Iowa Environmental Council

Home
United States
Des Moines, IA
Iowa Environmental Council

Our mission: A just, healthy environment & sustainable future for all Iowans

The Iowa Environmental Council manages the content on this site for the purpose of disseminating information and encouraging engagement with the public. However, IEC reserves the right to monitor, prohibit, restrict, filter, block, suspend, terminate, delete or discontinue any contribution, content, and/or access to any content and/or IEC social media channel at any time, without notice and for an

y reason and in our sole discretion. This includes, but is not limited to, content that constitutes electioneering, such as user appeals to vote for or against specific parties or candidates for any public office.

09/04/2026

What a lineup!

We're thrilled to announce the experts who will share the latest in pesticide and health research, as well as pioneering practices in organic agriculture and diverse crop rotations as alternatives to pesticide use.

See all of the sessions and speakers and register for IEC's Annual Conference on September 29 in Des Moines at iaenvironment.org/26conference.

Grant Cope is the Environmental Health Policy Lead at the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson’s Research, where he he translates science into policies to prevent Parkinson’s disease. Previously, Grant served as Senior Counselor to the U.S. EPA Administrator and in leadership roles at California EPA and the U.S. Senate Committee on Environment and Public Works.

Dr. Sean Stokes is the Research Director at Rodale Institute’s Midwest Organic Center, a 30-acre certified organic research farm just north of Cedar Rapids. The research focuses on diversifying corn-soybean rotations with cereal grains and reintegrating livestock into these systems. He also oversees research on organic vegetable production that utilizes different tillage practices in combination with a biochar soil amendment and a silvopasture trial that integrates chickens into chestnut trees. He serves on the Board of Directors for the Iowa Organic Association and co-leads the Environmental Stewardship team for the Iowa Food System Coalition.

Since 2017, Audrey Tran Lam has led the Center for Energy & Environmental Education's environmental health initiatives, working where human health and environmental sustainability meet. Audrey serves on the boards of the Heartland Health Research Alliance, Pesticide Action & Agroecology Network, and Plant-Based Foods Institute, as well as on the Executive Committee for the Cancer Free Economy Network and Design Team for Green America’s Soil & Climate Alliance. She holds advisory board positions for the Center for Health Effects of Environmental Contamination, the Collaborative for Health and Environment, and the University of Iowa’s Environmental Health Sciences Research Center Community Engagement Core.

The Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research
Rodale Institute
UNI Center for Energy and Environmental Education

09/02/2026

Don't miss your chance to hear noted national journalists discuss their reporting on water quality challenges in Iowa communities — and why the stories matter far outside of Iowa's borders.

Check out the entire schedule and register for IEC's Annual Conference on September 29 in Des Moines at iaenvironment.org/26conference.

Anika Jane Beamer is a staff reporter at Inside Climate News, covering the environment and climate change in Iowa with a particular focus on water, energy and CAFOs. A lifelong Midwesterner, she writes about changing ecosystems from one of the most transformed landscapes on the continent. Her reporting is frequently republished by newspapers across Iowa and has appeared in major national outlets like Wired and Mother Jones.

Nina B. Elkadi is an Iowa City-based writer working on a project about agriculture and water at the University of Iowa’s Nonfiction Writing Program. Her writing has appeared in Politico, National Geographic, Civil Eats, and other national outlets. You can follow her work at Corn Belt Confidential.

Moderator Jennifer Wilson is a professor in the School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Drake University. She is the author of two books, including "Water," a novel about water quality in Iowa. Her work has appeared in Esquire, National Geographic, Conde Nast Traveler, Gourmet, NPR’s All Things Considered, Chicago Tribune, Better Homes & Gardens, No Depression, Travel with Rick Steves (Lowell Thomas Gold), and others. She is the founder of the The Slack Line Project.

08/28/2026

This year's "Iowa Electric Generation: Condition of the State 2026" report is now available. Iowa has long been a leader in renewable energy leadership is often praised and for good reason, with a majority of electricity needs supplied by wind and solar.

But as the state approaches higher levels of renewable use, our electric utilities continue to own and operate massive coal operations, polluting Iowa’s air and water, risking health, and charging us unnecessary costs on our utility bills. To learn more about these trends and what they mean for Iowans, download the full report at iaenvironment.org/26cos and join us on September 2 for a free webinar. Report author and IEC Senior Energy Policy Counsel Steve Guyer will share key report findings and be available to answer your questions.

Sign up for the webinar here: iaenvironment.org/get-involved/council-events/2026-condition-of-the-state

08/21/2026

Join the Iowa Environmental Council and Des Moines Water Works on September 14 for an engaging, sometimes provocative, and always honest conversation with The Lobe Rangers about farming, conservation, water quality, and how we can all move Iowa forward.

Farm Fields to City Taps: A Conversation with The Lobe Rangers
5:30-7:30 p.m., September 14
Iowa Taproom, Des Moines
FREE
Get details and RSVP at iaenvironment.org/loberangers

You'll have a chance to ask The Lobe Rangers your toughest water quality and farming questions and learn about the conservation practices they use to improve the water leaving their farmland. The evening will bring rural and urban Iowans together around something we all share: the water that connects us.

The Lobe Rangers
Des Moines Water Works
The Iowa Taproom

08/20/2026

Yesterday was Solar Day at the Iowa State Fair, and the IEC Energy Team was out spreading the word about the positive impact solar energy has on Iowa’s economy! Did you know that Iowa ranks 16th nationally for technical solar potential? That's a measure of how much electricity the state could generate from the sunshine we get throughout the year.

Pictured: Jordan Oster, IEC Energy Program Director; Lexi McKee-Hemenway, IEC Campaign Organizer; Hannah Grip, IEC Energy Communications Associate.

