STOP THE TAR SANDS PIPELINE . . . On Sunday, November 6, 2011, 350.org activists from around the country encircled the White House sending a powerful message to President Obama: honor your 2008 campaign promises and stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline.
PAGE DOWN FOR THIS WEEK’S TRANSCANADA KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1
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.
FATAL OMISSIONS . . . Monday, November 7, 2011, Professor and Department Head Emeritus of Plant Pathology at UN-L, Anne Vidaver, will present a one-hour talk entiled “Fatal Omission: The TransCanada Pipeline and the Sand Hills,” in the East Campus Union, at 3:00pm. Check schedule in the Lobby for room number. All are welcome.
SPECIAL SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE ON PIPELINE ROUTING REGULATIONS . . . A Special Session of the Nebraska legislature is in progress. The Keystone XL pipeline should be STOPPED, or at least re-routed away from Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer. Hearings for the bills that have been introduced begin Monday, November 7, 2011, 10:00am. A schedule for the three days of hearings is here. All legislative hearings will be available on the NET website. Two new legal memos explain the areas that can be regulated, and why it’s *not* too late in Nebraska to re-route the pipeline. Click here [pdf] for Alan Peterson’s Constitutional Analysis of a Nebraska Pipeline Routing Law, and here [pdf] for the Domina Law Group’s Green Paper on Nebraska’s Regulatory Authority Over Oil Pipelines, Nebraska’s Non-Preempted Right To Regulate Land Use, and Legal Authority for Action By Nebraska. Let your senator know that this special session MUST, at a minimum, re-route the pipeline. The state capitol switchboard number is 402.471.2311. Call your senator and ask him or her to STOP THE PIPELINE.
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.
COMMUNITY CONVERSATION . . . Wednesday, November 9, 2011, 7:00pm, there will be a Community Conversation about Nebraska Child Welfare Reform at Gere Library, 2400 South 56th Street, Lincoln. Panelists include LD 25 State Senator Kathy Campbell, and from Nebraska Appleseed, Sarah Helvey. The public is welcome.
CONSERVATION AND ECOTOURISM . . . Thursday, November 10, 2011, 7:00pm, wildlife biologists and educators Larkin and Kelly Powell will present “Milking the Rhino, and the Ostrich: Conservation and Ecotourism on Private Lands in Namibia” at the Wachiska Audubon annual meeting, at the Union College Dick Auditorium, Lower Level Room 03, 3800 South 48th Street, Lincoln. Refreshments will be served after this free presentation, open to the public.
NAACP FREEDOM FUND BANQUET . . . This year’s Lincoln Branch NAACP Freedom Fund Banquet, “Affirming America’s Promise,” will be Friday, November 11, 2011, at the Cornhusker Marriot Hotel, 333 South 13th Street, Lincoln. The guest speaker will be former state senator/current City Council member DiAnna Schimek. Social hour begins at 5:30, and dinner is at 6:30pm. For more information, phone 402.488.0853.
PEACE STUDIES IN EDUCATION FORUM . . . There will be a critical dialogue about how to engage in concrete social transformation on Saturday, November 12, 2011, 9:00am to 1:00pm, at the Southeast Community College Lincoln Campus, 8800 “O” Street, U Section Multipurpose room. Guest speakers will be Doug Paterson, UN-O Theater Professor and key Nebraska organizer for Theater of the Oppressed at UN-O, and Rich Gibson, Professor of Social Studies in the College of Education at San Diego State University. The two will do lecture/demonstrations that should promote discussion, dissent, and a will to change things. There will be time for interaction with the speakers, time for large group discussion, time for panel discussion, time for snacks and informal talk, and time to decide what you want to do when you go home. Free and open to all.
OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . The Occupy Lincoln camp site is located on Centennial Mall north of the state capitol. Occupation General Assembly meetings are every Wednesday at 6:00pm, and Sundays at 1:30pm. The next Occupy Lincoln march will be Saturday, November 12, 2011, 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. Corporate Greed is Revolution’s Seed!
