Award-Winning Documentary "Iowa's Dirty Secret" Now Available for Online Streaming

DES MOINES, Iowa, Nov. 18, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The award-winning documentary, "Iowa's Dirty Secret: The True Cost of Burning Coal," is now available to the public to stream online at iowasdirtysecret.com.

The documentary, an initiative of the Clean Up MidAm Coalition, won the Audience Choice Award at the Sioux City International Film Festival, and won three bronze Telly Awards. Other bronze winners this year include films from the Smithsonian, the BBC, and others.  Watch the trailer here.

"The response to Iowa's Dirty Secret has been beyond anything we imagined," said Trevor Tejeda-Gervais, the film's director. "Our goal was simply to expose the harm caused by MidAmerican Energy's coal plants, but the outpouring of support — from sold-out theaters to award recognition — has been incredible."

First premiering at the Varsity Cinema in Des Moines this spring, the documentary has since been featured at the Sioux City International Film Festival, the Iowa Independent Film Festival, and most recently at a FilmScene Community Collaboration in Iowa City. Additional community screenings have been hosted across the state and online.

The short film examines the cost of MidAmerican Energy's coal plants in Iowa through first-hand accounts shared by families who live near the coal plants, doctors who have seen the health impacts of coal pollution, and the advocates fighting for something better.

"The release of Iowa's Dirty Secret has been a turning point in our work to hold MidAmerican Energy accountable for polluting our air and water with its expensive coal plants," said Emma Colman of the Sierra Club, who appears in the documentary. "Iowans are taking action — hosting screenings, talking with neighbors, and getting involved with the Clean Up MidAm Coalition to demand a cleaner, healthier future for Iowa."

MidAmerican Energy owns and operates five coal plants in Iowa, which are part of Berkshire Hathaway Energy's coal fleet that was found to be the dirtiest in the country by a Reuters analysis.

For more information about the documentary, including behind-the-scenes photos, visit iowasdirtysecret.com.

The Clean Up MidAm Coalition includes multiple organizations including the Iowa Environmental Council, Environmental Law & Policy Center, Sierra Club, Great Plains Action Society, Clean Energy Districts of Iowa, Iowa Faith & Climate Network, Moms Clean Air Force, and countless Iowans who care about the future of our state. Visit www.CleanUpMidAm.com for more information.

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SOURCE Clean Up Midam Coalition