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

IN MEMORIAM . . .  Legendary civil rights leader, peace activist, and writer Lela Knox Shanks died at her home on Monday, October 24, 2011, after a two year struggle with cancer. Lela was 2011 Alternatives to The Military Peace Maker of the Year, sharing this year’s honor with Nebraskans For Peace President Emeritus Paul Olson. In 2008, NFP honored Lela as Peace Maker of the Year for her many peace and justice achievements. Read the NFP citation delivered at the awards event here.  The Lincoln Journal Star October 28, 2011 Editorial, “Lela Shanks set inspirational example,” is here.  Nebraska Green Party extends sympathy to Lela’s family and many friends, with appreciation for her courageous, inspiring lifetime of leadership.

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, Tuesday, November 1, 2011, with the intention of deep healing for the Planet and all its people. Click here for more information about Earth Circle.

CONFERENCE ON SUSTAINABLE AGRICULTURE, FOOD PRODUCTION . . . Registration is now open for Agriculture for Life, the Iowa Environmental Council’s annual conference to explore the connection between what Iowans eat and the environment, Thursday, November 3, 2011, at Drake University in Des Moines. Keynote speaker Frances Moore Lappé, author of Diet for a Small Planet, will describe how changing the way people think about environmental challenges may be the key to solving them. For more information or to register, click here or call 515.244.1194, extension 210.

ENCIRCLE THE WHITE HOUSE AND STOP THE TAR SANDS PIPELINE . . . On Sunday, November 6, 2011, in Washington DC, 350.org and environmental activists from around the country will encircle the White House sending a powerful message to President Obama: honor your 2008 campaign promises and stop the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. view a 1:28 minute video featuring Nebraska’s Randy Thompson, here.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THIS WEEK’S TRANSCANADA KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

TRICK OR VOTE . . . Meet Keystone XL pipeline opponents at noon, Monday, October 31, 2011, at the state capitol information desk and go Trick or Voting to the offices of all the senators from noon to 1:00pm. Ask that they STOP THE PIPELINE, or at least re-route it away from Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer.

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.

SPECIAL SESSION OF THE LEGISLATURE ON PIPELINE ROUTING REGULATIONS . . . Tuesday, November 1, 2011, a special session of the Nebraska legislature will begin to address routing regulations for oil pipelines in the state. This will provide a chance to revoke TransCanada’s free pass and assure that pipelines are regulated fairly, like gas pipelines. If your state senator tries to tell you it’s too late, or illegal, to re-route the Keystone XL, know that he or she is wrong. Two new legal memos explain the areas that can be regulated, and why it’s *not* too late. 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.

CANNABIS COALITION MEETING . . . Tuesday, November 1, 2011, the Nebraska Cannabis Coalition will meet at Cultiva Coffee, 727 South 11th Street, Lincoln, 6:00pm. The Nebraska Proposition 19 Cannabis Initiative seeks to put a proposed constitutional amendment to regulate and tax all commercial uses of marijuana and remove all laws governing private, noncommercial use of the plant on the November 2012 general election ballot. Petitions will be available for new circulators, and the group will assess progress of the signature gathering campaign. End Hemp Prohibition in Nebraska!

EN THOMPSON FORUM: DIVIDING THE WATERS . . . Sandra Postel, leading authority on international freshwater issues, will speak on “Global Security in a Water-Stressed World” Tuesday, November 1, 2011, for the EN Thompson Forum, 7:00pm, at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 12th & R Streets, Lincoln. Postel founded the Global Water Policy Project in 1994 to foster ideas and inspiration for redirecting society’s use and management of fresh water toward conservation and ecosystem health. She continues as the project’s director. Lectures are available live on the UNL web site, Lincoln cable channel 21 or 5, UNL campus channel 8, and UNL KRNU radio 90.3 FM. All lectures are interpreted for the deaf and hard of hearing. Click here for free ticket information.

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.

MEETING ON XL PIPELINE . . . There will be an Occupy movement meeting on the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline at LUNk House, 1315 South 24th Street, (24th Street between A and B), on Thursday, November 3, 2011, 7:00pm.

CITIZENS’ SPECIAL SESSION SEMINAR . . . Friday, November 4, 2011, there will be a Citizens’ Special Session Seminar at the State Capitol in the Warner Chamber of the Legislature, noon to 4:00pm. This Seminar will address how a special session works, what bills need to be introduced and passed, and how citizens can make a difference. Following the discussion, participants will visit senators’ offices to speak with them about group expectations. RSVP here if you plan to attend. STOP THE PIPELINE.

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 fourth Occupy Lincoln march will be Saturday, November 5, 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.  An October 17th Lincoln Journal Star article, “Urban camping: Occupy Lincoln digs in downtown,” is here.  “Occupy Lincoln tents on mall do not violate any law,” from the October 18th LJS, is here.  Corporate Greed is Revolution’s Seed!

FRIENDS OF WILDERNESS PARK FEATURING BUTTERFLIES . . . Sunday, November 6, 2011, 3:00pm, UN-L entomologist Steve Spomer will speak about the butterflies found in Wilderness Park at the Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street, Lincoln. There are 58 species found in the Park–more than can be found in many Nebraska counties. View an 8:47 minute You Tube video of Steve on how to spread a butterfly here.  The public is welcome at this Friends of Wilderness Park meeting.

BIONEERS CONFERENCE REGISTRATION . . . Registration is now 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

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 2, 2011, the film will be “Countdown to Zero,” about a film exploring the dangers of nuclear weapons. Watch a trailer here.  Quoting President John F. Kennedy, “The weapons of war must be abolished, before they abolish us.” 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

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

TRICK OR VOTE . . . EveryOne expects a knock at the door for Halloween. Especially in rural areas, many people know their senators personally. Monday, October 31, 2011, consider dropping by your state senator’s house and instead of asking for Halloween candy, ask that he or she vote for a bill that re-routes the Keystone XL pipeline out of the Sand Hills and away from the Ogallala Aquifer.

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Monday, October 24, 2011, Governor Dave Heineman called a special Session of Nebraska’s legislature to begin on November 1st. Quoting key senators asking for the special session to deal with siting of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeling, which has yet to be permitted for construction, the Lincoln Journal Star covered the announcement here, and Editorialized “Right call on pipeline session,” on October 27, 2011: “Nebraskans finally will get the full-blown legislative discussion they deserve on what to do about the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. …During the regular session earlier this year, week after week went by with pipeline bills bottled up in the Natural Resources Committee led by Sen. Chris Langemeier of Schuyler. Only in the waning days of the session did the committee allow a bill on pipeline liability issues to escape. Sponsor Sen. Kate Sullivan of Cedar Rapids was forced to water down the bill considerably before the committee majority allowed it to advance. Sandhills rancher Susan Luebbe characterized the measure, which quickly swept to overwhelming approval, as “a joke.” …More than a year ago, the Journal Star editorial board took the position that the pipeline route should be altered to avoid Nebraska’s fragile and beautiful Sand Hills, where the Ogallala Aquifer often is close to the surface. Hope grows stronger that the change will be made before it’s too late.” Read the entire Editorial here.
Omaha World-Herald reported on the “surprise” call for a special session on the 25th. The Paul Hammel article begins “After saying for weeks that a special session would be a waste of time and money, Gov. Dave Heineman did a dramatic about-face Monday, calling for a session on the controversial Keystone XL project. The governor attributed his change of heart to a “better understanding” of the state’s power in influencing the routing of crude-oil pipelines after discussions with federal and state officials. And Nebraskans, he said, want something done. “I determined it was time to move forward,” he said. “In perfect hindsight, the state should have acted several years ago.” The OW-H report continues here.
OW-H also reported on a legal analysis from Lincoln attorney Alan Peterson, advising that pipeline routing law is “doable.” Peterson joined two other environmental attorneys saying the legislature would be on legally solid ground in siting where the proposed pipeline can go. LJS covered the routing issue here.  A possible alternative pipeline corridor could be identified, and builders could be required to follow the new route according to Omaha attorney Brian Jorde, answering questions at a news conference in the capitol rotunda. The LJS report on that is here.
“Pace quickens as Capitol prepares for special session” is here.  Further on the special session, Sunday, October 30th, Art Hovey writes “Pipeline session headed for uncertain course” for LJS: “Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman does not expect to have a pipeline siting bill introduced on his behalf at the start of the special legislative session Tuesday. Many critics of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline sounded surprised and pleased when Heineman called a special session last week. Up to that point, he had been urging federal officials to deny the presidential permit that TransCanada needs to build its Keystone XL project through the Sandhills and over one of the more vulnerable parts of the Ogallala Aquifer.” The article is continued here.
District 34 Senator Annette Dubas of Fullerton wrote a Local View, also published October 30th in LJS. “Few subjects catch the attention of Nebraska citizens from border to border like the prospect of an oil pipeline crossing our Sand Hills. As with any issue of this magnitude, there are viewpoints covering every perspective and agenda. With so many camps clamoring for attention, it becomes difficult to sort out the objective information. This makes it especially challenging for policymakers seeking to be responsive to their constituency and craft responsible laws. However, one clear, collective call resonates throughout our entire state: Nebraskans deserve a voice in determining the best interests of our state, our land and our natural resources.” The Local View is continued here.
NET Television will provide live coverage of the special session beginning November 1st on NET2 World. Live streaming of the floor debate and all legislative hearings will be available on the NET website.
Wednesday, October 26th, Omaha World-Herald covered expansion of a lawsuit on behalf of wildlife. The report begins “A trio of environmental groups has expanded a lawsuit to stop the Keystone XL oil pipeline over concerns that spills could harm whooping cranes and other endangered species in Nebraska. Since the proposed pipeline would cross the Missouri, Niobrara and Platte Rivers in Nebraska, any spills of crude oil could hurt the fish and wildlife that rely on the waterways. …The Center for Biological Diversity, Friends of the Earth and Western Nebraska Resources Council brought the lawsuit in U.S. District Court in Omaha. The same organizations sued the same federal agencies earlier this month for allowing TransCanada to undertake a costly operation to trap and relocate endangered American burying beetles along the pipeline’s route in the Nebraska Sand Hills. Lawyers for the groups argued that the relocation operation amounted to early work on a project that has yet to be approved.” Read the article here.
From Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders’ website, “Tar Sands Pipeline Probe Urged,” also 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.
Coverage of Nebraska’s steps to block the proposed route of KXL comes from Edmonton, Alberta. Articles are linked with “Keystone becoming a touchstone for once-ardent Obama supporters,” beginning “Almost everywhere he goes these days, U.S. President Barack Obama is confronted by environmental activists pressuring him to deny Calgary-based TransCanada Corp.’s application for a presidential permit to build the $7-billion oilsands pipeline.”
LJS sourced an October 24th article by Amy Schaffer, “Stop TransCanada,” that begins “British Columbia is refusing permission to run a tar sand pipeline through the territory. If Canada’s own territory also is fighting this battle, why would we allow tar sands to cross the United States? …I urge people to contact the U.S. State Department and tell officials that America is better than this. We are a progressive, innovative country. To achieve energy independence, we can do better than allowing a foreign company to pollute the resources America depends upon.” The article continues here.
AlterNet sourced “Four Reasons We Need Less Gas,” by Lester R. Brown, from YES! Magazine, October 20th: “Americans are driving less and less. Here is what that means for the future of our oil dependence. With the auto fleet shrinking, with the average car being driven less, with the fuel use of new cars to be cut in half by 2025, and with electricity starting to replace gasoline as a fuel, why do we need to build a pipeline to bring crude oil from Canada’s tar sands to oil refineries in Texas? The answer is we don’t.” Read here.
Tar Sands Action and many partner groups are organizing visits to Obama for America offices around the country. A map of planned events and a sign up page is here.  A 3:55 minute video from the New York City visit on Monday, October 17th, with 250 people presenting hundreds of letters, is here.  “Let’s bring the change that Obama promised. This is the movement that will change the world.” On November 6th, Tar Sands Action will return to DC and encircle the White House asking the president to reject the XL pipeline. As “Encircling The White House,” by Bill McKibben, 350.org, explained on October 13th: “…November 6th, we’re gathering a massive crowd of people to completely circle the White House. This action will be completely legal, we’re not planning on anyone getting arrested, but it will be just as powerful as the sit-in that happened this August. As we encircle the White House, we’ll be carrying signs with quotes from President Obama himself, words like, “We must be the generation that ends the tyranny of oil.” It will be a powerful demonstration and a symbol of hope, as well as a strong reminder that the White House belongs to the people, not Big Oil.” Watch McKibben’s 1:28 minute Call for November 6th action, featuring Nebraska’s Randy Thompson, here.  Read Randy’s most recent letter to LJS here.  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.
“Environmentalists make Keystone XL a litmus test for Obama’s re-election: Will it work?” beings “To hard-core environmentalists, the Obama administration’s upcoming decision on the fiercely debated Keystone XL oil sands pipeline is black and white. Say no to the Canada-to-Gulf Coast pipeline, they insist, or they won’t support Obama’s re-election bid.” Read the InsideClimate News article here.
Oregon Senator Ron Wyden, writing for Reader Supported News, asks “Is the Keystone XL Pipeline a Good Deal for Americans?” He points out that TransCanada “ads want you to think that constructing this pipeline is the answer to all our oil needs, but if you look closer, a different picture begins to emerge. One that I hope will have you asking: ‘Who really benefits from the Keystone XL pipeline?'” Read Wyden’s commentary here.
“Obama allies’ interests collide over pipeline,” by Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson, sourced from the Washington Post to LJS begins “In May, environmental writer and activist Bill McKibben, pondering a simmering energy issue, asked a NASA scientist to calculate what it would mean for the Earth’s climate if Canada extracted all of the petroleum in its rich Alberta oil sands region. The answer to McKibben’s query came a month later: It would push atmospheric carbon concentrations so high that humans would be unable to avert a climate disaster. “It is essentially game over,” wrote James E. Hansen, who leads NASA’s Goddard Institute for Space Studies and is one of the nation’s leading voices against fossil fuel energy.” Read that article here.
“Eminent Domain Fight Has a Canadian Twist,” by Leslie Kaufman and Dan Frosch, was published in the New York Times. “A Canadian company has been threatening to confiscate private land from South Dakota to the Gulf of Mexico, and is already suing many who have refused to allow the Keystone XL pipeline on their property even though the controversial project has yet to receive federal approval.” Read page 1 of 2, and view a photo of Randy Thompson here.
“Meet the tar sands PR wizard,” from Mother Jones, begins “As environmental groups converged on Washington, DC, to protest the Keystone XL oil pipeline, a Canadian “grassroots” nonprofit by the name of Ethical Oil went on the counteroffensive. The group’s ads all carried the same blunt message: You can buy oil from Saudi Arabia and bankroll terrorism, or you can buy oil from friendly, democratic Canada. …If you’re familiar with the tobacco industry’s all-out campaign to downplay the adverse health effects of cigarettes, Levant’s rhetorical style might sound familiar.” View a photo of tar sands destruction in Alberta and read the article 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 letters, 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 “Sand Hills 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.

