have a better base of information to address the climate crisis. Stay tuned.

Categories
Living in Society

Post Pandemic Weekend

Old license plate display in the garage.

The automobile sat in the garage since I returned from provisioning last Wednesday. There is plenty to do at home and I’m getting better at organizing each week. The last three days felt like a “weekend,” something I haven’t felt in a long time.

Absent work outside home, the days can turn into an endless stream of the same. By scheduling certain types of activities for different days of the week, a sense of normal is returning after the disruption of the coronavirus pandemic and ending paid work. I make the weekend seem as it is by intent.

If anything, I miss being with people and doing things together. While taking my daily walk I encounter neighbors I’ve known for years. There have been good conversations on the trail, yet it’s a different kind of interaction. I miss meeting younger people and doing things with them in society. Partly, my cohort is getting older and has less relevance to youth. However, it’s the isolation that has been challenging to embrace.

The public response to the pandemic is shifting. Last week a COVID-19 vaccine was approved for children aged 5-11. Locally, there was a rush to get it, yet a large segment of the population could care less. They say the coronavirus is with us forever, we must get used to it and develop natural immunity through exposure. Getting vaccinated for COVID-19 is recommended by most medical authorities, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The current seven-day moving average number of deaths per day attributed to COVID-19 is 1,110. In 2020, COVID-19 was the third leading cause of death in the U.S. behind heart disease and cancer. It is difficult to accept a thousand deaths per day from COVID-19 as the new normal yet people who once said getting vaccinated was a personal choice are now saying vaccination is bad. Scheduling a booster shot of the COVID-19 vaccine is on my to-do list for today, so you know where I stand.

To maintain good mental health we need structure in our lives. When confronted with a decision of what to do next, the part of the week devoted to planning pays dividends. If things keep going how they did the last few days, weekends will take on new meaning. They will be differentiated from the rest of the week and become something to which I look forward. Lately I’ve been enjoying Sunday afternoons working on sundry projects without structure. I hope they continue.

The pandemic changed our lives permanently. Humans will figure out a way to cope with it or die trying. My recent activities serve as an example of human resilience. If anything, humans are that. It turns out, so am I and I’m happy to have my weekends back.