NEBRASKA GREENS ARE GATHERING SIGNATURES . . . The Green Party is now qualified for ballot status this election cycle in all of the four biggest states: New York, California, Florida, and Texas. Nebraska Green Party has started gathering signatures so that voters here will also have the choice of voting for the Green Party presidential slate.
As you think about volunteering to help NGP collect signatures, please read and consider the AlterNet article “20 Ways the Obama Administration Has Intruded on Your Rights,” by Bill Quigley, November 30, 2011: “Is there a fundamental difference between the Bush presidency and the Obama presidency in the area of domestic civil liberties? The Obama administration has affirmed, continued and expanded almost all of the draconian domestic civil liberties intrusions pioneered under the Bush administration. Here are twenty examples of serious assaults on the domestic rights to freedom of speech, freedom of assembly, freedom of association, the right to privacy, the right to a fair trial, freedom of religion, and freedom of conscience that have occurred since the Obama administration has assumed power. Consider these and then decide if there is any fundamental difference between the Bush presidency and the Obama presidency in the area of domestic civil liberties.” Then check Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s website. Let’s take democracy back from Wall Street!
In Lincoln, petitions are available at Meadowlark Coffee and Espresso, 1624 South Street. Registered Nebraska voters are invited to stop in for coffee, visit with Adam Hintz from 6:00am to 2:00pm daily, sign a petition, or pick up one to circulate with friends and family during the holidays. In Omaha, look for Charles Ostdiek at McFoster’s, 38th and Harney, to sign and pick up petitions. If you’re not a registered voter, fill out the voter registration application online here. [pdf] If you can help us identify a public place in CD 3 where petitions could be available, or if You would like to participate in the ballot access process in any way, please let us know by e-mailing mjberry [at] inebraska [dot] com.
CONFERENCE CALL WITH EPA’S JACKSON . . . The American Sustainable Business Council will host a Teleconference with EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson on Friday, December 9, 2011, 12:30PM, CST. The call offers ASBC partners, supporters and friends a chance to hear about initiatives the EPA will undertake next year in support of smart, economically viable regulations and standards for driving a sustainable economy. Register and invite others to join the discussion here.
XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Page down for this week’s Pipeline Opposition Update.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1
LUNCH AND LEARN . . . Margaret Jacobs, professor of history and director of Women’s and Gender Studies at UN-L, will discuss Treatment of Indigenous Peoples at the Wednesday, December 8, 2011 League of Women Voters Lunch & Learn, beginning at noon, at Lincoln’s Holiday Inn Downtown, 141 Ninth Street. Jacobs will speak about the forced removal of indigenous children from their families and their assimilation into white culture. E-mail lwv- [at] inebraska com or call 402.475.1411 for reservations by noon, Monday, December 5th.
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.
TAKE A STAND AGAINST IMMIGRATION LAWS . . . An Interim Hearing to discuss immigration policies and law enforcement before the Nebraska Legislature’s Judiciary Committee will take place on Monday, December 5, 2011. Stand with Nebraskans against unconstitutional and discriminatory immigration laws by sending a message to the Judiciary Committee at the ACLU Action Page. Tell the committee members that our communities are less safe, tax dollars are wasted, and intolerance only increases when law enforcement must take on the federal government’s immigration role.
EN THOMPSON FORUM . . . Acclaimed conservation photographer Michael Forsberg will present “Pulse of the Plains: A Photographer’s Journey Connecting Water, Wildlife and Landscape” Tuesday, December 6, 2011, 7:00pm, at the EN Thompson Forum, The Lied Center, 301 North 12th Street, Lincoln. Lectures are available live on the UN-L website, Lincoln cable channel 21 or 5, UNL campus channel 8, and UNL KRNU radio 90.3 FM.
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.
HOLIDAY POTLUCK WITH JOEL SARTORE . . . Thursday, December 8, 2011, Wachiska Audubon Society will celebrate the holidays with Lincoln’s own National Geographic photographer Joel Sartore presenting a program on African wildlife. The holiday potluck will start at 6:15pm, at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church, 3825 Wildbriar Lane, in southwest Lincoln, one block north of the intersection of South 40th Street and Old Cheney Road. EveryOne is welcome.
