SCROLL DOWN FOR TRANSCANADA XL PIPELINE UPDATE. There has never been a successful pipeline opposition campaign in the US. Please help Nebraska be the first state to organize opposition successfully. Actions you can take, regardless of where you live, are in CD 3 Green Notes below. Please help save our land and water from more corporate exploitation. The public comment period ends June 6, 2011.
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.
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.
JPA MEETING . . . A West Haymarket Joint Public Agency meeting is scheduled for Wednesday, May 25, 2011, 3:30pm, at the County City Building, 555 South 10th Street, room 112, Lincoln. “The Salvation of the State is Watchfulness in the Citizen.” –Hartley Burr Alexander
THINK GREEN IT’S THURSDAY . . . TGIT is a new happy hour for planning a sustainable future at the Eco Stores 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.
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 . . . Farmers markets are now open in Lincoln. The Haymarket Farmers Market is open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, in the Haymarket District 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 is open Saturdays, 8:00am to noon, at 1265 South Cotner, through mid-September. Saturday Farmers Markets at the FARM, 11855 Yankee Hill Road, 9:00am to noon, run until October 29th. 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, check an interactive map of Lincoln’s Farmers Markets, Farms and Community Supported Agriculture programs, and learn more about markets, CSAs, and local farms at the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Facebook page.
Omaha area: Congressional District 2
BELLEVUE TOWN HALL MEETING . . . Cyclists, are you interested in improved transportation systems? The City of Bellevue is conducting a Complete Streets public Town Hall meeting on Tuesday, May 24th 2011, 7:00pm, in the auditorium at Bellevue University, 1000 Galvin Road South. City Officials and representatives from Metropolitan Area Planning Association and Metro Area Transit will join the City Citizen Panel to hear from the public about issues and concerns related to safe, efficient transportation needs for all uses.
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 “Black Girl.” For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.
OMAHA GREEN DRINKS . . . Wednesday, May 25, 2011, Omaha Green Drinks will meet from 5:30pm to close at Whole Foods Market, 10020 Regency Circle, in the education room by the restaurant–across from the coffee bar. Green Drinks is an informal, organic, self-organizing social network now active in 802 cities internationally. Walk, bike, bus, or carpool if possible. Click here for FaceBook event information.
FROM CAIRO TO MADISON . . . Saturday, May 28, 2011, 2:00pm, there will be a Rally for a Better World at Bemis Park, north of Cumming Street, between 36th and 33rd, in Omaha. Hosted by the International Socialist Organization, a brief presentation will be followed by a discussion about the prospects for building an alternative to the broken system characterized by greed, racism, war, and oppression. For more information, e-mail breadandrosestoo [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 213.880.6380.
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
CONVERSATIONS CONFERENCE . . . Care about Nebraska’s future? The third Conversations Conference on Nebraska Environment and Sustainability will be Thursday, May 26, 2011, 8:00am to 4:30pm, at Bosselman Conference Center, 700 East Stolley Park Road, Grand Island. There will be conversations with area resource specialists On water, On Land, On Energy, On Food, and On Materials. Watch Conversations Conference Videos here. Register online here. Contact Katie Torpy at 402.933.0080 or ktorpy [at] sustainabledesign [dot] org with any questions.
KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . The only pipeline related bill to be advanced out of the legislature’s Natural Resources Committee, LB 629–the Oil Pipeline Reclamation Act, ignores issues like the liability of pipeline companies to clean up a spill or leak; protection for landowners from eminent domain abuses; financial assurances; and state permitting and siting of pipelines. In debate, Lincoln Senator Bill Avery tried to make a distinction between “the best we can do” and “the most we’re willing to do.” As reported by the Lincoln Journal Star, Avery asserted that TransCanada’s efforts to use eminent domain and land condemnation to clear a path for the pipeline — at a time when federal permits have not been granted — amount to a violation of existing state law. He said it’s “a very serious problem” that such tactics got no attention Thursday. “We have here a foreign corporation that can actually invoke eminent domain against the private property interests of Nebraska citizens. That ought to give us pause.” The narrow “Revegetation Bill” was voted 47-0 first-round approval. It is a small first step in the right direction, although it does nothing to address basic safety and landowner rights concerns.
We know that TransCanada is making the rounds to all county meetings in the pipeline route. Meanwhile, “the Domina Law Group is investigating a class-action lawsuit against the XL pipeline, saying the company may be abusing eminent domain laws to bully Nebraska landowners into making way for the pipeline. Environmental groups are hoping that if even a few landowners can block the pipeline from running over their turf, they can force the pipeline to be re-routed.” Keystone Facing Potential Legal Hurdle, was reported at POLITICO.
