Hello all! As the newest addition to the Environmental Law and Policy Center’s Iowa office, let me introduce myself. My name is Benjamin Julian and I have come on staff as a student intern for the spring semester. I am a senior at Drake University here in Des Moines studying International Relations and Environmental Policy. I have many interests and goals for my stay with ELPC, but my real hope is that the experience here will give me both an understanding of policy and advocacy, as well as the skills needed in pushing forward with energy and environment-based legislation.

I am especially excited about taking part in pushing for state policies that will limit greenhouse gases and create “green jobs” for Iowa. Iowa is now the second-largest wind energy-producing state in the Union, behind Texas. Companies from around the world are now operating within the state to manufacture and build cutting-edge wind turbine technology. Iowa leads in ethanol and other biofuels production in the U.S. and was an early leader in pursuing a Renewable energy Portfolio Standard as a part of state energy policy. There is so much potential stirring in the heartland for clean energy and infrastructure development, and Iowa must continue be a leader in this rapidly growing industry.

There are a few major issues ELPC will be pursuing this year that I’m excited to be a part of. One is the advancement of a high-speed rail link from Iowa to Chicago. Though I was disappointed that Iowa was not included in the first round of funding from President Obama’s 8 billion dollar rail investment plan, the investment in the Chicago hub network is an important step towards sustainable transportation in the Midwest. No doubt this means ELPC will be leading the campaign for increased investment in high-speed rail for Iowa.

Another area of focus for the ELPC this year is advancement of renewable energy.  There is a need to raise standards for small-scale renewable interconnection, as Iowa has many operations that have yet to be linked with Iowa’s major utilities. Distributed, smaller-scale generation decreases inefficiency and energy waste of large, centralized power plant operations. Bringing renewable power on-line in conjunction with Iowa’s utilities is an important step forward in “greening” Iowa’s energy production. Similarly, ELPC will continue advocating for a Federal Renewable Energy Standard, which would mandate all energy companies to purchase or produce a certain amount of renewable energy for consumers. This adoption of a Federal RES is critical to normalizing requirements already set by many states, and is estimated to create hundreds of thousands of jobs nationwide while revamping and modernizing our energy infrastructure.

I am thrilled to be working on these issues at ELPC and look forward to being a part of creating a cleaner, more sustainable Iowa!