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.

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

A.I. MIDWEST REGIONAL CONFERENCE IN KANSAS CITY . . . Learn about Amnesty International’s 2011 Midwest Human Rights Conference, October 28 through the 30th, in Kansas City at the Marriott Country Club Plaza, and register here.  Celebrate Amnesty’s 50 anniversary with members and activists from the 13 state Midwest Region. The Next Chapter Begins With You.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THIS WEEK’S TRANSCANADA KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

THANKS IN ADVANCE CAMPAIGN . . . Every Monday at noon, dedicated activists against the Keystone XL pipeline will deliver homemade gifts such as food, family photos, and Nebraska flowers–the very things we’re fighting to protect–to Governor Heineman with notes attached asking that he call a special session right away. Join us over the lunch hour (or stop by anytime after) to drop off gifts right at the gate of his mansion, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. From noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty will also be present for the weekly vigil. 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.

ALTERNATIVES TO THE MILITARY ACTION . . . The next ATM leafletting opportunity this year will be Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 7:15am, at Lincoln High School, 2229 J Street. To help with this action introducing students to options for after graduation that do not include joining the military, meet ATM activists at the street circle where J street ends, northeast of the football field, (approximately 22nd and J) at 7:15. New volunteers will be warmly welcomed. E-mail Kevin Haake, atmlincoln [at] gmail [dot] com with any questions, or to rsvp your assistance that morning. The ATM FaceBook page is here.

SPECIAL JOINT PUBLIC HEARING . . . The Lincoln City Council and Lancaster County Board have scheduled a Special Joint Public Hearing on LPlan 2040, Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 5:00pm, in Hearing Room 112 on the first floor of the County-City Building, 555 South 10th Street. The draft LPlan 2040 document, which is the Planning Commission’s recommendation to the City Council and County Board, can be found here.  The publilc is welcome to testify at this joint hearing, or submit additional comments to council [at] lincoln [dot] ne [dot] gov and commish [at] lancaster [dot] ne [dot] gov. For questions or more information, phone Nicole at 402.441.6363 or e-mail ntoze [at] lincoln [dot] ne ]dot] gov

OCCUPY LINCOLN PLANNING . . . Updates on OCCUPY Lincoln planning will be posted when they are available. For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. The Lincoln Occupy Together website is here.

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.

THE LAST MOUNTAIN . . . Bill Haney’s ecological documentary The Last Mountain is showing at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 313 North 13th Street, Lincoln, through Thursday, October 20th. The film traces the horrific fallout from the practice of mountain-top removal that has been employed throughout West Virginia. The filmmakers show how local communities, with the help of such national figures in ecology as Robert F. Kennedy Jr., stand up to industries that are making decisions harmful to their lives. From the website, “The mining and burning of coal is at the epicenter of America’s struggle to balance its energy needs with environmental concerns. Nowhere is that concern greater than in Coal River Valley, West Virginia, where a small but passionate group of ordinary citizens are trying to stop Big Coal corporations, like Massey Energy, from continuing the devastating practice of Mountain Top Removal.” Show times are available here, by consulting your newspaper, or by calling the MRRMAC information line at 402.472.5353. View a 2:28 minute trailer here.

WORKSHOP ON RACISM . . . “Dismantling Institutional Racism,” a two-day workshop “to dismantle instututional racism by identifying the structures that maintain systemic racism and inequalaity, and replacing them with structures that are liberating and just,” will be Friday, October 21, 6:00 to 9:00pm, and Saturday, October 22, 2012, 8:30am to 4:00pm at the Nebraska Wesleyan Story Student Center, 5000 St. Paul Avenue in Lincoln. For more information, phone John Krejci, 402.466.8460.

OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . The second OCCUPY Lincoln march will be Saturday, October 22, 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 following Saturday at noon until January 1, 2012. The Facebook page is Occupy Lincoln, Nebraska For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. The Lincoln Occupy Together website is here.  Lincoln Journal Star coverage of the first OCCUPY march is here.  Once again, the number of people reported in LJS is about half the number estimated by participants.

PUMPKINS AGAINST THE PIPELINE . . . Saturday, October 22, 2011, 7:00pm, meet at the BOLD Nebraska office, 1141 H Street, Lincoln, to join a march to the governor’s mansion in opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline. The Pumpkins Against the Pipeline action will consist of 91 advocates (representing the 91 possible leaks on KXL) carving 91 pumpkins to spell out a special message for the governor. E-mail info [at] boldnebraska [dot] org if you’d like to be one of the 91. Then EveryOne opposed to the KXL is invited to join the march from BOLD Nebraska to the mansion, 1425 H Street, to deliver the pumpkins.  Kids, pets, and friends are all welcome to dress up in costume! Please start spreading the word. Facebook is here.  Twitter: Join us for Pumpkins Against the Pipeline.

BIONEERS CONFERENCE REGISTRATION . . . Registration is now 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.

WEEKLY WALKABOUTS AT WILDERNESS PARK . . . Friends of Wilderness Park is hosting weekly hikes through the Park, led by Adam Hintz, starting at 1:00pm every Saturday through October. Each week will focus on a different area, highlighting the diversity of life in the Park. The October 22nd hike will start in the parking lot at the 14th Street entrance north of Rokeby Road. October 29th, the hike will start at Saltillo Road east of the Jamaica Trail. For more information, contact Adam at 402.421.8464.

LINCOLN FARMERS MARKETS . . . Through October, every Sunday from 10:00am to 2:00pm, the Old Cheney Road Farmers Market at 5500 Old Cheney Road features in-season heirloom and traditional produce, artisan breads and cheeses, homemade baked goods, wild-crafted and traditional jams, jelly, honey, meats, fish, eggs, and bedding plants. Saturday Farmers Markets at the FARM, 11855 Yankee Hill Road, 9:00am to noon, run until October 29th. Community CROPS, 1551 South 2nd Street, has garden pick-up 4:00 to 6:00pm Monday and Thursday, through October 20.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

SAVE DEMOCRACY NOW! . . . If you care about having Democracy Now! on the air in Omaha, plan to be at the City Council Chambers, 1819 Farnam, on Tuesday, October 18, 2011, 2:00pm, for a hearing on public access tv. Contact Frances Mendenhall at 402.208.3717 for more information.

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, October 19, 2011, the film will be “Man on Wire,” a documentary that looks at tightrope walker Philippe Petit’s daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City’s World Trade Center twin towers in 1974, what some consider, “the artistic crime of the century.” 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 . . . Check the Omaha Occupy Together Community website for information about OCCUPY Omaha planning. The FaceBook page is here. Twitter: #occupyomaha

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 xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