More letters from Nebraskans were published in Lincoln Journal Star this past week.
Quoting “Nebraskans need to speak up,” by Cindy Myers, LJS lte, May 19, 2011: “TransCanada’s first experience building an oil pipeline is Keystone 1, which crosses eastern Nebraska and has had 12 leaks. The last leak was discovered by a landowner in North Dakota when he saw a geyser of oil shooting 60 feet in the air; 500 barrels of oil spilled. With 12 leaks in the Keystone 1 during its first year of operation, how can we believe it would be safe for TransCanada to build its second oil pipeline, Keystone XL, across our state’s most valuable natural resource, the Ogallala Aquifer? Holt County is vulnerable to oil leaks, particularly through southwest Holt County where the aquifer is saturated at or near ground level and the 36-inch pipeline carrying the world’s most toxic type of oil will be submerged in water only feet above our drinking supply. …Comments on the Supplemental Draft Environmental Statement are needed to discourage Hillary Clinton from signing the presidential permit for this pipeline. The comment period at www.keystonepipeline-XL.state.gov closes June 6, 2011. Don’t let the loud, powerful voice of a foreign company with self-serving interests drown the small voices of rural Nebraskans.” The entire letter is here.
“Concerns for land, people,” by Jeri Kuchera, LJS lte, May 18, 2011: “How many pipeline leaks (or using TransCanada’s vernacular, “unplanned releases of oil”), or miscalculations of response time, or reclamation problems will have to occur before our elected officials realize the risk they are putting our state in? The 12 incidents on the first Keystone Pipeline in the relatively short time it has been in use certainly does not give me a feeling of confidence that the Keystone XL will prove any less faulty.” Continued here.
“TransCanada shouldn’t get to weigh in,” by Barbara Bailey, May 16, 2011: “In the May 13 story “Panel advances pipeline proposal,” Sen. Chris Langemeier is paraphrased as saying “there’s nothing unusual about allowing a company to weigh in with suggested wording.” In what way is it ethical to listen to a foreign corporation’s, TransCanada’s, suggestions for legislative regulation providing protection of land and water for our state in the construction of its pipeline, which will carry corrosive and toxic diluted bitumen through fragile ecosystems? Why don’t we let al-Qaida “weigh in” on the security measures adopted by Homeland Security?”
“Concerned about pipeline,” by Joyce Petit, LJS, May 15, 2011: “I do not understand how a foreign company like TransCanada is allowed to come into our country without even having gotten a permit and try to coerce the landowners into letting it contract an easement to their land to install the Keystone XL Pipeline, which will transport dirty oil to a refinery in Texas. I guess the company’s leaders expect the landowners to just roll over and play dead like our elected officials have chosen to do. We have been told that everything is safe and “if” there is a leak in the pipeline, the company has machinery that will detect the leak right away and workers will get right out and shut it off and fix it. But reading about the six-story geyser of dirty oil in North Dakota, that isn’t necessarily the way it is.” Continued here. TransCanada’s “disturbing history of oil spills along an existing pipeline in North Dakota” was reported in the Rapid City Journal Editorial Board’s “Oil spills keeping regulators busy” on May 18, 2011.
Media coverage of the May 12, 2011 “Citizen Hearing” at the capitol rotunda included a tv report from KHAS, “Citizens speak out against future pipeline,” “Pipeline bill gets boost,” KVNO News audio, “Deadlock broken, panel advances pipeline bill,” by LJS reporter Art Hovey, and “Frustration over proposed pipeline fills capitol rotunda,” published in the Hastings Tribune. That morning, Lincoln Journal Star editorialized “Indifference over pipeline hard to fathom: The passivity of Nebraska’s elected state officials to the planned crude oil pipeline through the Sandhills becomes more alarming with every new reported problem. …It’s unfathomable that the pipeline route is not even a matter of public debate in the Legislature.”
A five-page Executive Summary of the 320-page Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed XL pipeline through Nebraska’s Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer is here. [pdf] The Journal Star editorialized “The statement is unfairly dismissive of the unique characteristics of Nebraska’s Sand Hills.” and encourages “Nebraskans — actually all Americans –” to comment on the ESI during this final comment period. The official State Department Comments Page is here. Comments may also be submitted via e-mail at keystonexl@cardno.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 of State Clinton to visit the Sand Hills, see our unique ecosystem, and meet the people who will be most effected by XL pipeline construction.
