SCROLL DOWN FOR TRANSCANADA XL PIPELINE UPDATE. News items and contact information for needed communication with specific elected officials are below in District 3 Green Notes. Note this week’s “Citizen Hearing” in Lincoln at the state capitol building, Thursday, May 12, 2011, noon to 2:00pm.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1
VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, from noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here.
PUBLIC MEETING ON TOXIC CLEAN-UP . . . On Tuesday, May 10, 2011, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality will host a public meeting to discuss diesel fuel remediation and other toxic clean-up activities related to the new Lincoln arena site. Bring questions and concerns to the 5:00pm meeting at the Lancaster County Extension offices, 444 Cherrycreek Road, Lincoln. The public session will last until 7:00pm. For more information, visit here.
LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.
MULTI-STATE CITIZEN HEARING ON THE PIPELINE . . . Since the US State Department is not holding a public hearing on the new Supplemental Environmental Impact Statement, BOLD Nebraska and coalition member groups have organized a “Citizen Hearing” at the state capitol in Lincoln on Thursday, May 12, 2011, noon to 2:00pm, to gather comments for Secretary of State Clinton, and to urge the Unicameral, governor, and attorney general to pass state-based regulations covering current and proposed pipelines in Nebraska. Citizen Hearings will be held on May 12th in all the states potentially affected by TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline. See Pipeline Update below for background and action links.
THINK GREEN IT’S THURSDAY . . . TGIT is a new happy hour for planning a sustainable future at the EcoStores Conference Room, 530 West P Street, Lincoln. This is an informational, educational, and social weekly event, with locally grown food and beverages. (Beverage donations will be accepted.) Learn about the latest green products, businesses, policies and practices every Thursday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. For the spring schedule of TGIT speakers, click here. For more information, e-mail Mitch Paine at mitch [dot] paine [at] ecostoresne.org.
WACHISKA AUDUBON GENERAL MEETING . . . Thursday, May 12, 2011, 7:00pm, Wachiska Audubon will meet in the lower level auditorium of Union College Dick Administration Building, 3800 South 48th Street, Lincoln. Mary Bomberger Brown will speak on Cliff Swallows in Nebraska. For more information, and directions to the building, click here.
QUEEN OF THE SUN: WHAT ARE THE BEES TELLING US? . . . Queen of the Sun: What are the Bees Telling us? examines the global bee crisis through the eyes of biodynamic beekeepers, scientists, farmers, and philosophers unveiling 10,000 years of beekeeping, highlighting how our historic and sacred relationship with bees has been lost due to highly mechanized industrial practices. A reception “To Bee or Not to Bee: A Celebration of Local Honey & Bees,” featuring honey tasting, food, educational booths and demonstrations will begin at 5:30pm, Friday, May 13, 2011, before the 7:30pm opening at Ross Film Theater, 313 North 13th Street, Lincoln. Sunday, May 15th, 2:30, following the 1:00pm screening, MOVIE TALK will feature local beekeeper Ed Bannister, and UN-L professor and Apiculture Specialist Marion Ellis. Movie Talk, located in the Presentation Room of the Visitors Center immediately adjacent to The Ross, is free and open to the public.
BIRDING FIELD TRIPS . . . Two field trips will highlight Birdathon Weekend Saturday, May 14 and Sunday, May 15, 2011. Saturday, 7:30am, meet at the 14th Street parking lot next to the footbridge crossing Salt Creek on the south side of Lincoln, north of Rokeby Road. Larry Einemann will be the guide. Sunday, 8:00am, meet at the parking lot by the restaurant and observaion tower at Platte River State Park for a trip led by John Carlini and Shari Schwartz. For more information, directions, or questions about either trip phone John at 402.475.7275.
WATCHDOGS MEETING . . . Saturday, May 14, 2011, 10:00am, Watchdogs of Lincoln Government will meet at Gere Library, 56th & Normal Blvd. The new group will be offering public forums, debates, and panels focused on various current issues facing local government. Get involved now to participate in decision making about issues and presentations at Saturday’s open meeting. For more information, contact Jane Kinsey, jakin3 [at] juno [dot] com.