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 . . . The Sunday, October 16, 2011 Lincoln Journal Star letters to the editor section was again dominated by opposition to the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer.  A Local View by the Reverends Betsy Blake Bennett and Don Huber, “Choose life, health over pipeline,” was also published on the Opinion page. Paul Johnsgard wrote about the ecosystem and wildlife risks involved with this potential “ecological disaster.” Nebraska Sierra Club Board Chairman Dick Boyd recalled the Santa Barbara spill of 1969, urging that the pipeline route be changed.
“Jobs claim dubious,” by Jack Lindell, begins “Nebraskans are challenged to find the truth among the ocean of claims by both sides about the Keystone XL. Luckily, this issue has garnered enough attention that independent groups are studying these claims to provide an unbiased perspective. …Before we believe the slick ads and lobbyists on both sides, it is our duty to inform ourselves. Everyone should read the Global Labor Institute’s findings.[pdf]  It is difficult to see the positive economic impact the Keystone XL purports to offer.” Read the entire letter here.
“Literal vision of hell,” by Richard Dale Sullivan, observes “It’s quite interesting that the narrative that’s been created and discussed is essentially only about the route of the pipeline, i.e., should it be through the Ogallala Aquifer in the Nebraska Sandhills or rerouted? I imagine TransCanada is thrilled with this narrative, because it excludes a more serious discussion: Should this pipeline even be constructed?” Ten “Facts in pipeline debate,” are presented by C. MichaelCowan here.  And the LJS Art Hovey article on October 16 is here.
Another LJS Editorial Opinion, “Pipeline process not trustworthy,” was published Thursday, October 14th. “No wonder the environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL pipeline was so superficial and unduly dismissive of the unique characteristics of Nebraska’s Sandhills. The firm that authored the report has financial ties to the TransCanada, the firm seeking approval for the pipeline, according to the New York Times.
It’s outrageous that the State Department would have hired a company for the environmental study that has such a clear interest in seeing that the project wins approval. We noted in an earlier editorial that the supplemental impact statement digressed from environmental issues at one point to dwell on the economic benefits of running the pipeline through the Sandhills. The shorter route “would typically translate to lower overall construction capital costs and lifetime operating costs of the system,” the report said. Now we know why the authors of the environmental impact statement were so concerned with TransCanada’s profit margin. …Assurances that the Keystone XL pipeline only would have a minimal environmental impact on Nebraska’s fragile and beautiful Sandhills were implausible under any circumstances. But no one should be expected to trust in promises from a company with such a clear conflict of interest. The State Department’s permitting process for the Keystone XL pipeline is fundamentally flawed.” Read the complete editorial here.
Merrick County landowner Randy Thompson, was one of many letter writers to LJS this past week. In “Ranchers, farmers not misguided,” also published October 14th, Randy wrote “Russ Girling, CEO of TransCanada, made the statement this past week that farmers and ranchers all along the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline are being misguided by environmentalists. If he thinks we are too stupid to see through TransCanada’s shell game on our own, then he’s the one who is a naive fool.”
Lois Bauer wrote “If Mari Sandoz still were around, she would fight to the death the destruction of her land, the land that healed her whenever she was able to get away from the torments of the city. She is buried out there among the hills she loved. Can we ignore history in the decisions we make? Can we blatantly ignore the beauty of this land and the comfort it brings to all who travel its highways? Can we take any chance, slim or severe, of harming Nebraska’s greatest natural asset in order to pipe oil from Canada. I say no, now and forever. All who have connection to this project should think hard, study hard and be sure they know what this transaction would mean. Then, they should speak up, stop the destruction and search for alternatives, if they can. I know this is a fight between that which calms the soul and that which fills the pockets. Are we ready to give up this offering of peacefulness to brag on our wealth?” Read Bauer’s “Sandoz would fight pipeline,” here.
In a lengthy meeting with state senators in Norfolk on Tuesday, TransCanada representatives refused to budge on siting of the pipeline, admitting in LJS coverage that a move would “invalidate the federal exercise and force us to go back and start all over again.” In “TransCanada not budging on route,” the Omaha World Herald reports “…Such a delay would be unacceptable for the Texas oil refineries that would be customers for the 700,000 barrels of diluted tar-sand oil — called bitumen — from Canada. Customers such as the Conoco, Shell and Valero oil companies are losing supplies of heavy crude oil from their traditional sources in Mexico and Venezuela and are relying on the pipeline — to be completed in 2013 — to fill that gap. Our customers need a solution for supply. They can’t wait another two or three years.”
Meanwhile in New Zealand, an oil spill from a stranded cargo ship off the east coast threatened a “wildlife tragedy” for local penguins, whales, seals and seabirds. Read and view a 1:18 minute video here.  Calling the disaster New Zealand’s “worst in decades,” the BBC report with 1:15 minute video is here.  Video of an October 7th pipeline break in this country at Edmond, Oklahoma is here.  International oil sands news from Daily Climate recently reported that “Oil from controversial and environmentally destructive tar sands is likely to be all but banned from Europe.”
Position Statements opposing the XL pipeline released last week 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 here.
More news about the Entrix scandal was release last week. “Bombshell: State Department Outsourced Tar Sands Pipeline Environmental Impact Study to ‘Major’ TransCanada Contractor” was written by Joe Romm at ClimateProgress. Quoting the article sourced to AlterNet October 10th, “The Game was Rigged: Entire Environmental Impact Statement Should Be Invalidated. 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.” Read here.
From The Daily Beast, “Obama’s Pipeline Mess,” by Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein, October 8th: “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.
Other Lincoln Journal Star letters last week encouraged legislative action to pass a pipeline bill, and tied the Occupy Wall Street Movement with the pipeline debate in Nebraska. Alexandra Svoboda writes “These two issues are part of the same story, the story of powerful economic interests, the 1 percent, dictating the fate of the people, the 99 percent. Wall Street has never been held accountable for the greed and corruption that plunged our nation into an ongoing recession.”
Janene Sheldon urged the governor to call a special legislative session, expressing disappointment in his “lack of leadership,” and encouraging readers to contact Heineman and their state senators asking for action now. In “Don’t trust pipeline statements,” Darlene Todd writes “…I don’t trust anything these government people say, because they want the pipeline to go through. There is no such thing as the safest pipeline ever built. The proposed route is across the very fragile Sandhills and across America’s prime farming country. That’s one big impact. Without water, people cannot work. Thousands of jobs will last only till the pipeline is done. Those don’t sound like permanent jobs to me.” And Scott Sandquist writes “…So with the exception of TransCanada, one truly has to wonder why either side would be against a much safer route for the Keystone XL pipeline.”
Call Your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session. We have no legal petition route. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from constituents.  And join pipeline opponents at the governor’s mansion Monday from noon to 1:00pm for the Thanks in Advance action detailed at the top of CD 1 Green Notes above.
           Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging the president to deny the construction permit here.
New from CREDO Action, “Tell Oprah: Stop promoting dirty tar sands lies on your network.”  Oprah Winfrey is a respected voice for advancing the rights and lives of women all over the world. But now she is allowing that work to be co-opted, by validating a dangerous campaign of flat out lies that promote the development of the Canadian tar sands on her network. Read the petition, and join almost 100,000 signers with an e-mail here.
The White House Switchboard number is 202.456.1111. Tell the President to deny the permit to build this pipeline.
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.
           The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him with thanks for his letters to the President and Secretary of State, ask him to call a special session of the legislature, and also contact your own senator requesting he or she joins the senators seeking a special session. Continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, 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.) 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.

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.

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

CONGRATULATIONS TO BUFFALO BRUCE, NEBRASKA WILDLIFE FEDERATION 2011 CONSERVATIONIST OF THE YEAR.

INTERNATIONAL WEEK OF PROTEST TO STOP THE MILITARIZATION OF SPACE October 1 through 8, 2011. Stop the Drones – No Missile Defense – End the wars & occupations in Afghanistan, Iraq and Libya – Bring Our War $$ Home – Convert the Military Industrial Complex.

WALK TO SCHOOL DAY . . . The 14th Annual International Walk to School Day is Wednesday, October 5, 2011. Parents, teachers, and community leaders are encouraged to organize events so groups can meet to walk and bike together. The Day is observed in more than 3,500 schools, in more than 40 countries. In Nebraska, more than 1,000 children are expected to participate. For details, and to get involved, phone Angela Barry at 402.476.7331.

STOP THE MACHINE – CREATE A NEW WORLD . . . “October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions.”  Stop the Machine – Create a New World, October 6th in Washington DC.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THIS WEEK’S TRANSCANADA KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE. Randy Thompson will be testifying at the Department of State Hearing in Washington DC, Saturday, October 7, 2011.

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.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

CITY COUNCIL HEARING ON SOLAR INSTALLATION INTERLOCAL AGREEMENT . . . The Lincoln City Council will hold a public hearing on plans for a solar power installation on the roof of the police station at 27th and Holdrege, Monday, October 3, 2011, 3:00pm, in Council chambers at 555 South 10th Street. This project (agenda item #22) is a joint effort between the Mayor’s office and the Public Building Commission. Read item #22 here.  For more information, e-mail Milo Mumgaard, mmumgaard [at] lincoln [dot] ne [dot] gov

NWF ANNUAL BANQUET . . . Make reservations for the 5th Annual Nebraska Wildlife Federation Fundraiser and Awards Banquet by Wednesday, October 5, 2011. Buffalo Bruce will be honored as 2011 Conservationist of the Year. The Banquet will be Thursday, October 13, 2011, in Mahoney State Park, beginning at 5:30pm. Read the LJS article here.
The federation is a statewide conservation organization that has worked for more than 40 years to protect and preserve the natural and unique eco-systems in Nebraska. Reservations may be made at 402.477.1008, or via e-mail, at Nebraskawildlife [at] windstream [dot] net.

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.

HEALTHY HONEYBEES . . . Honeybees will be the topic of a Science Cafe Thursday, October 6, 2011, 6:30pm, at red9, 322 South 9th Street, Lincoln. Master Beekeeper Marion Ellis, professor of entomology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, will talk about honeybee health and factors that can stress bee colonies. Science Cafe is a free educational event meant to increase the science literacy of Nebraskans.

TWILIGHT ON THE TALLGRASS . . . Sunday, October 9, 2011, 1:00 to 5:00pm, Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center will host the 5th Annual Harvest of Traditions. Spring Creek Prairie is an 808-acre tallgrass prairie nature preserve located 20 minutes southwest of Lincoln. For details about this year’s prairie festival, click here.

WEEKLY WALKABOUTS AT WILDERNESS PARK . . . Friends of Wilderness Park is hosting weekly hikes through the Park, led by Adam Hintz, starting at 1:00pm every Saturday, now through October. Each week will focus on a different area, highlighting the diversity of life in the Park. Hikes will start in parking lots according to the following schedule: the first and second Saturday of the month, meet at the Pioneers Boulevard entrance; the third Saturday, meet at Old Cheney Road; the fourth Saturday, meet at 14th Street north of Rokeby Road; and every fifth Saturday, the hike will start at Saltillo Road east of the Jamaica Trail. For more information, contact Adam at 402.421.8464.

LINCOLN FARMERS MARKETS . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market is open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, in the Haymarket District at 7th & P Streets. Expect to find more than 120 vendors with fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items plus a performance showcase featuring local folk, jazz, blues and classical music. The Market continues through October 15th. Every Sunday, from 10:00am to 2:00pm, the Old Cheney Road Farmers Market at 5500 Old Cheney Road features in-season heirloom and traditional produce, artisan breads and cheeses, homemade baked goods, wild-crafted and traditional jams, jelly, honey, meats, fish, eggs, and bedding plants. Saturday Farmers Markets at the FARM, 11855 Yankee Hill Road, 9:00am to noon, run until October 29th. Community CROPS, 1551 South 2nd Street, has garden pick-up 4:00 to 6:00pm Monday and Thursday, through October 20. Thursday’s market from 4:00 to 8:00pm at Fallbrook Town Square Park on the corner of Fallbrook Blvd. between NW Sixth and Seventh Streets will be open through October 13th. Check an interactive map of Lincoln’s Farmers Markets, Farms and Community Supported Agriculture programs, and learn more about markets, CSAs, and local farms at the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Facebook page.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

IMPACTS OF CLIMATE CHANGE . . . There will be two opportunities to meet with Johns Hopkins professor Cindy Parker and Baltimore Psychologist Steven Shapiro at discussions in Omaha this week. “The Physical and Mental Health Impacts of Climate Change & How to Cope With Them,” will be Tuesday, October 4, 2011, 7:00 to 9:00pm, at First United Methodist Church, Room 112, 7020 Cass Street; and Wednesday, October 5th, noon to 1:00pm, “Slowing Global Warming: Benefits for Patients and the Planet,” will be at the College of Public Health Grand Rounds, MCPH 3013, College of Public Health, UN Medical Center. Both events are free and open to the public. If you have questions, please contact Andrew Jameton, UNMC College of Public Health, 402.559.4680 or ajameton [at] unmc [dot] edu. Drs. Parker and Shapiro are co-Authors of Climate Chaos: Your Health at Risk: What You Can Do to Protect Yourself and Your Family.

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, October 5, 2011, the film will be “Lone Star,” John Sayles’ murder-mystery exploring interpersonal and interracial tensions in Rio County, Texas. Watch the 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.

PROGRESSIVE OMAHA MEETING . . . Progressive Omaha will meet from 6:00 to 9:00pm, Saturday, October 8, 2011, at 1517 North Happy Hollow Blvd.  This is a new meeting location. EveryOne is Welcome. There will be a potluck supper between 6:00 and 7:00, discussion with speaker Mark Welsch, Community Organizer for the Omaha Chapter of Nebraskans for Peace, 7:00 to 8:00, and organizational business from 8:00 to 9:00pm. Mark’s topic will be “Advocacy – How to Make Change Happen.” E-mail Karen Abrams, kabrams123 [at] cox [dot] net for more information.

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 xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

BENSON COMMUNITY GARDEN . . . Omaha’s newest community garden is at 60th & Lafayette, at the south side of the historic Benson neighborhood. For more information, phone 402.714.0290 or e-mail goetzinger2 [at] cox [dot] net. To get involved, or help support the garden, please register here.

