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Each rainy season in Iowa and across the Midwest, and especially during significant weather events, there is a sense of fear and anxiety that the next catastrophe could be even worse than the last.

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This March 17, 2019 photo released by the U.S. Air Force shows an aerial view of Offutt Air Force Base and the surrounding areas affected by flood waters in Nebraska. The Missouri River floodwaters poured onto much of the Nebraska air base that houses the U.S. Strategic Command, overwhelming the sandbagging by troops and their scramble to save sensitive equipment, munitions and aircraft. (Photo: Rachelle Blake/AP)

Each rainy season in Iowa and across the Midwest, and especially during significant weather events, there is a sense of fear and anxiety that the next catastrophe could be even worse than the last.

This year, that fear was realized when historical floods this spring again broke records, devastating our communities, our homes and our farms. Iowa even set a record this year, with the wettest 12-month period since 1895, when data was first collected.

Both farmers and researchers agree: Climate change is driving the extreme rainfall that ultimately led to our state's $2 billion flood – the most expensive in Iowa’s history.

As extreme weather events like flooding increase in frequency and intensity, we need to address the pollution that is causing climate change. This past month, another round of extreme rainfall hit Iowa, yielding four feet of water in our family’s own cattle pasture. It is clear that extreme weather driven by climate change is harming our state, and we need solutions to address the very real and very present climate threat.

We have a duty to use the best information and every tool at our disposal to act on climate because only then can good, effective public policy tackle the problem at hand. From my current tenure in the Iowa House of Representatives, this principle has guided my service and approach to addressing big challenges; the threat of climate change should be a wake-up call to our leaders that we cannot afford to slow-walk a response.

Iowa state Rep. Todd Prichard, D-Charles City, is considering a run for governor in 2018. (Photo: Special to the Register)

Military and national security experts have identified climate change as a pressing national security threat. According to the Deptartment of Defense, two-thirds of U.S. military installations are at risk of flooding, drought or wildfires linked directly to climate change. In 2017 alone, the Department of Defense spent $1.7 billion repairing infrastructure across the country after three named storms, a figure expected to rise dramatically as climate change fuels ever-stronger weather events. We cannot afford to let down the men and women who are serving our country by failing to act on climate.

To address the carbon pollution in our atmosphere that is driving climate change, we need to embrace clean energy technology, like wind, solar and biofuels.  The good news is Iowa is already leading the way.  We’ve already seen the benefits of a clean energy economy, and our state has become a leader in wind energy, generating nearly a third of its electricity from wind and supporting nearly 10,000 jobs. It also provides additional income to struggling family farmers without displacing valuable crops. 

Continuing our state’s transition to a clean economy will not only be a boon to Iowa’s economy, but will also reduce pollution and our dependence on foreign oil.   

While right here in Iowa we are working hard to transition to cleaner energy sources, we need leaders in Washington D.C., to not only support these efforts in Iowa, but make more progress on clean energy nationwide and worldwide.  

Rep. Todd Prichard of Charles City is the Minority Leader of the Iowa House of Representatives.