State park trail entry point.

Journey Home

Tales from the pilgrimage.

#ActOnClimate

  • It is Spring

    On walkabout, garlic poked through the mulch. It is spring. I assembled the portable greenhouse yesterday afternoon. The extra space and light will make a difference, another step toward planting the garden. A big batch of vegetable soup simmered on the stove most of the day. We ate it for dinner and filled five quart… Read more

  • Late Winter

    Snow fell and a day later it began melting. The ground is partly snow-covered in today’s predawn darkness. With a forecast high of 30 degrees, there will be more melting in sunny areas. Eleven days remain in winter. With President Biden’s March 8 announcement, “We’re banning all imports of Russian oil and gas and energy,”… Read more

  • Grassley on Climate Change

    This response to my message to U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley has been sitting in a file folder waiting for me to write a response. Upon review, I don’t really have a response as the letter speaks for itself. Shorter Grassley: wind, ethanol and biodiesel are what I have been and am willing to work on… Read more

  • Double Dipping on Carbon-Capture

    Governor Kim Reynolds mentioned carbon-capture in her condition of the state address during a segment on renewable energy. I am introducing new legislation that will improve access to E15 and B20 and upgrade Iowa’s fuel infrastructure to offer higher blends. And I’m proposing that we invest in carbon-capture solutions to sustain and build on our… Read more

  • Swallowing the CCS Proposition

    Two corporations plan to install Carbon Capture and Sequestration technology to collect CO2 emissions at about 40 ethanol and fertilizer plants spread across Iowa. Next, they plan to permanently bury the resulting liquefied CO2 in deep rock formations in North Dakota and Illinois. I don’t know who is swallowing this malarkey. Almost no one is.… Read more

  • Conservatives Have a Climate Caucus

    When I wrote my Federal Elected Officials about climate change on Oct. 18, Congresswoman Mariannette Miller-Meeks was first to respond a few days later (see below). I did not know there was a Conservative Climate Caucus. She is a member and lifted the third paragraph of her response to me from the caucus website. As… Read more

  • Another Derecho

    While Wednesday’s extreme weather manifested as a blustery thunderstorm in Big Grove, meteorologists have since categorized the multi-state storm as a derecho. It was nowhere as severe as the Aug. 10, 2020 derecho. (Update: The National Weather Service said it confirmed 43 tornadoes on Dec. 15, 2021. On Jan. 7, 2022 the number was revised… Read more

  • 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… Read more

  • Time for Republicans to Act on Climate

    We witnessed climate change in Eastern Iowa. For me, it’s personal. • The 1993 flood delayed progress building our home as we moved from Indiana. • We experienced multiple straight line wind events that damaged the house, uprooted trees, blew down large branches, and tore through our neighborhood. • Record flooding in 2008 filled much… Read more

  • Climate Reality Global Training

    I signed up to be a mentor for the Climate Reality Leadership Corps virtual, global training this month. There are more than 500 mentors this time. It’s a chance to meet new people who are taking climate action. The training is also a form of renewal. I attended the Chicago training in 2013. Since then… Read more