Paul Cienfuegos at Iowa City Public Library Tuesday June 14, 2016

Posted on June 14, 2016 by 100 Grannies

Community Rights educator Paul Cienfuegos will join us at the Iowa City Public Library next Tuesday for a presentation. Join us if you can.  Flyer

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Paul Cienfuegos at ICPL 14 June 2016

Posted on June 14, 2016 by Katharine

Paul Cienfuegos at Iowa City Public Library Tuesday  14 June 2016

Community Rights educator Paul Cienfuegos will join us at the Iowa City Public Library next Tuesday for a presentation. Join us if you can.

Community Rights Presentation

Is a Truly Sustainable Society Achievable As Long As Corporate Rights Outstrip the Rights of People?

Paul Cienfuegos

National Community Rights Educator

Tuesday, June 14, 2016, 7 PM

Iowa City Public Library, Room A

You will learn

  • Why counties and communities can’t keep out harmful activities like Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs), pipelines, and big box stores.

    • Why corporations are “people” with rights to make profits, while nature is an exploited commodity.

    • Why corporations want us to fight them one at a time, through Regulatory Agencies like the Iowa Utilities Board where corporate “experts” work.

    • How we can change the system for community rights to take precedence over corporate rights.

    • How 200 communities in nine states have already passed legally binding, locally enforceable laws that ban or rein in the “rights” of corporations.

    • Why we should direct our energy at the local level of government.

Paul Cienfuegos’ work is at the cutting edge of social change, blending keen analysis with invaluable experience in reclaiming our power from corporate hegemony. I am grateful for his passionate commitment to democracy and ecological sanity. A lively speaker and a resourceful workshop leader, he helps us find concrete steps toward building a just and sustainable society.

– Joanna Macy, author of “Coming Back to Life“

Brought to you by Community Rights Working Group

Please contact one of us with questions or comments.

Katherine Nicholson Miriam Timmer-Hackert Bryson Dean

katharn123@gmail.com timmer.hackert@gmail.com 319-541-8806

What Community Rights Is All About – Paul’s 12 minute YouTube video – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8Prylnj4NQ8

Donations are gratefully accepted to cover costs of Paul’s travel.

No one will be turned away.

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Miriam Kashia –  May 13, 2016 – Ecology protest

Posted on May 13, 2016 by Katharine

Ecology protest was a very invigorating experience

Two years ago when I began a 3,000-mile walk across American with the Great March for Climate Action, it was hard to find a story in the mainstream media about climate change, fossil fuel disasters or any other important environmental topics. On April 22, the 46th anniversary of Earth Day, voices across our nation rang out loud and clear that our earth is in jeopardy.

That is why I dusted off my worn walking shoes and on April 2 joined the Democracy Spring movement that included a march from the Liberty Bell in Philadelphia to the steps of the Capitol, “The People’s House,” in Washington, D.C. Chaotic, noisy and challenging, our culturally diverse group of about 130 ordinary citizens, youth to elders, chanted, “This is what democracy looks like!” along the 140 miles.

Citizens around the world are demanding action. The consequences of climate change are endemic and critical. Despite the general disregard of the U.S. mainstream media, this grassroots uprising is vast and growing dramatically.

Climate change is the most imminent and threatening of the many issues pressing for solutions. Our broken systems — social justice, health care, immigration, education, incarceration, endless wars and income inequity — cannot be put right unless and until we change the way we finance our political system. The game is rigged and those that pay play.

After reaching the Capitol on April 10, we were joined by several thousand more in front of “Our House” (“The People’s House, not the Corporations’ House”). Among them were 1,400 diverse citizens from all over our country who sat peacefully but illegally, blocking the Capitol steps. Our supporters stood across two police lines from us calling encouragement and chanting support as we were arrested and taken away.

We were arrested for demanding that campaign finance be reformed, that Citizen’s United be overturned, that voting rights be restored and that this country becomes a real democracy, not an oligarchy for the one percent.

I’m proud that at 73 years of age I can add “arrested” to my resume. History demonstrates again and again that when “We the people” step outside our comfort zone, put ourselves on the line and demand an end to exploitation, intolerance and corruption, real change starts to happen. This is just the beginning.

Miriam Kashia is a resident of North Liberty.

