2011 MIDWEST HUMAN RIGHTS CONFERENCE IN KANSAS CITY . . . October 28-30, 2011, the Amnesty International 2011 Midwest Human Rights Conference will feature prominent human rights defenders and leading experts talking about today’s most pressing human rights concerns: the growing movement to abolish the death penalty following Troy’s execution and next steps for another death penalty case right in Missouri; the uprisings in the Middle East and North Africa; protecting workers’ rights; the rights of immigrants; ending poverty; the torture “debate;” and much more. Friday, October 28, the conference will launch with a community rally against the death penalty. For information about the conference, including how to register and special room rates for accommodations, click here.
CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, FOOD PRODUCTION . . . Registration is now open for Agriculture for Life, the Iowa Environmental Council’s annual conference to explore the connection between what Iowans eat and the environment, November 3, 2011, at Drake University in Des Moines. Keynote speaker Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet, will describe how changing the way people think about environmental challenges may be the key to solving them. For more information or to register, click here or call 515.244.1194, extension 210.
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.
PROMISES . . . There will be a free showing of the Academy Award Nominated Documentary Promises, about Palestinian and Israeli youth, followed by discussion with Ziad Abbas, Associate Director of Middle East Children’s Alliance, Monday, October 24, 2011, 7:00pm, at the Callen Conference Room, Smith-Curtis Building, Nebraska Wesleyan University, Lincoln. The film has been called ground breaking, stunning, and powerful–full of hope, despair, and insight.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE MILITARY ACTION . . . The next ATM leafletting opportunity will be Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 7:15am, at Lincoln Southeast High School, 2930 South 37th Street. To help with this action introducing students to options for after graduation that do not include joining the military, meet ATM activists at 38th and Van Dorn, 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, and twitter is here.
POLITICAL PRISONERS IN PALESTINE . . . Tuesday, October 25, 2011, UN-L Nebraskans for Peace is co-sponsoring a discussion with Ziad Abbas at 3:30pm in the Georgian Room of City Campus Union, 14th & R Streets, Lincoln. Abbas will speak about Palestinian political prisoners as part of his tour in Nebraska. Co-sponsoring the event will be the Palestinian Solidarity Committee. All are welcome.
DROUGHT . . . There will be a public lecture on “Managing Drought in a Changing Climate” on Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 3:30pm, at the UN-L City Campus Student Union Auditorium, 14th & R Streets, Lincoln. Click here for details.
BUDGET HEARING ON GREEN ENERGY PROGRAMS . . . There will be a Lincoln Electric System public hearing on a proposed budget for Green Energy Programs on Tuesday, October 25, 2011, 7:00pm, at The Center for People in Need, 3901 North 27th Street, Unit 1. LES ratepayers are encouraged to attend and support renewable energy funding connection hook-ups to wind farms and its local landfill gas project. The LES Board also needs to be encouraged to increase funding for Sustainable Energy Program to $5 million for 2012 — up from the $3 million currently being proposed. The $2 million budgeted for 2011 ran out about half way through the year, proving public demand is high — and LES’s own analysis shows these investments are a net gain for LES and its customers. Show your support for ‘going green.’ Attend the public hearing Tuesday evening.
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.
ALTERNATIVES TO THE MILITARY ACTION . . . Thursday, October 27, 2011, ATM volunteers will have materials about options for after graduation that don’t include the military at Lincoln East High School, 1000 South 70th Street. To help with this action, meet at 7:15am by the tennis courts, which are north of the main parking lot and southeast of the school–between the school and Seacrest Field. Also on Thursday, ATM volunteers will be at Lincoln Southwest, 7001 South 14th Street, over the lunch periods with alternatives information. To help, meet at the front doors, 11:00am. Lunch periods are over around 1:00pm. If you are interested in volunteering, please drop Kevin Haake a note at atmlincoln [at] gmail [dot] com so he has an idea who to expect.
PIPELINE FORUM . . . Sunday, October 30, 2011, climate change activist and writer John Atkeison will host a Keystone XL Pipeline Forum with State Senator Ken Haar at Lincoln’s Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street, 11:15am, following the 10:00am regular service. EveryOne is welcome to join the discussion and learn more about what can still be done to STOP THE PIPELINE.
OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . The Occupy Lincoln camp site is located on Centennial Mall north of the state capitol. Occupation General Assembly meetings are every weeknight at 6:00pm, Saturdays post march, and Sundays at 1:30pm. There will be a meeting on the proposed XL Pipeline Friday, October 28, 2011, 10:00am, at the camp site, and another pipeline meeting at LUNk House, 1315 South 24th Street, (24th Street between A and B), on Thursday, November 3rd, 7:00pm. The third Occupy Lincoln march will be Saturday, October 29th, 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 Saturday at noon until January 1, 2012. The Facebook page is here. The Twitter feed is @OccupyLincoln. For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. The Occupy Lincoln website is here. An October 17th Lincoln Journal Star article, “Urban camping: Occupy Lincoln digs in downtown,” is here. “Occupy Lincoln tents on mall do not violate any law,” from the October 18th LJS, is here. There will be a non-violent communication training every Thursday, 5:00pm, at the occupation site. Corporate Greed is Revolution’s Seed!
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 final hike, October 29th, will start at Saltillo Road east of the Jamaica Trail. For more information, contact Adam at 402.421.8464.
LINCOLN FARMERS MARKETS . . . The last Old Cheney Road Farmers Market will be Sunday, October 30, 2011, 10:00am to 2:00pm, at 5500 Old Cheney Road. Saturday Farmers Markets at the FARM, 11855 Yankee Hill Road, 9:00am to noon, run until October 29th.
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. Wednesday, October 26, 2011, the film will be “You Can’t Improve on God.” 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.
NADP ANNUAL RECEPTION AND SILENT AUCTION . . . The Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty Annual Reception and Silent Auction will be Thursday, October 27, 2011, 7:00 to 8:30pm, at Creighton University Harper Center, 602 North 20th Street, Room 3023, Omaha. Keynote speaker will be Alan Peterson, a longtime Nebraska capital defense attorney. State Senator Brenda Council will receive the C.A. Sorensen Award, and Norma Fleisher will be honored for her statewide tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty. Register for the event here. Click here to sign a petition calling on state senators to re-evaluate use of the death penalty in Nebraska.
ANTI-KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE CAMPAIGN UPDATE . . . Thursday, October 27, 2011, Keystone XL pipeline opposition activists will protest the proposed TransCanada project at 72nd & Dodge Streets, 5:15pm, in Omaha. That night, the MoValley Sierra Club program will feature a panel of Anti-XL Campaign leaders at 7:00pm, 1st United Methodist Church, 69th & Cass Streets. Ken Winston, Sierra Club Advocate, and Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska Director, will address what can still be done to stop the XL pipeline. All MoValley programs are free and open to the public. Join the rally and then learn more at the Sierra meeting.
THE UNTOLD STORIES . . . Ziad Abbas, Associate Director of the Middle East Children’s Alliance, will speak about the Palestinian Struggle: Untold Stories, in Omaha on Friday, October 28, 2011, 6:30pm, at the Skutt Student Center Ballroom at Creighton University Campus. Abbas is a journalist who has worked with Palestinian and international media, and participated in production of several documentary films, including Promises.
OCCUPY OMAHA . . . Omaha’s ongoing Occupation is on the west side of Gene Leahy Mall, 14th & Farnam. General Assemblies are every Wednesday, 7:00pm, and every Saturday, 3:00pm. Check the Omaha Occupy Together Community website for information about OCCUPY Omaha planning. The FaceBook page is here. The Twitter feed is #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 Mark 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 October 21, 2011 Lincoln Journal Star Editorial Opinion, “Time to take names on pipeline,” calls for Nebraska’s state senators to go on record about where they stand on the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer. “While legislative leaders slumbered at the switch, TransCanada openly began preliminary work to bury a pipeline across Nebraska’s Sandhills. Belatedly, those leaders stirred themselves into a brief spasm of activity this month that resulted in promises of more protection from TransCanada. That’s not enough. It’s time to take names on which state senators are willing to work in a special session to make sure that they have done the absolute best they can to protect Nebraska’s Sand Hills. It only takes the signatures of 10 senators to set into motion a poll of all 49 senators on whether the Legislature should be called into special session. The procedure, which has never been used before, seems designed precisely for circumstances like this. …A meeting behind doors with a few handpicked senators is no substitute for the full attention of the Legislature. …It’s time for senators to go on record on the pipeline. If senators want to stay on the sidelines, they ought to at least explain why.” Read the entire Editorial here.
