EARTH CIRCLE . . . On the first day of every month, people around the world stop everything for five minutes, joining with thousands of others to visualize peace and focus on new levels of kindness, understanding, and compassion necessary for collectively facing the challenges of the 21st century. New Dimensions invites peacemakers everywhere to join at 4:00pm Greenwich Mean Time, 10:00am in Lincoln and Omaha, 9:00am in District 3 where Mountain Time begins, Wednesday, June 1, 2011, with the intention of deep healing for the Planet and all its people. Click here for more information about Earth Circle.
WILDFLOWER WEEK STATEWIDE . . . Nebraska Wildflower Week, May 28 through June 5 this year, is a celebration of native plants in the wild, the state’s prairies, and gardens at their prime, during the first week of June. Click here for a schedule of Wildflower events in Eastern Nebraska. More informaton, photos, and a complete list of statewide events can be found here.
PROTECTING WILDLIFE FROM DIRTY TAR SANDS OIL . . . The National Wildlife Federation will host a 30-minute Tele-town Hall: “Protecting Wildlife from Dirty Tar Sands Oil,” Wednesday, June 1, 2011, 7:00pm CST. Learn more about the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline’s threats to wildlife, and how you can help stop it. BOLD Nebraska’s Jane Kleeb will address what is at stake along the 2,000 mile route, and award-winning journalist Andrew Nikiforuk, author of “Why Keystone Pipeline Will Weaken the US,” will give a first-hand account of Canada’s tar sands operations–one of the most polluting and destructive industries on Earth. To join the Town Hall, rsvp here and you will receive a phone call between 6:45 and 7:00pm CST on June 1st. From NWF: “We can’t let this dirty tar sands pipeline put America’s wildlife at risk and jeopardize our clean energy future. Get your questions answered and find out what you can do by joining our Tele-town Hall on June 1st.”
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 Monday, 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.
EMPTY BOWLS . . . The Food Bank of Lincoln will host the ninth annual Empty Bowls luncheon on Tuesday, May 31, 2011, 11:00am to 1:00pm, at Embassy Suites, 10th & P Streets. For more information, a list of participating restaurants, and to order tickets online, 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.
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.
PUBLIC MEETING ON POST OFFICE CONSOLIDATION . . . The public will have an opportunity to offer comments about a proposal to consolidate some Lincoln and Omaha postal services on Thursday, June 2, 2011, 6:00pm, at the Firefighter’s Reception Hall, 241 Victory Lane, Lincoln. For more information about the proposed consolidation, click here for a Lincoln Journal Star article.
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 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
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 “Progpaganda Swing,” a 60 minute documentary about Charlie and His Orchestra, a 1930’s Hitler propaganda swing band. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.
TOWN HALL DISCUSSION . . . Thursday, June 2, 2011, 9:00am to 4:00pm, there will be a Town Hall Discussion on the mass incarceration of people of color. The free event, “JAIL and the Black Man,” is open to the public at Metropolitan Community College South Omaha Campus, ITC Training Building, 27th & Q Street. For more information, contact Willie Hamilton, 402.502.2081, or willzzway2 [at] yahoo [dot] com.
HIKE FONTENELLE FOREST . . . In celebration of National Trails Day, June 4, 2011, there will be a 9:00am, moderate to difficult Hollow to Hollow Hike at Fontenelle Forest Nature Center, in Bellevue just south of Omaha. For more information, e-mail bobbygoetschkes [at] hotmail [dot] com.
PATTY DUNN BENEFIT FUNDRAISER . . . Patty Dunn was recently diagnosed with lung cancer. Her family, including longtime Progressive Omaha Director Jack Dunn, and friends, are hosting a benefit fundraiser to help with medical expenses on Saturday, June 4, 2011, 3:00 to 7:00pm, at Premier Events, 145 Main Street, Springfield, Nebraska. There will be a buffet dinner, silent auction, door prizes, and a live auction at 6:00pm. All proceeds will go to the Dunn Family for long term cancer treatments. Suggested ticket prices are Adults-$5 and Children-$3. For more information, contact event organizers: Carl Brown, 402.681.6265 or Carol Radke, 402.397.3233. Springfield is just a few minutes south of Millard.