LIVE SUSTAINABLY . . . “Building a Sustainable Society, Starting with Food,” will be presented by Chuck Francis, Sustainable Agriculture Coordinator in the Department of Agronomy and Horticulture, UN-L, on Sunday, November 13, 2011, 12:45am to 2:15pm, Pilgrim Hall, at First-Plymouth Church, 2000 D Street, Lincoln. Francis is committed to living sustainably in both his professional and personal life. Learn about the crucial link food plays in building a sustainable system. Bring an organic dish to share or make a good-will offering. For information, e-mail kim [at] firstplymouth [dot] org
WHERE THE BUFFALO ROAM . . . “History of the American Bison,” will be presented by avid birder and retired sociology professor Larry Flak, 2:00pm, Sunday, November 13, 2011, at the River Country Nature Center, 114 South 6th Street, 1/2 block south of Central Avenue in Nebraska City. North America’s largest land mammal has been recovering from near annihilation, and Falk will trace the history. Earlier, Falk will lead an exploration of the Arbor Day Farm sunflower field planted for wildlife. To carpool from Lincoln, meet at the Wachiska Audubon parking lot, 4547 Calvert Street, at 10:00am. If you have questions about the field trip, phone John Carlini, 402.475.7275.
BIONEERS CONFERENCE REGISTRATION . . . Registration is still 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.
Omaha area: Congressional District 2
BOB KERREY BRIDGE RIDE . . . Every Sunday in November, the Bellevue Bicycle Club will ride 15-20 miles from 1:00 to 4:00pm. All riders are invited to meet at Iowa West Foundation Park, on the Iowa side of the bridge.
WEEKLY RUNNING GROUP . . . Monday, November 7, 2011, 5:45pm, the Weekly Running Group will meet at Zorinsky Park with Nebraska Adventure Group. For more information, contact debhoffnung [at] yahoo [dot] com
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, November 9, 2011, the film will be “The Conversation,” a 1974 Francis Ford Coppola study of electronic surveillance examined through the private, internalized life of a lonely and detached expert ‘bugger’played by Gene Hackman. Watch a 2:43 minute trailer here. 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.
OCCUPY OMAHA . . . The current Occupy Omaha location is the Somali Cultural Center on 24th and Farnam. The camp site is 24th and Farnam, across from the Federal Reserve. The weekly march/rally is Saturdays at 11:00am, starting at Gene Leahy Mall, 14th Street, across from the library. General Assemblies are every Wednesday, 7:00pm, and every Saturday, 3:00pm. The official Occupy Omaha website is here. The FaceBook page is here. The Twitter feed is #occupyomaha
HIKE THE PLATTE . . . Saturday, November 12, 2011, Omaha Hiking Club will meet at the Platte River State Park, on the southern bluffs above the Platte River, located 3 miles west of Louisville, 9:00am. For more information, e-mail omahahikingvlub [at] cox [dot] net
SIERRA CHAPTER MEETING . . . Saturday November 12, 2011, the Sierra Club Chapter Meeting will be from 1:30 to 4:30pm, at First Unitarian Church, 3119 Harney Street, just off 33rd Street. The Keystone XL pipeline will be discussed.
SIERRA ANNUAL . . . Nature writer-Professor John Price will Keynote Nebraska Sierra Club’s Annual Banquet on Saturday, November 12, 2011, at Big Mama’s Kitchen Restaurant, 3223 North 45th Street, Omaha. A Reception and Silent Auction begins at 5:30, Dinner is at 6:30, and Awards and Speaker are at 7:30pm. Cost is $25 per person. Read speaker’s bio and details here.
FALL SOCIAL . . . Saturday, November 12, 2011, Nebraska Adventure Group will have a Fall Social at 7:00pm, 72nd and Sorensen, in Omaha. EveryOne is invited to meet the membership, learn about NAG, and join the active outings group. For more information, contact debhoffnung [at] yahoo [dot] com
HIKE FONTENELLE . . . Sunday, November 13, 2011, there will be a two hour Fontenelle Forest Hike, beginning at 11:00am. For more information, contact debhoffnung [at] yahoo [dot] com
GREEN BELLEVUE . . . Sunday, November 13, 2011, Green Bellevue meets at Bellevue Public Library, 1003 Lincoln Road, 1:30 to 3:30pm. There will be information exchange and future planning, featuring a program on Wildlife – specifically Birds and How to Certify Your Property as a Wildlife Habitat. Join the Green Bellevue e-mail list to receive the GB newsletter and updates here.