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 . . . Thanks to all testifiers at the Department of State Public Hearings in Lincoln and Atkinson, Nebraska. From Sierra’s Ken Winston, “We had diversity in age and background, from a 12 year old to grandparents, farmers and ranchers, professors and business people. My own 14 year old daughter spoke for many young people whose voices often aren’t heard. Eloquence abounded, and it was filled with emotion, but grounded on facts and real-life information. State senators Haar, Fulton, Avery and Wallman spoke in opposition or at least opposing the current route. As the day went on it was more than 90 per cent opposing the pipeline. And almost all the people supporting it were being paid to be there, many of whom were from out of state. And perhaps even more significant, of the 80 or so who had signed up and couldn’t testify and the hundreds more who didn’t even try to testify, almost all of them were opposed to the pipeline.” Following the Atkinson hearing, Ken wrote “I was never so proud to be a Nebraskan as I was while attending and participating in the hearings in Lincoln and Atkinson this week. More than 1,000 of our people attended each of the hearings, compared with about 250 pro pipeline people in Lincoln and about 150 in Atkinson. All of our people got there on their own power and the vast majority of the pro-pipeline people were bused in, and most of them were from other states.
“Our folks wrote their own testimony and spoke with eloquence and power and authenticity. Local nurse Cindy Myers presented her in-depth research on water and toxins in the tar sands, landowners like Teri Taylor, Susan Luebbe, and Randy Thompson told their stories of harassment by TransCanada, and a young mother who is also an Iraq war vet spoke movingly of her hopes and dreams for her young children. We had Senators Haar and Dubas talking about the need for the State of Nebraska to take action to protect its resources. John Stansbury, the UNL scientist who wrote the worst case report, did a great job attacking the credibility of the FEIS. Ben Gotschall debunked a bunch of TransCanada’s lies with his usual eloquence. One after another landowners and local residents showed that they know the land they live on and that they are the real experts on how to preserve and protect the Sandhills. The State Department should heed their message.”
Lincoln Journal Star coverage of the local hearing, “Pipeline opponents, union proponents butting heads early,” by Art Hovey, is here.  A LJS Editorial published September 25, 2011, “It’s time to stand up for the Sand Hills,” encouraging Nebraskans to speak up at the hearings, is here.
A Local View by associate professor of environmental and water resources engineering at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln John Stansbury, “Pipeline’s environmental impact statement isn’t science,” also published on the 25th in LJS, is here.
Another LJS Editorial, “It’s not too late for the governor and Legislature to act,” was published September 30th. “Why is there any doubt in the minds of Nebraska legislators and the governor that states can and do regulate the routing, installation and other issues of an international oil pipeline? South Dakota law shows that state certainly thinks it does and TransCanada went along by acquiescing to the South Dakota state regulatory process for the Keystone XL. Just check the record of the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission. While you’re at it, check the record of the Montana Department of Environmental Quality, which managed more than 40 changes in the pipeline’s route. …Gov. Dave Heineman’s recent and belated interest in rerouting the Keystone XL around the Sandhills apparently doesn’t extend so far as an effort to do something about it, beyond evasions and finger-pointing. He offers excuses of interstate commerce primacy for not bothering to try and clearly wants to make the pipeline’s construction through the Sandhills, if it happens, a sin of the Obama administration. That ignores his power, the Nebraska Legislature’s power and his lack of leadership on this issue. …Maybe it’s too late to stop the powerful forces trying to move this pipeline through an ill-advised route in Nebraska. Maybe not. But not doing anything, for which the governor and Legislature have shown a great talent ever since this pipeline proposal entered the public sphere, is the poorest option. To shift blame to the State Department, which has the overarching responsibility to decide whether the pipeline is built, and to oversee the supervision of its safety by other agencies if it is built, is a meek and convenient way out.” Read the complete Editorial here.
“Politicians need to act,” by Pascha Stevenson, October 2nd, begins “I was proud of my fellow Nebraskans who told the State Department exactly what they think of the Keystone XL pipeline. I heard righteous anger and desperation. I heard the facts clearly articulated. We, the citizens of this great state, are watching our political leaders. Are they listening to us? Do they only have ears for TransCanada and the intoxicating jingle of lucre? Many grow doubtful that our elected officials care about us. We’re beginning to believe that it is really big business that runs our nation, that big business gets the breaks, and that we get bulldozed when we dare to oppose corporate will. ” … Nebraskans have spoken. The majority oppose this pipeline. Now it’s up to those we put in power to heed our pleas, to prove that the citizens still have a voice, that our political leaders answer to us rather than that insatiable monster, corporate greed.” The complete letter is here.  Also published October 2nd was Adam J. Liska’s Local View, “Climate change policy could make Keystone XL obsolete,” beginning “Clearly the Keystone XL pipeline threatens both surface and ground water that sustains the agricultural economy of Nebraska, but the projected profitability of tar sands oil and the pipeline operation are dependent on the future economics of climate change. The vast majority of the developed world already has begun climate change mitigation procedures (e.g. Kyoto Protocol), and it is only a matter of time before the United States begins to share the burden by reducing greenhouse gas emissions via necessary policy.” The column continues here. If you haven’t written to the Journal Star yet, please do so here.
Several Nebraska groups have formed a Save Our Sand Hills Coalition calling for a special session of the legislature.  Call Your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session. We have no legal petition route. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from constituents.
“Observations from hearing,” were offered by Martha Miller in a LJS letter published September 30th. “As a working-class Nebraskan who could not attend the Lincoln Keystone XL public hearing until 5:00pm, I found it interesting to witness the final three hours of testimony. Not only did it appear that many of the pro-pipeline individuals present did not come from Nebraska (as evidenced by the number congregated throughout the day and staying at the high-end Cornhusker Hotel), it also appeared that those present may have been on the clock. When hour’s end came around, they left Pershing Center in small groups like their shift had ended. The individuals who testified against the pipeline, or against its proposed route, appeared to be genuine residents of Nebraska with a real concern for the welfare of our state. I found the lack of political representatives testifying either for or against the pipeline disheartening. …Gov. Dave Heineman certainly should call for a special session and push our representatives into making a decision.” Read here.
From “Keystone XL pipeline debate moves to Sand Hills,” by Art Hovey, LJS, September 30th: “Public debate over the construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline moved Thursday to the Sand Hills — ground zero for opposition to the TransCanada project in Nebraska. The audience got bigger and the voices got louder in the second and last listening session presided over by the U.S. State Department in the state. And on the home turf of the ranch families who would be most affected by an oil spill, the loudest cheering from about 1,000 people gathered in the West Holt Public Schools gymnasium was for speakers who want the route moved away from the Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer.
“I truly believe this is the most pivotal decision made in the history of Nebraska,” said Cindy Myers, a registered nurse from Atkinson. “This decision to be made by State Department officials, miles away in (Washington) D.C., could well transform Nebraska into a devastating industrial wasteland,” Myers said.  Read the article here.
“A resident alien calls Nebraskans to action,” by Saravanan Raju, a LJS Local View on September 30th begins “My legal status is that of a resident alien, in English it means I am a non-resident in the land of liberty and a guest of the great state of Nebraska. I hold no association with any institution, political or apolitical, nor am I affiliated with any organization governmental or otherwise. I stand here as one of the commons. …Therefore, let me reiterate that I oppose this proposition as-is. I implore the citizenry of this land and those elected to represent them to reconsider this proposition. Read the entire opinion piece here.
Lisa Song reported on the Atkinson hearing for InsideClimate News.  “Keystone Hearing in Nebraska Sand Hills Draws Mostly Critics, and Passions Flare,” begins “Farmers and ranchers who oppose Keystone XL outnumbered supporters at the hearing in Atkinson, Neb., located 10 miles from the fragile Sand Hills. …About 1,000 people showed up for the hearing, which was scheduled to run from 4:30 to 10 p.m. About 160 registered to speak, and the meeting was extended until 11 p.m. so most of them could be accommodated. ” Read page 1 of 2 here.  Other alarming InsideClimate News articles, by Elizabeth McGowan, are here and here.
From “State Department Keystone XL Hearings Run By TransCanada Contractor,” at ThinkProgress, Brad Johnson revealed the Entrix scandal. “In a stunning conflict of interest, public hearings on federal approval for a proposed tar sands pipeline are being run by a contractor for the pipeline company itself. The U.S. Department of State’s public hearings along the proposed route of the TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline this week are under the purview of Cardno Entrix, a “professional environmental consulting company” that specializes in “permitting and compliance.” Cardno is not only running the State Department hearings, but also manages the department’s Keystone XL website and drafted the department’s environmental impact statement. Comments from the public about the pipeline go not to the government, but to a cardno.com email.” The article is continued here.
Further revelations about TransCanada’s lobbying expenditures were reported in “Surge of Lobbying Fuels Keystone XL Pipeline Project,” by Seth Cline, OpenSecrets, on the 28th. “…One look at the company’s lobbying expenditures shows that it has seen its desire to influence lawmakers increase sharply beginning in 2008. In 2008, TransCanada spent $190,000 on lobbying, according to research by the Center for Responsive Politics, and every year since, it increased this number: first to $490,000 in 2009, then to $720,000 last year and to $790,000 so far in 2011. That’s an increase of nearly 300 percent between 2008 and 2010 alone. To further aid the pipeline’s progress, last year TransCanada hired Paul Elliott to lobby federal agencies such as the Department of State, where Hillary Clinton serves as the secretary. It was Clinton’s State Department that conducted the final environmental review, which approved the project. And Elliott himself formerly worked as the national deputy director of Clinton’s 2008 presidential run. This relationship has led environmental groups to call on the Department of Justice to investigate Elliott and TransCanada’s lobbying.” The article is continued here.  As reported in last week’s Green Notes, a Washington Post article was early with this story.
“Next Steps and Pics from State Dept. Meetings,” by BOLD Nebraska Executive Director Jane Kleeb begins “We showed up strong to the State Department meetings in Lincoln and Atkinson. We made factual, scientific, economic, national security and deep emotional pleas to stop the pipeline. We stood as one Nebraska, we stood as a united Nebraska, we stood as a bold Nebraska. Many of you are asking, “What’s next?” Before we dive into next steps, check out the pictures from Lincoln and celebrate the change we are making in our state.” Read and view photos here.
From TarSandsAction, “Cornell Global Labor Institute Study Finds Keystone XL Pipeline Will Create Few Jobs.” Some key findings: KXL will create no more than 2,500-4,650 temporary direct construction jobs for 2 years (according to TC’s submitted materials to the State Department; Company’s claim of 20,000 jobs is unsubstantiated; Strong evidence that most of the steel used in construction won’t be created in the US; Construction of KXL will not affect US unemployment rate in any substantial manner – it will remain at 9.1%; KXL will divert petroleum away from Midwestern markets and will likely increase the price at the pump for the Midwest by 10-20 cents per gallon (supports previous findings); and KXL investment will not be $7 billion, but closer to $3-4 billion. See the full report here.
A Huffington Post article, “Former Keystone Pipeline Inspector Says Construction Shortcuts Are Tied To Leaks,” interviews Michael Klink, a 59-year-old civil engineer from Auburn, Illinois, who “reported a litany of problems when he was working as a construction inspector at several pumping stations along the Keystone oil pipeline as it was being built in 2009 — from sloppy concrete jobs and poorly spaced rebar to bad welds and poor pressure testing. For his diligence, Klink says, he was harassed, berated and ultimately fired. The experience has left him convinced that a controversial proposal to expand the Keystone pipeline matrix, which would ultimately deliver as much as 1.3 million barrels of crude oil a day from an oil patch in Alberta, Canada, to refineries in the Midwest and the Texas Gulf Coast, should never gain federal or public support. Page 1 of 2 is continued here.  (A photo of BOLD Nebraska’s “pipeline” taken at the Lincoln DOS hearing is included with this article.)
“Keystone Pipeline Debate Ruptures,” by Chris Clayton, was published in The Progressive Farmer on September 28th. “Standing outside waiting for a U.S. State Department hearing on the Keystone XL pipeline, rancher Todd Cone described the water around his area in north-central Nebraska. “It’s the most pristine stuff there is,” Cone said. “No nitrates, no arsenic, no nothing in it.” Cone and neighboring ranchers drove to Lincoln Tuesday for the public hearing on the Keystone XL pipeline, which has become one of the most politically-charged energy infrastructure projects in the country.” Continued here.
In the September 14th Rolling Stone, Jeff Goodell writes that the Number One thing Obama must do is Stop the Pipeline. “…There are two big problems with Keystone XL. First, mining and refining the tar sands of Alberta – the second-largest repository of carbon on the planet – requires huge amounts of energy. That’s why carbon pollution from tar-sand oil is up to 20 percent higher than from conventional crude. If we burn through the tar sands, warns NASA expert James Hansen, it’s “game over” for the climate. Second, an oil spill from the pipeline could devastate the Midwest: A recent study by the University of Nebraska estimates that a worst-case spill in the Platte River would create an oil slick that would stretch for hundreds of miles and contaminate drinking water for millions of Americans.” Read page 1 of 3 here.
James E. Hansen’s must read article “Climate Story Tellers” was published in TruthOut following his arrest at the White House sit-in. “If the Keystone XL pipeline is approved, can we make a citizen’s arrest on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for violating the Energy Independence and Security Act? If they were put in the back of a hot paddy wagon in DC and held for at least several hours with their hands tied behind their backs, maybe they would have a chance to think over this matter more clearly. …Have no doubt — if the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is approved, we will be back, and our numbers will grow. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we must find a leader who is worthy of our dreams.” Hansen’s remarks to the protesters before his arrest are here.
A National Interest Determination document released September 8, 2011, by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Oil Change International, and the Dakota Resource Council concludes The Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Is Not in the National Interest.  Other links relating to the National Interest Determination are here.  Peter Lehner summarizes the NID document here.  In terms of “national interest,” Reader Supported News revealed that XL “will carry oil that is too dirty for the US government to buy–under legislation signed by George W. Bush!” Read the Brendan Smith and Jeremy Brecher article sourced from CommonDreams here.
Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging the president to deny the construction permit here.
From CREDO Action, “Tell Oprah: Stop promoting dirty tar sands lies on your network.”  Oprah Winfrey is a respected voice for advancing the rights and lives of women all over the world. But now she is allowing that work to be co-opted, by validating a dangerous campaign of flat out lies that promote the development of the Canadian tar sands on her network. Read the petition, and join almost 100,000 signers with an e-mail here.
           The White House Switchboard number is 202.456.1111. Tell the President to deny the permit to build this pipeline.
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.)  The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him with thanks for his letter to the President and Secretary of State, ask him to call a special session of the legislature, and also contact your own senator requesting he or she joins Ken Haar in seeking a special session. Continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, 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 “Sand Hills 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.