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Stephen Dykstra op ed CR Gazette 2 May 2016

Posted on May 2, 2016 by Katharine

Much has been said since the Iowa Utilities Board approved the Bakken pipeline in Iowa this spring. Indeed, the project poses many environmental and health risks; it also illustrates how the opinions of a select few can override the concerns of many (including 40 percent of Iowans who are opposed to the pipeline).

Unfortunately, a similar phenomenon manifests itself among Iowa’s representatives in Washington, D.C., who come nowhere close to representing Iowans’ concerns for environmental issues. Eighty-one percent of Iowans believe climate change is caused by humans, but of the six government officials elected by Iowans to serve in Congress, five either completely deny or refuse to address humanity’s role in driving climate change.

Last August, the Environmental Protection Agency released its final version of the Clean Power Plan, a state-by-state approach to reducing carbon pollution from power plants. The plan provides commonsense public health protections while also reducing energy costs.

Given the health benefits it will provide, the Clean Power Plan is good for Iowans, made clear when Iowa joined 17 other states in legally supporting the EPA’s plan. And thanks to Iowa’s leadership in wind energy, our state is well on its way to meeting the EPA’s emission goal for 2030 — a 47 percent overall reduction in emissions.

Given the recent impact of climate change on Iowa (droughts, the 2008 floods in Cedar Rapids, and increasing uncertainty of crop yield due to extreme weather), many Iowans recognize the health and financial benefits of protecting the environment. Yet Iowa Senators Chuck Grassley and Joni Ernst have failed to do the same. In short, even though a majority of Iowans support limiting carbon emissions from power plants, their senators continue to side with polluters over people.

Grassley and Ernst have a long track record of climate denial. Ernst, while admitting she believes the climate is changing, refuses to concede the fact that humans play a role in climate change. Like Ernst, Grassley has continually cited his uncertainty about current scientific findings. And in 2014, Ernst called the Clean Water Act — which sets standards for the amount and type of harmful pollutants exposed to our drinking water — one of the most damaging laws ever passed.

In the U.S. House of Representatives, Rep. Rod Blum (R-1st) is a self-described skeptic, justifying his apathy with an apparent lack of knowledge on the issue. Rep. Steve King (R-4th) flatly denies the issue, saying climate change “is not proven, it’s not science. It’s more of a religion than a science.” Rep. David Young (R-3rd) has avoided the issue by placing the responsibility to act on Congress, a scapegoat approach that will prove inadequate given the current gridlock in Washington.

The problem is that while Iowans care about environmental issues, our representatives refuse to do the same. They don’t accurately represent their constituents in Washington. For example, we care about our declining water quality, now more than ever, in light of the disastrous chain of events in Flint, Michigan. Not surprisingly, over 40 percent of Iowans consider their home drinking water quality to be “fair” or “poor” — an unacceptable reality.

We also care about finding new renewable energy sources. Iowans overwhelmingly approve of wind farms — an energy source that provides over 27 percent of our energy needs in Iowa.

Put simply, Iowans recognize the need to act responsibly when it comes to climate.

Unfortunately, our senators’ and representatives’ records speak for themselves, showing they are out of touch with their constituents. Now is the time for that to change. Let’s make our priorities clear — clean air, renewable energy, and a carbon-free future.

• Stephen Dykstra is a press intern at the Center for American Progress and Iowan native. He studies public relations and political science at Northwestern College in Orange City, and is planning to graduate this month.

http://www.thegazette.com/subject/opinion/guest-columnists/iowans-care-about-the-environment-20160502

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Miriam Kashia’s LTE – DM Reg, March 19, 2016

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Katharine

Civil disobedience is key element to inciting change

Miriam Kashia, North Liberty, Letter to the Editor 12:02 a.m. CDT March 19, 2016

State Rep. Ralph Watts  [Don’t let IUB’s work on pipeline become undone, March 7] seems to have a problem with the idea of civil disobedience in the name of sustainability being used to right injustices or protect the citizens of Iowa. May I remind him that is what it took to undo slavery, give women the right to vote, move forward on civil rights, and give gay and lesbian people the right to marry whom they love. This is how we create change in a democracy when partisan, gridlocked legislators and our system of law obstructs our legal protections. Because of the community rights movement, 200 communities in nine states have protected their families from encroachment and extraction practices they did not want threatening them.

