DES MOINES - A state panel appointed to study ways to reduce greenhouse gas emissions outlined a variety of options for state lawmakers and Gov. Chet Culver to consider for Iowa to minimize its impact on global warming.

Greenhouse gas emissions are rising by more than 1 percent each year in Iowa, said Jerry Schnoor, a University of Iowa professor who served as the council's chairman.

The Iowa Climate Change Advisory Council formally unveiled its final report at a news conference Friday.

Rich Leopold, a council member and director of the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, said global warming will be one of the defining issues of our time, and the consequences of decisions made now will affect several generations.

"I'm not here today to convince anyone that global warming is occurring," Leopold said. "We in the field of natural resources are well aware of the current science and the real effects already being experienced in Iowa, such as longer growing seasons, more frequent and violent storm events and rising annual temperatures and precipitation amounts."

The report laid out 56 options to cut back on greenhouse gas emissions, which included ways to promote energy efficiency, use fuels and practices that pollute less and develop technologies that reduce or do not contribute to greenhouse gas emissions.

More than half of those options actually would save money in the long run if they were implemented, Schnoor said. Other options would require investments and could be considered part of a "Green Deal" in Iowa and the rest of the country that will create jobs and change the mix of energy sources.

Marian Gelb, executive director of the Iowa Environmental Council who served on the climate change council, said Iowa leaders already have taken bold steps to move to a clean-energy economy, but more can be done.

She pushed for energy efficiency measures that save money and reduce energy usage, urging Culver and state lawmakers to move quickly on the options laid out by the council, especially as the state rebuilds from this year's storms and floods.

"Out of those disasters comes an opportunity, an opportunity to rebuild smart using sustainable energy-efficiency principles to move the state toward realizing the savings potentials that exist and put Iowa on a path to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions," Gelb said.

The council was made up of 23 members, many from energy, agriculture and environmental groups or businesses.

Members stopped short of calling for a moratorium on the building of new coal-fired power plants, a contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. Council members said the idea was something that was not voted on by the full council.

"Rather, we took the more, I guess, positive approach of if you're going to change the mix of energy in Iowa, how might it change," Schnoor said.

According the council, Iowa's energy industry is responsible for 31 percent of the state's greenhouse gas emissions. Under the options laid out by the council, they would be required to increase sources of renewable energy and decrease discharges of carbon dioxide.

The climate change council's full report and proposals can be found at www.iaclimatechange.us.

Contact Charlotte Eby at

(515) 422-9061 or chareby@aol.com.