That debate intensified earlier this month when a legislative committee voted to object to a rule allowing the Iowa Department of Natural Resources more discretion in deciding where new large-scale livestock confinements can locate.

The rule still will go into effect, however. Gov. Tom Vilsack, a Democrat, decried the vote. He urged Iowans to make the environment a top campaign issue this fall.

"We need to ask candidates, both Republican and Democrat, if they are for clean air and clear water. This is a defining issue for the next generation of Iowa."

Source: Des Moines Register