GREENS ARE GATHERING SIGNATURES. . . The Green Party is qualified for ballot status this election cycle in all of the four biggest states: New York, California, Florida, and Texas. At this time, 20 states have ballot status in November 2012. For brief information about current candidates for President, click here.
NGP is gathering signatures so voters here will also have the choice of voting for the Green Party presidential slate. In Lincoln, petitions are available at Meadowlark Coffee and Espresso, 1624 South Street. Registered Nebraska voters are invited to stop by for coffee, visit with Adam Hintz from 6:00am to 2:00pm daily, sign a petition, or pick up one to circulate. In Omaha, look for Charles Ostdiek at McFoster’s, 38th and Harney, to sign and pick up petitions.
You must be a registered voter to circulate the county specific petitions. Fill out a voter registration application online here.[pdf]  If you can help us identify a public place in CD 3 where petitions could be available, if you would like us to mail you petitions to circulate, or to participate in the ballot access process in any way, please let us know by e-mailing mjberry [at] inebraska [dot] com. Printable NGP brochures on FaceBook are here.  Let’s take Our democracy back from Wall Street!

PAGE DOWN FOR KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, 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. When weather is bad, 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 more information about NADP, click here.  “It is the deed that teaches, not the name we give it. Murder and capital punishment are not opposites that cancel one another, but similars that breed their kind.” –George Bernard Shaw

RALPH NADER AT PERU STATE . . . Monday, March 26, 2012, former Green Party presidential candidate and consumer advocate Ralph Nader will speak on “Social Justice and World Affairs” at Peru State in the College Theater at 7:00pm. Greens will be there with ballot status petitions, collecting signatures before and after the event. Join us. We’ll have NGP T-shirts for circulators to wear.

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.

MIRRORS OF PRIVILEGE: MAKING WHITENESS VISIBLE . . . Saturday, March 31, 2012, 9:00am until 4:00pm, there will be a transformational anti-racist, anti-oppression experience based on the powerful documentary “Mirrors of Privilege: Making Whiteness Visible,” in Lincoln at the Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street. The film features white women and men who have worked to gain… insight into what it means to challenge notions of racism in the United States. Watch a 3:10 minute trailer here.  his workshop is open to all who are interested in justice, spiritual growth and community making. Participants will watch the video and engage in small group discussions. Facebook Event Information is here. For more details, and to register, click here.

WATER MONITORING . . . The Nebraska Environmental Action Coalition, in collaboration with the Nebraska Wildlife Federation, is holding an information/training session to lead and promote the formation of citizen water monitoring and testing groups at the Legion Club in Fullerton, Nebraska on Monday, April 2, 2012, from 3:30 to about 6:00pm. The program and its objectives will be discussed in the first part of the meeting, and then Duane Hovorka, Executive Director of the NeFW, will demonstrate how the actual water tests are done.

OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . “City officials and Occupy Lincoln have reached an agreement that will keep tents pitched on Centennial Mall until May 1, two months later than the city had planned.” Read Lincoln Journal Star coverage here.
The Occupy Lincoln camp site is located on Centennial Mall north of the state capitol. There is a General Assembly every Sunday, 1:30-2:30pm, at Bennett Martin Library, 14th and N Streets, in the 4th floor auditorium; Wednesday, 6:30pm at Indigo Bridge Books; and Friday, 6:00 to 9:00pm.  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

KXL PIPELINE COMMUNITY MEETING . . . BOLD Nebraska and partner groups will host a meeting to update the Omaha community on the status of TransCanada’s rejected Keystone XL pipeline Tuesday, March 27th, 7:00pm, at the First Unitarian Church, 3114 Harney Street. Find out about the possibilities of a new application, happenings in Washington, and review Nebraska’s Public Service Commission (PSC) public comment process for certifying oil pipeline routes. A goal is also to get input on what we as citizens and landowners think the PSC should consider when analyzing and certifying oil pipeline routes. The more public input the better! (There will be #nokxl cookies and lemonade.)

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 GREEN DRINKS . . . This month’s Omaha Green Drinks is convening on the 33rd anniversary of Three Mile Island, Wednesday, March 28, 2012, 5:30 to 8:30pm, at Whole Foods Market, 10020 Regency Circle, in the education room across from the coffee bar. All environmentalists are welcome. Walk, cycle, carpool or bus if possible.