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. And please contact your Omaha senators! It is very important that they hear from constituents who want the XL pipeline stopped!
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 . . . On Thursday, November 3, 2011, Nebraska lawmakers finished three days of bill introduction at the Unicameral. Committee Hearings for the Special Session bills on pipeline regulation are Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, November 7 through 9, 2011. The hearings are open to the public and EveryOne is encouraged to be there, and comment. Testifiers will likely have three minutes to speak, and will need ten copies of their testimony for committee members. This TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer needs to be STOPPED. The permit needs to be denied. But the message to state senators needs to be that, at a minimum, we expect a bill that will re-route the pipeline out of the Sand Hills and the heart of the Aquifer. The schedule of hearings is here, starting Monday, November 7th, at 10:00am.
Nebraska Farmers Union President and Save Our Sand Hills coalition member John Hansen was interviewed about Nebraskans’ pipeline siting concerns in a 6:34 minute Free Speech Radio News segment on November 3rd. The Toronto Star quoted Hansen and state Senator Ken Haar in “Canadian pipeline hits 11th hour opposition,” on November 4th: “Whether you’re for the pipeline or against the pipeline, almost everyone in our state agrees it’s a really bad choice of routes,” John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, said in an interview from Lincoln. Hansen wrote the U.S. government last month, saying the pipeline route is “not prudent, not safe and unnecessarily puts our primary water supply at risk. …Haar agrees that the project has struck a sensitive chord in Nebraska because the main industry is agriculture. “People are pretty much aware that water is our most important resource. This whole idea that we would be risking — even if the chances are small — our clean water source doesn’t make sense to Nebraskans,” he said.” Read the article from Toronto here.
Also on November 3rd, the Huffington Post included a 1:51 minute video with the article by Joshua Hersh, “Keystone XL: Haste And Inexperience Hampered State Department’s Environmental Review.” The article begins “KEYSTONE’S KOPS: The State Department’s Bureau of Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs (OES), where the presidential permitting process takes place, has never been a highly sought-after posting. For the most part, OES staff are responsible for negotiating international treaties that involve natural resources, generally involving uncomplicated projects far from high-level eyes: a fiber optic cable in Tijuana, a bridge over the Rio Grande. Diplomats and political appointees often arrive there with no clue that the permitting responsibility falls to them.”
In covering Friday’s Citizen Special Session Seminar at the legislalture, Lincoln Journal Star excluded Nebraska Green Party as a co-sponsor. The article begins “The Merrick County landowner who has become the face of opposition to TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL oil pipeline praised the effort to stop the project Friday, less than an hour after state lawmakers finished the fourth day of a special session to address concerns over its environmental impact. “If we had not become engaged in this process … if it weren’t for the ordinary citizens of the state of Nebraska, TransCanada would have gotten the green light,” Randy Thompson told a room full of people at the Capitol to learn how to lobby state lawmakers on the issue. “Our politicians were poised to give that to them.”
BOLD Nebraska has a Resource Page for the Special Session and a Bill Roundup/Public Hearing Schedule Page. Both pages link to senators’ contact information, and committees where the bills will be heard. Bills are summarized and linked here.
“Senators, your first priority is Nebraska,” the November 3rd LJS Editorial, reminds state senators “…It’s not too late for Obama to pull the plug on the pipeline project, and it’s not too late for Nebraska to insist on a route change. Nothing is decided. The permit has not been issued. …It should be of no concern to state lawmakers that TransCanada, apparently confident that the permit would be issued, already has invested money in securing easement rights and clearing its preferred route of endangered species. If lawmakers want to be concerned about anyone involved in this proposal, they ought to focus their attention on Nebraska landowners who were threatened with eminent domain if they didn’t sign away their easement rights. …Nebraskans shouldn’t have to depend on the president to look out for their concerns. They ought to be able to rely first on their own state officials. Thanks to Gov. Dave Heineman, the Legislature finally is giving the pipeline issue the full discussion it deserves. Now senators should remember their first priority is the interests of Nebraskans.”
