A.I. MIDWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN KANSAS CITY . . . Learn about Amnesty International’s 2011 Midwest Human Rights Conference, October 28 through the 30th, in Kansas City at the Marriott Country Club Plaza, and register here. Celebrate Amnesty’s 50 anniversary with members and activists from the 13 state Midwest Region. The Next Chapter Begins With You.
SCROLL DOWN FOR THIS WEEK’S TRANSCANADA KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1
THANKS IN ADVANCE CAMPAIGN . . . Every Monday at noon, dedicated activists against the Keystone XL pipeline will deliver homemade gifts such as food, family photos, and Nebraska flowers–the very things we’re fighting to protect–to Governor Heineman with notes attached asking that he call a special session right away. Join us over the lunch hour (or stop by anytime after) to drop off gifts right at the gate of his mansion, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. From noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty will also be present for the weekly vigil. 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.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE MILITARY ACTION . . . The next ATM leafletting opportunity this year will be Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 7:15am, at Lincoln High School, 2229 J Street. To help with this action introducing students to options for after graduation that do not include joining the military, meet ATM activists at the street circle where J street ends, northeast of the football field, (approximately 22nd and J) at 7:15. New volunteers will be warmly welcomed. E-mail Kevin Haake, atmlincoln [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions, or to rsvp your assistance that morning. The ATM FaceBook page is here.
SPECIAL JOINT PUBLIC HEARING . . . The Lincoln City Council and Lancaster County Board have scheduled a Special Joint Public Hearing on LPlan 2040, Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 5:00pm, in Hearing Room 112 on the first floor of the County-City Building, 555 South 10th Street. The draft LPlan 2040 document, which is the Planning Commission’s recommendation to the City Council and County Board, can be found here. The publilc is welcome to testify at this joint hearing, or submit additional comments to council [at] lincoln [dot] ne [dot] gov and commish [at] lancaster [dot] ne [dot] gov. For questions or more information, phone Nicole at 402.441.6363 or e-mail ntoze [at] lincoln [dot] ne ]dot] gov
OCCUPY LINCOLN PLANNING . . . Updates on OCCUPY Lincoln planning will be posted when they are available. For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. The Lincoln Occupy Together website is 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.
THE LAST MOUNTAIN . . . Bill Haney’s ecological documentary The Last Mountain is showing at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 313 North 13th Street, Lincoln, through Thursday, October 20th. The film traces the horrific fallout from the practice of mountain-top removal that has been employed throughout West Virginia. The filmmakers show how local communities, with the help of such national figures in ecology as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stand up to industries that are making decisions harmful to their lives. From the website, “The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America’s struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.” Show times are available here, by consulting your newspaper, or by calling the MRRMAC information line at 402.472.5353. View a 2:28 minute trailer here.
WORKSHOP ON RACISM . . . “Dismantling Institutional Racism,” a two-day workshop “to dismantle instututional racism by identifying the structures that maintain systemic racism and inequalaity, and replacing them with structures that are liberating and just,” will be Friday, October 21, 6:00 to 9:00pm, and Saturday, October 22, 2012, 8:30am to 4:00pm at the Nebraska Wesleyan Story Student Center, 5000 St. Paul Avenue in Lincoln. For more information, phone John Krejci, 402.466.8460.
OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . The second OCCUPY Lincoln march will be Saturday, October 22, 2011, starting at noon on the north side of the state capitol building, 14th & K Streets. A parade permit has been granted for this action and every following Saturday at noon until January 1, 2012. The Facebook page is Occupy Lincoln, Nebraska For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. The Lincoln Occupy Together website is here. Lincoln Journal Star coverage of the first OCCUPY march is here. Once again, the number of people reported in LJS is about half the number estimated by participants.