The Iowa Constitution says “All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security and benefit of the people, and they have the right, at all times, to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it.”

Paul Cienfuegos has been an educator in this movement for 20 years, and he was invited to Iowa by 100 Grannies for a Livable Future, a growing eastern Iowa organization whose motto is “Educate, advocate and agitate.”

— Miriam Kashia, North Liberty

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March, 2016, Lecture Series

Posted on March 19, 2016 by Katharine

6-7 PM Mondays in March, room 202, Johnson County Senior Center:

March 7, Maureen McCue , Climate Change: Risks to Health Here, There and Everywhere. (PowerPoint)

March 14, Mary Skopek , Water Quality: What We All Need To Do To Improve Iowa’s Water. CedarRapidsTopSoilOrdinance11-10-15 IC Handouts

March 21, Marc Franke and Pat Higby , Electric Cars: Save the Planet and Your Budget Too. (Power Point)

March 28, Sailesh Rao , If You Are Serious About Climate Change… (Power Point) (Huff Post article) (video of lecture)

Details from pages 14-15 of Senior Center Catalog:

Climate Change: Risks to Health Here,

There, and Everywhere (3/7/2016)

Dr. Maureen McCue has traveled, consulted, and

worked extensively as a physician, researcher,

and peace maker. She is a founding member,

faculty, and former director of the University

of Iowa Global Health Studies Program as well

as a founding board member for the UI Center

for Human Rights. As an adjunct Clinical

Professor in the Colleges of Public Health and

of Liberal Arts & Sciences, Dr. McCue teaches

a variety of Health and Human Rights topics

including Global Health and Climate Change.

She coordinates the Iowa Chapter of Physicians

for Social Responsibility addressing the gravest

threats to human health and survival, specifically

the threat of climate disruption and nuclear

proliferation.

Water Quality: What We All Need to Do to

Improve Iowa’s Water (3/14/2016)

Mary Skopec is a senior research scientist for

the Water Monitoring and Assessment Section

(WMAS) at the Iowa Department of Natural

Resources (IDNR), Geological Survey Bureau

(GSB). Last year Dr. Skopec received the John

Wesley Powell Award from the U.S. Geological

Survey (USGS) Iowa Water Science Center for

research and development in estimating stream

flow and water-quality values for any point on

a stream entitled, STREAMEST. At the GSB, she

has worked on a variety of water quality projects

including the development of a statewide

database to track pesticide occurrences in Iowa’s

water resources. Dr. Skopec currently coordinates

the WMAS analyses of data from the statewide

Ambient Water Monitoring Program.

Electric Cars: Save the Planet and Your
Budget Too (3/21/2016)
Using green electricity (Iowa wind and solar)
pollutes our planet much less than gasoline and
reduces global warming. A used Electric Vehicle
(EV) is inexpensive to buy ($12-16,000), operate
(“gas” @ $1/gal), and maintain! Pure electric
cars have no muffler, oil, air filters or emissions
controls. Extended range electric cars like the
Chevy Volt have far less maintenance than a
comparable gas powered car. Come ready to ask
any question about Electric Vehicles.
Marc Franke is writer, educator and advocate
for that which helps people. Educated as an
engineer, he has a lifelong interest in science, the
environment and our society. Pat Higby is Energy
Education and Outreach Coordinator at the UNI
Center for Energy & Environmental Education.

Electric Cars: Save the Planet and Your

Budget Too (3/21/2016)

Using green electricity (Iowa wind and solar)

pollutes our planet much less than gasoline and

reduces global warming. A used Electric Vehicle

(EV) is inexpensive to buy ($12-16,000), operate

(“gas” @ $1/gal), and maintain! Pure electric

cars have no muffler, oil, air filters or emissions

controls. Extended range electric cars like the

Chevy Volt have far less maintenance than a

comparable gas powered car. Come ready to ask

any question about Electric Vehicles.

Marc Franke is writer, educator and advocate

for that which helps people. Educated as an

engineer, he has a lifelong interest in science, the

environment and our society. Pat Higby is Energy

Education and Outreach Coordinator at the UNI

Center for Energy & Environmental Education.

If You Are Serious About Climate Change…

(3/28/2016)

Climate change is a symptom of the

unsustainable nature of our global industrial

civilization. In this talk, using simple arithmetic,

we show why dealing with climate change is an

urgent matter for today and why it requires an

all-hands-on-deck approach in which each and

every one of us plays a vital part, starting now.

