Founded by legendary conservationist John Muir in 1892, Sierra Club is the oldest, largest and most influential grassroots environmental organization.

Please join us July 25 at 6:45 p.m. to hear Austin Frerick speak about his book, Barons:  Money, Power, and the Corruption of America's Food Industry.  The first barons in the book are local hog barons, Iowa Select Farms.  Their CAFO's dot our landscape and pollute our soil and water.   

“Some may herald Barons as an overdue update of The Jungle, the 1906 book by Upton Sinclair.”
—Bleeding Heartland

“Wow. This is one important book... If you want to know how corporations control the food supply,
start here.”
—Marion Nestle, Professor at New York University and author of What to Eat and Food Politics

In addition, the group will host our annual fundraiser silent auction; come bid on artwork, camping gear, gift cards, etc.  Auction proceeds will benefit the Drake Environmental Action League, a student group, for an environmental project on campus and the Children and Family Urban Movement (CFUM) for nature activities for children.  Refreshments will be provided.

This meeting will be held at Northwest Community Center, 5110 Franklin Avenue, Des Moines.  The Center is just west of the Franklin Avenue Library.  For more information, contact Linda Goff at lgoff529@hotmail.com

CIG Learned about Polk County Conservation Water Quality Monitoring

Passionate about clean water?  Water Quality Coordinator Ginny Malcomson shared program goals and described results of the Water Quality Monitoring Program.  You can help!  To get involved with the program contact Ginny at ginny.malcomson@polkcountyiowa.gov or call 515-323-5300.

CIG Hosted Polk County Sustainability Planning Team

On April 17, 2024, the Polk County Sustainability Planning Team presented the progress of Central Iowa's Climate Pollution Reduction Grant Program (CPRG) and its corresponding initiative, "What's Next, Central Iowa?" (WNCI). Learn more about this initiative at What We’re Doing – What's Next, Central Iowa? (countysustainability.azurewebsites.net

CIG Hosted Beyond Coal

 Emma Colman, Organizing Representative with Sierra Club’s Iowa Beyond Coal campaign presented on the Beyond Coal Campaign.  She encourages Central Iowa Group members to get involved by attending the Berkshire Hathaway annual meeting May 4th in Omaha.  Berkshire Hathaway is the parent company of MidAmerican Energy, which operates 5 coal plants in Iowa.  There will be an opportunity to take a bus from Des Moines for this event.  Details to follow.  

CIG Hosted Carbon Pipeline Presentation

On February 21st, Jess Mazour, Conservation Program Coordinator for the Iowa Chapter of the Sierra Club presented on the three companies which have applied to build hazardous carbon pipelines across Iowa. Landowners, environmentalists, and local governments have banded together to oppose the Summit, Navigator, and Wolf carbon pipelines.  For more information regarding the pipelines and actions you can take regarding them, please go to Iowa Chapter | Sierra Club.  

CIG Hosted Transit Equity Meeting

On February 5th, the Central Iowa Group held an online meeting to discuss transit equity in the metro Des Moines area.  The date was chosen to honor Rosa Parks' birthday.  You can find more about this movement in the link below:

 https://www.labor4sustainability.org/transit-equity/

Why is this an equity issue? Public Transit provides basic mobility for many in our communities. It is also essential urban infrastructure–just like roads, bridges, tunnels, and utilities–that is crucial to the economic, social, and environmental well-being of all our regions.

How does this apply to Des Moines? DART Service is in danger of being cut. DART is the public transportation system of the Des Moines metro area. Because of budgetary constraints they are considering cutting services. Without additional revenue, DART must reduce its services by $7.7 million over the next five years. Most DART riders do not have a driver's license or a car. If the city of Des Moines increases its funding of DART with an increase in the franchise fee, DART can maintain its services. 

Sierra Club supports public transportation and expanding it to green spaces as in S.1440 . The purpose is to establish a program to award grants to entities that provide transportation connectors from critically underserved communities to green spaces, and for other purposes.

https://www.congress.gov/bill/118th-congress/senate-bill/1440