Iowa IPL to Announce Statewide Canvass to Gather Signatures in Support of new EPA Rules
DES MOINES, Iowa - Monday, Iowa Interfaith Power & Light (IIPL) and Iowa climate experts will hold a statewide conference call with Iowa reporters to discuss a newly announced proposal to limit carbon pollution from power plants, a major driver of climate change, and to outline the positive impacts of that decision, as well as accompanying energy efficiency and clean energy investments, for Iowans.

Speakers on the call will also unveil plans to launch a statewide canvass to gather signatures from Iowans in support of the new carbon rules.  The canvasses will take place on Sunday, June 8th - the six-year anniversary of the start of the historic 2008 Iowa floods that devastated Cedar Rapids, Iowa City and communities across the state.

Conference call participants include :

• Rev. Susan Guy: Rev. Susan Guy has served as the Executive Director at Iowa IPL since 2010.  She is ordained in the Christian Church (Disciples of Christ) with an M. Div. from Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, a B.A. from Bethany College in Bethany, West Virginia.  Prior to Iowa IPL, Susan served as a pastor in both Disciples of Christ and United Methodist congregations, focusing on social justice ministries.  She also has experience managing non-profit organizations, and served as the first Heartland Field Organizer for the ONE Campaign on global poverty.

• Dr. Yogesh Shah:  Dr. Yogesh Shah is the Associate Dean for Global Health at Des Moines University, a position created in 2006 to establish global health experiences that DMU students increasingly seek.  Dr. Shah has been instrumental in establishing the City of Des Moines as a member of the World Health Organization's network of age-friendly cities.  He also led the creation of the Heartland Global Health Consortium, and the creation of Heartland Climate Health Consortium, a collaborative of Iowa educational institutions to promote the effect of climate change on nutrition and human health.

• Christopher J. Anderson, PhD:  Christopher J. Anderson is a climate risk analyst.  He is Assistant Director of the Iowa State University Climate Science Initiative, a research program that provides authoritative, scientific information for short-term and long-term climate-informed decision-making.  He holds doctoral and master degrees in agricultural meteorology from Iowa State University.  Mr. Anderson's research examines linkages between climate variability, climate change, and water management.  He has coauthored recent reports for the Western Utility Climate Alliance and US EPA containing recommendations on investments in climate modeling that would yield improvements in infrastructure planning for water utilities in major metropolitan areas (Options for Improving Climate Modeling to Assist Water Utility Planning for Climate Change) and flood mitigation in the Midwest United States (Iowa Climate Change Adaptation and Resilience Report).  Currently, he is providing leadership to the Federal Highways Climate Resilience Pilot in Iowa in collaboration with Iowa DOT and University of Iowa IIHR.

TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. (AP) ? The U.S. Department of Agriculture is teaming with businesses, nonprofits and others on a five-year, $2.4 billion program that will fund locally designed soil and water conservation projects nationwide, Secretary Tom Vilsack said.

 

Authorized by the new farm law enacted earlier this year, the Regional Conservation Partnership Program is intended to involve the private sector more directly in planning and funding environmental protection initiatives tied to agriculture. Officials provided details of the program to The Associated Press ahead of an announcement scheduled for Tuesday.

 

"It's a new approach to conservation that is really going to encourage people to think in very innovative and creative ways," Vilsack said.

 

He described the projects to be funded as "clean water start-up operations" that will benefit communities and watersheds, a departure from the department's more traditional approach of focusing on individual operators adopting practices such as no-till cultivation or planting buffer strips to prevent runoff into streams.

 

Universities, local and tribal governments, companies and sporting groups are among those eligible to devise plans and seek grants.

 

"This program is a recognition that a coordinated and comprehensive effort is more effective than the USDA operating on its own and Ducks Unlimited operating on its own and the Kellogg Foundation operating on its own," Vilsack said.

 

In addition to protecting the environment, the projects will bolster the rural economy by supporting tourism and outdoor recreation jobs while avoiding pollution that would cost more to clean up, he said.

 

USDA will spend $1.2 billion ? including $400 million the first year ? and raise an equal amount from participants. Successful applications will include offers of cash, labor or other contributions, as well as plans for achieving measurable solutions and using new approaches, said Jason Weller, chief of the Natural Resources Conservation Service.

 

Vilsack was announcing the program in Michigan, home state of Senate Agriculture Committee Chairwoman Debbie Stabenow, primary writer of the farm bill with Rep. Frank Lucas of Oklahoma. A news conference was scheduled in Bay City near Lake Huron's Saginaw Bay, where nutrient runoff from croplands causes algae blooms that degrade water quality.

 

Stabenow said she expected the area to generate several funding proposals.

 

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation, established by the cereal pioneer, is working with The Nature Conservancy on a project designed to reduce runoff in the Saginaw Bay watershed, said Diane Holdorf, the foundation's chief sustainability officer. Kellogg, based in Battle Creek, buys wheat for its cereals from farms in the area.

