In an effort for peace and saving the green of the world, many groups have come together to try to influence and educate Congress about the dangers of global warming and the benefits of renewable energy.

Greenpeace, Iowa Farmers Union, General Motors and many others organizations have been in front of Congress these last few weeks to help pass the “Safe Climate Act,” or H.R. 1590.

Along with several organizations, 142 members of Congress are signed on as co-sponsors of the bill, including two representatives from Iowa.

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, is one of the supporters of the bill.

“This is a good first step to addressing global warming and boosting renewable energy production in the United States,” said Jeff Giertz, communications director for Braley.

Giertz said he does not think this is a perfect solution to global warming – but it’s a good start.

“It’s certainly more than Congress has done in the past 10 years beginning to address this issue,” Giertz said.

According to a Greenpeace press release, the bill contains the three elements that Greenpeace believes must be included in any realistic attempt to stop global warming.

The first is placing a national cap on global warming pollution that produces real reductions from today’s levels within a decade and reaches 80 percent reductions by 2050. The second is putting in place a national renewable electricity standard of at least 20 percent by 2020 that includes incentives for solar and other distributed renewable energy installations. The third element is a significant decrease in tailpipe emissions.

“This bill will produce tremendous job growth in Iowa,” said Kelly Mitchell, global warming organizer for Greenpeace.

Mitchell said as of Oct. 3, Rep. Dave Loebsack, D-Iowa, was the most recent Congressman to support H.R. 1590.

In an effort to get the public aware of its issues, Greenpeace helped create a design for a wind turbine in a field outside of Ames, visible by aerial views.

“Iowa is definitely a winner with thisbill,” Mitchell said.

This bill doesn’t come without its critics. Congressman Rep. Leonard Boswell, D-Iowa, is one of the main opponents of the bill.

“Congressman Boswell certainly believes that Congress needs to address this issue,” said Susan McAvoy, chief of staff and communications director for Boswell. “But the energy bill did not address climate change and there needs to be a separate issue brought up for global warming.”

McAvoy said Boswell is waiting to see what happens with the energy conference package. She said there are several committees working on this and believe that Speaker Nancy Pelosi wants this climate change bill to come to the floor.