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.

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

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, Saturday, October 1, 2011, with the intention of deep healing for the Planet and all its people. Click here for more information about Earth Circle.

STOP THE MACHINE – CREATE A NEW WORLD . . . “October 2011 is the 10th anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the beginning of the 2012 federal austerity budget. It is time to light the spark that sets off a true democratic, nonviolent transition to a world in which people are freed to create just and sustainable solutions.”

SUSTAINABLE HOUSING CONFERENCE . . . The 2011 Sustainable Housing Conference will be at the Downtown Marriott in Kansas City, Missouri, September 27 and 28. Representatives from cities and counties, builders and developers, real estate agents, nonprofit community development organizations and local, state and federal government agencies from Missouri, Kansas, Iowa and Nebraska are invited to attend. Learn how to develop more sustainable homes and neighborhoods.

SCROLL DOWN FOR THIS WEEK’S TRANSCANADA KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE. State Department public hearings in Lincoln on Tuesday, September 27th, and on Thursday, September 29th, in Atkinson, Nebraska are detailed below in CD 3 Green Notes.

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.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

Department of State Public Hearings on the Keystone XL Pipeline will offer the final opportunity to speak for preservation of Our land and water. Plan to attend the Lincoln hearing on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, at Pershing Center, 226 Centennial Mall South, 12:00pm – 3:30pm, and 4:00pm – 8:00pm. Rally at 11:00am in front of Pershing.  There will be an After Party at 8:00pm, Duggans Pub, 440 South 11th Street, with bands, pipeline materials, and more!

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.

BUDRUS . . . Friday, September 30, 2011, 7:00pm, there will be a free preview of BUDRUS, a film that looks at the unintended consequences of the wall erected between Israel and Palestine, at the Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street, Lincoln. A discussion will follow the 58 minute film. For more information, e-mail J. Eileen Durgin-Clinchard, jeaneileen [at] gmail [dot] com

SUSTAINABLE LIVING FESTIVAL . . . Saturday, October 1, 2011, 10:00am to 4:00pm, this year’s Sustainable Living Festival will feature interactive, family-oriented activities designed to provide information about sustainable living practices at SouthPointe Pavilions, 2910 Pine Lake Road, Lincoln. Click here [pdf] for more information, including participating sponsors.

BAG IT . . . Open Harvest and Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso will host a free showing of Bag It, a powerful, funny and informative documentary about the impacts of plastics on society, Saturday, October 1, 2011, 7:00 to 9:00pm at Meadowlark, 1624 South Street, in Lincoln–next to Open Harvest. A community discussion will follow the film. View a 2:54 minute trailer here.

ETHICAL LEADERSHIP IN UNCERTAIN TIMES . . . Sunday, October 2, 2011, the Annual InterFaith Coalition Peacemaking Workshop will be at First United Methodist Church, 50th & St. Paul, Lincoln, from 1:30 to 4:45pm. The focus is Ethical Leadership: Leading with Moral Courage. Speakers include Martha Gadberry, Chair of Peacemaking Workshop; Sen. Brenda Council of Omaha, Chris Blake, professor of English and Communication at Union College; Rev. Bill Selby, Center for Pastoral Effectiveness of the Rockies; Katie LeBaron of Lincoln Industries; and others. For more information, e-mail margeschlitt [at] mindspring [dot] com

THE PIPE . . . The PIPE runs through Thursday, September 29th at The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 313 North 13th Street, Lincoln. The film follows a small community in Ireland torn apart by a proposed Shell pipeline. A synopsis is here.  Watch the trailer here.

WEEKLY WALKABOUTS AT WILDERNESS PARK . . . Friends of Wilderness Park is hosting weekly hikes through the Park, led by Adam Hintz, starting at 1:00pm every Saturday, now through October. Each week will focus on a different area, highlighting the diversity of life in the Park. Hikes will start in parking lots according to the following schedule: the first and second Saturday of the month, meet at the Pioneers Boulevard entrance; the third Saturday, meet at Old Cheney Road; the fourth Saturday, meet at 14th Street north of Rokeby Road; and every fifth Saturday, the hike will start at Saltillo Road east of the Jamaica Trail. For more information, contact Adam at 402.421.8464.

LINCOLN FARMERS MARKETS . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market is open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, in the Haymarket District at 7th & P Streets. Expect to find more than 120 vendors with fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items plus a performance showcase featuring local folk, jazz, blues and classical music. The Market continues through October 15th. Every Sunday, from 10:00am to 2:00pm, the Old Cheney Road Farmers Market at 5500 Old Cheney Road features in-season heirloom and traditional produce, artisan breads and cheeses, homemade baked goods, wild-crafted and traditional jams, jelly, honey, meats, fish, eggs, and bedding plants. The Piedmont Farmers Market is open Saturdays, 8:00am to noon, at 1265 South Cotner, through mid-September. Saturday Farmers Markets at the FARM, 11855 Yankee Hill Road, 9:00am to noon, run until October 29th. Community CROPS, 1551 South 2nd Street, has garden pick-up 4:00 to 6:00pm Monday and Thursday, through October 20. Through mid-September, a Wednesday market in University Place is open from 3:00 to 7:00pm at the former Green’s Plumbing site, 48th & Madison Streets. Thursday’s market from 4:00 to 8:00pm at Fallbrook Town Square Park on the corner of Fallbrook Blvd. between NW Sixth and Seventh Streets will be open through October 13th. Check an interactive map of Lincoln’s Farmers Markets, Farms and Community Supported Agriculture programs, and learn more about markets, CSAs, and local farms at the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Facebook page.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

FORUM ON IMMIGRATION REFORM . . . Omaha Together One Community, and local churches, will sponsor a Public Forum for immigration reform on Monday, September 26, 2011, 7:00 to 8:30pm, at Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish Hall on the Southeast corner of 23rd and “O” Streets. Arizona-style anti-immigrant legislation is pending in the Nebraska Legislature. Confirmed Forum participants include State Senators Brenda Council, Gwen Howard, and Burke Harr, as well as Patrick Leahy, Staff Assistant to Senator Ben Nelson, and Jim Cunningham, Executive Director, Nebraska Catholic Conference. There will be on site voter registration. Click here [pdf] for a fact sheet about the High Costs and Risks of an Arizona-style Law in Nebraska.

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 . . . Omaha Green Drinks will meet at 5:30pm till close on Wednesday, September 28, 2011, at Whole Foods Market, 10020 Regency Circle, in the education room across from the coffee bar. Green Drinks is an informal, self-organizing social network for anyone studying, working on, or interested in environmental issues. There are now Green Drinks meetings in 795 cities worldwide. Walk, bus, car-pool or bike if possible. Contact Rick Yoder, ryoder [at] mail [dot] unomaha [dot] edu for more information.

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, September 28, 2011, the film will be “Remote Control,” a Free Speech TV film that “focuses on the effects of young people spending much of their time on various media versus possibly more useful pursuits.” 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.

MAKE PEACE AND PRACTICE NON-VIOLENCE . . . There will be a public prayer and action for peace on Sunday, October 2, 2011, 2:30 to 3:20pm, at STRATCOM, Offut Air Base in Bellevue, Nebraska. For details, click 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 xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

BENSON COMMUNITY GARDEN . . . Omaha’s newest community garden is at 60th & Lafayette, at the south side of the historic Benson neighborhood. For more information, phone 402.714.0290 or e-mail goetzinger2 [at] cox [dot] net. To get involved, or help support the garden, please register here.

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

Department of State Public Hearings on the Keystone XL Pipeline will offer the final opportunity to speak for preservation of Our land and water. Plan to attend the Lincoln hearing on Tuesday, September 27, 2011, at Pershing Center, 226 Centennial Mall South, 12:00pm – 3:30pm, and 4:00pm – 8:00pm. BE THERE EARLY. See Ken Winston’s suggestions for testimony immediately below. Thursday, September 29, 2011, 4:30pm – 10:00pm, the second Nebraska hearing will be at West Holt High School, 1000 North Main Street, in Atkinson, Nebraska. There will be a rally starting one hour before the hearing at both venues.

From Ken Winston at Nebraska Sierra Club: “We want a huge turn out so the State Department will get a sense of the level of concerns to Nebraskans. The State Department’s decision is based on “National Interest Determination,” so it is important to tell them why this pipeline is not in the national interest.  We have been told that testimony will be on a first come, first served basis and each person will have only 3 to 5 minutes to testify.  No signs will be allowed in the venue and we expect that testifiers will need to go through some type of security.
So I suggest the following: Get there early, write out your testimony and focus on only one topic since 3 minutes goes by really fast. It’s a good idea to practice your testimony ahead of time.
Testimony can also be provided on line here.

Here are some ideas for testimony:
Make it personal; tell about your own experiences and concerns.
Talk about the importance of the Ogallala aquifer to Nebraska; the largest freshwater aquifer on the North American Continent, with as much water as Lake Erie.
Talk about how once an aquifer is polluted, it is almost impossible to clean up.
Talk about the economic and strategic importance of the freshwater in the Ogallala aquifer in a world where the demand for food is expected to double by 2050.
Talk about the environmental devastation of the tar sands process.
Talk about the increased greenhouse gas production of the tar sands process.
Talk about the threats to endangered species, including the magnificent whooping crane.

Talk about TransCanada’s poor safety record on the brand new Keystone I pipeline, with 14 leaks in their first year of operation, including a 21,000 gallon leak that created a 60 foot geyser of oil.
Talk about the explosion on TransCanada’s brand new natural gas pipeline in Wyoming.
Tell them about the flaws in the three environmental impact statements.
Tell them that Professor John Stansbury from UNL has stated the worst case from spills is much worse than TransCanada’s estimates, including threats to the water supplies of Omaha and Lincoln.