PUMPKINS AGAINST THE PIPELINE . . . Saturday, October 22, 2011, 7:00pm, meet at the BOLD Nebraska office, 1141 H Street, Lincoln, to join a march to the governor’s mansion in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline. The Pumpkins Against the Pipeline action will consist of 91 advocates (representing the 91 possible leaks on KXL) carving 91 pumpkins to spell out a special message for the governor. E-mail info [at] boldnebraska [dot] org if you’d like to be one of the 91. Then EveryOne opposed to the KXL is invited to join the march from BOLD Nebraska to the mansion, 1425 H Street, to deliver the pumpkins. Kids, pets, and friends are all welcome to dress up in costume! Please start spreading the word. Facebook is here. Twitter: Join us for Pumpkins Against the Pipeline.
BIONEERS CONFERENCE REGISTRATION . . . Registration is now open for the Beaming Bioneers Nebraska 2011 Fall Conference on Saturday, November 19, 2011, 9:00am to 5:00pm, in Lincoln at the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department conference room, 3140 N Street. This Conference is the year’s premiere environmental and social justice conference in the state, and Nebraska Green Party is one of the sponsors. Check out the website for information about the day’s agenda, mark your calendar, and plan to be there. Register online here.
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 through October. Each week will focus on a different area, highlighting the diversity of life in the Park. The October 22nd hike will start in the parking lot at the 14th Street entrance north of Rokeby Road. October 29th, the hike will start at Saltillo Road east of the Jamaica Trail. For more information, contact Adam at 402.421.8464.
LINCOLN FARMERS MARKETS . . . Through October, 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. 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.
Omaha area: Congressional District 2
SAVE DEMOCRACY NOW! . . . If you care about having Democracy Now! on the air in Omaha, plan to be at the City Council Chambers, 1819 Farnam, on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 2:00pm, for a hearing on public access tv. Contact Frances Mendenhall at 402.208.3717 for more information.
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. Wednesday, October 19, 2011, the film will be “Man on Wire,” a documentary that looks at tightrope walker Philippe Petit’s daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City’s World Trade Center twin towers in 1974, what some consider, “the artistic crime of the century.” The weekly event is always free and open to the public. A discussion will follow the film. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.
OCCUPY OMAHA . . . Check the Omaha Occupy Together Community website for information about OCCUPY Omaha planning. The FaceBook page is here. Twitter: #occupyomaha
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 xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.
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 . . . The Sunday, October 16, 2011 Lincoln Journal Star letters to the editor section was again dominated by opposition to the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer. A Local View by the Reverends Betsy Blake Bennett and Don Huber, “Choose life, health over pipeline,” was also published on the Opinion page. Paul Johnsgard wrote about the ecosystem and wildlife risks involved with this potential “ecological disaster.” Nebraska Sierra Club Board Chairman Dick Boyd recalled the Santa Barbara spill of 1969, urging that the pipeline route be changed.
“Jobs claim dubious,” by Jack Lindell, begins “Nebraskans are challenged to find the truth among the ocean of claims by both sides about the Keystone XL. Luckily, this issue has garnered enough attention that independent groups are studying these claims to provide an unbiased perspective. …Before we believe the slick ads and lobbyists on both sides, it is our duty to inform ourselves. Everyone should read the Global Labor Institute’s findings.[pdf] It is difficult to see the positive economic impact the Keystone XL purports to offer.” Read the entire letter here.
“Literal vision of hell,” by Richard Dale Sullivan, observes “It’s quite interesting that the narrative that’s been created and discussed is essentially only about the route of the pipeline, i.e., should it be through the Ogallala Aquifer in the Nebraska Sandhills or rerouted? I imagine TransCanada is thrilled with this narrative, because it excludes a more serious discussion: Should this pipeline even be constructed?” Ten “Facts in pipeline debate,” are presented by C. MichaelCowan here. And the LJS Art Hovey article on October 16 is here.
