EARTH CIRCLE . . . On the first day of every month, people around the world stop everything for five minutes, joining with thousands of others to visualize peace and focus on new levels of kindness, understanding, and compassion necessary for collectively facing the challenges of the 21st century. New Dimensions invites peacemakers everywhere to join at 4:00pm Greenwich Mean Time, 10:00am in Lincoln and Omaha, 9:00am in District 3 where Mountain Time begins, Monday, August 1, 2011, with the intention of deep healing for the Planet and all its people. Click here for more information about Earth Circle.

“I STAND WITH RANDY” Keystone XL pipeline opposition events, as of July 31st, are listed in the following Green Notes. Plan now to be part of the rising energy opposing the environmentally devastating tar sands project by attending as many events as possible next weekend. And it’s not too late to create your own happening. Get ideas for other events, join the I Stand With Randy network of artists, musicians, and pipeline opposition friends, and sign up to host your own event at links provided here.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

July 29 through August 8, 2011: Save the Sand Hills Art Exhibit. Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso, 1624 South Street, Lincoln. Host: Adam Hintz

Friday, August 5, 2011, 8:00am to 5:00pm, Wildflowers for Heineman. Drop-in at the governor’s office, State Capitol Building, Lincoln, with wildflowers (echinacea, black-eyed susans, sunflowers, etc.) throughout the day. Attach a note: “Please do not add oil” or “Cannot be grown in oil.” (Thrift stores are a good place to find inexpensive vases.) Visit your state senator’s office too. Host: Christy Hargesheimer.

Friday, August 5, 20ll, 9:00 to 10:00am: I Stand With Randy Read-In. A Novel Idea, 118 North 14th Street, Lincoln. Bring a book. Read together, have coffee, and listen to Billy Holiday at Lincoln’s unique downtown book store.

Friday, August 5, 2011, 11:00am to 9:00pm, Standing With Randy to Celebrate Nebraska’s Sand Hills and Water Resources. Michael Forsberg Gallery, 100 North 8th Street, Suite 150, Lincoln. On display: Conservation photographer Michael Forsberg’s Sand Hills photos. Host: Sarah Brey.

Friday, August 5, 2011, 6:00 to 9:00pm: Stand With Randy Book Drive at Parrish Studios, 1416 O Street, 2nd floor, Lincoln. All donations/proceeds to the “For Change” book drive wil go to support BOLD Nebraska initiatives against the pipeline. First Friday gallery reception, 6:00 to 9:00pm; “For Change” library August 6 & 7, 10:00am to 1:00pm.

Friday, August 5, 2011, 6:00 to 8:00pm, Grandmothers and Grandchildren Stand With Randy, 3037 Sewell, Lincoln. Host Nancy Packard will provide snacks during conversation about clean water and the Sand Hills. Make art and bake cookies with grandmothers and grandchildren against the pipeline.

Friday, August 5, 2011, 7:00 to 9:00pm, Painters Stand With Randy. The Burkholder Project, 719 P Street, Lincoln. First Friday Local Art Display with original Anne Burkholder Sand Hills prints for sale. All proceeds will go to stop the XL pipeline. Host: Grace Gandu.

Friday, August 5, 2011, 8:30pm, Bicyclists Stand With Randy. Meet at the Near South Community Bike Kitchen, 1720 South 15th Street, Lincoln, for a group ride to the governor’s mansion pipeline protest at 9:00pm. Host: Adam Hintz.

Friday, August 5, 2011, 9:00 to 10:00pm, Shine a Light on Heineman. The governor’s mansion, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. Bring a flashlight and shine a light to show him we are watching to keep him accountable on the pipeline. Host: Jane Kleeb.

Saturday, August 6, 2011, 2:00pm, Poets Stand With Randy. Some of Nebraska’s finest poets will read water haiku and poems in honor of the Sand Hills and the Aquifer at 816 P Street, Lincoln. Hosts: Jim and Mary Pipher.

Saturday, August 6, 2011, 4:00pm, Water Play. Learn what you can do to help protect the Sand Hills and Aquifer, play in the water, have snacks and beverages with host Mary Jane Bruce in her back yard at 7521 Nemaha Street, Lincoln.

