Letter to the Editor: Submitted by Ann Hart

To the Editor:

I attended Rep. Ashley Hinson’s town hall in Waukon August 16. I expressed concerns about the environment and poor water quality in Iowa. Hinson told us that water quality and soil health is improving.

She reviewed from her notebook of talking points the initiatives her Republican caucus is pushing, which is primarily promoting fossil fuels and less government regulation. You may recall Republicans celebrating the U.S. Supreme Court ruling that the Environmental Protection Agency can no longer regulate some bodies of our nation’s waters.

Iowa leads the nation in acres planted, more than 24 million in 2022 (USDA). Agriculture pollution is the top source of contamination in rivers and streams, second in wetlands, and third main source in lakes (NRDC). Republicans, since the time of Trump, have learned that if you tell a lie over and over and over, people will start to believe you. That is what Ashley Hinson was doing at her town hall in Waukon. She knows that by shifting the dialogue to too much regulation and anti-government rhetoric, her friends in big ag will continue to make a profit and contribute to her campaign.

Wake up, Iowa. Ashley Hinson and her friends don’t care about you. They aren’t going to protect the last good trout streams in Iowa nor the Mississippi River that we depend on for recreation as well as transport of goods. Vote for leaders who respect us, respect our environment, and will stand up for truth so we can make Iowa a better place to live.

Sincerely,
Ann Hart
Waukon