Make clean energy a priority

Studying sustainability and environmental planning at the University of Iowa, it is hard to ignore our lack of clean energy in Iowa. Reading about the degradation of our climate, loss of resources, and unsustainable jobs that come from our use of fossil fuels everyday in class, it is alarming that clean energy is not at the forefront of every candidate’s platform.

It is not to late to make a change by looking at the upcoming elections to vote and let our candidates know that climate change is the issue of our time. Taking a transition to clean energy while having a goal of 50 percent clean and carbon-free energy by 2030 is possible through our votes. Not only can we reduce carbon emissions, but also in the process we can aid our economy to grow and create jobs.

Solar jobs are growing 20 times faster than the broader economy with this field creating eight times more jobs in construction, installation, operations, and maintenance, than coal and natural gas do across full project lifetimes. Wind-manufacturing facilities across the United States are also employing more than 70,000 wind-related jobs. So why in our mission to reduce climate change are we not taking full advantage of turning to clean energy sources that can create millions of clean energy jobs in the process?

Kelsey Utterback

Uphold U.S.’s humanitarian history

I am sorry to say that I am sometimes ashamed to be called a United States citizen. The U.S. has an exalted history of helping those people in the world who are in need, those who are less fortunate than we have been. We have enjoyed the relative safety of living in the states. By safety I include both the physical and economic privileges that we enjoy. It seems that now some citizens, including some of our elected representatives, are considering turning our backs on those citizens of Syria, and other troubled states in the middle-east who are fleeing because of threats to their physical and economic security. The reason we are considering turning our backs is because of threats by a small band of Muslim-Arab terrorists, ISIS. They are a small minority of Muslims, a small minority of Arabs, and small in number to the citizens of the U.S. They threaten us with attacks such as we have recently seen in Paris. It is certainly the case that we can not stop all such attacks within our borders. I simply ask what price we are willing to pay and what we are willing to sacrifice for this safety? Are we willing to pay with the lives of the innocent who flee? Are we willing to sacrifice our morality? Shame on us if we are.

David Babcock

Focus on campaign finance reform

As a member of the University of Iowa’s Feminist Union executive board, I care deeply about advancing equal opportunities for women. Among other things, this means expanding services for victims of sexual assault and domestic violence, maintaining access to reproductive health care, and providing quality public schools and childcare for all children in our country.

In our political system, big money donors stand in the way of progress on these important issues. These crucial services are often cut, and politicians cite “budget shortfalls” as the reason. But the reality is that the amount of money necessary to enable women’s shelters and health centers to continue their lifesaving work is miniscule. Meanwhile, big business interests receive first-class treatment, thanks to the large financial contributions that these groups are allowed to make to politicians. Do we really want to be a nation that runs on bought votes? That casts aside and shuts down the organizations that provide lifesaving work because they cannot compete financially with business owners who work for profit instead of for other’s needs? I hope not. I hope that the media will begin to reflect the people’s concerns, including feminists like me, and ask the presidential candidates for their plans to take back the sanctity of our elections. Campaign finance reform should be our number one focus this election cycle.

Sophie Katz

The Dummy Lama

In the wake of the Paris attacks, the Dalai Lama gave an interview to German broadcaster Deutsche Welle, expressing skepticism toward prayer’s role in the world’s response to such atrocities. From the interview: “We cannot solve this problem only through prayers. I am a Buddhist and I believe in praying. But humans have created this problem, and now we are asking God to solve it. It is illogical.” This is a statement without an audience; people who believe prayer with no external action will vanquish jihad only exist in His Holiness’s imagination. By his thinking, prayer is equally futile regarding both World Wars and the Chinese occupation of Tibet, as man was responsible for them too. Would His Holiness discourage prayer in those cases? If not, it is illogical. It appears the Dalai Lama has become the Dummy Lama.

Nick Dolan