GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . Jill Stein will participate in two more presidential debates to be broadcast online from Washington, DC, including the Free and Equal debate originally scheduled for October 30 and postponed to Monday, November 5, 2012, because of Hurricane Sandy. Dr. Stein won her place in Free and Equal Elections Foundation’s one-on-one debate after receiving over 17,000 online votes within 24 hours on the Free and Equal site. She will face Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party livestreamed at 9:00pm ET. And the Green Party will livestream a debate hosted by Ralph Nader on Sunday, November 4, at Busboys and Poets, 7:30pm ET. View a November 3rd, 12:40 minute video interview with Nader talking about the need to end the “two party dictatorship” in this country here.
Video of previous presidential candidates’ debates with Dr. Stein and vice-presidential nominee Cheri Honkala are at the Green Party Livestream Channel, Democracy Now!, and Free & Equal.
SEE MEDIA COVERAGE FROM THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN here.
“We need a serious debate focused on energy: Phasing out coal plants, ending mountaintop removal, banning fracking, and halting the Keystone XL pipeline.” –Jill Stein
From “Imagine All the Voters Treating the Green Party like another realistic option,” by Carrie Peyton Dahlberg, North Coast Journal, quoting Jill Stein, “To go into the voting booth and vote for either Wall-Street-backed candidate, that is the definition of throwing away your vote.”  WRITE-IN JILL STEIN AND CHERI HONKALA IN NEBRASKA. Your write-in vote will be counted! Another U.S. is Possible — Another Party is Necessary.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

WALK-IN VOTING . . . Vote at the Lancaster County Election Commission, 601 North 46th Street, Lincoln, Monday, November 5, 2012, 8:00am to 4:30pm.

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. “It’s barbaric. It’s outlawed in all but a few extremely repressive countries like Iran, China, and not many others. It’s shameful that it continues to be performed. It’s well established that mistakes are made–yet half of our states practice pre-meditated state-sponsored murder. It’s also known that it’s not effective. So why is it done? Revenge & retribution? That’s not what our justice system is supposed to be about. It’s not an effective deterrent.” –Jill Stein, GP Presidential Nominee.

ELECTION DAY . . . Tuesday November 6, 2012, vote at precincts. Find Polling Locations by Precinct ID (on your new voting card) here. [pdf]  Find a Sample Ballot here. [pdf]

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.

OCCUPY EDUCATION LINCOLN . . . Occupy Education Lincoln and the Calvary United Methodist Church, 1610 South 11th Street, Lincoln, (corner of South 11th and Garfield Streets) will hold weekly Workshop/Skills Teaching Sessions, The Repair Cafe, every Thursday, starting at 5:30pm. (The time coincides with the start of FoodNet.)  Toss It? No Way! Fix it, find another use, use some of its parts, recycle it, and say no to the throw away culture. Everything and everyone has value. We must discover the value. For more information, contact Barbara van den Berg, 402.488.6926, barbvandenberg [at] hotmail [dot] com.

AUDUBON ANNUAL . . . The Wachiska Audubon Annual Meeting will be Thursday, November 8, 2012, 7:00pm, at Union College in the Dick Auditorium, 3800 South 48th Street, Lincoln. Michelle Garwood, from the Niobrara Council, will present on the Council Outdoor Education Program. All are welcome. Save The Date: December 13, 2012 Holiday Potluck Party featuring “Writing with a Camera.”

NEBRASKA SUSTAINABILITY ROUNDTABLE . . . The UN-L ASUN Environmental Sustainability Committee is hosting the second annual Nebraska Sustainability Roundtable, Tuesday, November 13th, 2012, from 3:00 to 7:00pm, in the Ballroom of the City Union, between 14th & 15th on R Street. This will be a unique public discussion to expand and strengthen Nebraska’s existing sustainability initiatives. Faculty, students, and industry experts will be in attendance, providing the opportunity to discuss and network on Energy, Water, Lifestyle, and Food/Agriculture. There will be free food for those who RSVP by Friday, November 9th. More information can be found at the facebook event page.

OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . There is a calendar of Occupy Lincoln events here.  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

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, November 7, 2012, the film will be “Gerrymandering,” a documentary examining the longstanding practice of geographical boundary manipulation for voting purposes. A discussion will follow the film. EveryOne is welcome. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at the northwest corner of 72nd and Dodge Streets in Omaha. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store lot. Contact Steve Horn, 402.426.9068, for more information about Saturday vigils.

ATM LEAFLETTING IN OMAHA . . . An Alternatives To the Military supporter who lives in Omaha would like to put together and participate in a local leafletting group there. She wants to start small–maybe leafletting at just one or two schools. If you have an interest in joining a Omaha ATM group, please contact Kevin Haake, atmlincoln@gmail.com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE,
Leafletting in Omaha.