WEEKLY WALKABOUTS AT WILDERNESS PARK . . . Friends of Wilderness Park is hosting weekly hikes through the Park, led by Adam Hintz, starting at 1:00pm every Saturday from now through October. Each week will focus on a different area, highlighting the diversity of life in the Park. Hikes will start in parking lots according to the following schedule: the first and second Saturday of the month, meet at the Pioneers Boulevard entrance; the third Saturday, meet at Old Cheney Road; the fourth Saturday, meet at 14th Street north of Rokeby Road; and every fifth Saturday, the hike will start at Saltillo Road east of the Jamaica Trail. For more information, contact Adam at 402.421.8464.
LINCOLN FARMERS MARKETS . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market is open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, at 7th & P Streets. Expect to find more than 120 vendors with fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items plus a performance showcase featuring local folk, jazz, blues and classical music. The Market continues through October 15th. Every Sunday, from 10:00am to 2:00pm, the Old Cheney Road Farmers Market at 5500 Old Cheney Road features in-season heirloom and traditional produce, artisan breads and cheeses, homemade baked goods, wild-crafted and traditional jams, jelly, honey, meats, fish, eggs, and bedding plants. The Piedmont Farmers Market opens Saturday, May 14th, at 1265 South Cotner, 8:00am to noon, and runs to mid-September. Community CROPS, 1551 South 2nd Street, has garden pick-up 4:00 to 6:00pm Monday and Thursday, May 23 through October 20. Other markets start in June and July. Find out what’s new this year, and check an interactive map of Lincoln’s Markets, Farms and Community Supported Agriculture programs. Learn more at the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Facebook page.
Omaha area: Congressional District 2
OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.
OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. The event is always free and open to the public. This week’s film is “Small Town Gay Bar.” The documentary explores the struggle for equal rights, examining issues faced by gay men and women in small town Mississippi. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.
PROGRESSIVE OMAHA MEETING . . . Saturday, May 14, 2011, Progressive Omaha will meet from 6:00 to 9:00pm at 4924 Chicago in Dundee. Jo Peterson, Peace and Nonviolence activist, will facilitate a discussion about how to transition the group now that founder Jack Dunn is stepping down as director. Other issues such as confirming or changing the group’s mission and goals may also be addressed. A potluck will be from 6:00 to 7:00, the discussion will continue until 8:00pm, when group business and social time will begin. For questions, e-mail Karen Abrams, kabrams123 [at] cox [dot] net.
HIKE WAUBONSIE . . . Sunday, May 15, 2011, the Nebraska Adventure Group will hike Waubonsie State Park, near Hamburg, Iowa. A carpool from Omaha will leave from Panera on Saddle Creek Road near UNMC at 10:00am. For more information, e-mail debhoffnung [at] yahoo [dot] com.
PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace Coordinator Mark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.
BENSON COMMUNITY GARDEN . . . Omaha’s newest community garden is at 60th & Lafayette, at the south side of the historic Benson neighborhood. The Benson Community Garden is looking for individuals and families interested in garden plots. For more information, phone 402.714.0290 or e-mail goetzinger2 [at] cox [dot] net. To get involved, or help support the garden, please register here.
ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.
Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3
KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . May 5, 2011, a BOLD Nebraska blog reported on the new Alberta pipeline environmental disaster: “One of the largest oil spills in Alberta, Canada occurred this week, reinforcing Nebraskans’ concerns that our state is not prepared for the massive tar sands oil pipeline planned by TransCanada. The full amount of the Alberta spill is not yet confirmed, but early estimates have the spill at 1,176,000 gallons of oil. Nebraska groups working on the pipeline issue are calling on Secretary Clinton to deny the permit to TransCanada, and for Governor Heineman and the Unicameral to pass state-based regulations.” A May 8th letter to the editor of Lincoln Journal Star by Larry Spangler comments on the glaring lack of interest in preserving our state’s natural resources by the current legislature and governor, and concludes, “We have been assured that any leak that may occur will have as quick a response time from TransCanada as from the company that built the currently leaking pipeline in Alberta, their own backyard.”