“Bills: Empower governor, limit eminent domain,” by Kevin O’Hanlon, reports “The governor would have the final say in where major pipelines are built in Nebraska under a bill introduced Wednesday in the Legislature. …Under the bill (LB4), by Sen. Chris Langemeier of Schuyler, companies wanting to build a major pipeline in the state would have to apply to the Department of Environmental Quality, or DEQ, for a permit. The governor would then set up a panel to review the application, the proposed route of the pipeline, environmental considerations and other factors before making a recommendation to the governor.” Other early reporting on the Special Session is here.
There were three more letters to the editor in Sunday’s November 6th LJS. “Repeat environmental study,” by Dave Guittar, asks “Do we want the pipeline at all?” This type of oil deposit, tar sands, contains an extremely viscous oil that is combined with clay, sand and water. It does not come out easily and generates 10-45 percent more greenhouse gases than conventional crude oil.” Marilyn Barnes calls for a study on dilbit safety, concluding “In Nebraska, there are excellent reasons to demand that the Keystone XL pipeline be rerouted away from the Ogallala Aquifer and near industrial infrastructure where pipelines already exist.” And in “Not convinced of safety,” Richard Schmeling writes “Why is it that with all those expensive, smooth-talking radio commercials and full-page ads touting the safety of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, I am not convinced? …Why can’t we move the oil by rail, truck or barge? At least that movement is highly visible and any problems are more likely to be noticed sooner. I’m not convinced that this pipeline or any pipeline is a safe way to transport anything except perhaps natural gas.”
“Move the pipeline route,” by Nick Palerno, one of last week’s LJS letters, opens with “The issue with regard to the proposed oil pipeline over Nebraska’s Ogallala Aquifer seems very simple to address. Nebraska’s greatness and prosperity is grounded in its world-class food-producing capabilities, which flow from the Ogallala Aquifer. Anything, including a tar sands/shale oil pipeline running over this aquifer, that has the probability of damaging Nebraska’s lifeblood water resource should not even be under consideration.”
In “No to pipeline,” Bruce Kennedy writes “Much has been said about the Keystone XL pipeline and the Ogallala Aquifer in Nebraska. Not enough has been said about the disastrous effect this oil has on our planet as a whole. The method to extract oil from the tar sands is one of the most environmentally destructive known. It is right up there with strip mining and clear cutting. It lays waste to thousands of acres of pristine forest land, and this forest land helps absorb the effects of chemicals in our atmosphere that are causing climate change.”
Another letter, “Out of touch on pipeline,” by Paul Ries, begins “I don’t think people understand just how out of touch TransCanada President Russell Girling is. He repeatedly indicated he has been blindsided by the outcry over the pipeline. Most recently (“4 try to reduce water risk fear,” Oct. 26) he said: “All the politics swirling around this project for the last 36 to 38 months — I never would have expected those.” This playing ignorant act is getting old. Has it really taken years to realize that Nebraskans are proud of our natural resources and understand their value? The environmental track record stinks, and the environmental review done by Cardno Entrix, a company that lists TransCanada as a “major client,” is fundamentally flawed.”
In response to the Entrix scandal, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders wrote Secretary of State Clinton requesting documentation of “any contracts, agreements, memorandums of understanding, any legal or other instruments or documents that describe the relationships, responsibilities and obligations among Cardno Entrix, TransCanada, and the State Department with respect to the Keystone XL pipeline project.” Reader Supported News covered the Sanders’ letter here.
From Sanders’ website, “Tar Sands Pipeline Probe Urged,” dated October 26, “Sen. Bernie Sanders on Wednesday asked the State Department inspector general to investigate whether conflicts of interest tainted the process for reviewing a proposed crude oil pipeline from Canada to the Gulf of Mexico. In a separate letter to President Barack Obama, Sanders, Reps. Steve Cohen and Peter Welch and 11 other senators and congressmen cited “serious concerns” about the integrity of the review and asked the White House to withhold any decision on the project until the inspector general’s investigation is completed, made public and evaluated.” The Senator’s comments are continued here. Call for an investigation of the State Department’s tar sands scandal at a Credo Action Petition online here.