Iowa Solar Energy Trade Association
Iowa State Fair

08/18/2026

We’re so grateful to IEC’s 2026 summer interns for their contributions to our work!

Photo 1: Kyle Finn and Eli Redington served as IEC's legal interns. They are each entering their second year at the University of Iowa College of Law. Kyle says he appreciated visiting the Iowa State Capitol (where this photo was taken in the Law Library) and attending planning meetings with the Clean Up MidAm coalition. “I really enjoyed getting to hear from groups IEC works with like EPLC and Sierra Club, and have had a lot of fun learning about how the Iowa Utilities Commission works.”

Eli says that “seeing all the behind-the-scenes work at IEC has been an eye-opening experience of the importance of environmental protection and the dedication of those working to achieve it.” Some memorable moments include writing comments to the DNR and attending an IUC hearing.

Photo 2: Riley Samuelson returned for her third summer as an IEC intern. She will be a senior at the University of Northern Iowa, and she is studying biology. Her contributions to the “Environmental Risk Factors and Iowa’s Cancer Crisis” project have been significant. Her favorite experience was attending cancer community conversations throughout the state.

Photo 3: Tatum Watkins will be a senior at Grinnell College, majoring in Political Science, with a concentration in Science, Medicine, and Society, and concurrent enrollment in a cooperative MPH program at the University of Iowa. For the past two summers, Tatum has played an important role in the “Environmental Risk Factors and Iowa’s Cancer Crisis” project. Tatum says, “I enjoyed attending cancer community conversations and seeing both familiar faces from last year and speaking to people about their concerns surrounding cancer in Iowa. In particular, I enjoyed attending the Atlantic and Red Oak sessions and seeing people interact with the topic in a way that suggests to me that people are both empowered and ready to take action to combat Iowa’s cancer rates.”

We are confident these incredible people will continue to make an impact wherever their studies and experiences take them.

08/11/2026

IEC just dropped a new report about air quality in Siouxland, based on more than 12 months of independent data collected from air monitors hosted by Sioux City-area residents. We're talking about the results and answering your questions at an event this Thursday. Join us:

Air Quality in Siouxland: Expert Panel Presentation
5:30 - 6:30 p.m., Thursday, August 13, 2026
Sioux City Public Museum
607 4th St., Sioux City, Iowa 51101

The event is free and open to the public.

Download the report at iaenvironment.org/siouxcityair.

08/07/2026

IEC's new report shows that the Sioux City area experiences dangerous air pollution spikes that surpass the EPA's safety thresholds. These spikes coincide with periods when MidAmerican Energy's nearby coal plants are operating. Air pollution from coal plants is more dangerous than other sources because it can contain toxic heavy metals that cause cancer and other physical and neurological harms. Community members are invited to learn more about the report and the health impacts of air pollution at a special event on August 13 from 5:30 - 6:30 at the Sioux City Public Museum. This event is free and open to the public. Read the full report at iaenvironment.org/siouxcityair.

07/30/2026

We're thrilled to announce the keynote speaker for IEC's 2026 Annual Conference on September 29 in Des Moines! We believe this individual speaks to the moment we are in, when the importance of protecting wild spaces, restoring balance to our waterways, and working together to defend our environment and health have never been more important.

Tamara Dean, noted writer, teacher, and advocate, will deliver the keynote address "River Bellwethers," about native freshwater mussels and the movement to protect them. "River Bellwethers" presents the fascinating stories of determined individuals who battled government officials, changed policy, and set new standards to protect this incredible and vulnerable species.

Registration for the 2026 IEC Annual Conference will open to the public on Monday, August 3, 2026, at iaenvironment.org/26conference. Last year, the conference sold out, so get your tickets early to reserve your spot.

Dean is a widely published author of fiction and nonfiction. Her latest book, "Shelter and Storm: At Home in the Driftless" (University of Minnesota Press, 2025), a Sarton Award and Wisconsin Writers Award finalist, invites readers to consider how we tend the earth in times of uncertainty and ways we thrive in community. It weaves ecology and history with Dean's experiences of living on the land in rural southwestern Wisconsin. Reviewers call it "luminous," "fascinating," and "a revelatory study of person and place, entwined." Author Jane Hamilton called it "an essential book for our time." The Progressive named it a favorite book of 2025, comparing it to Aldo Leopold's "A Sand County Almanac."

Dean's essays and stories have appeared in The American Scholar, The Georgia Review, the Guardian, One Story, Orion, The Southern Review, and other publications. She lives in Wisconsin, where she proudly served on the boards of the River Alliance of Wisconsin and Valley Stewardship Network. She is currently Terrain.org's podcast editor and teaches writing with organizations across the nation. You can learn more about her at www.tamaradean.media.

Meet Tamara and have your book signed on September 29!

07/24/2026

This week, IEC and our partners at the Environmental Law & Policy Center and the Sierra Club sued the Iowa Department of Natural Resources over dangerous coal ash waste in Ottumwa.

Coal ash is a byproduct of burning coal for energy. It contains toxic heavy metals, including arsenic, mercury, lead, and other toxins that can cause cancer, disease, and physical and neurological harm. We are asking the Court to order the DNR to require Alliant to stop the discharge of coal ash leachate.

Iowans deserve clean, healthy water. Read our press release at iaenvironment.org/newsroom.

Sierra Club Iowa Beyond Coal
Environmental Law & Policy Center

Address

505 Fifth Avenue, Suite 850
Des Moines, IA
50309

Website

http://www.iaenvironment.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Iowa Environmental Council posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Iowa Environmental Council:

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in Des Moines?