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 . . . Monday, June 6, 2011, is the deadline for submitting comments on the proposed XL tar sands pipeline to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. BOLD Nebraska has a new blog post with videos, a petition to Secretary Clinton, background information and action alerts. The Department of State prefers comments specific to the 320-page Supplemental Draft Environmental Impact Statement on the proposed pipeline through Nebraska’s Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer, but EveryOne’s expressed opposition for whatever personal reasons is needed. A five-page Executive Summary of the SEIS is here. 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 SignOn.org petition “Stop the TransCanada Pipeline” is here. To Secretary Clinton, Governor Heineman, and President Obama, it 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.” A Sierra Action Alert “Protect Nebraska; Say NO to Tar Sands!” addressed to Secretary Clinton is here. A Guardians of the Good Life petition “Protect Nebraska’s Economic Activity, Put the Brakes on the Pipeline,” to Secretary Clinton is here. Take action here, to ask Clinton to “Protect Your Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” at a food&waterWatch petition. And a Brave New Foundation petition to Clinton, “Say No to the Kochs and Yes to Protecting Americans,” is here. Please sign them all, and comment directly to the Department of State here.
Thursday, May 26th, was the last day of the 2011 Nebraska legislative session. LB 629, [pdf] the Oil Pipeline Reclamation Act, regulating petroleum pipelines in Nebraska, passed 47-0, with two senators absent. The narrow “Revegetation Bill” is a small first step that does nothing to address basic safety and landowner rights concerns about the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL protect. Meanwhile, state Senators Ken Haar, Colby Coash, Annette Dubas, Tony Fulton, and Kate Sullivan asked Secretary of State Hillary Clinton to delay a decision on the project until next May, allowing the legilsature more time to consider further legislation to “ensure that the citizens and landowners of Nebraska are adequately protected by state law.” “The senators’ letter said that federal regulations are inadequate and that Nebraska needed to explore issues such as siting, routing, eminent domain powers, emergency response and liability of pipeline companies.”
Many letters to the Lincoln Journal Star have been published in the year since the public started realizing the threat posed by TransCanada. Letters linked in Green Notes since May 30, 2010 are in archives here. (Scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Notes.) Sunday, May 29, 2011, LJS published a letter from Jeremiah J. Leubbe, of Broken Bow. “Smith needs to speak out on route” begins “Adrian Smith needs to take a stand, for once, against big business. He needs to speak out and oppose TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline and its proposed route through the Sand Hills.” “New idea for route,” by Larry Fruhling of Wilber asked “Why is the company so insistent on the route that takes it directly over the main source of our drinking water and irrigation water, whose pollution would affect millions of people in the high plains and the global economy? A major pipeline leak could in one day ruin what took 10 million years to develop. I urge people not to be swayed by ads that show little interest in these greater and far-reaching effects.” Quoting from “Heineman asleep at helm,” by Britton Bailey, published May 26th, “Gov. Dave Heineman fell asleep at the helm. Instead of guiding us through rough waters, he may have punched holes in our boat with his silence. We needed a leader in Nebraskan to protect our rights by listening to the majority of citizens who feel the TransCanada Keystone XL Pipeline is way off course. I’m starting to question what Heineman has to gain in silence and by letting a foreign company threaten Nebraska landowners with eminent domain for an unapproved pipeline. …Someone in Nebraska government has something to gain at our expense or we wouldn’t be in this sinking boat that’s leaking oil.”
TransCanada’s “disturbing history of oil spills along an existing pipeline in North Dakota” was reported in the Rapid City Journal Editorial “Oil spills keeping regulators busy” on May 18, 2011. The 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.”
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.
Lincoln Journal Star 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. 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 a 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 testimony to the House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee on Energy and Power, on behalf of his family and all Nebraskans who share concerns about the risks associated with the massive pipeline, is here. [pdf] Committee background information is here.
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.”
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 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 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. The Forbes article quotes Susan Seacrest, president emeritus of The Groundwater Foundation about the danger of mixing a major oil pipeline and the Ogallala Aquifer.
TransCanada representatives are making the rounds to county meetings all along 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.
What else can you do? Keep writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper. 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.
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