Using simple analogies from Gandhi’s Freedom

movement of the 20th century, we show what

strategies a successful climate movement could

embrace and how that might unfold.

Sailesh Rao is the Executive Director of the non-

profit, Climate Healers. An electrical engineer by

training with a B.Tech from IIT Madras (1981)

and a Ph.D. from Stanford University (1986),

Sailesh’s technology career included service with

AT&T Bell Labs and Intel.

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Jeff Biggers in Ecowatch – Solar Tree

Posted on March 5, 2016 by Katharine

http://ecowatch.com/2016/03/05/iowa-grannies-solar-tree/

Iowa Grannies Plant Seed for Solar Tree

Jeff Biggers | March 5, 2016

As a game-changing “solar tree” public art initiative, the 100 Grannies for a Livable Future in Iowa City has galvanized a groundswell of support for a community-based, inclusive and environmentally focused alternative that could serve as a public art model for other American cities.

Incorporating the original purpose of the city’s Black Hawk Mini Park to serve as “guardians of the land,” and as a hands-on follow-up to Iowa City’s recent commitment to the Compact of Mayor’s climate agreement, the 100 Grannies’ proposal is based on the globally acclaimed “Energy Tree” in Bristol, England’s central Millennium Square, which combines “community collaboration, artistic excellence, and science in a public art installation and renewable power source designed to engage the public in energy issues and address social inequality.”

“Iowa City has a golden opportunity to lead the way toward a livable future,” said Miriam Kashia, a 100 Grannies member and nationally known climate activist. “Rather than the controversial, non-local, expensive ‘Lens’ sculpture, we can create a community inspired and beautiful ‘Giving Energy Tree’ that serves all of us and reminds us daily of the future we can believe in and work toward.”

“All public art is a political statement,” added Dianne Dillon-Ridgley, a long-time Iowa City resident and environmental justice leader. “As Helen Lewis says, ‘The best marks a rich changing society.’ Iowa City prides itself as a UNESCO City of Literature, a City of Culture with the history of being an early Capital of Iowa. I would hope such a major defining work of public art would speak to and honor Iowa’s past (the Meskwakie and Black Hawk’s Sauk) and aspire to Iowa City’s future as a vibrant visionary community…a work in the service of the people, symbolic, narrative and aspiring of the future Iowa City, where we grow trees of knowledge, trees of literature, and living trees of sustainability!”

The 100 Grannies and other community members are proposing to use city funds to hire local artists and engineers or former University of Iowa solar artist Anthony Castronovo, whose nationally acclaimed “After Trillium” solar sculpture is on display at the Iowa River Landing, to work with students and at-risk youth, as part of a larger fundraising campaign that celebrates community-based public art in an age of climate change.

According to John Packer, the designer and artist behind the Energy Tree in Bristol, “A tree is a metaphor, a playful metaphor—all trees are solar trees. Hopefully [the tree] can plant a seed-thought about where our energy comes from, and why we rely so much on fossil fuels.”

A founding member of 100Grannies for a Livable Future, Ann Christenson of Iowa City proposed the “Giving Energy Tree” alternative at Tuesday’s Iowa City council meeting:

As Iowa City’s leaders and many citizens are working hard to make our community a leader in sustainability, members of 100Grannies for a Livable Future are baffled that in the selection of an art piece for the Ped Mall, there seems to have been no environmental considerations.

$500,000 for The Lens, proposed for Black Hawk Mini Park, seems a considerable amount of money that could be put to better use, for instance in a project that reflects local values and creativity.

On behalf of 100Grannies, I am proposing, instead, the type of sculpture I saw in Bristol, England, a few weeks ago. It is a wonderful “Energy Tree,” constructed with multi-directional solar panels for ‘leaves’ and eight ‘roots’ that enclose power points for recharging mobile phones. Bristol was the European Union’s Green Capital City last year, the first with that designation in the UK.

The Bristol energy tree is described as “a public art installation and renewable power source designed to engage the public in energy issues.” Its construction in Bristol’s central Millennium Square (very similar to our Ped Mall but much larger) combined “community collaboration, artistic excellence, science and grass-roots energy activism in a unique project.”

