I just recently finished reading "Here Comes the Sun" by Bill McKibben and highly recommend it. He lays out a fast, practical pathway to an energy system based on solar, wind, and battery storage, that is already well underway and needs our support.

Tell the Cedar Rapids City Council and the Linn County Board of Supervisors to save Morgan Valley. Protect our water, our health, and our climate. Stop the Alliant Energy fossil gas plant west of Cedar Rapids. It would be massive. Too much pollution! Too much water lost and polluted!

Well, gas had been down a little - I saw $3.57 per gallon earlier this week - but has gone back up to $3.89 per gallon in northeast Cedar Rapids. I filled up with 3.5 gallons at $3.85 per gallon in Marion. Too much but wanted to fill up for the end of the month. That’s 13.8 gallons for July.

Look what is blooming in this local garden? It’s a Lindsay James for Congress yard sign. I hope you can support Lindsay, the Democratic candidate for Congress in Iowa’s 2nd District (NE Iowa). If you are able, contribute online or by mail to “Lindsay for Iowa,” P.O. Box 144, Dubuque, IA 52001.

Today I saw gas down to $3.75 per gallon. Should we celebrate?

Gas is still $3.88 in northeast Cedar Rapids. We could reduce gas prices if we promoted conservation, demand reduction, renewable fuels, fuel efficiency, and electric vehicles.

Our first harvest of fresh onions picked this morning for Loaves and Fishes food pantry at Westminster Presbyterian, 1285 3rd Ave. SE, in Cedar Rapids. Loaves and Fishes is open every Tuesday from 2:30 to 5:00 pm. It‘a a joint project of Westminster and my church, Christ Episcopal-Cedar Rapids.

Here is an opportunity to learn more about solar power: “Grow Solar East Central Iowa” Wednesday, July 15, 5:30 pm Christ Episcopal Church 220 40th Street NE Cedar Rapids Sponsored by the Midwest Renewable Energy Association and the Iowa Faith and Climate Network. (1/2)

Gas jumped today in southwest Cedar Rapids from $3.46 per gallon (around 8 am) to $3.89 per gallon (around 3 pm). I was surprised. Even $3.46 is higher than it was in 2023 and 2024 under Biden.

Took this photo yesterday: gas prices in northeast Cedar Rapids jumped up again, to $3.59 per gallon, the day after Trump tried to direct retailers to lower prices. Based on comments on Facebook: 1. Gas was really under $3 per gallon in 2023 and 2024 when Biden was President. (1/2)

For those who excuse today’s high gas prices because “they were always higher under Biden,” the facts do not support that. Here is the chart from GasBuddy of gas prices in Iowa over the last five years. Prices were only higher for a short period after Putin attacked Ukraine in 2022. (1/2)

Great presentation tonight by Zach Wahls on why he should be our next U.S. Senator to fight for working families and to end corruption in our political system. He shared about his efforts as a state senator to stop price gouging by out-of-state mobile home park landlords. (1/x)

At noon today, Iowans expressing their disappointment that Ashley Hinson threatened organizations supporting immigrants’ rights and refuses to meet with clergy about it. A petition with over 2,600 signatures was delivered by Pastor Jonathan Heifner and others to her office. (1/2)

Took this picture after setting up last night. Today is the “Called to Climate Action” conference from 9 am to 5 pm at St. Paul’s United Methodist Church, 1340 3rd Ave SE, in Cedar Rapids. Registration is $35. Over 140 registered, but still have room for walk-ins. Hope to see you soon.

Climate change is accelerating. We urgently need more action - not less - to stop the buildup of climate pollution in the atmosphere. Graphic from AccuWeather.

A great way to help remember and honor my friend and classmate Melissa Hortman, much like the buildings named after President Kennedy after his assassination help remember and honor him. Sponsored by Senator John Hoffman who was also shot the same night Melissa was killed.

Praying for them and their loved ones.

My vote in the Congressional primary. I hope you will consider Clint. Nothing negative about the other candidates. This is a must-win district for our state, our country, our democracy, and our future.

I am endorsing Zach Wahls for US Senate. I served with Zach in the Iowa Senate and I know Iowans can trust him to work for our best interests. Zach is a champion for the poor and working families. He supports our health and economic well-being. He embraces safe, clean, affordable renewable energy.

ICE out before anyone else is hurt.

Karla Twedt-Ball speaking up for her husband, Clint Twedt-Ball, Democratic candidate for Congress, at our precinct caucuses tonight in Cedar Rapids. Biggest turnout in a non-Presidential year that I can remember. Hope you can get more involved to elect Clint and our other candidates in November!

Protesting when it is below zero wind chill might not be for everyone, but here are some of the people who showed up today to protest ICE, led by Coe College students, at the corner of 1st Avenue and 8th Street in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. (1/2)

Farm debt in the United States - adjusted for inflation - is now higher than it was at the start of the Farm Crisis in the 1980s. I don't blame Trump entirely for this problem, but you will see large increases in his years as President and his policies are making it worse. #Iowa #Farming (1/2)

Got to see Josh Turek, state representative from Council Bluffs and candidate for US Senate, tonight at Big Grove in Cedar Rapids. Josh shared his personal experience - born with spina bifida in a poor working class family to winning gold medals representing the USA in wheelchair basketball . . .

Home safely from the Progress Iowa Holiday Party which featured former Maryland Governor and Commissioner of Social Security Martin O'Malley. We talked about our kids - and his grandkid - and about politics. I told him Iowa would once again be the Super Bowl of American politics in 2026 . . .

Great to see Clint Twedt-Ball for Congress at the Iowa Farmers Union conference last night, shown here with the IFU lifetime achievement award recipient Chris Petersen from Cerro Gordo County. Clint is a great advocate and worker for family farmers and food security.

Good Shepherd Lutheran Church in Decorah, Iowa, has eliminated gas and oil and replaced it with geothermal and three 5-ton air-to-air heat pumps. The church is now 100% carbon free, with electricity from its rooftop solar panels and its “solar pergola” over the patio. Climate solutions work!

Took this picture ten years ago on Veteran’s Day in Glidden off Highway 30. I personally knew a World War I veteran, my grandfather. Let us always commemorate this day and strive continually for the peace it envisions.

Might be too late to make the 7 pm show tonight (November 6) at the FilmScene in Iowa City, but I hope you get to see “Iowa’s Dirty Secret: The True Cost of Burning Coal,” a 30-minute documentary, soon.

Tuesday, November 4, 2025 Election Day for school and city candidates in Iowa. Voting runs from 7 am to 8 pm. If you haven’t voted yet, learn the candidates and ballot measure(s) and go vote.