 

The program establishes three pots of money for grants. Thirty-five percent of total funding will be divided among "critical" areas including the Great Lakes, the Chesapeake Bay watershed, the Columbia, Colorado and Mississippi river basins, the Longleaf Pine Range, prairie grasslands and the California Bay Delta.

 

Additionally, 40 percent will go to regional or multi-state projects selected on a competitive basis and 25 percent to state-level projects.

 

The California Rice Commission plans to seek funding of initiatives to expand water bird habitat in flooded Central Valley rice fields, said Paul Buttner, manager of environmental affairs. Rice farms are an indispensable waterfowl refuge because most of the original wetlands have been developed, he said.

 

Working with the USDA and other partners, the rice commission has developed practices that can make fields more hospitable for birds such as draining them more gradually ahead of planting season and building nesting islands, Buttner said. The new program could attract more participants, he said.

 

The New Mexico Association of Conservation Districts will develop proposals for combating invasive plants that suck too much water from the ground and ranching practices that could slow the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer, Executive Director Debbie Hughes said.

What happens when disaster occurs in your community?
For the first time ever, Rock Island and Scott Counties have collaborated in an effort to bring national and local speakers in to share their personal experiences dealing with disasters. The Quad Cities Disaster Readiness Conference will be held on May 21, 2014 at the Isle of Capri Conference Center, and will address lessons learned from actual events in Joplin, MO, Washington, IL, and LeClaire, IA. Presentations will provide firsthand information to first responders, support agencies, community partners and elected officials who will be responding to and managing large scale disasters. This conference is a collaboration of the Scott County Healthcare Coalition, Rock Island and Scott County Emergency Management Agencies, Rock Island and Scott County Health Departments, Genesis Health System, Unity Point Health-Trinity, Rock Island Arsenal/Garrison, American Red Cross, and Eastern Iowa Community Colleges.
The agenda for the conference and speaker bios are below.
7:15-8:00 am
Registration
8:00-8:10 am
Welcome
8:10-9:00 am
Ryan Nicholls, MS Fire and Emergency Management, "Responder Logistical Support"
9:10-10:00 am
Rebecca and Genevieve Williams, "Social Media, Joplin, MO"
10:00-10:30 am
Networking and Vendors (Opportunity for media interviews with speakers)
• ServPro, ProPac, Rock Island Medical Reserve Corp, Red Cross/Quad City VOAD, Werner Restoration, Modern Woodman of America and Grainger
10:30-11:20 am
Breakout Session:
• Donna Dubberke and Maren Stoflet, "Severe Weather Response"
• Lt. Kody Stitz, Coast Guard, "LeClaire Tugboat Incident"
• Troy Erbentraut, RHCC Peoria, "Washington, IL Tornado"
11:30-Noon
Closing Remarks and Evaluation
SCOTT COUNTY HEALTH DEPARTMENT
Administrative Center
600 W. 4th Street
Davenport, Iowa 52801-1030
Office: (563) 326-8618 Fax: (563)326-8774
www.scottcountyiowa.com/health
Speaker Bios
Ryan Nicholls: Ryan is the Emergency Management Planning Specialist for the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri. Prior to that, he served as the Director for the Springfield-Greene County Office of Emergency Management where he worked in all phases of emergency management for the local governing bodies.
Ryan worked for the FEMA Long-Term Recovery Team following Katrina. Since Katrina, he has worked in Springfield, Greene County as the local Emergency Management Director. He also serves on the Southwest Missouri Incident Support Team. Since his time in these positions, he has worked many disaster incidents such as ice storms, floods, and tornadoes, including the Joplin tornado of May 2011 and Hurricane Sandy of 2012.
Ryan has a Masters Degree in Fire and Emergency Management at Oklahoma State University. He has received his Certified Emergency Manager from the International Association of Emergency Managers, the Missouri Certified Emergency Manager, and has completed the Emergency Management Advanced Professional Development Series from FEMA. He received his Bachelors of Nursing from Missouri State University. Prior to Emergency Management, he worked as a Registered Nurse in a Neuro-Trauma Intensive Care Unit. He lives in Greene County with his wife and six children.
Rebecca Williams: Rebecca is the managing administrator at Joplin TornadoInfo a Facebook community with over 46,000 fans She is co - author of "The Use of Social Media for Disaster Recovery" a field guide currently in revision. Rebecca is a seventh generation Ozarkian and community activist. She is a 1986 graduate of Missouri Southern State University with an Associate of Science in Nursing. Rebecca has worked as a crisis intervention specialist, psychiatric nurse, home health and labor & delivery nurse. She has experience in radio, television and cable television broadcasting, sales, copywriting, public relations and voice over work. Rebecca is dedicated to promoting disaster recovery social media infrastructure preparedness.
Genevieve Williams: Genevieve is the co-founder and project manager of Joplin Tornado Info, and is obsessed with Web 2.0 and Disaster Recovery. She has worked in Social Media and Web Marketing for the past 4 years. Genevieve is currently working on her Bachelor's Degree in Journalism at Missouri State University and previously studied Alternative Energy at Crowder College where she participated in three DOE Solar Decathlons.
