Ignorance About Our Own Landscape

Your 2 Cents’ Worth excerpts, Part 7 [various readers submissions/ Des Moines Register]:

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Californians know and appreciate their beaches, Vermonters know and appreciate their forests, but most Iowans still don’t know what a prairie is, even though prairies covered 85% of Iowa.

There is a direct connection between our ignorance about our own landscape and our filthy water.

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My new weight-loss strategy is based on Iowa’s farm pollution reduction strategy.  So I have no goal weight and no requirements or deadlines, and I’ll rarely weigh myself, but occasionally, If I’m paid enough, I’ll eat a little less.

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China has some of the most polluted air and water in the world.  Terry Branstad [ Donald Trump’s choice for ambassador to  China and longstanding governor of Iowa who has ] should feel right at home.

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As I see it, the two pipelines area a security threat with hundreds of miles of them left unguarded.  A worst-case scenario would be if one exploded under the Missouri River, ruining hundreds of municipal water supplies.  Many other security threats are all around.  Cheer up, it’s bound to get worse.

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The news that the Iowa pipeline spill was “only” 46,380 gallons instead of 138.000 gallons is really comforting ...like finding out that a murdered loved one was “only” shot twice, instead of five times. [Magellan diesel leak in Iowa]

[The strong public concern that pipelines will leak are dismissed by the pipeline industry.   The largest national controversy over pipelines that could degrade water quality involves the Dakota Access pipeline.  The parent pipeline company, Energy Transfer Partners / Sunoco have reported discharges to the federal government of nearly 200,000 gallons of oil across 42 spills.]

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When Terry Branstad moves to Beijing, China as ambassador, he will get to experience the “Ghost of Iowa Yet to Come” due to his policies here while Governor.  The Beijing air is often unsafe to breathe and the tap water is unsafe to drink because of pollution. Even some bottled water brands can’t be trusted as there are few regulations and enforcement is minimal.

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I was flabbergasted when I found out that people earning $87,000 a year got welfare.  This is ridiculous.  Not only do they think that they deserve it, they rail against the very people who need it.  That would be the elderly, poor, handicapped and children.  You know who these freeloaders are?  Farmers. 

[Like most of the businesses on this welfare, agricultural groups also legislate protection against damages, and complain when the public is bothered that it has to pay to clean their messes up.]

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