Candidates, show us innovation on climate change, not just rhetoric

Every four years, Iowa becomes the center of American politics as presidential hopefuls bring their big ideas to our state fair, pancake breakfasts, farms, schools, and everywhere in between. Iowans know the major challenges our nation faces, and the unique role the state plays in solving them. That’s why, particularly on climate change and how we solve it, we need more than just lofty rhetoric or economy-killing price tags from White House hopefuls. We need to see a clean energy plan based on innovation that is good for Iowa, which inherently is good for the country.

I grew up on a farm north of Clinton, and every day, like many, I rode the bus through the fields to school. I learned early on that it took more than just hard work to be a good steward of the environment, and for farmers to remain internationally competitive, it took technology and continual innovation. Inspired by the technology on the farm, I attended the University of Iowa, majoring in mathematics and chemistry, before heading east to M.I.T., where I worked to develop technology to turn agricultural waste into low-carbon diesel fuel.

Candidates should learn the lesson of Iowa before they get up on the stump. Iowa has been at the forefront of our country’s clean energy transition, leading an ambitious and successful build-out of wind energy — providing 37% of the state’s electricity —and biofuels industry.

What Iowa needs is a plan to catalyze the next generation of renewables: developing long-duration electricity storage technologies needed to use Iowa’s clean wind energy; building out an advanced electric grid infrastructure capable of exporting Iowa’s clean electricity to every corner of the country; creating the next generation of biofuels with negative carbon intensity that leverage carbon capture and storage technologies.

Iowans have long known that maintaining our climate is key to powering our state, after all, it is what drives our nation-leading crop yields and provides our abundance of wind power. Unfortunately, the effects of inaction are mounting around us, as we see prolonged droughts and record heat waves damage harvests, and more intense storms cause widespread flooding. This year, shifting temperatures and inconsistent rain led to more than 19 million acres left unplanted across the country, with almost half a million acres in Iowa – a record since the USDA started tracking the data.

Iowans want a plan to address this existential threat. In the Iowa Science Survey conducted recently, 79% of Iowans said they would like candidates, both Republican and Democrat, to have a plan to address climate change. Further, an overwhelming 90% of Iowans believe it is important that America be a leader in science and innovation. 

Over the next four months, there will be no shortage of opportunities for candidates to connect with caucusgoers. For those candidates, on both sides of the aisle, to connect with us, we ask they look no further than the wind turbines that dot our state’s horizon as monuments to the clean energy economy our state has fostered. Iowans are pragmatic. We demand less lofty rhetoric and more practical details on how the energy transition will unfold. Campaign plans to drive America forward with clean energy should take a road, both politically and technically, through the breezy and bountiful fields of Iowa.

Addison Killean Stark is associate director for energy innovation at the Bipartisan Policy Center in Washington, D.C.