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A concern electric co-op member-consumers have expressed about climate legislation is that it discriminates against the Midwest by transferring Midwesterners’ hard-earned money to the east and west coasts.

Iowa Sens. Chuck Grassley and Tom Harkin listened to those concerns and publicly stated their opposition to the legislation unless changes are made to end geographic unfairness. “There’s no doubt in my mind that the more than 75,000 postcards signed by Iowa electric coco-op member and delivered to Grassley and Harkin at the end of September influenced their decisions to oppose the legislation unless changes are made,” said Brian Kading, executive vice president and general manager of the Iowa Association of Electric Cooperatives.

Harkin recently initiated a letter to Democratic Party leadership in the U.S. Senate that 13 of his fellow Democrat senators cosigned. In the letter, the senators said the legislation had to be changed to gather their support. The senators who cosigned the letter included Carl Levin and Debbie Stabenow of Michigan, Russ Feingold and Herb Kohl of Wisconsin, Al Franken and Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, Bryon Dorgan and Kent Conrad of North Dakota, Michael Bennet and Mark Udall of Utah, Roland Burris of Illinois, Sherrod Brown of Ohio, and Robert Byrd of West Virginia. Grassley sent a similar letter to Democratic Party leadership in the U.S. Senate.

Senate leadership was planning to have climate legislation on President Obama’s desk for him to sign in 2009, but now those leaders are saying they won’t be able to work on it until next year.

“Clearly, the voices of electric cooperative members are being heard in our nation’s capitol,” Kading said. “We support a reduction in carbon dioxide being placed our atmosphere, and we look forward to continuing to work toward finding a balanced solution on this issue that ensures reliable, affordable and safe electricity delivered in an environmentally responsible manner to the approximately 650,000 Iowans in each of Iowa’s 99 counties that depend on electric co-ops for electric power.”