Since Nebraskans are not being given an opportunity to speak out about the Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed XL pipeline through our fragile Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer, BOLD Nebraska and the coalition of groups in opposition will hold a Thursday, May 12, 2011, “Citizen Hearing” from noon to 2:00pm, in Lincoln at the state capitol. Comments for Secretary of State Clinton will be gathered, and passage of state-based regulations will be urged. Nebraska Farmers Union has organized a bus ride leaving from Stracke Bar & Grille on the north side of Hiway 20, Stuart, Nebraska, at 6:30am. The bus will go south through O’Neill on Hiway 281 to Grand Island, then east on I-80 to Lincoln. Reserve a ride by leaving your name and a return phone number with Lynda Buoy, 402.684.2209. There will be similar Citizen Hearings in all the states threatened by the proposed tar sands pipeline on May 12th.
In response to the 320-page SDEIS, the Journal Star editorialized “The statement is unfairly dismissive of the unique characteristics of Nebraska’s Sand Hills.” “Pipeline impact statment disappoints” also encourages “Nebraskans — actually all Americans –” to comment on the 300-page ESI during this final comment period. A five-page Executive Summary is here. The official State Department Comments Page is here. Comments may also be submitted via e-mail at keystonexl [at] cardno [dot]com, by US Postal to Keystone XL EIS Project, P.O. Box 96503-98500, Washington D.C. 20090-6503, or fax (206) 269-0098. In comments, please invite Secretary Clinton to visit the Sand Hills, see our unique ecosystem, and meet the people who will be most impacted by XL pipeline construction.
For background information about the tar sands extraction process, and photos showing Alberta’s devastated landscapes, BOLD Nebraska has posted a 9:44 minute YouTube segment from last summer’s Tar Sands Pipeline Summit in Lincoln.
Monday, May 2nd, two new letters to the LJS encouraging legislative action on proposed pipeline regulations were published: “Shouldn’t governor lead charge?” by Kevin L. Johnson, and “Strangely quiet on pipeline,” by Dorothy A. Kubick, both from Lincoln.
From recent letters, “Silence deafening,” references Mary Pipher’s April 24th letter urging “all readers to do what they can to motivate our state senators and governor to act now. …The silence of most, but not all, of our elected senators and Gov. Dave Heineman on the subject is deafening.” Marilyn Barnes writes “Nebraska must take action,” concluding “Nebraska should not cede its oil pipeline siting authority to a Canadian corporation. I hope those who care about Nebraska’s water and agriculture will call or write to the governor and state senators urging immediate legislation to regulate this and future pipelines.”
April 21st, LJS revealed “TransCanada has encountered problems with the reclamation phase on a 50-mile stretch of a new natural gas pipeline through southeast Montana and western North Dakota that even its own spokesman calls severe. Erosion and …”very severe subsidence,” or settling of the soil, are visible in photographs taken by the Billings Gazette.”
Nebraska has no legislation on the books for regulating the current Keystone I pipeline, nor the proposed XL tar sands pipeline. A Study and Memo from the Congressional Research Service dated September 20, 2010 determined that primary authority over location of interstate pipelines belongs to individual states. A BOLD Nebraska blog post,[pdf] includes background information, a transcript of the media roundtable held upon discovery of the memo, and action alert.
Action: write your state senator urging that oil pipeline regulations be in place, not only to govern the existing pipeline, but also any future pipeline proposed by TransCanada or other environmental exploiters. Find your state senator’s contact information at the map linked here. Also contact members of the Natural Resources Committee asking that they move the pending bills, LB 340, [pdf] LB 578 [pdf] and LB 629 [pdf] out for floor debate. And please contact Governor Dave Heineman, PO Box 94848, State Capitol Bldg., Lincoln, NE 68509, 402.471.2244 asking him to be responsive and join opposition efforts.
Secretary Clinton has the power to approve or reject the Keystone XL pipeline. Click here to ask her to stand up to Big Oil and NOT grant a permit to TransCanda. You might want to remind her that the “European Union may blacklist tar sands because of higher greenhouse gas emissions.”
