Stressing environment and health issues, Eastern Iowans ask senators to deny some Trump cabinet nominees

CEDAR RAPIDS - Eastern Iowans concerned about the environment and health are asking Sens. Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst not to approve some of President-elect Trump's cabinet nominees.

More than 30 people gathered Monday in the lobby of the U.S. District Court House in Cedar Rapids as part of a day of action to protest Trump cabinet nominees Rick Perry, Scott Pruitt, Ryan Zinke and Rex Tillerson. The meeting was organized by Cheryl Valenta, a Cedar Rapids resident and member of Iowa 350, a branch of the environmental activist group 350 that encouraged groups across the nation to gather Monday.

Group members held signs with messages about climate change and pictures of the flooding in Cedar Rapids, saying climate change in part is causing events such as extreme flooding.

The group spoke to representatives at the offices of Grassley and Ernst.

'We care about our future,” Valenta said. 'We care about clean water and the air. It doesn't look like that's something important to them. They just don't seem like people who should be in top leadership positions in our country.”

Valenta said she has concerns about ExxonMobil CEO Tillerson and former Texas governor Rick Perry, saying they deny causes of climate change because of their roles in the oil industry.

Tillerson is nominated for Secretary of State and Perry is nominated for Secretary of Energy.

'As you know, Iowa is a leader in the clean energy industry,” Valenta said. 'We just feel these appointments could undo some of the progress.”

Maureen McCue, a member of Iowa Physicians for Social Responsibility and a professor of global health at the University of Iowa, spoke about how the environment might affect citizens of the United States and how she doesn't believe some of the cabinet nominees will promote healthy environmental energy or health policies.

'We know that Grassley has and Ernst would be in support of a healthy environment, as well as a sound economy for Iowa,” McCue said. 'We are here to urge you to deny the appointment of Pruitt, Tillerson and Perry to three of the very most influential positions. These nominees have built their career vowing to abolish the Energy Department, the (Environmental Protection Agency) and misleading the public for a very long time on the many public health risks of the fossil fuel industry. They cannot be expected to lead in the best interests of Iowa, the nation or the world.”

McCue also said Grassley and Ernst should think about how reliant Iowans are on the jobs created by living in a state that is a leader in clean energy production, namely through wind energy and ethanol. McCue said she wants to see cabinet members who promote clean energy use during a time when other countries are. China, for example, is investing $360 billion in clean energy efforts, she said, adding the United States needs to depend less on fossil fuels.

'In some ways, if these products (fossil fuels), if these inherent costs were all we had to rely on, we might think of the calculus a little bit differently,” McCue said. 'But they are not, and Iowans have shown and Grassley has supported our clean energy efforts. Yet we're going to roll back what we've already done? The entire world is going to see the U.S. as a rogue state.”

Christine Nobiss, an Iowa City resident and member of Indigenous Iowa spoke about her concerns on how Trump's administration, specifically nominee for Secretary of Interior Ryan Zinke, might treat Native Americans and their resource-rich reservations.

'It is so important for people to use their voices and share their concerns, If they don't, I don't know. I don't have a good outlook for our country,” Valenta said.

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