Overall Rating Gold
Overall Score 72.32
Liaison Merry Rankin
Submission Date Aug. 29, 2022

STARS v2.2

Iowa State University
EN-14: Participation in Public Policy

Status Score Responsible Party
Complete 2.00 / 2.00 Merry Rankin
ISU Director of Sustainability
Facilities Planning & Management
"---" indicates that no data was submitted for this field

Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the municipal/local level?:
Yes

A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the municipal/local level:

Iowa State University advocates for climate action, through faculty, staff and student representation on the 27-member City of Ames Climate Action Plan Supplemental Input Committee. The Ames City Council created the Climate Action Plan Supplemental Input Committee to offer input back to the Council. In this role, the group will be expected to complete the following actions items:

Determine outreach strategies to engage others within their community sector and
provide those ideas to the consultant to use when developing and implementing
a community-wide outreach and engagement process.

Solicit, review, synthesize, and present feedback from the sectors the members represent.

https://confluence.mysocialpinpoint.com/ames-climate-action-plan


Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the state/provincial/regional level?:
Yes

A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the state/provincial/regional level:

Iowa State University heavily advocates for Biobased chemical platform advancement in order to strengthen academic and economic development within the institution and state.

Iowa State and the Iowa Innovation Council have lobbied and continue to advocate for the expansion of several existing programs incorporated by the Iowa Economic Development Authority (IEDA) including:

- Refundable Research Activities Credit
https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/Research

- Proof of Commercial Relevance (POCR) program
https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/POCR

- Demonstration Fund
https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/Demo

- Iowa Innovation Acceleration Fund
https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/SSBCIInnovation

- The Small Business Innovation Research and Technology Transfer Outreach Program
https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/innovationcorp

- Angel Investor Tax Credits
https://www.iowaeda.com/innovate/angel-investor-tax-credit/

- Innovation Fund Tax Credits
https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/innovationcredit

- High-Quality Jobs Program
https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/HQJ

- Renewable Chemicals Production Tax Credit
https://www.iowaeconomicdevelopment.com/RenewableChem

The Farm to Table Task Force commissioned during the 2021 state legislative session and led by the Iowa Department of Agriculture and Land Stewardship and Iowa State University Extension and Outreach submitted a set of recommendations to the Iowa Legislature that are intended to improve the farm to table supply chain.
https://www.extension.iastate.edu/ffed/farm-to-table-task-force-makes-recommendations-to-iowa-legislature/

Iowa State University Professor of Meteorology, in the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences and Chair of the University Sustainability Committee, Dr. William Gutowski, and Dr. Gene Takle, Professor of Agronomy, serve as co-authors on the annual Iowa Climate Statement. Alongside researchers and educators at nearly every college and university in Iowa, annual statements to communicate in plain language the state of climate science and the impacts of climate change on Iowans are produced toward offering informed decisions in strategic planning and policy recommendations.
https://iowaenvironmentalfocus.org/iowa-climate-statement/

Iowa State University Professor in Department of Natural Resource Ecology and Management and co-director of the Bioeconomy Institute, Dr. Lisa Schulte-Moore, served on the agricultural subcommittee of Governor Reynolds’ Carbon Sequestration Task Force in 2021 toward the completion of a final report.
https://www.iowaeda.com/UserDocs/igov_carbonseqrpt-2022.pdf

Iowa State is one of over twenty leading Midwestern higher education institutions, non-profits, local governments, and businesses partnering with the goal to develop a coordinated Midwestern response to the climate crisis, through the Midwest Climate Collaborative. This partnership yielded the inaugural Midwest Climate Summit which took place in two parts occurring in fall 2020 and fall 2021. The goal of the summit was to “... expand climate knowledge, accelerate climate action, and catalyze new partnerships that deepen expertise and develop a Midwestern response to the climate crisis”.
https://midwestclimatecollaborative.wustl.edu/


Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the national level?:
Yes

A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the national level:

Iowa State University is a signatory of the We Are Still In joint declaration of support for climate action, signed by more than 3,900 CEOs, mayors, governors, college presidents, and others - established in pursuit of climate action and the United States' commitment to delivering on the promise of the Paris Agreement and America’s contribution to it.


Does the institution advocate for public policies that support campus sustainability or that otherwise advance sustainability at the international level?:
Yes

A brief description of how the institution engages in public policy advocacy for sustainability at the international level:

Iowa State University Professor of Meteorology, in the Department of Geological and Atmospheric Sciences and Chair of the University Sustainability Committee, was appointed as a Lead Author for the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC). Within this role, Dr. Gutowski lead advocacy through authorship of policy-relevant information outlining the state of scientific, technical and socio-economic impacts and risks related to climate change and the urgency for international policy implementation.


A brief description of other political positions the institution has taken during the previous three years (if applicable):
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A brief description of political donations the institution made during the previous three years (if applicable):
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Website URL where information about the institution’s sustainability advocacy efforts is available:
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Additional documentation to support the submission:
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Data source(s) and notes about the submission:
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The information presented here is self-reported. While AASHE staff review portions of all STARS reports and institutions are welcome to seek additional forms of review, the data in STARS reports are not verified by AASHE. If you believe any of this information is erroneous or inconsistent with credit criteria, please review the process for inquiring about the information reported by an institution or simply email your inquiry to stars@aashe.org.