Another LJS Editorial Opinion, “Pipeline process not trustworthy,” was published Thursday, October 14th. “No wonder the environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL pipeline was so superficial and unduly dismissive of the unique characteristics of Nebraska’s Sandhills. The firm that authored the report has financial ties to the TransCanada, the firm seeking approval for the pipeline, according to the New York Times.
It’s outrageous that the State Department would have hired a company for the environmental study that has such a clear interest in seeing that the project wins approval. We noted in an earlier editorial that the supplemental impact statement digressed from environmental issues at one point to dwell on the economic benefits of running the pipeline through the Sandhills. The shorter route “would typically translate to lower overall construction capital costs and lifetime operating costs of the system,” the report said. Now we know why the authors of the environmental impact statement were so concerned with TransCanada’s profit margin. …Assurances that the Keystone XL pipeline only would have a minimal environmental impact on Nebraska’s fragile and beautiful Sandhills were implausible under any circumstances. But no one should be expected to trust in promises from a company with such a clear conflict of interest. The State Department’s permitting process for the Keystone XL pipeline is fundamentally flawed.” Read the complete editorial here.
Merrick County landowner Randy Thompson, was one of many letter writers to LJS this past week. In “Ranchers, farmers not misguided,” also published October 14th, Randy wrote “Russ Girling, CEO of TransCanada, made the statement this past week that farmers and ranchers all along the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline are being misguided by environmentalists. If he thinks we are too stupid to see through TransCanada’s shell game on our own, then he’s the one who is a naive fool.”
Lois Bauer wrote “If Mari Sandoz still were around, she would fight to the death the destruction of her land, the land that healed her whenever she was able to get away from the torments of the city. She is buried out there among the hills she loved. Can we ignore history in the decisions we make? Can we blatantly ignore the beauty of this land and the comfort it brings to all who travel its highways? Can we take any chance, slim or severe, of harming Nebraska’s greatest natural asset in order to pipe oil from Canada. I say no, now and forever. All who have connection to this project should think hard, study hard and be sure they know what this transaction would mean. Then, they should speak up, stop the destruction and search for alternatives, if they can. I know this is a fight between that which calms the soul and that which fills the pockets. Are we ready to give up this offering of peacefulness to brag on our wealth?” Read Bauer’s “Sandoz would fight pipeline,” here.
In a lengthy meeting with state senators in Norfolk on Tuesday, TransCanada representatives refused to budge on siting of the pipeline, admitting in LJS coverage that a move would “invalidate the federal exercise and force us to go back and start all over again.” In “TransCanada not budging on route,” the Omaha World Herald reports “…Such a delay would be unacceptable for the Texas oil refineries that would be customers for the 700,000 barrels of diluted tar-sand oil — called bitumen — from Canada. Customers such as the Conoco, Shell and Valero oil companies are losing supplies of heavy crude oil from their traditional sources in Mexico and Venezuela and are relying on the pipeline — to be completed in 2013 — to fill that gap. Our customers need a solution for supply. They can’t wait another two or three years.”
Meanwhile in New Zealand, an oil spill from a stranded cargo ship off the east coast threatened a “wildlife tragedy” for local penguins, whales, seals and seabirds. Read and view a 1:18 minute video here. Calling the disaster New Zealand’s “worst in decades,” the BBC report with 1:15 minute video is here. Video of an October 7th pipeline break in this country at Edmond, Oklahoma is here. International oil sands news from Daily Climate recently reported that “Oil from controversial and environmentally destructive tar sands is likely to be all but banned from Europe.”
Position Statements opposing the XL pipeline released last week include Nebraska Sierra Club comments on the National Interest Determination, and Nebraska Farmers Union formal comments to the State Department on the Final Environmental Impact Statement. “An Open Letter to Secretary Clinton: KO Keystone XL,” by David Yarnold, President of National Audubon Society, was published in the Huffington Post on October 12, 2011. “Since last fall, a steady stream of damning evidence about questionable relationships, lobbying practices and political bias have been flowing from the Keystone XL pipeline process. This weekend’s outrageous revelation that TransCanada supervised the environmental review has poisoned the process beyond repair. It’s time to KO Keystone XL. It is irreversibly polluted.” Read here.
