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ENVIRONMENT
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 TAKE  ACTION: Keep Solar Growing in Iowa
Energy companies in Iowa are promoting new legislation that would allow utilities
to charge new fees on homeowners, farmers, and businesses that generate solar power. House File 669 (formerly HSB 185) will undermine net metering, a policy that allows customers with solar to be compensated for the electricity they add to the grid. Iowa Environmental Council urges us to tell Iowa legislators to say "no" to the Sunshine Tax.
Wind Power Fight Rises Up in Texas
Texas generates more wind power than any other state. Now oil and gas and other fossil fuel interests, working with the conservative Texas Public Policy Foundation, are funding an effort to stamp out state subsidies for renewable energy in Texas, according to an investigation by the Austin American-Statesman.
MORE
How the World's Biggest Shipping Company Plans to Cut Emissions
 Shipping giant A.P. Moller-Maersk is about to conduct the shipping industry's biggest test yet of biofuel as it seeks to cut emissions and meet its target of becoming carbon-neutral by 2050. The Mette Maersk is expected to set off this month on a 25,000-nautical-mile round trip from Rotterdam to Shanghai using a blend containing 20 percent biofuel produced from plant waste.
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DOMESTIC VIOLENCE & SEXUAL ASSAULT
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TAKE ACTION: Tell Congress to pass the Extreme Risk Protection Order Act of 2019
Extreme Risk Protection Order (ERPO) laws give family members, law enforcement, and sometimes other individuals like health professionals or school administrators, a pathway for petitioning courts to temporarily deny access to guns to people at risk of harm to t
hemselves or others. They are very effective in helping to protect women in domestic violence situations
. MomsRising invites us to tell Congress to pass the ERPO Act
of 2019
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House Passes Bill Protecting Domestic Abuse Victims
The House of Representatives approved legislation renewing the Violence Against Women Act with new provisions that restrict gun ownership and expand transgender rights. The National Rifle Association opposed the bill - putting pressure on GOP lawmakers. The Senate has not yet advanced its own VAWA reauthorization, which Sens. Joni Ernst, R-Iowa, and Dianne Feinstein, D-Calif., are working on. MORE
Farmworker Women Face Sexual Harassment Across US
 Some two to three million farmworkers are employed across the United States, the majority of whom are immigrants from Mexico. And according to the National Agricultural Workers Survey, women make up 32% of that workforce. Female farmworkers often face a very real problem of sexual violence at the hands of fellow laborers, employers, and others. MORE
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POVERTY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
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DEATH PENALTY
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Mark Robertson is scheduled to be executed on April 11 by the state of Texas for the murders of Edna Brau and Sean Hill. Please hold Mark, Edna, Sean, their families and the people of Texas in prayer.
TAKE ACTION
Christopher Lee Price is scheduled to be executed on April 11 by the state of Alabama for the murder of Bill Lynn. Please hold Christopher, Bill, their families and the people of Alabama in prayer.
TAKE ACTION
John William King is scheduled to be executed on April 24 by the state of Texas for the murder of James Byrd Jr. Please hold John, James, their families and the people of Texas in prayer.
TAKE ACTION
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| CORPORATE PUBLIC STANDS |
The Sisters of St. Francis, Clinton Iowa have taken the following corporate stands:
Death Penalty Nuclear Weapons Immigration Reform Human Trafficking |
HOW TO CONTACT YOUR LEGISLATORS
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Contacting your elected officials is one of the most effective ways to bring about positive change. You can find the names and contact information of your local members of congress by entering your zip code at:
Here are phone numbers for elected officials for Clinton, Iowa:
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President
Donald Trump
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(202) 456-1414
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Senators - Iowa
Chuck Grassley
Joni Ernst
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(202) 224-3744
(202) 224-3254
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US Representative
Clinton area District 2
Dave Loebsack
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(202) 225-6576 |
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Governor - Iowa
Kim Reynolds
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(515) 281-5211
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The main switchboard for Congress is: (202) 224-3121
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Last weekend, the 
It was recently revealed that at the Hanoi Summit between Donald Trump and Kim Jong-un in early 2019, Trump apparently handed Kim a piece of paper containing a demand that North Korea hand over all its nuclear weapons and bomb fuel to the United States. It was shortly after Kim received the document that the summit collapsed.
Motel 6 will pay $12 million to settle a lawsuit that said several Washington state locations gave their guest lists to US Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Between 2015 and 2017, seven Motel 6 locations in the state shared approximately 80,000 guests' personal information with ICE without requiring a warrant. The guest lists contained private information of all guests at the hotel, violating their expectation of privacy. 
Ohio is offering grant money to help human trafficking victims get rid of tattoos or brands that were used to identify them as someone's property. Ohio Attorney General Dave Yost said trafficking survivors have enough problems recovering from slavery and trauma without "a permanent reminder" on their skin. Yost's statement said his office's Crime Victim Services division will award the $10,000 grants to local nonprofits that focus on human trafficking. 
A new pilot program at an Indiana elementary school is taking food that normally would've gone to waste and turning it into meals for students in need. On March 29, 20 students at Woodland Elementary School in Elkhart took home insulated backpacks filled with frozen meals to feed them through the weekend.