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 at http://www.engageomaha.com/.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Following Jill Stein’s arrest for delivering supplies to Keystone XL blockaders in Winnsboro, Texas, Stein issued this statement: “I’m here to connect the dots between super storm Sandy and the record heat, drought, and fire we’ve seen this year – and this Tar Sands pipeline, which will make all of these problems much worse. And I’m here to connect the dots between climate devastation and pipeline politicians – both Obama and Romney – who are competing, as we saw in the debates, for the role of Puppet In Chief for the fossil fuel industry. Both deserve that title. Obama’s record of “drill baby drill” has gone beyond the harm done by George Bush. Mitt Romney promises more of the same.”
This past week, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality released a Pipeline Draft Evaluation Report for TransCanada’s proposed Nebraska Reroute of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The agency also announced a public hearing and information session to be held on December 4, 2012, at the Boone County Fairgrounds, 2616 Fairgrounds Road, Albion, Nebraska, starting at 6:00pm.
he hearing will be preceded by an information session from 3:00 to 5:30pm, in the Casey’s Building at the Boone County Fairgrounds. The information session will be an opportunity for the public to meet and talk with those from the agency involved in the review, in an informal “open house” format.
Public comments will continue to be accepted through December 4th. Comments may be submitted via e-mail to NDEQ.SEISpubliccomment [at] Nebraska[dot] gov. Written comments can be mailed to: NDEQ Pipeline Project Comments, P.O. Box 98922, Lincoln, NE 68509-8922. Written comments can also be submitted at the information session on December 4, 2012. Written testimony can be provided at the public hearing.
Bold Nebraska answered the Report with the following statement: The new Nebraska DEQ Report on Keystone XL Leaves Many Questions Unanswered. Citizens and Landowners Continue to Ask for Common Sense Assurances About their Safety and Economic Future. Despite promises to the contrary, the proposed route still crosses the Ogallala Aquifer, several rivers, hundreds of families wells and of course the Sandhills. (link to high res map: http://tinyurl.com/sandhillsmap)
This new route is still too risky and according to Governor Heinmenan, in a letter to President Obama August 2011, a pipeline that crosses the Ogallala Aquifer, “will have potentially detrimental effects on this valuable natural resource and Nebraska’s economy.” If Heineman stays true to his word: than denying this proposed pipeline route is the only answer.
Quoting Bold’s Jane Kleeb, “How can the DEQ do an environmental study of the pipeline route if they don’t know the exact contents and chemicals of the pipeline? The DEQ must start with what’s in the pipeline and then do their own soil, water, wildlife and climate studies to ensure the route is the safest for landowners and the citizens of our state. Simply reviewing what TransCanada submitted is not sufficient.”
Tom Genung, president of Nebraska Easement Action Team, said “Landowners and citizens continue to hear lots of talk from TransCanada and our politicians but we still do not have the exact contents of this pipe that our families could be living with for generations. We have asked for simple assurances for our health and safety. In return, all TransCanada and the DEQ continue to give us are empty promises that ‘everything will be ok.’ Our families farms, ranches and water require a little bit more than promises.”
The ongoing issue of pipeline siting laws continues. “How much will PSC pipeline rules matter?” by Art Hovey, was published in the Lincoln Journal Star, October 30, 2012. “The Nebraska Public Service Commission is scheduled to take another look on Tuesday at its proposed rules for siting petroleum pipelines that come after TransCanada’s Keystone XL. A final vote is expected by mid-November.
Presumably, the results of months of work will show how rigorously the commission intends to carry out duties assigned to it last November during heated debate over a proposed Sandhills route for Keystone XL in the 2011 special session of the Nebraska Legislature. Will commissioners, for example, require applicants to disclose what other chemicals potentially harmful to groundwater might be in petroleum shipments besides crude oil? But the bigger question might be how much these PSC regulations matter. That’s because the Legislature changed direction in April, during a flurry of amendments in the final days of its regular session, and made the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality the first stop for future pipeline routing decisions by the state. That decision moved the state’s pipeline oversight toward a department responsible to the governor and away from independently elected officials. It also appears to have been an effort to avoid vulnerability in court. But a lawsuit quickly emerged anyway.
Because the change included in LB1161 came after committee hearings, the public never had a chance to weigh in on a departure from the November decision putting the PSC in charge.” The article is continued here.
“B.C. quake a warning to risk of oil pipeline, critics say,” by Petti Fong, was published in The Star, October 29th: “Critics of the Northern Gateway pipeline say the weekend’s massive earthquake just off the B.C. coast is a warning that should be heeded. The region is the most prone in the west for earthquakes and the subsequent tsunamis that often follow. A 7.7 earthquake off Haida Gwaii on Saturday evening left hundreds of residents without power but caused little damage. Imagine what would happen if the quake had struck where a pipeline was located, said Keith Stewart, climate and energy campaign coordinator for Greenpeace.”
From Globe and Mail October 31st, “Energy board launches TransCanada audit,” by Nathan VanderKlippe, begins “The National Energy Board has launched a major audit of TransCanada Corp., after a whistle blower’s revelations about problems in the pipeline company’s operating practices. In a letter sent to Calgary-based TransCanada, the NEB said it will examine the integrity management programs at almost all of the company’s pipelines, including its natural gas systems and Keystone pipe.”
Also in the Globe and Mail October 21st, “British Columbia government rethinks pipeline-approval process,” reported “The lawn of the B.C. legislature is expected to be filled with protesters on Monday for a mass sit-in against the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline. Scorched by the growing opposition, the B.C. government has already adopted a more hostile stand toward the $6-billion project.”
Lincoln Journal-Star editorialized that the “Legislature should take another look at pipeline law,” on October 22nd.
           SAVE THE DATE: Tickets are now on sale for The “Do the Math” 350.org tour with Bill McKibben in Omaha on December 1, 2012, 6:00 to 9:00pm, at the Joslyn Museum Witherspoon Concert Hall, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha. McKibben will be on a nationwide tour talking about climate, oil subsidies, and the pipeline, bringing together tens of thousands of people over one month to start an historic push to win real solutions to the climate crisis. Purchase tickets online here.
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.
           “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 Nominee.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . From “Five Effects of Fracking You May Not Know About” by Alyssa Figueroa, AlterNet, October 23rd: “What comes to mind when you think of fracking? Perhaps it’s images of tap water being lit on fire or stories of families suffering health problems after nearby wells are fracked. Indeed, the health and environmental impacts of fracking are being documented, but it’s important to know that fracking is a catalyst for widespread negative consequences.” 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.”

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.“