INTO THE ABYSS AT ROSS . . . Into The Abyss, master filmmaker Werner Herzog’s “fascinating exploration of a triple homicide case in Conroe, Texas,” opens at The Ross, 313 North 13th Street, Lincoln, Friday, December 9, 2011. “Into The Abyss” documents the American prison system in conversations with the death row inmate, families involved, a state executioner, and pastor who has been with death row prisoners as they’ve taken their final breaths. There will be a Movie Talk on the film Sunday, December 11th at 2:00pm in the Van Brunt Visitors Center’s Presentation Room following a 12:15pm screening. Movie Talk Panelists will be Fritz Hudson, minister of the Unitarian Church of Lincoln; Amy Miller, lifelong Nebraskan, ACLU Legal Director and NADP Board President for 8 years; researcher Mario Scalora, and Gerald L. Soucie, an attorney with the Nebraska Commission on Public Advocacy. The film runs through Thursday, December 15th. Show times are available at the website, by consulting the newspaper, or by calling The Ross film information line at 402.472.5353.
OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . The Occupy Lincoln camp site is located on Centennial Mall north of the state capitol. The city agreed to allow the campsite’s tipi to stand after it was assured of the sanctuary’s safety. 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. Corporate Greed is Revolution’s Seed!
Omaha area: Congressional District 2
GROWING CITIES . . . On Tuesday, December 6, 2011, Whole Foods Omaha will contribute 5% of the day’s proceeds to the Growing Cities documentary. The locally produced film “examines the role of urban farming in America, and asks how much power it has to revitalize our cities and change the way we eat.” A 2:28 minute trailer is at the website. Help out the filmmakers on Tuesday, or watch the trailer and contribute to Growing Cities online, if you wish.
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.
ERNIE CHAMBERS AT PROGRESSIVE OMAHA WEDNESDAY . . . This week’s scheduled Film Festival at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney, is postponed. Wednesday, December 7, 2011, former State Senator Ernie Chambers will be in the upstairs meeting room from 7:00 to 9:00pm, discussing important issues including the need for a police auditor, police violence, and his upcoming campaign for the Nebraska legislature. Get there early for a seat. Bring a friend. Join the discussion. All are welcome.
MONITORING THE POLICE . . . The group Omahans for Justice will meet Thursday, December 8, 2011, 6:00pm, at The Esmerelda Cafe, 33rd & Q Street. The Facebook page is here. The group was formed to monitor local police.
OMAHA PEACE AND JUSTICE EXPO . . . There will be an exploratory discussion of a possible Omaha Peace & Justice Expo in early spring on Thursday, December 8, 2011, 6:30pm, at Panera’s, 78th & Dodge, in Omaha. Will there be a sixth annual Expo in 2012? Be involved with the decision making process.
OCCUPY OMAHA . . . The current Occupy Omaha location is in transition. All charges against Katy Heil, Nathan Davis and Ben Walden, who were arrested at 24th and Farnam on November 3rd, have been dismissed. The official Occupy Omaha website is here. The FaceBook page is here. The Twitter feed is #occupyomaha
FREE ADMISSION ON SUNDAYS AT LAURITZEN . . . Lauritzen Gardens, Omaha’s botanical center at 100 Bancroft Street in Omaha, is offering free admission on Sundays through December. Exhibits include a holiday poinsettia show. On Sunday, December 11, 2011, the first 100 families to visit the garden will receive a free poinsettia to take home.
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
NEBRASKA FARMERS UNION STATE CONVENTION . . . The Nebraska Farmers Union 98th State Convention will be Friday and Saturday, December 9th and 10th, at the Holiday Inn Midtown, Grand Island, Nebraska. Issues for discussion include the Keystone XL Pipeline, Livestock Concentration & GIPSA, Beef Checkoff, the newly formed Nebraska Agricultural Council, Ethanol, Beginning Farmers, & more. Registration begins at 8:00am on Friday. A 4:00pm “Landowners View of TransCanada XL Pipeline” will feature Randy Thompson, Martell; Susan Luebbe, Stuart; Lynda Buoy, Bassett; Teri Taylor, Newport; and Ben Gotschall, Atkinson. Syndicated National Agricultural Journalist Alan Guebert will keynote the Convention Banquet at 6:30pm Friday. Contact Public Affairs Director Graham P. Christensen by phone at 402.476.8815 or e-mail graham [at] nebraskafarmersunion [dot] org
KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . BOLD Nebraska Executive Director Jane Kleeb testified in the House SubCommittee on Energy and Power hearing Friday, December 2, 2011. For an overview of the TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline issue, and her call for renewable energy independence, please make time to read Jane’s prepared remarks here.