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, March 28, 2012, the film will be “Not Just a Game,” a film described as “nothing less than an alternative history of political struggle in the United States as seen through the games its people have played.” View a 1:19 minute trailer here.  An informal discussion will follow the film. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

PETITION TO REVERSE DECISION CLOSING POLLING STATIONS IN DOUGLAS COUNTY . . . Open and accessible polls are essential to a representative democracy. Commissioner Phipp’s decision to close half of the county’s polls resulted in disproportionately closing more polling locations in low income areas of Omaha where citizens do not have their own personal transportation. Find more information here, and here.  Election Commissioner Phipp’s CAN reverse this course of action. His decision was made without ANY public input or notice until he stated it was “too late.” Demand Election Commissioner Phipps make our elections accessible by calling 402.444.8683, and sign the petition here.

OCCUPY OMAHA . . . The official Occupy Omaha website is here.  The FaceBook page is here.  The Twitter feed is #occupyomaha

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

NPPD GENERATION OPTIONS ANALYSIS, SPRING 2012 PUBLIC OUTREACH MEETINGS . . . NPPD is currently gathering input from stakeholders as it faces decisions about its future electrical generation options. These generation decisions will determine whether or not NPPD has enough room in its portfolio for additional wind energy generation, or not. Nebraska has the fourth most wind energy capacity in the nation, yet is far behind in both wind energy developed or as a percentage of our state portfolio when compared to other top ten wind capacity states or bordering states. If NPPD locks in more coal generation, they lock in less wind. This week there will be two open house meetings in CD 3, to gather public input on NPPD’s future electrical generation options:  Monday, March 26th, at the Gering Civic Center in Gering, from 2:00 to 8:00pm; and Tuesday, March 27th, at the Sand Hills Convention Center in North Platte, from 2:00 to 8:00pm.  Please attend one of these public forums and share your support for wind energy as a part of a more appropriate state portfolio.  For more information contact the Nebraska Farmers Union at 402.476.8815.

