By Barb Arland-Fye
Seven Iowa religious leaders — including Bishop Martin Amos of the Davenport Diocese and Bishop Richard Pates of the Des Moines Diocese — have signed a petition calling for reduced dependence on coal-fired power generation. They are among 42 signers to date on a petition that Iowa Interfaith Power & Light will release April 22, Earth Day.
Iowa has 22 coal-fired power plants while 21 agriculture processing and manufacturing facilities around the state use coal boilers, said the Rev. Susan Guy, executive director of Iowa Interfaith Power & Light. She noted that Iowa has both the cleanest energy generating source (wind) and the dirtiest (coal).
“We’re trying to find ways for faith leaders to say something about climate change … This year we’ve focused on coal, primarily because the burning of coal is the number one contributor to greenhouse gas emissions in the United States,” Rev. Guy added.
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