The legal aspects of possible challenges to siting legislation introduced in the Special Session are reported in an October 31st LJS article here. Lincoln attorney Alan Peterson, and Omaha attorneys David Domina and Brian Jorde all conclude that “Nebraska can regulate its own land use.”
State Senator Bill Avery represents the 28th Legislative District in Lincoln. On November 2nd, LJS published his very personal Local View, “Landowners feel invaded.” “…Tuesday morning, as the sun rose over Nebraska, I joined my colleagues in the Norris Chamber of the State Capitol, and I reflected on my newfound friends in Holt County and the land their families have spent generations protecting from hard times, the elements and a pipeline company. I also remembered my pledge to them to do all that I can to help them fight for their land and water.” Read Avery’s comments written after a visit to Holt County here.
“U.S. backtracks on Keystone decision this year,” by Sheldon Alberts, Postmedia News, was published on November 2nd. “The U.S. State Department on Wednesday backed away from its commitment to decide on the Keystone XL oilsands pipeline by the end of 2011, opening the door to potential new delays on a project that has become a political albatross for President Barack Obama. In a briefing with reporters, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the department still hopes to complete its review of the $7-billion pipeline by year’s end. But the timeline is no longer set in stone.”
“Obama to make final call on Keystone XL pipeline,” by Juliet Eilperin, sourced to LJS from the Washington Post, reported “President Barack Obama said Tuesday he will decide whether to approve or deny a permit for a controversial 1,700-mile oil pipeline, rather than delegating the decision to the State Department. The proposal by the Canadian firm TransCanada to ship crude extracted from a region in Alberta called the “oil sands” to Gulf Coast refineries has become a charged political issue for the White House. Labor unions and business groups argue it would create thousands of jobs in the midst of an economic downturn. Environmentalists, who plan to ring the White House in a protest Sunday, say that oil extraction would accelerate global warming and that the pipeline could spill, polluting water and causing potentially severe environmental harm. In an interview with the Omaha television station KETV, Obama said he would weigh the Keystone XL pipeline’s potential economic benefits against its possible environmental consequences.”
Tell Obama: Thanks for stepping up — now do the right thing. President Obama has announced that he is taking complete ownership of the decision about the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, and that he’ll be looking seriously at the environmental and health impacts of the project. Urge the President to do the right thing and reject the pipeline by filling out the petition here. Send a Thanks in Advance messages to the President in the Spirit of the Thanksgiving Season.
In the meantime, The Hill reports that “Four environmental groups are preparing a lawsuit that alleges the Obama administration has not adequately studied how the proposed Keystone XL oil sands pipeline would affect several endangered species.” Reader Supported News published the article here.
Reporting on Lakota Tribes refusal to cooperate with Canadian tar sands proponents, a TruthOut article by Jason Coppola begins “As people gather to protest the greed and corruption of Wall Street in downtown Manhattan and throughout the world, the territories of indigenous peoples and nations have been the front lines of this conflict for a long, long, time. Clayton Thomas-Muller, of the Pukatawagan Cree Nation, is an anti-tar sands campaigner with the Indigenous Environmental Network, and is responsible for coordinating an indigenous team which operates both in the United States and Canada supporting locally led tactics and strategies aimed at stopping the Canadian tar sands expansion and its encroachment into traditional and treaty territories of first nations in Alberta and British Columbia.”
A new 34 second tv ad featuring Nebraska’s Randy Thompson will air on Fox, MSNBS and CNN through Tuesday, November 8th. Watch it on YouTube here. Thanks to Steinhausen Advertising for adding the Nebraska Green Party logo on the end page with other STOP THE PIPELINE Coalition members.
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. And sign The Other 98% petition to Obama, “End Lobbyist Influence, STOP THE PIPELINE,” 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.
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.
Thanks to EveryOne who has written letters to the editor of local papers. Please continue writing, 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 “Sandhills 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. Click here for a November 3, 2011 article about a new report that links a series of earthquakes in Oklahoma to fracking operations there.
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