More news about the Entrix scandal was release last week. “Bombshell: State Department Outsourced Tar Sands Pipeline Environmental Impact Study to ‘Major’ TransCanada Contractor” was written by Joe Romm at ClimateProgress. Quoting the article sourced to AlterNet October 10th, “The Game was Rigged: Entire Environmental Impact Statement Should Be Invalidated. The State Department assigned an important environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to a company with financial ties to the pipeline operator, flouting the intent of a federal law meant to ensure an impartial environmental analysis of major projects.” Read here.
From The Daily Beast, “Obama’s Pipeline Mess,” by Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein, October 8th: “Obama’s plan to transport oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast reeks of cronyism. …there’s still time for the president to step in and stop it. …The story started coming out a few weeks ago when Nebraska activists preparing for State Department hearings on the Keystone XL pipeline noticed something odd. The hearings were actually being run by a private company called Cardno Entrix—their name was even at the bottom of the State Department official website. If you wanted to send in public comments, you sent them to the company. …This is quite possibly the biggest potential scandal of the Obama years. But there’s a danger that it will go ignored for three reasons ” Read page 1 of 2 here.
Other Lincoln Journal Star letters last week encouraged legislative action to pass a pipeline bill, and tied the Occupy Wall Street Movement with the pipeline debate in Nebraska. Alexandra Svoboda writes “These two issues are part of the same story, the story of powerful economic interests, the 1 percent, dictating the fate of the people, the 99 percent. Wall Street has never been held accountable for the greed and corruption that plunged our nation into an ongoing recession.”
Janene Sheldon urged the governor to call a special legislative session, expressing disappointment in his “lack of leadership,” and encouraging readers to contact Heineman and their state senators asking for action now. In “Don’t trust pipeline statements,” Darlene Todd writes “…I don’t trust anything these government people say, because they want the pipeline to go through. There is no such thing as the safest pipeline ever built. The proposed route is across the very fragile Sandhills and across America’s prime farming country. That’s one big impact. Without water, people cannot work. Thousands of jobs will last only till the pipeline is done. Those don’t sound like permanent jobs to me.” And Scott Sandquist writes “…So with the exception of TransCanada, one truly has to wonder why either side would be against a much safer route for the Keystone XL pipeline.”
Call Your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session. We have no legal petition route. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from constituents. And join pipeline opponents at the governor’s mansion Monday from noon to 1:00pm for the Thanks in Advance action detailed at the top of CD 1 Green Notes above.
Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging the president to deny the construction permit here.
New from CREDO Action, “Tell Oprah: Stop promoting dirty tar sands lies on your network.” Oprah Winfrey is a respected voice for advancing the rights and lives of women all over the world. But now she is allowing that work to be co-opted, by validating a dangerous campaign of flat out lies that promote the development of the Canadian tar sands on her network. Read the petition, and join almost 100,000 signers with an e-mail here.
The White House Switchboard number is 202.456.1111. Tell the President to deny the permit to build this pipeline.
Comprehensive coverage of international, national and local opposition to the XL pipeline since May 30, 2010 are archived in a Green Notes tab above. At the Index, scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Update.
The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project. Please contact him with thanks for his letters to the President and Secretary of State, ask him to call a special session of the legislature, and also contact your own senator requesting he or she joins the senators seeking a special session. Continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska. (If you haven’t written the LJS yet, please do so here.) actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. New armbands say “Sandhills and Ogallala Aquifer Lover” and “Pipeline Fighter.”
Be a community educator and organizer. Help make Nebraska the first state to successfully oppose a pipeline project.
STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.
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 . . . 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.
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 asks you to name your cause 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!
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.“
STOP THE PIPELINE