“Fence-sitting unacceptable,” an October 21st LJS letter to the editor by Suz Luebbe, expresses the same sentiment. “It is hard to believe at this point with the Keystone XL pipeline that any politician is still sitting on the fence. Hundreds and thousands of Nebraska citizens are waiting on a special session to be called for protection against this foreign invasion. Not someday, but now. …We the citizens of this great state will decide before election time who gets things done over who just talks about getting things done. I hope someday we can boast about the great senators and governor we had to protect our way of life here in the Sandhills. It doesn’t take a genius to figure out how much this pipeline could destroy in our state. The time to get off that smooth wire fence is now, because next time it might be full of barbs and there will be no time to think about it.”
On October 19th, LJS reported that Speaker Mike Flood will not support a special session on the pipeline. “In a letter to Gov. Dave Heineman and in a “Dear Colleague” letter to the other 48 state lawmakers, Speaker Mike Flood of Norfolk said he would not back the special session sought by Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton and others motivated by concerns about a possible oil spill and contamination of the Ogallala Aquifer.” Senators Haar, Avery, Fulton and Dubas remain committed to seeking a special session, however, and there are legal memos being generated that say Speaker Flood’s analysis is inaccurate, according to Nebraska Sierra’s Ken Winston. Every day there is new ammunition to use against TransCanada being reported in local, national and international news sources. Winston quotes Bob Marley: “Get up, Stand Up, Don’t Give Up the Fight.”
Tar Sands Action and many partner groups are organizing visits to Obama for America offices around the country. A map of planned events and a sign up page is here. A 3:55 minute video from the New York City visit on Monday, October 17th, with 250 people presenting hundreds of letters, is here. “Let’s bring the change that Obama promised. This is the movement that will change the world.” On November 6th, Tar Sands Action will return to DC and encircle the White House asking the president to reject the XL pipeline. As “Encircling The White House,” by Bill McKibben, 350.org, explained on October 13th: “…November 6th, we’re gathering a massive crowd of people to completely circle the White House. This action will be completely legal, we’re not planning on anyone getting arrested, but it will be just as powerful as the sit-in that happened this August. As we encircle the White House, we’ll be carrying signs with quotes from President Obama himself, words like, “We must be the generation that ends the tyranny of oil.” It will be a powerful demonstration and a symbol of hope, as well as a strong reminder that the White House belongs to the people, not Big Oil.” Watch McKibben’s 1:28 minute Call for November 6th action, featuring Nebraska’s Randy Thompson, here. Read Randy’s most recent letter to LJS here. Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging the president to deny the construction permit here. Call the White House Switchboard directly at 202.456.1111.
“Environmentalists make Keystone XL a litmus test for Obama’s re-election: Will it work?” beings “To hard-core environmentalists, the Obama administration’s upcoming decision on the fiercely debated Keystone XL oil sands pipeline is black and white. Say no to the Canada-to-Gulf Coast pipeline, they insist, or they won’t support Obama’s re-election bid.” Read the InsideClimate News article here.
One of three new letters to the LJS published October 23rd, “Blood oil from TransCanada,” by Mark Daharsh, says “After seeing the photograph of the tar sands tailings pond, I was inclined to Google the topic, and what I found has me thoroughly convinced that this is turning into the single largest environmental crisis in the history of the world.Canada’s indigenous peoples are calling it “blood oil.” The letter continues here.
In “Fight the pipeline,” Bruce Boettcher writes “The Keystone XL pipeline public hearings in Atkinson, and likely other cities, were paid for by TransCanada. The right-of-ways were bought before a permit was issued to TransCanada. The Environmental Impact Statements were completed by Cardno Entrix, which has strong ties to TransCanada. So why would we want to trust our land and water to TransCanada? …Who is going to police TransCanada? The answer is simple: TransCanada. I urge people to write President Barack Obama, 1600 Pennsylvania Ave. NW, Washington, D.C. 20500 and urge him to deny the permit. They should also call state senators and tell them to call a special session to reroute the pipeline.” Read the Boettcher letter here.
