PSC MEETING JUNE 18, 2012 . . . If the current lawsuit is successful,TransCanada will have to use the Public Service Commission process of approval for their toxic tar sands pipeline through Nebraska. Public comments are critical, in person at the June 18th meeting, 10:00am, at the PSC Hearing Room, 1200 N Street, Lincoln, or in writing, by June 11th, to Nebraska Public Service Commission, PO Box 94927, Lincoln, NE 68509-4927. Read PSC proposed rules here. [pdf] Send comments via e-mail to rose [dot] price [at] nebraska [dot] gov AND angela [dot] melton [at] nebraska [dot] gov. Here are some suggestions for comments from Bold Nebraska.
1) We need avoidance areas like private wells, families drinking water sources, etc
2) The PSC should develop a Citizen Advisory Council made up of landowners in the route and citizens not in the route to be engaged in the process as a partner.
3) All of the known oil related laws on a local or state level should be listed in the rules.
4) The state-level oil spill/fire response plan should also be listed in the rules with how TransCanada will work that plan.
NGP 2012 CONVENTION JUNE 23, 2012 . . . The Biannual Nebraska Green Party Convention will be Saturday, June 23rd, noon to 3:00pm, at Elmwood Park, 808 South 60th Street, in Omaha (or in case of rain at McFoster’s Cafe, 38th & Farnam). To keep it a no cost event, we’re having a potluck picnic. We’ll have signs up in the park to direct you. Should you have questions, call Mark Zimmermann, 402.250.5235.
The agenda will include electing delegates to our national convention, and a new state council. Just as important, we will have a discussion on how to refocus and revitalize our state party. Is pursuing a ballot line the best use of our time, or should we focus on more local and nonpartisan efforts? Should we be more campaign oriented or more issue oriented? What is the role of a “third” party in a highly polarized political atmosphere? How do we turn a small budget into an advantage (which in a fair world it would be)? We are at a real crossroads in terms of our state party’s direction and viability. If you have any interest in the possibility of progressive politics in Nebraska, we need your input. It doesn’t matter if you’ve been gone for a while, or have never been that involved. You will be welcome, and you are needed. If you are not in our database, and want to be, please send us your contact information at negreenparty [at] gmail [dot] com or by postal mail at P.O. Box 85442, Lincoln, NE 68501-5442.
GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . The Green Party’s Jill Stein has clinched the presidential nomination after celebrating a major victory in California’s primary, winning 49% of the vote. The California win followed Stein victories in Michigan, Florida, and Iowa. With 182 delegates required to win the nomination, and 194 delegates now in hand, Stein will go into the Green Party convention in Baltimore, July 12-15, with a clear majority of delegates. She has won over 66% of all delegates allocated, and 27 of 29 Green Party primaries, with the next nearest candidate, Roseanne Barr, at 22%.
A 1:42:42 minute video of the May 12, 2012 Green Party Presidential Forum streamed live with Stein and Roseanne Barr is here. If you ever dreamed of a new paradigm for electoral politics in this country, please watch this model of extraordinary cooperation and agreement between candidates, in stark contrast to the competitive status quo. Watch video of Stein’s 2002 Massachusetts gubernatorial debate with Mitt Romney here.
To help secure ballot status in Nebraska so that Stein can be on the November ballot, e-mail mjberry [at] inebraska [dot] com. Notarized petitions for a NGP ballot line must be submitted to the Nebraska Secretary of State by July 31st. The National Green Party convention is in Baltimore, July 12, 2012.
FARMERS MARKETS . . . There are more than 90 local Farmers Markets in Nebraska this year. For a partial schedule of current Buy Fresh Buy Local Markets, click here.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1
OCCUPY EDUCATION . . . Check the Occupy Education – Lincoln website for the new schedule of Teach-Ins. Sunday, June 10, 2012, 7:00pm, the class will be “Occupy Small Town: Reaching out to the rural community,” at Meadowlark Coffee and Espresso, 1624 South Street.
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’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.
DISCUSSIONS ABOUT WHITE PRIVILEGE AND ITS CONTEXT . . . Led by local peace and justice activist/educator Joshua Cramer, and featuring a different guest every week, this Occupy Education series is centered on institutionalized white privilege in the education system and how it can be challenged by a comprehensive approach that synthesizes many domains of culture: race, class, nationality, language, religion, sexual orientation, gender, and ableness. This series continues every Monday night, 7:00 to 8:00pm, through July 2nd, at Indigo Bridge Books, 701 P Street #102.
