Iowa Politics

A plan to build a carbon dioxide pipeline through 30 Iowa counties is raising concerns among farmers and environmentalists. The project would capture carbon from ethanol plants and bury it deep underground in North Dakota through a process called carbon capture and sequestration.

Iowa needs targeted investments to strengthen and expand its electrical grid, in order to prepare for extreme weather events brought on by climate change. That’s the recommendation from the latest Iowa Climate Statement, which was released Wednesday by a coalition of more than 200 researchers.

City officials say the funds will help speed up construction on the west side of the river, providing more protection sooner.

Former President Donald Trump held a campaign-style rally at the Iowa State Fairgrounds on Saturday, October 9, 2021, where he endorsed U.S. Senator Chuck Grassley for an eighth term.

Iowa school districts can keep mandating masks after a federal judge granted a preliminary injunction in a lawsuit brought by parents and disability rights advocates. Judge Robert Pratt's ruling will halt enforcement of the law until the suit is resolved, a step he says is needed in order to protect school children from “irreparable harm."

A spokesperson for Democratic U.S. Rep. Cindy Axne says she has filed amendments to her financial disclosure reports, after an ethics group filed a complaint against her and other lawmakers. According to the Campaign Legal Center, Axne and six other members of Congress failed to report stock trades which totaled tens or hundreds of thousands of dollars.

Iowa communities that are home to coal power plants should be proactive about planning for the facilities to close. That’s one of the recommendations from a new study commissioned by the Iowa Environmental Council. The study argues that while the economic impact of the facilities can be significant, local communities can manage the loss.

Ben Kieffer and his guests dissect politics at the federal and state levels, including Iowa lawmakers' rejection of the first proposed map of the state's political boundaries in a special session Tuesday.

The president of the student government at the University of Northern Iowa has penned a resolution condemning school administrators for sanctioning a professor after he mandated students wear masks in his classroom. Professor Steve O'Kane has been relieved of his in-person teaching duties, a step which students say punishes them as well as him.

Republicans in the Iowa Senate voted Tuesday to reject the first set of proposed legislative and congressional districts.