The community collaboration included recovering drug and alcohol abusers who learned in workshops to fabricate the solar panels. Besides free phone charging, the 20-foot tree offers wi-fi. The designer and builder of the tree was John Packer, a local artist.

The Energy Tree is a functional art piece that can be accomplished at far less cost than The Lens, probably well under $100,000.

The solar cells are made from recycled fragments of broken panels that would otherwise have gone to waste. Perhaps a design competition could be held. The winning design could become a UI engineering school project. Social services clients or at-risk youth taught by Kirkwood instructors could handle panel fabrication. School children could be involved through lessons on energy.

For more information on Bristol’s Solar Tree, click here. The site includes a five-minute video on planning and construction.

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Ann Christenson in Daily Iowan 29 Feb 2016

Posted on February 29, 2016 by Katharine

Guest opinion: Proposal for Ped Mall art

As Iowa City’s leaders and many citizens are working hard to make our community a leader in sustainability, members of 100Grannies for a Livable Future are baffled that in the selection of an art piece for the Pedestrian Mall, there seems to have been no environmental considerations.

The Lens, weighing in at $500,000 and proposed for Black Hawk Mini Park, seems a considerable amount of money that could be put to better use, for instance in a project that reflects local values and creativity.

On behalf of 100Grannies, I propose, instead, the type of sculpture I saw in Bristol, England, a few weeks ago. It is a wonderful Energy Tree, constructed with multidirectional solar panels for “leaves” and eight “roots” that enclose power points for recharging mobile phones. Bristol was the European Union’s Green Capital City last year, the first with that designation in the UK.

As many of you know, 100Grannies members are mourning the recent death of our remarkable founder and leader, Barbara Schlachter. As we began brainstorming to identify a suitable permanent, visionary memorial to Barbara, the Energy Tree crossed our path. 

The Bristol tree is described as “a public-art installation and renewable power source designed to engage the public in energy issues.” Its construction in Bristol’s central Millennium Square (very similar to our Ped Mall but much larger) combined “community collaboration, artistic excellence, science, and grass-roots energy activism in a unique project.”

The community collaboration included recovering drug and alcohol abusers who learned in workshops to fabricate the solar panels. Besides free phone charging, the 20-foot tree offers Wi-Fi. The designer and builder of the tree was John Packer, a Bristol artist.

We propose that instead of The Lens, this community get behind a more suitable alternative, an Energy Tree to honor Barbara, a heroic woman who touched many people in many ways, both in Iowa City across the nation. It is our hope that funding will be achieved through private donations and sponsorships. 

The Energy Tree would be a functional art piece that can be accomplished at far less cost than The Lens, probably well under $100,000.

The solar cells are made from recycled fragments of broken panels that would otherwise have gone to waste. Perhaps a design competition could be held. The winning design could become a UI engineering school special arts and engineer project, perhaps directed by former University of Iowa artist and Professor Anthony Castronono, whose award-winning solar sculptures, including the After Trillium solar flower at the Iowa River Landing, have drawn national attention. 

Social-services clients or at-risk youth taught by Kirkwood instructors could handle panel fabrication. School children could be involved through lessons on energy.

We invite those readers who view the Energy Tree as a desirable alternative to The Lens to join us at the City Council Tuesday at7 p.m., where we will introduce this proposal.

For more information on Bristol’s Energy Tree, go to http://www.demandenergyequality.org/energy-tree-2015.html. The site includes a five-minute video on planning and construction. 


Ann Christenson of Iowa City is a founding member of 100Grannies for a Livable Future

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Des Moines Register 2/22/16 Bakken News

Posted on February 22, 2016 by Katharine

Foes vow to fight if Bakken pipeline approved

Opponents of the proposed Bakken oil pipeline are pledging an all-out fight if Iowa regulators approve the project, launching a court battle and engaging in community activism that could result in some protesters trying to block construction crews.

The Iowa Utilities Board expects to make a decision in early March on a request by Dakota Access to build the crude pipeline through 18 Iowa counties. The board has been exploring possible terms and conditions for granting a state permit for the pipeline, and supporters and critics say it appears likely that Iowa regulators will approve plans for the project to proceed.