Donna Dubberke: Growing up in tornado country, Donna always wanted to be a meteorologist (from the time she was 9 years old!) She graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in Meteorology, and then joined the National Weather Service in 1992. Since then she has worked in forecast offices in Texas, Oklahoma, and now the Quad Cities. She is currently the Warning Coordination Meteorologist (WCM) for the Quad Cities Forecast Office. In this role, she is responsible for facilitating community safety and preparedness initiatives throughout eastern Iowa, western Illinois, and northeast Missouri.
Maren Stoflet: Mare is the Service Hydrologist for the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Davenport, IA. She earned a bachelor of science degree in Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Maren began her career with the National Weather Service in 2002, and has served as a meteorologist at the weather forecasting offices in Springfield, Missouri and Kansas City, Missouri/Kansas. Her interest in the hydrologic aspects of forecasting brought Maren to her current role as Service Hydrologist, where she oversees the NWS Davenport office's hydrology program and interacts with federal, state, and local partners.
Lt. Kody Stitz: LT Stitz serves as the Supervisor of Marine Safety Detachment Quad Cities in Rock Island, Illinois. As the Supervisor he is responsible for Coast Guard operations in all or portions of a five state area (Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, and Nebraska) that includes over 700 miles of commercially navigable waters of the Missouri, Des Moines, and Upper Mississippi rivers and their tributaries. He leads eleven active duty, reserve, and civilian personnel in promoting safety, security, and environmental protection in the region.
Major ICS events that LT Stitz has been involved with: Towing vessel Stephen L. Colby sinking in the Mississippi River with 90,000 gal of oil on board (2013); Oil tanker Eagle Otome collision in Beaumont, TX spilling 460,000 gal of crude oil into the Sabine River (2010), Hurricane Ike devastation to the Texas coast (2008), Ferry LeConte grounding in Alaska with 109 passengers and 20,000 gal of oil on board (2004).
LT Stitz is a prior enlisted member who achieved the rank of Marine Science Technician First Class prior to selection to the Coast Guard's Precommissioning Program for Enlisted Personnel (PPEP) where he was granted a 2-year sabbatical to complete his Bachelors of Business Administration Degree from the University of Alaska Southeast. Upon completion of the degree LT Stitz attended Officer Candidate School in New London, CT, graduating in 2007.
His military decorations include the Coast Guard Achievement Medal, Commandant's Letter of Commendation, Meritorious Team Commendation, Humanitarian Service Award, as well as other unit and team awards.
A native of Madison, South Dakota, LT Stitz is married to Sofia, his High School sweetheart, and together they have been blessed with four wonderful children.
Troy Erbentraut: Troy has his degree in Criminal Justice and spent six years in Law Enforcement as a police officer before coming to OSF Saint Francis Medical Center in 1999.
He has worked in various divisions of the medical center including Emergency Services, Materials Management, Facilities, and Clinical Operations.
Troy is currently the OSF SFMC Disaster Preparedness Manager / Illinois Region 2 MRT Director of Response Operations / Region 2 RHCC/ POD Coordinator.
His responsibilities include improving the emergency preparedness of the medical center, regional medical facilities and EMS systems.
Also in his current position, he coordinates the disaster and emergency response for OSF Saint Francis while also managing the Regional Hospital Coordinating Center (RHCC) for Illinois Department of Public Health, EMS Region 2.
Troy is a National Registered Emergency Technician and holds numerous certificates including a Certified Healthcare Coordinator from Georgia College of Medicine.
He is also a member of the Illinois Type III All-Hazards Incident Management Team. Troy has been involved in disaster responses as part of the Healthcare Incident Management Team, as well as being active in medical response teams within the region, throughout the state of Illinois, and internationally.

Simon pushing to increase environmental awareness, volunteerism

SPRINGFIELD - May 14, 2014. In an effort to promote volunteer opportunities and encourage environmental awareness, Lt. Governor Sheila Simon will recognize "2013 CNN Hero of the Year" Chad Pregracke during the river coordinating councils meeting on Wednesday in Springfield.

"Chad Pregracke is a shining example of someone dedicating himself to an important cause and making a difference," said Simon. "I am excited that our river council members will have the opportunity to meet with and be inspired by Chad. All of us value our rivers - Chad is someone who has put those values into action."

Pregracke started Living Lands & Waters when he was just 23 years old to clean up the Mississippi River around his home in East Moline. Since founding the non-profit in 1998, his crew and over 70,000 volunteers have collected over 7.5 million pounds of debris from rivers in Illinois and around the country. Simon noted that Living Lands & Waters has numerous volunteer opportunities like river cleanups, the MillionTrees Project and Adopt-A-River Mile program.

Simon chairs three River Coordinating Councils charged with the mission of reviewing state and federal programs that impact the watersheds and working with local communities to raise awareness of and address watershed issues. For more on Living Lands & Waters and information on how to volunteer please click here.

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