Environment expected to get bigger stage at Iowa Caucuses

Hot-button issues such as clean power, water quality regulations and renewable fuels are expected to get a bigger stage in the 2016 Iowa Caucuses, as environmental activists put more pressure on presidential contenders to address controversial issues such as climate change.

But experts still expect that concerns about saving the planet likely will play second, third and possibly even fourth fiddle to issues such as jobs and the economy, heath care and national security. The key, they say, may be to link the environment to popular measures such as wind and solar energy that can create jobs while also reducing America's carbon footprint.

"If you're a candidate that's looking for a way to talk about the environment, Iowa provides a perfect road map for that," said Josh Mandelbaum, the Des Moines attorney for the Environmental Law and Policy Center. "You can stay away from the most polarizing issues and talk about areas where in Iowa you have bipartisan support" such as wind energy.

Republican presidential hopefuls so far have typically said that the federal government has been too heavy-handed with regulation and expressed little support for government incentives to develop alternative energy sources. Democratic hopefuls such as Martin O'Malley and Bernie Sanders have been more outspoken in their support.

But the first challenge will be getting voters' attention in a presidential cycle that likely will have Democrats and Republicans spending billions of dollars on their campaigns, said NextGen Climate founder Tom Steyer, a California billionaire trying to get his political action committee's message out on climate change.

"If the Clinton campaign is going to spend $2.5 billion, the Republicans are very likely to spend $2.6 billion," said Steyer, who talked to the Register on Tuesday and plans to hold a news conference in Des Moines on Wednesday for Earth Day. "We don't know how much we'll have to spend, because no one has ever seen this before."

"That's an amazing amount of noise" to cut through, said Steyer, who speculated that even brothers David and Charles Koch, staunch Republican supporters and mega-campaign donors, are likely unsure how much they'll need to spend to get their message heard.

Last year, NextGen Climate funneled $74 million into national elections last year, with mixed results. Although only about half of the candidates the PAC supported won, NextGen helped increase public awareness and concern on climate change.

Climate change gaining acceptance

In January, the U.S. Senate voted 98-1 that "climate change is real and not a hoax," although it stopped short of blaming "human activity" for "significantly" contributing to climate change.

"We continue to see evolution, improvement, increased awareness and increased sophistication," Steyer said. "When you think about the discussion and approach to this issue, both the American public and representatives have changed a lot over the past two years."

NextGen Climate is looking to Iowa to build on its political foundation and push its message.

"The American political conversation will be hosted by Iowa for the next nine months," he said. "We feel it will be really important that energy and climate be a pivotal part of that discussion."

Donna Hoffman, a University of Northern Iowa political science professor, said environmental issues "will play in the caucuses to the extent that they become economic issues."

That's a message that hits home with Steyer and Iowa environmental leaders such as Mandelbaum, Susan Guy and Ralph Rosenberg.

Environment viewed as a job creator

Renewable energy hits the sweet spot of creating jobs, providing energy independence and reducing greenhouse gas emissions that contribute to climate change, they say.

And wind and solar energy often has support from Republicans and Democrats, both in Iowa and the nation.

Mandelbaum said Iowa's clean energy economy is the perfect platform for presidential candidates to talk about the environment.

"There's tremendous potential for the wind energy economy to grow in this state," Mandelbaum said. "And there's tremendous potential for solar energy to complement wind energy.

"That happens to be good for the environment. But it also fits with what candidates love to talk about, because it's great for the economy."

Mandelbaum points to Washington County in southeast Iowa, where solar concentration leads the state.

"If you look at who is leading in solar energy, it's Iowa farmers," Mandelbaum said. "It's turkey producers, hog producers, guys growing corn and beans. All those operations are trying to figure out how to integrate solar. That's a good story that candidates can embrace."

Clean water gaining emphasis in Iowa

The Iowa caucuses can help amplify issues such as clean power and clean water, said Rosenberg, executive director of the Iowa Environmental Council.

The punishing drought in California, along with the Des Moines Water Works' lawsuit against three rural counties in Iowa, is helping to push interest in water availability and water quality.

"There's a real sense of urgency around these issues," Rosenberg said. "The California drought helps bring attention to our dependence on clean water."

In January, the Des Moines utility set in motion plans to sue drainage districts in north Iowa, claiming field tiles in the district provide a conduit for nitrates into the Raccoon River, a source of drinking water for 500,000 residents in central Iowa.

The utility wants the drainage districts, and indirectly farmers, to meet the same federal water quality standards that manufacturers, cities and businesses are required to meet. Farm runoff is now exempted from federal clean water requirements.

Farm groups say the best approach to improving water quality is to encourage voluntary farmer adoption of conservation practices such as saturated buffer strips, cover crops and bioreactors.

"Here in Iowa, people are thinking about whether we can boat and paddle and swim in our waters in Iowa," Rosenberg said. "People want water that's safe to drink."