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Sen. Rob Hogg is an attorney with Elderkin & Pirnie and lives in Cedar Rapids. He has a B.A. from the University of Iowa and an M.A. and J.D. from the University of Minnesota. Sen. Hogg has served two terms in the Iowa House and is serving his first term in the Iowa Senate.
Sen. Hogg is vice chair of the Judiciary Committee and also serves on Ways and Means, Appropriations, and Natural Resources and the Environment.
Congratulations on your election to the Iowa Senate. What interested you in becoming a legislator?
I decided to run in 2001 because I thought that I had the skills to help the Legislature do a better job and there were some issues that I cared strongly about, like education, the environment and fiscal responsibility.
What are the key environmental challenges facing Iowa?
I think that we have significant issues with water quality, land stewardship and health-related pollution, but probably the overriding issue is global warming and climate change.
What can Iowa do to address global warming?
The most important thing for Iowa to do about global warming is to help educate the next president of the United States about the issue because dealing with it effectively will require American leadership on a global basis. We also have a key role in reducing our own emissions and showing that the clean energy transition can work.
You introduced a comprehensive energy bill last year in the House. What kind of an energy future do you envision?
The foundation of our energy future is energy efficiency and conservation. We have to use our energy resources efficiently and then we need to make sure that the energy resources we’re using are renewable, carbon-free energy sources.
Cedar Rapids recently completed a solar array project. Is this something other communities around Iowa should be doing? If so, how feasible is this?
Absolutely they should be doing it. The New Bohemia Project is in my district. It was, at the time, the largest photovoltaic array in the state.
Once built, it is a virtually permanent, inexhaustible supply of renewable energy. Hopefully we’ll learn from projects like this so that we’ll be able to have solar panels on every rooftop.
How can Environment Iowa members
help make sure your bills pass?
Contact your legislators about the need for energy efficiency and renewable energy. Build relationships with them. And then build a movement that becomes irresistible for political leaders. |