Talk about TransCanada’s threats to use eminent domain to take easements from Nebraska landowners, even though they don’t have authority to use eminent domain at this time.
Talk about TransCanada’s lack of respect for Nebraska leaders, landowners and laws.

Remind them the pipeline has been opposed not only by Governor Heineman and Senator Johanns, but by 9 Nobel Peace Prize Winners.
Tell them the proposed route through the Sandhills is opposed by Senator Nelson and Rep. Fortenberry as well as 21 State Senators.
Tell them the proposed route through the Sandhills is opposed by a broad based coalition of Nebraska organizations, including the Nature Conservancy, Audubon Nebraska, the League of Women Voters, and Nebraska Green Party.
Tell them the pipeline has been opposed by the two Natural Resource Districts in the Sandhills area.

Tell them this pipeline represents bad public policy; that it is bad for the United States, that it keeps us hooked on dirty fuels at a time when clean energy policies are not only necessary for the environment but would strengthen our economy.

There are many other aspects about why this proposal should be denied, but this provides a sampling of issues. Once again, pick one topic and address it briefly in the time allotted. Finally, tell them to listen to Nebraskans. We speak truth and common sense. Tell them to deny the permit.

There have been more than twelve Lincoln Journal Star Editorial Opinions pointing out “the folly, potentially a tragic one, of allowing the pipeline’s route to traverse the Sand Hills over the Ogallala Aquifer.” Published September 25, 2011, “It’s time to stand up for the Sandhills,” reminds that “As the University of Nebraska-Lincoln’s John Stansbury points out in an opinion piece for the Journal Star, the State Department’s Final Environmental Impact Statement is severely lacking in independent scientific inquiry and has had a hefty amount of input from TransCanada, the company seeking to build the pipeline. All along, there have been hints that the wheels were greased for approval. A year ago, Hillary Rodham Clinton commented in San Francisco that she, as secretary of state, was “inclined” to approve the pipeline. A former top Clinton campaign aide, Paul Elliott, has a role as a TransCanada lobbyist. State Department special energy envoy David Goldwyn even switched jobs this year to work on oil sands issues as a consultant and testified in favor of the Keystone XL. Read the Editorial here.
Read Stansbury’s Local View, “Pipeline’s environmental impact statement isn’t science,” here.  It reports “The problem is that the State Department has chosen to allow TransCanada and its consultants to provide essentially all of the assessments; thus the assessments cannot be considered independent. Readers shouldn’t take my word for this. Rather, they should review the Environmental Impact Statement at keystonepipeline-xl.state.gov, then review the supporting documents for the EIS that are referenced in the analyses done by researchers at the University of Nebraska at watercenter.unl.edu. From these reviews, it will be clear that essentially all of the substantive “findings” in the EIS are taken directly from documents produced by TransCanada and its consultants. Further review of these documents will show that risks are greatly understated in the supporting documents and in the EIS. It isn’t surprising that TransCanada would write the documents in a way that would make its proposed pipeline look safe. What is surprising and frankly very disturbing is that the Department of State would not require an independent assessment of the risks.” Art Hovey’s September 25 pre-hearing LJS coverage highlights the Thursday DOS hearing in Atkinson, Nebraska.

Steve Larrick represented Nebraska Greens at a press conference Monday, September 19, 2011. Statepaper.com coverage highlighted a possible ballot initiative in “Poll shows majority opposition to tar sands pipeline.”  “A poll conducted for a group opposing the TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline showed 64 percent of those surveyed would support a ballot initiative giving the state authority to regulate the paths of such pipelines, and holding pipeline companies liable for any damages caused by oil spills. …Jane Kleeb of Bold Nebraska said Monday that if no special session is forthcoming, a petition drive will be launched to put a proposal before voters, spelling out the state’s authority to regulate pipelines. The Congressional Research Service said last year that states, not the federal government, have authority to regulate the paths of pipelines. The Legislature has never enacted measures defining or implementing that authority. State Sen. Ken Haar of Lincoln has said he will poll his colleagues this month to determine if a special session can be called. It would require approval from 33 of the Legislature’s 49 members.”
Regarding a possible ballot initiative, a BOLD Nebraska e-mail this week said “The State Department and Congress both made it crystal clear that Nebraska has the authority to site and route oil pipelines within our state boundaries. If our state leaders don’t take up the reigns of responsibility, we know the citizens will, since from the beginning you have created change on the pipeline. The time is now to start laying the groundwork for a ballot campaign that will protect our land and water from TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline and any future oil pipelines. The ballot measure will also ensure landowners and counties are not stuck with all the liability, road repairs, and other pricey items that come with pipeline construction and oil spills. …We ran an extensive poll about the pipeline, and the numbers are in: 64% of Nebraskans support a ballot initiative to regulate oil pipeline routes, water paths, and safety plans. …It will take a lot of time and money to get a ballot initiative passed, but with your help, we can absolutely do it.” To help get the campaign off he ground, click here.
Robert Redford set the record straight on the pipeline for Reader Supported News September 24th. From “Punching Back at Big Oil,” “When you challenge Big Oil in Houston, you can bet the industry is going to punch back. So when I wrote in the Houston Chronicle earlier this month that we should say no to the Keystone XL pipeline, I wasn’t surprised when the project’s chief executive weighed in with a different view…. Let’s set the record straight, point by point.” Read here.
A September 22, 2011 Washington Post article by Juliet Eilperin and Steven Mufson, “TransCanada pipeline lobbyist works all the angles with former colleagues,” details the TransCanada lobby’s “special” relationship with the State Department. It begins “In lobbying for a presidential permit to construct a massive oil pipeline stretching from Canada to the Gulf Coast, TransCanada’s Paul Elliott has tried nearly every angle. Elliott — who served as Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton’s national deputy campaign manager in 2008 — sought to broker multiple meetings between senior State Department officials and TransCanada executives. He offered to enlist Trans­Canada officials’ aid in helping State officials forge an international climate agreement. And he deluged administration officials with letters testifying to the virtues of the Keystone XL expansion project, which would ship crude oil from Canada’s oil sands region to American refiners.” Continued here.

A majority of letters to the Lincoln Journal Star editor still oppose TransCanada’S Keystone XL pipeline. Thanks to all the writers. If you haven’t written yet, please do so here.  From this past week’s letter, “TransCanada Propaganda,” by Sut Luttich, printed September 23, 2011: “What kind of company is it that will voluntarily spend millions of dollars to purchase prime-time television commercials to promote building a pipeline but is not prepared to spend one extra dollar to route their proposed pipeline in such a manner to avoid having to risk the integrity of an irreplaceable economic and life-giving natural resource? If TransCanada would spend as much money rerouting their proposed bitumen crude oil Keystone XL pipeline to avoid passing through the water-bearing porous Ogallala Formation of the High Plains Aquifer as they do on having slick, classy and attractive propaganda broadcast during prime television and media time, TransCanada could have its pipeline and we would not have to be threatened with the consequences of laying a 36-inch crude-oil-carrying pipeline through water-bearing porous sands and gravels.” The letter continues here.
Other LJS pipeline related reporting this past week prepared readers for Tuesday’s September 27th State Department Public Hearing in Lincoln. “Environmental groups raise concerns before XL field hearings,” also reported on new e-mails further detailing the relationship between Secretary of State Clinton and TransCanada. “On Thursday, Friends of the Earth, an environmental group based in Washington, D.C., released 34 emails that were sent between State Department employees and Paul Elliott, a TransCanada lobbyist who was a top aide on Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s presidential campaign. The State Department will have the final say on whether the pipeline can be built. …Damon Moglen, climate and energy project director for Friends of the Earth, called the emails — obtained through the federal Freedom of Information Act — shocking and inappropriate because they reveal a “cozy” relationship between TransCanada and the State Department and are evidence of bias. …Friends of the Earth also said the emails indicated that officials at the State Department provided information about the agency’s internal thinking and that David Goldwyn, a key State Department official, coached TransCanada on what to say during the public review process.” Read the entire article here.  “Heineman encouraging Nebraskans to voice opinions on pipeline route,” by JoAnne Young, is here.

In the September 14th Rolling Stone, Jeff Goodell writes that the Number One thing Obama must do is Stop the Pipeline. “…There are two big problems with Keystone XL. First, mining and refining the tar sands of Alberta – the second-largest repository of carbon on the planet – requires huge amounts of energy. That’s why carbon pollution from tar-sand oil is up to 20 percent higher than from conventional crude. If we burn through the tar sands, warns NASA expert James Hansen, it’s “game over” for the climate. Second, an oil spill from the pipeline could devastate the Midwest: A recent study by the University of Nebraska estimates that a worst-case spill in the Platte River would create an oil slick that would stretch for hundreds of miles and contaminate drinking water for millions of Americans.” Read page 1 of 3 here.
The first of two new articles by Elizabeth McGowan, published at InsideClimate News, revealed that pipeline safety standards are not as rigorous as they might seem: “Research by NRDC shows that only 12 of the 57 conditions set by federal regulators differ from the minimum standards already required for pipeline safety.” —TransCanada and the U.S. State Department have repeatedly touted safety standards for the proposed Keystone XL heavy crude pipeline as robust and unparalleled. As proof, they point to 57 “special conditions” that the Alberta-based pipeline operator has agreed to follow. But environmental watchdogs counter that those much-boasted-about claims are based on nothing more than smoke and mirrors. And they have compiled evidence to back up their accusations.” Read page 1 of 4 here.
McGowan’s “Nebraskans Determined to Reroute Keystone XL Around Aquifer as Decision Time Nears” notes “A growing determination by Nebraskans to protect their precious aquifer could give environmentalists a small victory in their fight against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would pump heavy crude oil from Canada through America’s heartland. …The fact that the State Department has ignored similar pipeline rerouting requests from other politicians and the Environmental Protection Agency isn’t stopping Nebraskans from forging ahead.” Page 1 of 4 is here.
James E. Hansen’s must read article “Climate Story Tellers” was published in TruthOut following his arrest at the White House sit-in. “If the Keystone XL pipeline is approved, can we make a citizen’s arrest on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for violating the Energy Independence and Security Act? If they were put in the back of a hot paddy wagon in DC and held for at least several hours with their hands tied behind their backs, maybe they would have a chance to think over this matter more clearly. …Have no doubt — if the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is approved, we will be back, and our numbers will grow. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we must find a leader who is worthy of our dreams.” Hansen’s remarks to the protesters before his arrest are here.