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . The president was in Oklahoma last week touting support for drilling, and the southern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline. Democracy Now! covered the president’s speech:  “Under my administration, America is producing more oil today than at any time in the last eight years. That’s important to know. Over the last three years, I’ve directed my administration to open up millions of acres for gas and oil exploration across 23 different states. We’re opening up more than 75 percent of our potential oil resources offshore. We’ve quadrupled the number of operating rigs to a record high. We’ve added enough new oil and gas pipeline to encircle the earth and then some.”
Also on Democracy Now!, 350.org’s Bill McKibben made the point that this year’s “Winter Heat Wave Underscores Need for Obama to Reject, Not Fast-Track, Keystone XL.”  Quoting DN!’s Amy Goodman, “Spring only began on Tuesday, but it has felt like summer this week throughout much of the Northeast, Midwest and parts of Canada. Record temperatures have been recorded in Chicago, Detroit, Cleveland, Indianapolis and Buffalo and many other cities and towns. Some 36 states set daily high temperature records last Thursday.”
After the speech, McKibben said “Earlier today, Barack Obama wrapped up his first trip to Oklahoma as President. He arrived just after a week of floods, capping off a winter that never came, which followed the hottest and driest summer Oklahoma had seen in thousands of years, perhaps ever. But he wasn’t in Oklahoma to talk about these climate disasters. He was there to laud his administration’s fast-tracking of the southern leg of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. It’s obvious from his speech today that President Obama isn’t connecting the dots between fossil fuel extraction, climate change, and the extreme weather that has reshaped so much of the American landscape this past year. It’s a painful reminder that sometimes we must be leaders ourselves, before we can expect our elected officials to do the same. In this case, it’s clearly up to us to connect the dots.”
350.org is launching a global day of action May 5th to call attention to these and other climate disasters. …However you choose to participate, your voice is needed in this fight — and you can sign up to host a local event here.  For more general info about the day, check the new website here.  Please join us — we need you to send the most important alarm humanity has ever heard.
Meanwhile, during Obama’s endorsement speech, Native Americans were forced to protest from a ‘Cage‘ as reported by Common Dreams.  “As long as I’m president, I’m going to keep encouraging the development of oil and gas infrastructure,” Obama said.”
A Reader Supported News report of the speech describes the scene: “President Obama stood in a red-dirt field before acres of stacked pipeline pieces on Thursday to illustrate his support for expedited construction of the southern leg of the Keystone XL oil pipeline. But his public declaration for the project pleased neither the industry and its Republican allies nor environmentalists.”
Responding to the speech for BOLD Nebraska, Jane Kleeb said “Many of us voted for President Obama because he shared a vision for a clean energy economy, one that lives up to what American can do. TransCanada’s export pipeline does not fit into this vision.
TransCanada is building an export pipeline to a refinery owned by Saudi Arabia. This type of energy project is not what Americans support and are being misled by Big Oil’s ads. Our country’s focus must be on developing American-made energy that brings us forward, not foreign tarsands that sets our country back.
No more favors for oil companies. We should not cut corners, we should not fast-track projects that risk our land and water. Tarsands emits three times more green house gas emissions and our country has no idea how to clean up the chemicals–like benzene–that tarsands leaves behind when a spill happens. Until we know we can clean it up, we should not build any more pipelines that risk our families health, water and land.” Kleeb’s remarks are continued here and here.
Lincoln Journal Star published two articles by Art Hovey, “Cushing extension could hike fuel prices in Midwest,” by and “Panel gives Keystone XL another nudge.”
Last Wednesday, BOLD Nebraska’s Ben Gotschall explained why Bill McKibben will be coming to Nebraska Friday March 30th to Rally Against LB 1161: “Six of the eight members of the Nebraska Unicameral’s Natural Resources Committee have become pro-pipeline activists, voting through their committee a bill that would give TransCanada a free pass to determine a pipeline route through Nebraska and to seize private property through eminent domain on a “fast track.”
LB1161 circumvents existing Nebraska state law that would require any major oil pipeline project to first obtain approval through a Nebraska Public Service Commission process. LB1161 would set a dangerous precedent by allowing a foreign corporation (which currently has no pending permit for a pipeline) to enact immediate powers of eminent domain, as if they were a public utility with the proper authority and permits.
The unicameral worked hard during the special session in November to pass laws that would give Nebraskans input and oversight over where and how pipelines would cross our state. Now, following the lead of TransCanada-loving Jim Smith (LD14), five other Natural Resources Committee senators Tom Carlson (LD38), Mark Christensen (LD44), Chris Langemeier (LD23), Beau McCoy (LD39) and Ken Schilz (LD47) are taking their pro-pipeline activism to the rest of the unicameral for a vote.
It seems the “Pipeline Six” are in TransCanada’s pocket, doing anything they ask rather than representing Nebraska citizens and our natural resources. Nebraskans deserve better. We deserve leaders who represent our interests, not the interests of a foreign corporation. We demand leaders who will take necessary action to protect and preserve our state’s land and water–not corporate puppets that will do anything in their power to ensure this pipeline is built. We will not allow this political pandering of a few state senators willing to sell out our state’s natural resources and our people’s personal property rights to their Big Oil buddies.
That’s why I signed a petition to The Nebraska State Senate, which says: “Dear Nebraska Unicameral members, The state of Nebraska pulled together behind Governor Heineman’s call for a Special Session last November, and you answered the call by passing laws to govern pipeline routing and siting in our state. Now, certain members of the Natural Resources Committee have thrown that progress by the wayside by passing LB1161 on to general file. Please stand with Nebraskans who believe we have a right to control our own destiny when it comes to pipeline routing and siting. Honor the laws we have on the books. TransCanada does not deserve special legislation just for them, just because they do not like our current laws. Please vote “No” on LB1161. Tell the “Pipeline Six” to get out of TransCanada’s pocket and get back to working for Nebraska.”  Click here to add your name.
From “XL-Pipeline Community Meetings, Input on PSC,” by Malinda Frevert, “BOLD Nebraska and partner groups are hosting a series of meetings to update the community on the status of TransCanada’s rejected Keystone XL, the possibilities of a new application, happenings in Washington and to review Nebraska’s Public Service Commission (PSC) public comment process on how they will certify oil pipeline routes. Our goal of the community meetings is to not only give updates on the pipeline, but to get input on what we as citizens and landowners think the PSC should consider when analyzing and certifying oil pipeline routes.
The meeting schedule is as follows: Tuesday, March 27th, 7:00pm, First Unitarian Church, 3114 Harney Street, Omaha; Thursday, March 29th, 7:00pm, O’Neill Community Center, 501 South 4th (Hwy 281), O’Neill; Monday, April 2nd, 7:00pm, American Legion, 204 Broadway, Fullerton; Thursday, April 5th, 7:00pm, Unitarian Church of Lincoln, 6300 A Street, Lincoln. BOLD will be gathering public comments to deliver to the PSC. The more public input the better! (There will be #nokxl cookies and lemonade.)”
Worth repeating from last week, Paul Hammel’s report for Omaha World-Herald in “Pipeline lobbying costs incredible,” indicates “During the fourth quarter of 2011, when the Nebraska Legislature held a special session on the pipeline, TransCanada reported $529,099 in lobbying and legal expenses. That spending works out to about $10,800 for each of the 49 senators during those three months.”
Reminder: “The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential candidate
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . Quoting Bill McKibben in “Why Not Frack?” “The planet is running short of the easy stuff, where you stick a drill in the ground and crude comes bubbling to the surface. The great oil fields of Saudi Arabia and Mexico have begun to dwindle; one result has been a rising price for energy. We could, as a civilization, have taken that dwindling supply and rising price as a signal to convert to sun, wind, and other noncarbon forms of energy-it would have made eminent sense, most of all because it would have aided in the fight against global warming, the most difficult challenge the planet faces. Instead, we’ve taken it as a signal to scour the world for more hydrocarbons. And it turns out that they’re there-vast quantities of coal and oil and gas, buried deep or trapped in tight rock formations or mixed with other minerals. Getting at them requires ripping apart the earth: for instance, by heating up the ground so that the oil in the tar sands formation of Canada can flow to the surface. Or by tearing holes in the crust a mile beneath the surface of the sea, as BP was doing in the Gulf of Mexico when the Deepwater Horizon well exploded. Or by literally removing mountaintops to get at coal, as has become commonplace across the southern Appalachians.”
“Confirmed: Fracking Caused Ohio Earthquakes,” by Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress, in Reader Supported News March 10, 2012 reports “A dozen earthquakes in northeastern Ohio were almost certainly induced by injection of gas-drilling wastewater into the earth, Ohio oil and gas regulators said Friday as they announced a series of tough new regulations for drillers.”
           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.”