“US-Canada oil pipeline – water source threatened,” is an excellent 2:49 minute AlJazeeraEnglish report featuring Nebraska property owners Randy Thompson, Cindy Myers, and Nebraska Audubon representing the issue. Thompson’s letter to TransCanada in response to their “final offer” for his land in Merrick County ends “Until a court of law determines otherwise, your arbitrary claim to condemnation powers is nothing more to us than an empty threat. We feel very strongly that this pipeline could place our property and way of life at risk. Therefore, we are unwilling to succumb to such a threat and respectfully decline your final offer.”
The New York Times joined citizens, experts and opinion leaders in opposition to the pipeline in an editorial “No to a New Tar Sands Pipeline,” concluding “Last July, an older bitumen pipeline in Michigan spilled 800,000 gallons of the stuff into the Kalamazoo River. A new TransCanada pipeline that began carrying diluted bitumen last year has already had nine spills. …From all of the evidence, Keystone XL is not only environmentally risky, it is unnecessary.” Read the entire editorial here.
A new Repower America Action Alert says “Tar sands oil is the dirtiest oil made on a commercial scale. Why? It produces at least 17% more greenhouse gas pollution than conventional oil. To be precise, over two tons of tar sands have to be mined, transported and refined to produce a single barrel of oil.” Repower also provides a sign-on letter to Secretary Clinton at the site.
Nebraska Greens John Carlini and Shari Schwartz produced a 30-minute public access tv show “Cornhuskers vs. Dirty Oil” for cable channel 13. Another pipeline educator, local musician Jim Pipher recently made a 1:40 minute YouTube video demonstrating a one barrel oil spill. A new documentary making the independent film circuit right now, The Pipe, is based on a struggle in Ireland, but there are many similarities with our own Stop the Pipeline efforts in the US.
What else can you do? Keep writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper. Other excellent recently published letters to Lincoln Journal Star are here, here, and here. Keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska.
Click here for a Bold Nebraska XL Pipeline Action page with resources and background information. E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org to get yard signs, bumper stickers and t-shirts. More actions EveryOne can take are listed here. For comprehensive references in media since May 30, 2010, click here and scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Green Notes coverage.
Be a community educator and organizer. Let’s change the world together.
Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Subsitute Hemp for oil.“
PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations. Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.
TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . In the past 3 weeks, the Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.
AGENCY SCIENTISTS OPPOSE GENETICALLY ENGINEERED SALMON . . . The following quotes are from Fish and Wildlife Service scientists themselves: “The environmental impact of escaped GE salmon is of great concern.” – Gregory Moyer, Regional Geneticist, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; “…approval of the proposal is premature, given the unknowns and uncertainties regarding the possible ecological and environmental effects of these fish.” – Jeff Adams, Branch Chief, Fairbanks Fish and Wildlife Field Office, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service; and “…I do think the chance of escapement is huge” – Deborah Burger, Manager, Chattahoochee Forest National Fish Hatchery, U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. Ask the President to stop the GE salmon approval process.
BUY FRESH. BUY LOCAL . . . . Farmers, gardeners, and craftspeople meet through The Nebraska Food Cooperative, an on-line, year-round farmers’ market and local food distribution service offering the best in local freshness. For ordering and pickup schedules, refer to the calendar here. Click here for products and prices from North Star Neighbors, a
Cooperative member that doesn’t therapeutically medicate or unduly confine animals. Click here for Tomato Tomäto, Omaha’s year-round indoor Farmer’s Market at 156th & West Center. Shop for fresh foods grown in or very near your own community at Open Harvest, Lincoln’s member-owned natural foods retail cooperative at 1618 South Street. Buying local grows family farming, grows the local economy, and is thousands of miles fresher.
HELP NEBRASKA GREENS WITH GOODSEARCH . . . Each time you search the Internet (or shop online at a participating store), a donation can be made to Nebraska Green Party at no cost to you! To help NGP in this way, enter Nebraska Green Party where it says WHO DO YOU GOODSEARCH FOR? here. Bookmark the GoodSearch Homepage, or make it your own Home Page. Enter the url you want in the GoodSearch search box. Each time you do, one penny will be donated to Nebraska Greens. THANK YOU for your support!
We are no longer the alternative; we are the imperative. –Rosa Clemente
STOP THE PIPELINE