On Sept. 22 the head of the University of Iowa Department of Occupational & Environmental Health, as well as the Chairman of the Environmental Protection Agency's Science Advisory Board, Peter Thorne, and State Rep., Mary Mascher (District 86) spoke at a round table discussion to inform the community on the recently enacted EPA power plan.

Peter Thorne began the discussion by providing an overview of the history of the Clean Air Act Amendments of 1990 and the legal framework established for the recent plan, and further expanded on the method of computation, and methods states can take to comply to the standards.

State Rep. Mary Mascher (photo left) then went into detail about how Iowa legislators have approached green policy in the past and how their previous work in the statehouse has lead to a smoother transition to meeting the EPA compliance standards.

Thorne ultimately suggested that for new power plants in the U.S., we'll see a large shift from coal to more natural gas and renewable energy.

The Power Plan was finalized on Aug. 5 and provides state by state goals for C02 emissions reduction by 2030. Nationally, the plan is hoping to reduce C02 emissions by 32 percent. In Iowa, the EPA set goals for the state to reduce emissions by 41 percent by 2030, a goal Mary Mascher says we're well on our way to meet, given recent growth in wind production in the state.

The event was sponsored by the League of Conservation Voters in the Northwestern Room at the University of Iowa Memorial Union.