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.
From FitLife.tv, “In the wake of a 12-year battle to keep Monsanto’s Genetically Engineered crops from contaminating the nation’s 25,000 organic farms and ranches, America’s organic consumers and producers are facing betrayal. A self-appointed cabal of the Organic Elite, spearheaded by Whole Foods Market, Organic Valley, and Stonyfield Farm, has decided it’s time to surrender to Monsanto. Top executives from these companies have publicly admitted that they no longer oppose the mass commercialization of GE crops, such as Monsanto’s controversial Roundup Ready alfalfa, and are prepared to sit down and cut a deal for “coexistence” with Monsanto and USDA biotech cheerleader Tom Vilsack.”
“Monsanto’s Roundup Shown to Be Ravaging Butterfly Populations,” by Mike Barrett, Natural Society, for Truthout, March 9th: “Although the butterfly population may be suffering, humans are taking heat from Monsanto’s creations as well. Past research has shown that Monsanto’s Roundup ready crops are leading to mental illness and obesity, primarily by destroying the amount of good bacteria found in the gut. The corporation’s Roundup, containing glyphosate, has also been shown to cause infertility and birth defects.”
To help organize or coordinate a Millions Against Monsanto and Factory Farms Truth-in-Labeling campaign in your local community, sign up here.  To pressure Whole Foods Market and the nation’s largest supermarket chains to voluntarily adopt truth-in-labeling practices, sign editable text here.

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 Substitute Hemp for oil.“