A new Sierra Action Alert “Protect Nebraska; Say NO to Tar Sands!” addressed to Secretary Clinton is here. At a Food & Water Watch webpage you can enter your zip code and send a message asking your state representative to protect Nebraska’s landowners and natural resources. And Jane Kleeb’s petition to Secretary Clinton, Governor Heineman, and President Obama says “Every elected official talks about the need for clean energy, biofuels, and energy independence. Now it’s time to live up to your words. We urge you—Sec. Clinton and Pres. Obama—to deny the permit to TransCanada. We urge you—Gov. Heineman—to get serious about protecting our land and water and get state-based regulations passed in the Unicameral. Stop the TransCanada pipeline. It’s too risky and threatens the good
life of Nebraska.” The petition is being circulated by MoveOn. Sign it here.
The Saturday, May 7, 2011 rupture of the Keystone I pipeline in Cogswell, North Dakota was covered extensively, including articles by AlterNet and Friends of the Earth, reporting that “the incident is the 12th spill from the Keystone I pipeline, which is not even a year old.”
FOE describes more about this spill: “According to eyewitnesses, Saturday’s rupture of the Keystone I pipeline sent a six-story high gusher of oil into the air. The spill occurred at a pumping station, but the spray contaminated soil and water in a nearby field before it could be contained. The latest spill brings attention again to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, currently (and controversially) under review by the Obama administration. The XL pipeline would carry 900,000 barrels of tar sands oil a day from Canada to Texas. The Keystone I pipeline carries 591,000 barrels a day, and concerns—and opposition—are mounting.”
LJS coverage, “TransCanada cleaning up spill at N.D. pump station,” reported that Bob Banderet saw a geyser of oil higher than cottonwood trees about a mile and a half from his farm when he got up Saturday. He “called the TransCanada hotline and said he spent five minutes on hold, suspecting the person who answered thought his call might be a hoax.”
A May 10th article covering local concern by statepaper.com, “TransCanada Oil Leak Draws Attention In Nebraska,” is here. Rapid City Journal reporter Kevin Woster calls the North Dakota spill a “sign of things to come,” if the proposed XL pipeline is built. TransCanada’s “disturbing history of oil spills along an existing pipeline in North Dakota” was reported in the Rapid City Journal Editorial Board’s “Oil spills keeping regulators busy” on May 18th.
Just before the North Dakota rupture, Alberta, Canada experienced “one of the largest oil spills …reinforcing Nebraskan’s concerns that our state is not prepared for the massive tarsands oil pipeline planned by TransCanada.” Both tar sands environmental disasters are covered in a Reuters article, “Latest pair of oil accidents fuel opposition to Keystone pipeline extension” here.
A LJS Local View, “Fence off Sand Hills to pipeline,” by Ben Gotschall, was published May 9th.
Letters to the LJS encouraging legislative action include “Shouldn’t governor lead charge?” by Kevin L. Johnson, and “Strangely quiet on pipeline,” by Dorothy A. Kubick, both from Lincoln.
“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.” In the May 12th editorial, LJS referred to the “Wide gaps as deep as three feet and hundreds of feet long (that) have opened above the 30-inch Bison pipeline.
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, 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. Contact Governor Dave Heineman, PO Box 94848, State Capitol Bldg., Lincoln, NE 68509, 402.471.2244 asking that he be responsive to the citizens of Nebraska who oppose the environmental devastation this pipeline would bring to the entire region.
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.” Thompson’s May 13th letter to the LJS editor is here. Thompson was invited to testify in front of the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power. He will speak Monday, May 23rd, on behalf of his family and all Nebraskans who share concerns about the risks associated with the massive pipeline. Committee background information is here. Watch his testimony live here.
New Neal Obermeyer cartoons addressing the legislature’s inaction were published in the Lincoln Journal Star on May 8, 2011, and May 1st. Pipeline educator and 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. And a new 13:32 minute film by UN-L students Casey Mills and Justin Swanson, “Voices of Nebraska,” features interviews with Jane Kleeb and Mary Pipher, but also includes an erroneous quote that opposition “has spent lots of money fighting the pipeline in Nebraska.” The quote is laughable. The truth about the far-right billionaire Koch brother’s involvement in promoting the pipeline for “making a killing” was reported in Forbes by Osha Gray Davidson May 20th. Quoting a Reuters article, Charles and David Koch are positioned to be the big winners if XL is approved. Forbes quotes Susan Seacrest, president emeritus of The Groundwater Foundation, about the danger of mixing a major oil pipeline and the Ogallala Aquifer.
What else can you do? Keep writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper. Other excellent 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.
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