Iowa would shield the agricultural sector — including ethanol refiners — from climate-related lawsuits under legislation moving through the state House and Senate.
Proposals in both chambers — HF 2527 and SF 2427 — cleared last week’s “funnel” deadline for Iowa lawmakers to advance bills out of committee. They each now await floor action.
Rep. Derek Wulf, the Republican chair of the House Agriculture Committee and a sponsor of the legislation, called it a response to other states’ lawsuits and legislation, such as New York and Vermont’s climate superfund laws.
Those state lawsuits and laws have targeted the fossil fuel industry, not agricultural producers. But Wulf said lawmakers want to get ahead of any potential efforts to target Iowa’s agribusiness.