Saturday, August 6, 2011, 7:00pm, “Dirty Oil” Screening at Meadowlark, 1624 South Street, Lincoln. Host Adam Hintz will show the documentary “Dirty Oil,” a film about tar sands production.

Sunday, August 7, 2011, 2:00pm, Enemy of the People.  The Center for People in Need, 3901 North 27th Street, Lincoln. Lincoln actress Pippa White will present scenes from Iben’s play about a physician who, in attempting to rid his town of contaminated water, instead is labeled an enemy of the people.

Sunday, August 7, 2011, 2:00pm to 5:00pm, Rural Writers Stand With Randy. Local writers and poets will read at 801 East Benjamin Avenue, Norfolk, Nebraska. Host: Neil Harrison.

Sunday, August 7, 2011, 4:00 to 5:30pm, Nonviolent Direct Action Workshop. Indigo Bridge Books, 701 P Street, Suite 102, Lincoln. Learn how to become more effective as an activist by picking up useful models of strategy and brainstorming with fellow Nebraskans. EveryOne interested in c-h-a-n-g-e is invited to Stand With Randy at this workshop. Host: Alexa Ross.

Sunday, August 7, 2011, 4:00 to 8:00pm, Africans Stand With Randy. Join Sudanese singers and two dance groups for African music at Antelope Park, 29th & A Street, Lincoln. Host: Mohamed Jalloh.

Sunday, August 7, 2011, 4:00 to 10:00pm, “Songs for the Sand Hills.”  Duggan’s Pub, 440 South llth Street, (11th & K Street) Lincoln. Join Kickin’ Back, The Hundred Miles, The Jerry Pranksters at 6:00pm, The Tijuana Gigolos at 7:00pm, Lloyd McCarter and the Honky Tonk Revival, and Shaun Sparks and the Wounded Animals for a FREE Stand With Randy concert. Host: Marty Steinhausen.

Sunday, August 7, 2011, 6:00 to 9:00pm, Lincoln Musicians Stand With Randy. The Zoo Bar, 136 North 14th Street, Lincoln. Join local musicians Manny Coon, Dr. John Walker, and The Amalgamators for live music, poetry, and a possible appearance of Randy himself. Host: Ben Gotschall.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

JAMES HANSON AT CREIGHTON . . . James Hanson, one of the foremost climate change scientists, is speaking at Creighton University Wednesday, August 3, 2011, 10:15 to 11:30am, at the Harper Center, 2500 California Plaza, Omaha. Hanson will speak about “The Case for Young People and Nature,” and receive a prize from the AAPT–the national society of physics educators. The event is open to the public.

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. The event is always free and open to the public. This week’s film is “Commune,” a documentary about Big Bear Ranch, an 80 acre, late 1960’s California commune, featuring archival footage, photographs, documents, news articles, and interviews. A Village Voice review is here.  For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

Friday, August 5, 2011, 6:30 to 8:30pm, Literally Stand With Randy at the Nolan Tredway exhibit in the New BLK Gallery, 1213 Jones Street, Omaha. Nolan is a Nebraska artist against the pipeline. View a print of his work on FaceBook here. Support Nolan, and between 6:30 and 8:30, have your photo taken Standing With Randy at the New BLK.

Friday, August 5, 2011, 11:00am to 1:00pm, Write, Right ON and Stand With Randy. Annie’s Cafe, 351 North 78th Street, Omaha. Read, tell stories, and write letters to Lee Terry with host Shelly Clark.

Saturday, August 6, 2011, 2:00 to 6:00pm, Bands Against the Tar Sands. PS Collective, 6056 Maple Street, (adjoining The Pizza Shoppe) in Benson. Various local Bands Standing With Randy will join host Jane Wilson. All proceeds from a suggested $5 donation will go toward stopping the XL pipeline.

Saturday, August 6, 2011, 7:00 to 10:00pm, Piping Up For Randy. Nebraska Voices will Stand With Randy at a poetry and essay reading, Piping Up Against the Pipeline, at McFoster’s, 302 South 38th Street, Omaha. Writers and poets are invited to share their work. Host: Erin Arellano.