A National Interest Determination document released September 8, 2011, by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Oil Change International, and the Dakota Resource Council begins with the following paragraph.
“The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline proposed by the Canadian pipeline company TransCanada would bring as much as 900,000 barrels per day to the United States from under Canada’s Boreal Forest. To give a presidential permit to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the U.S. State Department must find that the pipeline serves the national interest. This pipeline will double U.S. reliance on dirty tar sands fuel and contribute to a massive expansion of destruction of the Boreal Forest in Canada. The pipeline threatens to pollute drinking water supplies in the U.S. heartland and poses safety risks from oil spills. The pipeline will also increase already dangerously high greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands extraction undermining the many gains being made in the United States through fuel efficiency standards and other means to reduce our dependence on oil and to reduce our contribution to climate change. And rather than increasing U.S. energy security, this pipeline will provide tar sands producers with a major deepwater port from which it will be exported to other countries. The Keystone XL pipeline primarily serves oil industry interests increasing the profits of tar sands producers. Tar sands have no place in America’s clean energy economy.”  The Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Is Not in the National Interest.  Other links relating to the National Interest Determination are here.  Peter Lehner summarizes the NID document here.
In terms of “national interest,” Reader Supported News revealed that XL “will carry oil that is too dirty for the US government to buy–under legislation signed by George W. Bush!” Read the Brendan Smith and Jeremy Brecher article sourced from CommonDreams here.  LJS letters in support of a special session of the Nebraska legislature and here, here, and here.
Several Nebraska groups have formed a Save Our Sand Hills Coalition calling for a special session.  Call Your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session of the legislature. We have no legal petition route to calling a special session. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from constituents
           Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging the president to deny the construction permit here.
New from CREDO Action, “Tell Oprah: Stop promoting dirty tar sands lies on your network.”  Oprah Winfrey is a respected voice for advancing the rights and lives of women all over the world. But now she is allowing that work to be co-opted, by validating a dangerous campaign of flat out lies that promote the development of the Canadian tar sands on her network. Read the petition, and sign with an e-mail here.
The White House Switchboard number is 202.456.1111. Tell the President to deny the permit to build this pipeline.
“Keystone XL Pipeline Infograph: Built to Spill,” was posted at Huffington Post by Emma Pullman of DeSmogBlog and Heather Libby of TckTckTck.  Their statement, with the infographic, provides the following description: “TransCanada says their Keystone pipelines are the safest on the continent. But what about those 12 spills in the past year? Since its operation began in June of 2010, the Keystone 1 pipeline has suffered more spills than any other 1st year pipeline in US history, a track record which does not bode well for the proposed Keystone XL which tracks across one of the largest aquifers in the world – the Ogalalla – which supplies drinking water to millions of mid-Westerners and provides 30% of the nation’s groundwater used for irrigation. The Keystone pipeline map shows the spills documented in TransCanada’s publicly released safety records alongside the proposed route for Keystone XL, indicating key risk areas near waterways and major metropolitan areas.” Please click here to view this new infograph.
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.)
The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him with thanks for his letter to the President and Secretary of State, ask him to call a special session of the legislature, and also contact your own senator requesting he or she joins Ken Haar in seeking a special session. Continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska.  And please plan to be at the Department of State Public Hearings in Lincoln, Tuesday, September 27th at Pershing Center, 12:00pm – 3:30pm, and 4:00pm – 8:00pm; and Thursday, September 29th at West Holt High School in Atkinson, 4:30pm – 10:00pm.  E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. New armbands that say “Sandhills and Ogallala Aquifer Lover” and “Pipeline Fighter” will be ready for the State Department hearings.
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.

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.

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

Moving Planet Worldwide Rally to Demand Solutions to the Climate Crisis, Saturday, September 24, 2011.  Let’s Move the Planet in a New Direction!

SCROLL DOWN FOR THIS WEEK’S TRANSCANADA KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE. Make special note of State Department public hearings in Lincoln on Tuesday, September 27th, and on Thursday, September 29th, in Atkinson, Nebraska. Details are in CD 3 Notes below.

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.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

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,September 21, 2011, 7:30 to 8:30pm, the First-Plymouth Church Peace and Justice Team will host a Community Conversation on Civil Discourse with former State Senator Lowen Kruse, and Elizabeth Theiss-Morse from the UN-L Political Science Department, at the church, 2000 D Street. Is Civil Discourse Dead in America? will be the topic question. All are welcome.

NO MORE, NOT HERE . . . Thursday, September 22, 2011, 6:30pm, there will be an Anti-Violence Rally, “No More, Not Here,” at Cooper Park, 8th & D Streets, Lincoln. Sponsored by community members working to find alternatives to violence, the event is free and open to the public. For more information, phone John Leonard Harris at 402.309.9411, or e-mail mr.encouragement [at] gmail [dot] com

THE PIPE . . . Opening Friday, September 23, 2011, at The Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 313 North 13th Street, Lincoln, The PIPE follows a small community in Ireland torn apart by a proposed Shell pipeline. A synopsis is here.  Watch the trailer here.  The Friends of The Ross are sponsoring a Movie Talk on Sunday, September 25 at 4:30pm in conjunction with the showing. See Note below for details.

WEEKLY WALKABOUTS AT WILDERNESS PARK . . . Friends of Wilderness Park is hosting weekly hikes through the Park, led by Adam Hintz, starting at 1:00pm every Saturday, now through October. Each week will focus on a different area, highlighting the diversity of life in the Park. Hikes will start in parking lots according to the following schedule: the first and second Saturday of the month, meet at the Pioneers Boulevard entrance; the third Saturday, meet at Old Cheney Road; the fourth Saturday, meet at 14th Street north of Rokeby Road; and every fifth Saturday, the hike will start at Saltillo Road east of the Jamaica Trail. For more information, contact Adam at 402.421.8464.

POETS FOR PEACE . . . Saturday, September 24, 2011, in conjunction with 100 Thousand Poets for Change, there will be a reading by eleven local poets from 6:00 to 8:00pm, at Crescent Moon Coffee, Eighth and P Streets, in Lincoln. Similar events will take place in 230 cities and 54 countries as part of a global initiative to celebrate/demonstrate poetry and address issues of peace and sustainability.

VEG FEST IV . . . The sixth annual Veg Fest celebrating farmers and communities will be Saturday, September 24, 2011, 2:00 to 5:30pm, in Bethany Park, 66th and Vine, Lincoln. Presented by the KZUM 89.3FM, “How’s it Growing?” Community Radio Show, and Community CROPS, the free, family festival will feature farmers’ market vendors, live music, information booths on a range of environmental & healthy topics, cooking demonstrations and fun kids’ activities. Ride your bike and enjoy a beautiful afternoon in the park. Look for Open Harvest near the kids pavilion.

DINING AL FRESCO . . . Tastes in the Tallgrass, a local food and music event at Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center near Denton, Nebraska, will be Sunday, September 25, 2011, beginning at 4:30pm with appetizers and prairie walks before the 5:30 buffet and raffle. A long table will wind over the autumn prairie for this eco-friendly bring-your-own plate event. Click here for more information.

MOVIE TALK . . . Sunday, September 25, 2011, The Friends of The Ross are sponsoring a Movie Talk at the Visitors Center/Film Theater, 313 North 13th Street, Lincoln, 4:30pm after the 3:00 screening of The PIPE. The PIPE follows an Ireland community torn apart by a proposed Shell oil pipeline. Watch the trailer here.  Movie Talk will feature BOLD Nebraska organizers Jane Kleeb, Ken Winston, Ben Gotschall, Duane Hovorka, Diane Amdor, and John Bolenbaugh. A slideshow of the Sand Hills by Nebraska photographer Michael Forsberg will be shown before the film. Movie Talk is free, and open to the public. For more information, e-mail Danny Ladely, dladely1 [at] unl [dot] edu

LINCOLN FARMERS MARKETS . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market is open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, in the Haymarket District at 7th & P Streets. Expect to find more than 120 vendors with fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items plus a performance showcase featuring local folk, jazz, blues and classical music. The Market continues through October 15th. Every Sunday, from 10:00am to 2:00pm, the Old Cheney Road Farmers Market at 5500 Old Cheney Road features in-season heirloom and traditional produce, artisan breads and cheeses, homemade baked goods, wild-crafted and traditional jams, jelly, honey, meats, fish, eggs, and bedding plants. The Piedmont Farmers Market is open Saturdays, 8:00am to noon, at 1265 South Cotner, through mid-September. Saturday Farmers Markets at the FARM, 11855 Yankee Hill Road, 9:00am to noon, run until October 29th. Community CROPS, 1551 South 2nd Street, has garden pick-up 4:00 to 6:00pm Monday and Thursday, through October 20. Through mid-September, a Wednesday market in University Place is open from 3:00 to 7:00pm at the former Green’s Plumbing site, 48th & Madison Streets. Thursday’s market from 4:00 to 8:00pm at Fallbrook Town Square Park on the corner of Fallbrook Blvd. between NW Sixth and Seventh Streets will be open through October 13th. Check an interactive map of Lincoln’s Farmers Markets, Farms and Community Supported Agriculture programs, and learn more about markets, CSAs, and local farms at the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Facebook page.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

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, September 21, 2011, the film will be “911 Eyewitness Hoboken,” a documentary that exposes inconsistencies between the U.S. Government version of events on September 11, 2001 and the irrefutable evidence of eyewitnesses. 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.

LOCAL FOODS . . . The Thursday, September 22nd, 7:00pm Omaha Sierra Club meeting will feature “Local Foods: Bridging Urban Sustainability and Rural Renewal,” with No More Empty Pots leaders Susan Whitfield and Nancy Williams, at the First United Methodist Church, 69th & Cass Streets. (Enter north door education wing.) ‘Food deserts’ are places in the industrialized world where healthy, affordable food is hard to obtain, and they exist in Nebraska–in both urban and rural areas. No More Empty Pots connects individuals and groups to help local businesses improve self-sufficiency, and food security. Sierra programs are free and open to the public. There is more information here.

TRUTH & RECONCILIATION CONVERSATION . . . Nebraskans for Justice will present a Truth & Reconciliation Conversation about Ed & Mondo, Nebraska’s longtime political prisoners, on Saturday, September 24, 2011, 10:00am to 3:00pm, at the Malcolm X Birth Site, 3448 Evans Street, Omaha. Following opening remarks by Tariq Al-Amin, Former State Senator Ernie Chambers will join Vicki Clark at the 10:15 Panel, Session One (In the Beginning). Session Two (Police & Panthers) will follow at 11:00am until the Noon Lunch. Session Three (Problem & Solution) will include discussion by Mary Dickinson and Tariq and the film “COINTELPRO 101.” Session Four (Status of Cases) will summarize the current legal situation with Ed’s and Mondo’s separate attorneys, and Mary Dickinson. A Wrap-Up Session, Discussion and Announcements will conclude the day’s Bearing Witness event.

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 xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

BENSON COMMUNITY GARDEN . . . Omaha’s newest community garden is at 60th & Lafayette, at the south side of the historic Benson neighborhood. For more information, phone 402.714.0290 or e-mail goetzinger2 [at] cox [dot] net. To get involved, or help support the garden, please register here.

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 . . . Department of State Public Hearings will offer the final opportunity to speak for preservation of Our land and water.  Please mark your calendars now for Tuesday, September 27, 2011, at Pershing Center, 226 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, 12:00pm – 3:30pm, and 4:00pm – 8:00pm; and Thursday, September 29, 2011, West Holt High School, 100 North Main Street, Atkinson, Nebraska, 4:30pm – 10:00pm.

Organized XL pipeline opposition actions continued during the week after 1,252 people were arrested at the 14 day White House sit-in. Last Tuesday, September 13, 2011, 50 protesters, including members of the Harvard Environmental Action Committee, showed up to confront Obama campaign manager Jim Messina when he appeared on campus for a conversation with students. “We decided we wanted to make some noise to show Obama that people are angry about this issue,” Sachi M. Oshima told The Harvard Crimson. Statepaper.com coverage of the Harvard action is here.  In Columbus, Ohio, Obama’s motorcade was also met with Keystone XL protesters. A photo is here.
The September 18, 2011 Lincoln Journal Star published three editorial opinions on the pipeline: a Column by Michael E. Kraft, McClatchy, “Keystone XL no substitute for new energy sources;” and two pro-pipeline views.  Kraft writes “Even the Energy Department says we don’t need the new pipeline because sufficient capacity already exists to double imports from Canada.”
At the first two Nebraska football games, TransCanada ran XL pipeline ads on the huge video screens at Memorial Stadium. The “brazen attempt to win favor on a highly controversial issue” was met with resounding boos. After further consideration, and complaints from fans, the university severed the contract with TransCanada. The Omaha World-Herald report is here, and Lincoln Journal Star coverage is here.  To send a thank you to Athletic Director Tom Osborne, BOLD Nebraska suggests doing so here.

