All Global Politics is Local

(Courtesy: theEcoEnquirer)

Global warming, climate change, environmental awareness...the name really doesn't matter to him. Des Moines Mayor Frank Cownie told me he just wants to get people involved in thinking about their environment. Walk or ride your bike where you can, carpool, don't drink bottled water, turn up/down the thermostat, plant grass on your roof, do as little or as much as you want. He just wants Iowans to do something.

Global warming is probably not heating up business at Cownie Furs. But Cownie says his efforts at awareness have nothing to do with his business. He thinks each person can make a difference in this fight. And he plans on finding out just how much that's true.

Cownie believes this whole discussion has moved from just the far left folks to the mainstream. He proudly points out he's been able to unite the Sierra Club with some faith-based groups (btw, his work's been profiled with some big city mayors in a Newsweek article. He's also a prominent part of http://www.coolmayors.org/).

Cownie's also figured out that as the mayor right in the middle of Iowa, he might be able to attract a little national attention. So he's putting together a summit, of sorts, on warming/change/awareness/whatever you want to call it. He'll invite the Presidential candidates from both parties to come in for it sometime after the State Fair (that's in mid-August, for all you non-fried-everything-on-a-stick-eaters, who don't know). He's still working on a format, but don't look for one of those all-day long panels (It's not likely the Presidentials will go for it. They're busy, you know).