Former state legislator Ed Fallon said Monday he anticipates lawsuits and increased pressure upon the Legislature to clarify Iowa’s eminent domain law if the pipeline is approved. Fallon, an opponent of the project, walked the length of the 346-mile Iowa pipeline route last year to talk with landowners and other residents. He said.

Wallace Taylor of Cedar Rapids, chairman and legal counsel for the Iowa chapter of the Sierra Club, said that if the utilities board approves the pipeline, his organization will challenge the decision in district court, arguing that there is insufficient evidence to support issuance of a state permit. In addition, he said he would argue that the pipeline permit would not meet requirements that it contributes to the public convenience and necessity, and that a private company should not be granted eminent domain rights to condemn private property for the pipeline in Iowa.

Opponents plan to meet from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday at Boone High School to discuss strategies to stop the pipeline from crossing the state. The participants will include members of the Bakken Pipeline Resistance Coalition, Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement, 100 Grannies, and other organizations and individuals.

In addition, a series of workshops are planned from Feb. 27 to March 6 in Boone, Rockwell City, Des Moines and possibly other cities to discuss how Iowans can adopt so-called community rights ordinances in an effort to stop the pipeline, organizers said. Supporters of the concept say communities have adopted such ordinances in other states in efforts to block the use of hydraulic fracturing to explore for oil, as well as mining, water bottling, the establishment of large “factory” farms and dumping of urban sewage sludge on farmland.

“We have the inherent right to protect our lands, our people and our water when those charged with guarding our interests fail to do so,” said April Burch, an anti-pipeline activist from Boone. “Beyond the potentially catastrophic impacts of a pipeline leak or explosion, the time for investing billions of dollars of public money into fossil fuel infrastructure is over. It’s time to stand up and demand clean energy.”

Paul Cienfuegos, an activist from Portland, Ore., will lead the community rights workshops that claim local ordinances can prevail over state regulatory laws. He cites provisions in the Iowa Constitution that read: “All political power is inherent in the people. Government is instituted for the protection, security, and benefit of the people, and they have the right, at all times, to alter or reform the same, whenever the public good may require it.”

Geoff Greenwood, a spokesman for the Iowa attorney general’s office, said Iowa law does give counties authority to enact ordinances. But the local ordinances cannot be in conflict with state law, he added. In this case, the Iowa General Assembly has given the Iowa Utilities Board the authority to regulate pipelines, he said.

Don Tormey, a spokesman for the Iowa Utilities Board, declined to comment, citing the possibility of pending litigation.

Dakota Access is a unit of Dallas-based Energy Transfer Partners. The pipeline would transport oil up to 570,000 barrels of oil daily in a 30-inch-diameter pipe from North Dakota’s Bakken oil patch through South Dakota and Iowa to a distribution hub at Patoka, Ill. Dakota Access officials didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment Monday.

Dan Gannon of Ankeny, whose family owns a farm near Mingo that has been cultivated for five generations since his ancestors arrived from Ireland, said Monday he is not sure what his family would do if the pipeline is approved. Until now, he has fought the pipeline every step, particularly because of objections to eminent domain. But he said he will reassess his family’s situation and consider all options, including a possible agreement with Dakota Access, if the pipeline is approved and eminent domain authority is granted.

“We want to do what is best to protect our family’s farm,” Gannon said.

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Tribute to Barbara by Jeff Bigger in Huffington Post

Posted on February 18, 2016 by Katharine

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/jeff-biggers/a-grannie-to-be-reckoned_b_9265994.html

A “Grannie” To Be Reckoned With: Iowans Pay Tribute to Rev. Barbara Schlachter, Climate Action Leader

02/18/2016 02:11 pm ET by Jeff Biggers Author of “Damnatio Memoriae: A Play, Una Commedia,” www.jeffbiggers.com

After 35 years of Episcopal parish ministry, the Rev. Barbara Schlachter had an epiphany in her family’s homeplace, reading NASA scientist James Hansen’s memoir on climate change as her first grandson was put to bed: “I was the grandmother in the room and my heart was wide-open with love for this family and for the young children we were adding to the family.” Embracing “older means bolder,” Barbara launched the 100 Grannies for a Livable Future, and cofounded the Iowa City Climate Advocates, with an unabashed call for fellow “grannies” to become a group to be “reckoned with” and take urgent climate action now.