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.
IDENTIFYING BIRDS . . . Thursday, June 14, 2012, 7:00pm, Spring Creek Prairie’s Kevin Poague will present “How to Identify Birds–and Have Fun Doing It” at the Wachiska Audubon Society monthly meeting, Union College Dick Auditorium, 3800 South 48th Street, Lincoln. Click here for details about the free presentation, including parking suggestions during current campus construction. Learn about many of the 455 Nebraska bird species in this introduction to birdwatching.
INTRODUCTION TO PERMACULTURE . . . Permaculture is a system for living sustainably. Saturday, June 16, 2012, 9:30am to 12:00 noon, CROPS Executive Director Ingrid Kirst will present an Introduction to Permaculture at 2411 South 8th Street (8th and Park), in Lincoln. Kirst will demonstrate how, by learning from natural ecosystems, we can create growing systems that require less outside inputs and less effort to produce abundant foods. From this introduction, you will be able to put permaculture principles into action. This class will be at the home permaculture garden of Amy Brt, so you will get direct experience of easy things you can implement at your own home. Pre-Register here.
SATURDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market, on 8th Street in Lincoln’s Historic Haymarket District, is now open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, through October 13, 2012. More than 100 vendors bring farm-fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items to the local gathering place that also features a “Performance Showcase” for Nebraska folk, jazz, blues, classical, and dance talent, plus educational demonstrations and informational booths. Buy Fresh. Shop Local.
JUNETEENTH WEEKEND . . . Lincoln’s Annual Juneteenth Celebration will be Saturday, June 16, 2012, at Trago Park, 22nd and U Street. There will be free food, live entertainment, a health/resource fair, and a kid’s corner with bouncy houses. A Juneteenth Reunion Celebration and Fundraiser will be Friday evening, June 15th, 5:30 to 9:00pm, at the Malone Center, 2032 “U” Street. There will be local jazz, blues and gospel performers, appetizers, and a historic display of the Center. For more information, phone 402.474.1116.
SUNDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . The Old Cheney Road Farmers Market offers local produce, baked goods and natural meats every Sunday, 10:00am to 2:00pm, at 55th Street and Old Cheney Road.
NATIVE AMERICAN POW-WOW . . . The National Congress of American Indian Welcome Pow-Wow will be Sunday, June 17, 2012, 5:00 to 10:00pm, at the Lincoln Indian Center, 1100 Military Road. This event is free and open to the public. For more information, phone 402.438.5231.
OCCUPY EDUCATION . . . Sunday, June 17, 2012, 7:00pm, Occupy Education will hold an open discussion/brainstorming session about what Occupy Lincoln should do this summer at Meadowlark Coffee and Espresso, 1624 South Street, Lincoln.
OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . With a unanimous vote May 21, 2012, the City Council closed a loophole that allowed Occupy Lincoln to keep tents up on Centennial Mall for almost seven months. Read Lincoln Journal Star coverage of the new rule banning tents on public land without a permit here.
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!
MOVE TO AMEND/END CORPORATE PERSONHOOD . . . Nebraska Move to Amend is gathering signatures on a petition to End Corporate Personhood by a Resolution to be presented to the Lincoln City Council. To get involved with the local campaign, e-mail Carol Smith, smithcarol [dot] 49 [at] gmail [dot] com
Omaha area: Congressional District 2
COMMUNITY CELEBRATION . . . There will be a Community Celebration and Welcome for the Human Rights Campaign’s incoming President, Chad Griffin, on Tuesday, June 12, 2012, 6:00 to 8:00pm, at Slowdown, 729 North 14th Street, Omaha. An acoustic set of music will be provided by Laura Burhenn of the Mynabirds, and leaders from Omaha and Lincoln will speak about the success of recent employment nondiscrimination ordinances. Light Fare and Drink will be provided for the free event with RSVP. RSVP NOW.
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, June 13, 2012, the film will be “Under Our Skin,” a documentary that exposes the hidden story of Lyme disease. Watch a 2:30 minute trailer here. It’s movie planning time, so if there’s a film you’d like to see in the weekly series, e-mail Beth Dagle, bethdagle [at] gmail [dot] com. 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.
OMAHA FARMERS MARKETS . . . click here for an Omaha Market schedule.