Sunday, August 7, 2011, 11:00am to 1:00pm, The Brunch Bunch Stands With Randy. Celebrate Nebraska’s land and water resources with neighbors, friends and relatives at the Clark-Geiser backyard deck, 2616 North 125th Avenue, Omaha. Host: Shelly Geiser.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . It’s not too late to add an event and Stand With Randy August 5th through August 7th statewide. Use the themes of Water, the Sand Hills, and stopping the XL pipeline to create an artistic expression in dance, song, theater, cooking, poetry, music, sculpture, origami, flower arrangement, film, photography–whatever your art form of choice might be. AnyOne can organize an event anywhere. Your event can be small–just a few friends talking about the fragile Sand Hills and the Aquifer over dinner. Please join the network of actions statewide, and guarantee that your event is posted online by filling out the form here.
A new article about Randy Thompson, the I Stand With Randy campaign, and XL pipeline opposition featuring quotes from Jane Kleeb, Ben Gotschall, and Arts Festival Weekend mastermind Mary Pipher, “Nebraska Artists Standing With Randy,” was published in HearNebraska July 28th. Writer Bryce Wergin describes Randy as “a broad-shouldered, grey-haired picture of the modern cowboy who makes his living managing his family’s farm and trading cattle from Merrick County. He has spent his entire life as a farmer, rancher and cattle trader in several different parts of Nebraska. He’s spent the last three years refusing offers on his land from oil corporation TransCanada, which wants to route its new pipeline through it. In the process, he’s become an iconic figure behind a movement against the pipeline.”
The House vote was 279 to 147 in favor of CD 2 Representative Lee Terry’s bill (H.R. 1938) to expedite the process for considering the Keystone XL pipeline. It requires the President to make a decision within 30 days of issuance of a Final Environmental Impact Study–no later than November 1, 2011. CD 1 Representative Jeff Fortenberry split with his Republican counterparts and voted against this bad bill setting a deadline “for determining if the $7 billion project is in the national interest.” Read the Lincoln Journal Star coverage here.  Please thank Fortenberry for his vote against rushing a final decision on his FaceBook page here.  His local phone number is 402.438.1598. See photos of Tuesday’s protest at Terry’s Omaha office on FaceBook here.
Scroll down here for two letters to the editor in the July 31st omaha World Herald. “What’s the rush?” And “Is it Worth Risking Water for Oil?” Thanks to the writers.  Also published by Daily Climate from Living on Earth July 31st, “Pressure Builds on Pipeline Decision,” quotes Bill McKibben among others in an interview by Mitra Taj. Terry’s bill to rush the decision is questioned there as well.
A new 350.org petition to President Obama says “The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and focusing on developing safe, clean energy.” Click here for to sign and comment.
As internationally acclaimed National Geographic contributing photographer Joel Sartore wrote in a Journal Star Local View, please “Write and call Governor Dave Heineman, Congressmen Jeff Fortenberry, Adrian Smith and Lee Terry, and Senators Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns” and let them know that “trading our environmental heritage in order to cater to greed and increase the wealth of a select few will not be tolerated. Nebraska is better than this.”
Contact information for Nebraska’s Congressional Representatives is as follows: Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, CD-1, 1517 Longworth House Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515, 202.225.4806, 402.438.1598 (Lincoln), FaceBook; Rep. Lee Terry, CD-2, 1524 Longworth HOB, Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.4155, 402.397.9944 (Omaha); Rep. Adrian Smith, CD-3, 503 Cannon House Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.6435, 888.ADRIAN7 (Toll Free); Senator Ben Nelson, 720 Hart Senate Office Building, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.6551; Senator Mike Johanns, 404 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.4224. Contact Governor Dave Heineman, at linked e-mail or PO Box 94848, State Capitol Bldg., Lincoln, NE 68509, 402.471.2244. Please contact them all if you oppose the environmental devastation that XL would cause Nebraska’s ecosystems.
Comprehensive Green Notes covering international, national and local opposition to the XL pipeline since May 30, 2010 are in archives here.  (Scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Notes.)
What more can you do?  Keep writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper. Keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska.  E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers and t-shirts. More actions EveryOne can take are listed here.
Be a community educator and organizer. Help make Nebraska the first state to successfully oppose a pipeline project.
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 are no longer the alternative; we are the imperative. –Rosa Clemente

STOP THE PIPELINE