Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
The chairman for Herman Cain’s Iowa effort says the campaign “relied more on the word of farmers than Washington regulators” in deciding to run an ad containing claims the Environmental Protection Agency says are false.
The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
A national veterans group has launched a television ad campaign attacking U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley’s position on a bill capping carbon emissions.
The legislation was passed by the U.S. House last year and is currently being considered by the Senate. VoteVets.org, a national advocacy group, will begin airing a television ad Friday in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines that criticizes Grassley’s position on the bill. Their position is that it will help military personnel by cutting the country’s dependence on foreign oil.
U.S. Sen. Chuck Grassley (Photo: Lauren Victoria Burke/WDCPIX.com)
The ad, which is also being run in seven other states, features Iowa City veteran Jeff Lindaman saying Grassley is opposed to the bill while accepting campaign donations from oil companies that do business “in countries with ties to terrorism.”
The Iowa Renewable Fuels Association, the Iowa Biodiesel Board, and the Iowa Soybean Association Board released a joint statement Friday defending the veteran Republican senator, saying “there has been no bigger supporter of clean energy in the U.S Senate than Chuck Grassley.”
“Chuck Grassley has been in a position to change the energy landscape, and he has maximized every public policy opportunity for clean-producing, home-grown energy,” the groups said. “Without Chuck Grassley, there would be no clean-burning renewable energy industry in Iowa.”
In September, Grassley called cap-and-trade legislation more controversial than health care reform, saying it will ultimately cost American jobs.
The group says it paid $150,000 in Iowa for the ad, which will run through Feb. 21 in Cedar Rapids and Des Moines.
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