And “Giving people their voice back,” by Justin Tolston, says “We don’t have to live in a stealth democracy where people choose not to participate in the political process because they are so distrustful of government because of the lack of transparency, corruption and greed. …Nebraska elected officials are trying to get the Keystone XL pipeline, at a minimum, rerouted because of the significant risk it poses to the Ogallala Aquifer. Don’t the rights of the millions of Americans who rely on the aquifer outweigh the right of a foreign company? …The occupation of Centennial Mall and the Occupy Wall Street movement are a testament to the frustration of millions of Americans. We are the 99 percent who make less than $1.3 million a year. We occupy for the millions of working Americans who can only support us in spirit as they struggle to make ends meet. We will stand in solidarity with them on the steps of the Nebraska Capitol at noon every Saturday through the end of the year. We occupy Centennial Mall because they can’t. Our voice will be heard.” Read Tolston here.
“Good old boys on pipeline,” by George Myers, published October 21st, begins “The Oct. 14 editorial “Pipeline process not trustworthy” is precisely on target. The good old boy’s club syndrome that is permeating this nation must be stopped. …A special session of our Legislature is drastically needed, with leadership Gov. Dave Heineman must provide rather than continuing to wait on others. Our legislators who are working hard to bring about a special session are to be commended. …the Legislature should not accept the environmental assessment from the good old boys Cardno Entrix. …Let’s be national champions in stopping the good old boys club syndrome. We are a sovereign state.” The Myers letter is here.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, writing for Reader Supported News on October 23rd, asks “Is the Keystone XL Pipeline a Good Deal for Americans?” He points out that TransCanada “ads want you to think that constructing this pipeline is the answer to all our oil needs, but if you look closer, a different picture begins to emerge. One that I hope will have you asking: ‘Who really benefits from the Keystone XL pipeline?'” Read Wyden’s commentary here.
“Obama allies’ interests collide over pipeline,” by Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson, sourced from the Washington Post to LJS on October 18th begins “In May, environmental writer and activist Bill McKibben, pondering a simmering energy issue, asked a NASA scientist to calculate what it would mean for the Earth’s climate if Canada extracted all of the petroleum in its rich Alberta oil sands region. The answer to McKibben’s query came a month later: It would push atmospheric carbon concentrations so high that humans would be unable to avert a climate disaster. “It is essentially game over,” wrote James E. Hansen, who leads NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and is one of the nation’s leading voices against fossil fuel energy.” Read that article here.
In “Redirect the booing,” Gil Savery writes to LJS, “Some Nebraska elected officials, including Gov. Dave Heineman, have allowed TransCanada to outmaneuver them to such an extent that the governor has referred to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline as likely a “done deal.” It is only such a deal if elected officials fail to address the issue in a special session of the Legislature.”
“Eminent Domain Fight Has a Canadian Twist,” by Leslie Kaufman and Dan Frosch, was published in the New York Times on October 17th. “A Canadian company has been threatening to confiscate private land from South Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico, and is already suing many who have refused to allow the Keystone XL pipeline on their property even though the controversial project has yet to receive federal approval.” Read page 1 of 2, and view a photo of Randy Thompson here.
“Meet the tar sands PR wizard,” from Mother Jones, begins “As environmental groups converged on Washington, DC, to protest the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a Canadian “grassroots” nonprofit by the name of Ethical Oil went on the counteroffensive. The group’s ads all carried the same blunt message: You can buy oil from Saudi Arabia and bankroll terrorism, or you can buy oil from friendly, democratic Canada. …If you’re familiar with the tobacco industry’s all-out campaign to downplay the adverse health effects of cigarettes, Levant’s rhetorical style might sound familiar.” View a photo of tar sands destruction in Alberta and read the article here.
Another LJS Editorial, one of more than a dozen, “Pipeline process not trustworthy,” says “No wonder the environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL pipeline was so superficial and unduly dismissive of the unique characteristics of Nebraska’s Sand Hills. 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.
Recent Position Statements opposing the pipeline 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 the Yarnold open letter here.
A Climate Progress article by Joe Romm called the Extrix scandal a “bombshell” when news was release by alternative sources. (A blackout has continued in most mainstream press.) Quoting Romm, “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.” As the game was rigged, Romm called for the entire Environmental Impact Statement to be invalidated.
From The Daily Beast, “Obama’s Pipeline Mess,” by Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein, says “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.
Call Your state 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 every Monday from noon to 1:00pm for the Thanks in Advance action detailed at the top of CD 1 Green Notes above.
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.) E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. New armbands say “Sand Hills 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