Access to clean water and clean air should be recognized as a fundamental right under Iowa law.
The Constitution of the state of Iowa should be amended to assure that right is protected, and to guarantee that governmental actions conflicting with this right are subjected to strict judicial scrutiny.
A further constitutionally imposed duty should be placed on state government: to affirmatively protect our precious natural resources for us, and for all future generations.
The fundamental right to clean air and water was enjoyed by Iowa’s earliest settlers. Many of those early Iowans, in their letters and diaries, described their unfettered access to our state’s uncommonly pure air and water of astonishing quality and quantity.
Consistent with those earliest impressions, the Code of Iowa states that water in Iowa belongs to the people. It is described in our statutes as “public wealth.”
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Today, however, these rights are severely threatened by what might be called an “agricultural-industrial complex.”