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
KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . “Just Show Us The Antidote,” by Cleve Trimble MD, was published in the Norfolk Daily News June 4, 2012. “…The only real issue is whether Keystone’s wealth trumps Nebraska’s health. The sole issue is whether this pipeline should cross our border in the first place. It makes no sense that a tube of death runs over the drinking and agricultural waters of Nebraska – our lifeblood – and that our departments of health and environmental quality don’t know what’s in it; and that foreign interests — who know but won’t tell — control the antidote. Maybe they’ll sell it to us later, when our lands and waters and critters are dying.”
Meanwhile, “Criticism, concern follows Alberta pipeline spill,” by CTV News staff (Calgary), June 9th reported on Friday’s Alberta pipeline spill. “Premier Alison Redford says it’s too early to tell what caused up to 3,000 barrels of crude oil to gush out of an Alberta pipeline, but an investigation will soon take place. For the time being, crews are scrambling to contain a leak that may have resulted in as much as 475,000 litres of crude spilling into a tributary of the Red Deer River.” Continued here.
Also on June 9th, The Toronto Star published an in-depth article on the pipeline. “Keystone XL: How Canada’s pipeline splits the U.S.” by Mitch Potter, includes a 13:17 minute video featuring Bold Nebraska’s Jane Kleeb. “The Battle for Nebraska’s Sandhills,” also speaks with Nebraskans all along the proposed route. “It’s Big Oil vs. landowners on the Sandhills of Nebraska and the underdog is near defeat. How far will the ranchers go to protect one of the most sensitive eco-regions in the US against oilsand crude and the Keystone XL pipeline?”
From Truthout, June 8th, “TransCanada’s Latest Extreme Energy Export Pipelines in the US and Canada,” by Steve Horn, sourced from DeSmogBlog: “TransCanada was once in the limelight and targeted for its Keystone XL pipeline project. Now, with few eyes watching, it is pushing along two key pipeline projects that would bring two respective forms of what energy geopolitics scholar Michael Klare calls ‘extreme energy’ to lucrative export markets.” Read and watch 1:47 minute video here.
A Lisa Song Inside Climate News article on June 7th, “Keystone XL: Will EPA concern over 61 water crossings go unanswered?” reports “The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is not responding to an EPA scientist’s letter about 61 water crossings in Texas as the White House works to expedite pipeline approval.” Further, “Approval from the Army Corps is virtually all that stands between TransCanada and pipeline construction.”
TransCanada has secretly submitted its permit application for the Southern portion of the Keystone XL Pipeline to the Corps of Engineers. To evade a meaningful review, TransCanada applied for an expedited, insufficient permit. And the Army Corps, which has an abysmal environmental track record, could approve the project unless the EPA steps in. Learn more and add your name to a petition telling EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson not to allow TransCanada’s project to get rubber stamped at the CredoAction petition here. Please sign them both.
Wednesday, June 6th, the Sierra Club released The Dirtiest Oil on Earth, a 1:42 minute animation on the dangers of tar sands crude and pipelines transporting the world’s dirtiest oil from Alberta, Canada, through the United States. The animation illustrates the dangers of spills, destruction of natural areas, contamination of air and water supplies and political influence exerted by the oil industry to build pipeline projects designed to transport tar sands across the US to reach foreign markets. The Dirtiest Oil on Earth, and more information, can be found at The Sierra Club beyond oil campaign website.
Click here for a Weekly Pipeline Recap with Action Ideas, other news, and developments from Bold Nebraska.
A Memorandum Of Understanding between the U.S. Department of State and the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality for Conducting an Environmental Review for the Keystone XL Pipeline Project was posted Thursday, May 24, 2012. Click here [pdf] to read the six-page document. The June 1, 2012 Lincoln Journal Star coverage, “State, federal agencies on same pipeline page,” is here. June 1st, LJS also published an AP article by Ramit Plushnick-Masti, “TransCanada submits new application for part of pipeline.”
From OnEarth Magazine: “Our agricultural policy used to be designed with farmers in mind. Then Big Ag took it over. Can it be won back?” This excellent May 23rd interview with KXL opposition leader, Nebraska Farmers Union President John Hansen, by Paul Tullis, is called “The Barnstormer.”
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 . . . “Confirmed: Fracking Caused Ohio Earthquakes,” by Brad Johnson, ThinkProgress, in Reader Supported News 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…” 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.
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.“