Misguided House and Senate bills pushing a speeded up pipeline (approval) decision are covered in The Hill article “Senate Republicans push bill to speed up Keystone pipeline decision,” by Ben Geman for InsideClimate News: “Six senators including Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (R-Ky.) have crafted a plan that requires a State Department permit for the Alberta-to-Texas pipeline within 60 days unless the president publicly determines that it is not in the national interest, according to a summary. The Senate bill to be introduced Wednesday is sponsored by GOP Sens. Dick Lugar (Ind.), John Hoeven (N.D.), David Vitter (La.), Lisa Murkowski (Alaska) and Mike Johanns (Neb.).”
A Sierra Club Statement in response, “Congress Considers Bills to Short Circuit Environmental Review of Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Proposal,” was issued December 2nd. “The U.S. House and Senate GOP are each pushing bills that would stop the U.S. State Department’s reevaluation of the environmental and public health impacts of the proposed Keystone XL tar sands pipeline in an attempt to expedite construction of the project. GOP leaders are considering adding the legislation as a rider to the payroll tax bill, the last bill that Congress is likely to vote on before the winter recess. In response, Michael Brune, Executive Director of Sierra Club, issued the following statement: “Big Oil expects this special treatment from their friends in Congress, who are now trying to rush a decision on Keystone XL, despite the Administration’s decision that this project needs more review to protect the health and safety of millions of Americans. It’s time for Congress to stop doing the bidding of the world’s largest polluters and stand up for real energy solutions. The Sierra Club is strongly opposed to any legislative effort to rush a decision on Keystone XL.”
A ThinkProgress article on the hearings is here.
Quoting a post at Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein’s website, “Climate victory on Keystone Pipeline requires continued green pressure through 2012 and beyond,” “Yesterday, Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein congratulated climate change activists for forcing the Obama administration to back away from quick approval of the XL pipeline. “This is a positive step, a reprieve won through activism and political pressure. Only six weeks ago it was clear that the Obama administration was willing to open the door to a measure that spelled climate disaster. What changed was not a sudden outbreak of environmental concern in the administration, but what they all but admit is a political calculation that pipeline approval would cost the President votes if announced before the presidential election. One way to keep the pressure on the White House into 2013 is to build the Green Party as a political alternative in 2012.”
From CredoAction, “The fight to stop Keystone XL is far from over. President Obama may have delayed his decision on the pipeline, but Republicans have redoubled their efforts, and could be dangerously close to forcing its approval. …they are planning to push a bill to force a decision on the pipeline and strip the President’s authority to make that decision. Worse, they will attach this poison pill to the President’s payroll-tax and unemployment benefit extension package — considered a must-pass piece of legislation that contains crucial help for our long-term unemployed. Sign a petition to Leaders Reid and Pelosi telling them not to make a backroom deal allowing Republicans to force this pipeline on Americans.”
Meanwhile, there was a little reported tar sands oil spill in Denver’s Sand Creek. Anthony Swift’s December 2nd Blog, “Suncor Spill: South Platte River contamination is a reminder of weaknesses in spill detection,” reports “Details continue to emerge regarding the oil spill at Suncor’s refinery in Commerce City. Water test results of the Sand Creek and South Platte River have found benzene, a carcinogenic chemical associate with oil which is toxic in minute levels, at levels well in excess of safety standards. Like the Enbridge spill in Kalamazoo, TransCanada’s Keystone spill in South Dakota and so many other recent spills, a third party had to identify the problem and notify authorities. While officials still are not certain what type of crude has spilled, how much of it has leaked or what caused the leak, this spill has brought additional scrutiny on some critical gaps in national spill detection, monitoring and response.”
Writing for the NRDC’s Switchboard, December 1, 2011, Swift reported “Colorado officials fear that vast amounts of petroleum have been leaking into the South Platte River from a broken pipeline at a refinery operated by tar sands producer Suncor.” Read the article here.
Quoting a Denver Post article, “A fisherman wading in the river Sunday morning detected the spill and tried to notify authorities, scratching out phone numbers on the sand until he finally reached a state response coordinator who asked if he could call him back in 20 minutes. “I said, ‘No! Is this how Colorado responds to oil spills?’ He said, ‘You are right’ and took down the info,” said angler Trevor Tanner, 37, an aerospace engineer. “What I pictured was, when I make a call that there was an oil spill, people come in with sirens blazing.”
