By Danielle Gehr
Blair Frank led a group chant, "One global family," as climate change activists filled up Locust Street between 5th and 4th avenues Saturday around noon.
Hundreds of climate activists (click here) filled portions of downtown Des Moines on Saturday to address what they believe is a lack of media coverage of climate issues.
The "Climate Crisis Parade" began on Locust Street between Fifth and Fourth avenues, just outside the building that houses the Des Moines Register.
Before marching through the street, some of the participants stood in the road and addressed the crowd with a sense of urgency, saying the media has failed to cover global warming and its effects. Seventy groups sponsored the event Saturday and about 400 people marched through downtown to the Iowa Events Center.
By Rebecca Beitsch
Iowa (click here) and other Midwestern states are seeing more weather extremes this summer, with many areas experiencing heavy rains that cause flash flooding followed by long periods of heat with no rain....
...Climate change was rated as the second most important issue in Iowa (click here) ahead of the caucuses, according to polling by the Des Moines Register, which showed 90 percent of respondents calling it “extremely important” or “important,” second only to health care.That marks a change, according to Lehman, who said candidates previously had been “much more reluctant to engage farmers on this for fear of a backlash.”
What’s changed is that farmers are increasingly raising climate change as a threat to their livelihoods — and seeking measures to address it....