“What do we have to lose compared to what our grandchildren may not have?” Schlachter declared. By the time of her second grandson’s birth, Schlachter had been arrested in front of the White House in 2011, protesting the proposed Keystone pipeline.

One of the most inspiring, caring and tireless climate activists in the heartland, the Rev. Barbara Schlachter was truly a “grannie to be reckoned with” in Iowa City and the nation, a prolific newspaper columnist on climate issues, and her passing from complications with cancer this week has profoundly affected communities with a reminder of her enduring and powerful presence.

“Barbara was completely committed to ensuring that God’s creation would thrive long into the future,” wrote Iowa City Mayor Jim Throgmorton, who worked with Schlachter as part of the Iowa City Climate Advocates. “In part, that meant doing everything she could to reduce carbon emissions and minimize the severity global warming. Her moral commitment to this noble endeavor was rock solid and inspirational.”

“No single sentence or quote can capture her expansive spirit, vision and graciousness,” said Dianne Dillon-Ridgley, a long-time friend and fellow environmental justice leader. “Her iron will, grit and determination; her humor and delightful silliness; her love of beauty and her grandchildren; her tolerance and patience for those who haven’t quite caught up with her plan. There is a massive rip in the fabric of our community and our hearts just ache.”

“Barbara daily demonstrated that love is the greatest motivator,” said Elizabeth Christiansen, director of the Office of Sustainability at the University of Iowa, who noted Schlachter’s intergenerational influence. “Her love of people and our planet willed her to action. She was an example to all of us. If a grandmother from Iowa can stand up, take charge and work for change, we should all ask ourselves what we’re doing to build a better world.”

Along with Schlachter, the 100 Grannies led forums, marches, and community initiatives on an array of issues, including community rights, clean energy, the Bakken pipeline, and zero waste.

In a Press Citizen column last spring, Schlachter drew a comparison between her cancer diagnosis and climate change: “I continue insofar as I am able to be active in action related to climate change, and it has given me pause to realize how cancer and our runaway reliance on fossil fuels are so similar to each other. ”

Having launched a call for other “grannies” around the nation to become more engaged as “guardians of the Earth,” Schlachter invoked her adopted Iowa prairie for inspiration:

What is amazing to me is that prairie grass roots go deep, as deep as 15 feet. Because of their deep roots, they can withstand wind and drought. They need fire from time to time to renew them, and they are of the earth itself. They also do not stand alone. They are always in community; always dense. They can break a plow trying to break them. And they are beautiful in all their colorful diversity. So, the example to us is root deep, stand tall, stay together, and don’t be afraid of the fire of your passion for climate justice.

Barbara was one of the greatest fighters for the common good that I ever have had the pleasure to work with,” said Johnson County supervisor Mike Carberry. “Her work with the Iowa City Climate Advocates and 100 Grannies for a Livable Future in particular should be remembered. She was a beacon of light that we will continue to follow.”

Her last newspaper column held out hope for the Paris climate summit last December: “We have much at stake in Paris this month. May there be something good to remember. May we be dancing in the streets.”

Beyond her work on climate change and clean energy, Dillon-Ridgley also recalled Schlachter’s dedication to racial justice issues:

We shared a deep commitment to the future, to community, to sustainability and nature and certainly to our faith, but not everyone will know of her deep commitment to racial justice, equality and dignity. I didn’t actually meet Barbara until she retired from her parish responsibilities; but I already knew I was going to like her as Mel had included stories of their life together in his sermons for years….What I could never have anticipated was that in short order I would come to love her! Our first venture together was in 2010, to celebrate the 100th birthday of Pauli Murray, poet, civil rights activist, attorney, feminist and the first African American woman to be ordained an Episcopal priest. We planned a full-on birthday bash and while we had a modest number of attendees, Barbara’s joy and enthusiasm couldn’t have been greater if we had had thousands. Shortly after we went together to an AME gospel service together, cementing that I had found a true “SOUL SISTER”.

“I have always seen creation as a gift from God and where God is revealed,” Barbara wrote in a blog, Blue Planet Green Living. Her parting words serve as a fitting challenge of her life’s work:

“I believe we are called to be partners in the ongoing care and use of creation. Teaching my grandchildren to be caretakers of creation and to live in harmony with it and in community with people the world around is part of my call. And so is taking action to protect the planet I will leave behind. Will you join me?”

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