Read “Not in My Backyard, Not on My Planet,” by Bruce Johansen, at the Nebraskans For Peace website. “…As important at the Sand Hills may be, they are only part of the issue. The real issue is human dependence on fossil fuels — and the evil genius of the oil and coal industry to keep supplying us with enough new carbon fuel sources from many different (safe! secure! profitable!) places to fry the atmosphere.”
In a Lincoln Journal Star letter to the editor November 28th, Joyce Petit writes “The elected officials of Nebraska have done it again. They have held a special session that was needed and put into place laws to guide placing of pipelines in the state. But then, defying all common sense, they exempted the very company that the special session was held for. …why was TransCanada not also made to go around the aquifer where the water level is near the surface? It still is going over the aquifer at critical areas just it they planned in the first place. The citizens of Nebraska have been boondoggled once again.”
“Britain’s promotion of Canada’s tar sands oil is idiotic,” by Bill McKibben writing for The Guardian November 27th says “A deal to sell tar sands oil in Europe would outweigh any good the UK might do with all its other climate change measures.” “UK secretly helping Canada push its oil sands project,” by Damian Carrington November 27th, was also in The Guardian last week.
In “Nebraska Ranchers Who Turned the Tide in Pipeline Fight Say They’re Not Done Yet,” by Lisa Song, InsideClimate News, November 17th, landowners explain why–and how–they became activists. InsideClimate News also published “Electric Vehicle Advocates See Threat to Progress from Keystone XL Pipeline.” on November 23rd. Quoting from page 1 of 3, “City and county officials think the pipeline would undermine federal policy and their local efforts to move to clean vehicles and alternate fuels.”
Environmental champion Robert Redford wrote “Stand Together Against the Tar Sands Scourge,” sourced from The Globe and Mail, for Reader Supported News November 22, 2011. “Not only is tar-sands production laying waste to Canada’s forests, polluting waterways, air and land, but the resulting carbon emissions are threatening Canada’s long-time commitment to reducing the greenhouse gases that are warming our planet and threatening us all…. We need Canadians everywhere to join us in this fight. We need to call on the history and values we share and stand up, Canadians and Americans as one. We need to draw the line at tar sands. We need to reject the Keystone XL.”
Quoting “Taking It to the Streets, in the November 28, 2011 New Yorker by Jane Mayer, “James Hansen, the head of NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies, and one of the country’s foremost climate scientists says if the Keystone XL oil pipeline were built, “Essentially, it’s game over for the planet.” But at Middlebury College, in Vermont, Bill McKibben, a scholar-in-residence, concluded that the pipeline couldn’t be stopped by conventional political means. So, in June, he and ten other activists sent an open letter to the environmental community saying, “It’s time to stop letting corporate power make the most important decisions our planet faces. We don’t have the money to compete … but we do have our bodies.”
President Obama has announced he is taking complete ownership of the decision about the XL tar sands pipeline. Urge the President to do the right thing and reject the pipeline by filling out the petition here. Send a “Thanks in Advance” message to the President in the Spirit of the Season.
Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging the president to deny a construction permit here. Call the White House Switchboard directly at 202.456.1111. And sign The Other 98% petition to Obama, “End Lobbyist Influence, STOP THE PIPELINE,” here.
“Looking Back and Looking Ahead: Pipeline Wrap-Up,” by Jane Kleeb, includes a list of Citizen Accomplishments during the opposition campaign, a Focus on 2012, as well as an action for saying thank you to the senators. Opposition groups will take a break in December, and resume efforts to STOP THE PIPELINE in January 2012.
Comprehensive coverage of international, national and local opposition to the XL pipeline since May 30, 2010 is archived in the Green Notes tab above. At the Index, scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Update.
Thanks to EveryOne who has helped make Nebraska the first state to successfully oppose a pipeline project!
STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “Big Win Against Fracking: Vote Canceled for New Fracking Regulations in the Delaware River Basin,” by AlterNet staff, was published November 17, 2011. Read more about the vote in an earlier AlterNet story here. Petition Congress: “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 here.
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.“
WE HAVE STOPPED THE PIPELINE, FOR NOW.