TransCanada has threatened Nebraska landowner Randy Thompson with the use of eminent domain to build the still unapproved XL pipeline. Last week Randy delivered a letter to Nebraska Attorney General Bruning calling on Bruning to investigate deceptive tactics used by TransCanada to obtain land rights for the pipeline. Read Randy’s letter here.
Wednesday, September 14th, InsideClimate News published an Elizabeth McGowan article, “Nebraskans Determined to Reroute Keystone XL Around Aquifer as Decision Time Nears.” McGowan notes “A growing determination by Nebraskans to protect their precious aquifer could give environmentalists a small victory in their fight against the Keystone XL pipeline, which would pump heavy crude oil from Canada through America’s heartland. …The fact that the State Department has ignored similar pipeline rerouting requests from other politicians and the Environmental Protection Agency isn’t stopping Nebraskans from forging ahead.” Read page 1 of 4 here.
From the current issue of Audubon Magazine, quoting “Tarred and Feathered,” by Ted Williams: “…In the United States the pipeline will chew up important wildlife habitat with roads and powerlines to pumping stations and with the excavation itself. But a much bigger threat is leaking DilBit, which could pollute the aquifer for great distances, rendering water unfit for use by wildlife and humans. The state of Nebraska can require that Keystone XL be moved east or west, safely away from its Sandhills. Maintaining the current route simply so TransCanada can save money is, as the Times reported, unnecessary and risky.  The world is fast running out of places like the Sandhills. They seem to roll on forever—20,000 square miles of dunes, some that migrate in the wind, others 330 feet high, and all composed of tiny pieces of the Rocky Mountains ground off and dumped by Pleistocene glaciers as recently as 10,000 years ago, when people were watching it happen.  Because the unstable, porous soil makes crop growing difficult, something like 85 percent of the Sandhills has never come under the plow. As a result they support by far the most intact native ecosystems on the Great Plains, including short-grass, mixed-grass, and tallgrass prairies. Found here are at least 720 plant species, many of which, like the federally endangered blowout penstemon, are tolerant of—in fact, dependent upon—wind and shifting sand. And 314 species of vertebrates are known to breed in this internationally recognized ecoregion. ” Read the article here.

More accounts of the caravan and XL pipeline protest at the White House were published this past week.  Quoting from “Civil disobedience goes green,” by Stephen Scharper, in the Toronto Star, September 11, 2011, “I normally respect the law . . . but I needed to get the message out. By getting arrested, that happened.” So commented Patricia Warwick, 68, who ventured down to the White House last month to protest the Keystone XL Pipeline project in the U.S., a vast arterial skein that will pump the oil harvest of the Alberta tarsands across six U.S. states to refineries in Texas. She wound up in an non-air-conditioned paddy wagon.” Read here.
From a September 12th Lincoln Journal Star letter to the editor, “Time to act on environment,” by Alexandra Keriakedes, “Joining a band of dedicated environmentalist road warriors to protest the Keystone XL pipeline in Washington, D.C., showed us how thankful we can be that there is such an inspiring initiative in action. Traveling from as far as Portland, Ore.; Sacramento, Calif.; Salt Lake City; Denver; Boulder, Colo.; Lincoln and Columbia, Mo., we shared expenses, cars and sleeping bags (several were, as I am, without employment). The White House sidewalk was our Mecca. … We journeyed to show President Barack Obama we support those campaign promises he has let evaporate. His decisive show of impassioned leadership could yet save the world, and perhaps even his campaign hopes.” Read here.
Activist author Ted Glick, writing after the White House sit-in opposing the Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer, for his Future Hope Column September 5th, challences us to “…”be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil.” That’s one of the things Obama said, along with this big applause line, that his election was “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” He hasn’t yet delivered. Worse, he and his administration have opened up public lands in Wyoming for coal mining, allowed most mountaintop removal permits to proceed forward, done nothing to stop natural gas fracking, supported the expansion of deepwater ocean drilling beyond the Gulf of Mexico and, so far, given lots of indications that he will approve the Keystone XL pipeline. These methods of extreme extraction of fossil fuels are exactly the wrong direction to be going. …For those who want to see Obama reelected, for those who are turned off by all of his administration’s many betrayals of his campaign promises and unsure of what they’ll be doing about the Presidential election, and for those who have had it with both Republicans and Democrats, the campaign to defeat the Keystone XL pipeline is a classic unifying issue, an urgent issue. The next few months are key. Let’s keep building the Tar Sands Action momentum and win one for the people and the earth this year. Si, se puede!” Click on the Tar Sands Action website for final press releases, photos and videos.
A photo of climate change activist James E. Hansen being arrested at the White House accompanies his must read post-sit-in article “Climate Story Tellers” published in TruthOut. “If the Keystone XL pipeline is approved, can we make a citizen’s arrest on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for violating the Energy Independence and Security Act? If they were put in the back of a hot paddy wagon in DC and held for at least several hours with their hands tied behind their backs, maybe they would have a chance to think over this matter more clearly. …Have no doubt — if the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is approved, we will be back, and our numbers will grow. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we must find a leader who is worthy of our dreams.” Hansen’s remarks to the protesters before his arrest are here.
A National Interest Determination document released September 8, 2011, by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Oil Change International, and the Dakota Resource Council begins with the following paragraph.
“The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline proposed by the Canadian pipeline company TransCanada would bring as much as 900,000 barrels per day to the United States from under Canada’s Boreal Forest. To give a presidential permit to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the U.S. State Department must find that the pipeline serves the national interest. This pipeline will double U.S. reliance on dirty tar sands fuel and contribute to a massive expansion of destruction of the Boreal Forest in Canada. The pipeline threatens to pollute drinking water supplies in the U.S. heartland and poses safety risks from oil spills. The pipeline will also increase already dangerously high greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands extraction undermining the many gains being made in the United States through fuel efficiency standards and other means to reduce our dependence on oil and to reduce our contribution to climate change. And rather than increasing U.S. energy security, this pipeline will provide tar sands producers with a major deepwater port from which it will be exported to other countries. The Keystone XL pipeline primarily serves oil industry interests increasing the profits of tar sands producers. Tar sands have no place in America’s clean energy economy.” The Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Is Not in the National Interest. Other links relating to the National Interest Determination are here.  Peter Lehner summarizes the NID document here.
A September 9, 2011 Lincoln Journal Star letter to the editor by Kenneth W. Moore begins “The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is not in the national interest. Unless the State Department responds to the requests of our governor and our senators to relocate the pipeline, it would cross the ecologically sensitive Nebraska Sandhills. This is a fragile area with few pipelines of any kind. …This project is not in the national interest because the pipeline would run directly over and through the nation’s largest aquifer and would move our nation toward dependence on an even dirtier and more dangerous form of oil at a time when we need to be investing instead in clean, sustainable sources of energy.”
LJS letters in support of a special session of the Nebraska legislature have been published from Pam Herbert Barger, and Mary Jane Bruce.  A September 4th letter from Jim Knopik of Belgrade also asks the governor to “Call special session on Keystone.”
“Dismayed by Heineman,” a letter by Vernon Forbes, begins “I was dismayed that Governor Dave Heineman will not call for a special session of the Legislature to protect the Ogallala Aquifer, even though he admits that a majority of Nebraskans (including himself) believe that the Keystone XL Pipeline should not go through the Sandhills. He believes this should have been taken care of in the regular session, that a special session is too expensive, and that the votes to pass a bill are not there. During the regular session, the senators did not feel they had the authority to determine a pipeline’s route through the state. It is now clear they do have that authority, and Senator Ken Haar is trying to make that correction.” The letter continues here.
Several Nebraska groups have formed a coalition called Save Our Sand Hills for the purpose of calling for a special session.  Call Your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session of the legislature. We have no legal petition route to calling a special session. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from constituents.
“Dinosaur Trove in South Dakota Becomes Bone of Contention in Keystone XL Fight” says the “Pipeline will pass through a famous dinosaur burial ground.” By Lisa Song, the InsideClimate News, September 15th article reports that “More than 100 miles of the proposed oil pipeline will slice through one of the most valuable fossil beds in the world and, depending on whom you ask, construction will either doom or aid the recovery of important fossils.” Page 1 of 2 is here.
A group of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, including The Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, wrote President Obama urging him to reject the Keystone XL pipeline permit and build a clean energy legacy. From the letter, “We urge you to say no“ to the pipeline and “turn your attention back to supporting renewable sources of energy and clean transportation solutions. …This will be your legacy to Americans and the global community: energy that sustains the lives and livelihoods of future generations.” Read a September 7th Nobel Womens Initiative article here.
Pipeline Inspection Agency Chronically Undermanned,” by Dan Frosch and Janet Roberts, was sourced by Reader Supported News from the New York Times, September 10th: “This summer, an ExxonMobil pipeline carrying oil across Montana burst suddenly, soiling the swollen Yellowstone River with an estimated 42,000 gallons of crude just weeks after a company inspection and federal review had found nothing seriously wrong. And in the Midwest, a 35-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River near Marshall, Michigan, once teeming with swimmers and boaters, remains closed nearly 14 months after an Enbridge Energy pipeline hemorrhaged 843,000 gallons of oil that will cost more than $500 million to clean up.” Read the article here.
The Kochs’ Keystone Clique Exposed, by Robert Greenwald, Guardian UK, RSN, September 8, 2011: “The Koch brothers would profit from this oil pipeline at the expense of working families, who live and work along the approximately 2,000 miles of the pipeline’s route. The brothers own almost all of the $100 billionn Koch Industries, which is ‘among Canada’s largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters,’ according to a Koch subsidiary’s website. The Kochs also operate an entire business line called Koch Exploration Canada, LP, which is devoted to exploring and refining one of the most toxic energy sources on Earth.” Read, view 3:47 minute video, and sign the petition here.  The video is dated–it mentions 7 leaks, not 12 in 12 months of the current Keystone pipeline production, but it includes Hillary Clinton’s “we are inclined” to sign off on XL remark. When asked if she would be willing to reconsider, her answer was “probably not.” Please watch, and sign the petition.
Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging the president to deny the construction permit here.  And new from CREDO Action, “Tell Oprah: Stop promoting dirty tar sands lies on your network.”  Oprah Winfrey is a respected voice for advancing the rights and lives of women all over the world. But now she is allowing that work to be co-opted, by validating a dangerous campaign of flat out lies that promote the development of the Canadian tar sands on her network. Read the petition, and sign with an e-mail here.
In the Final Environmental Impact Statement, the Obama administration “removed a major roadblock to a planned $7 billion oil pipeline from western Canada to the Texas coast saying that the project is unlikely to cause significant environmental problems during construction or operation. The EIS is 1,200 pages. Early AP coverage is here Lincoln Journal Star coverage is here.  The New York Times called the EIS “a crucial green light” to the 1,711-mile tar sands pipeline. The Department of State said it was eliminating route alternatives from further consideration! Read the BOLD Nebraska response to the FEIS here.
A background document on the FEIS by the Natural Resources Defense Council mailed to grouplists September 2nd summarizes the bottom line: “1) There is ample evidence that Keystone XL will cause an increase in tar sands oil extraction and significant harm to climate, wildlife, water and health. 2) The pipeline will risk health and safety through oil spills as well as water and air pollution. 3) The State Department’s finding that the pipeline will cause “no significant impact” is flawed. 4) The FEIS is lacking in several areas including an expert study on safety impact, clean energy alternatives to the pipeline, a serious review of an alternative path avoiding the Nebraska Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer, climate change impacts, and an on-the-ground study or refinery pollution in Port Arthur and Houston.” Ken Winston’s response for Nebraska Sierra, “Final Environmental Impact Statement Flawed” is here.  Please take a moment to call the White House and tell the President to deny the permit to build this pipeline. The White House Switchboard number is 202.456.1111.
The Omaha World-Herald editorialized “Protect this Special Gift,” a strong statement for rerouting the pipeline. “The Ogallala Aquifer is a special gift to Nebraskans. Nebraskans have a special responsibility to protect it. Allowing an oil sands pipeline to cross the heart of that aquifer poses a potential threat to a unique natural resource. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline should be rerouted.” And a Lincoln Journal Star Op-Ed September 2nd called for a strong public presence at the scheduled State Department hearings. Although that day’s editorial is not online, it says “We hope senators continue the effort to establish stronger state control before it’s too late.” The editorial board first wrote “Reroute Keystone LX pipeline around Sand Hills” on September 28, 2010.
From “Pipeline Protests: Beyond the Usual Suspects,” by Madeline Ostrander, Yes! Magazine, in TruthOut August 29th, “Several months ago, John Stansbury, a soft-spoken professor from Omaha, Nebraska, took his 12-year-old grandson to a public meeting to discuss Keystone XL, the proposed mega-pipeline that would carry oil from Canada across his home state to the Gulf of Mexico. At the time, Stansbury knew almost nothing about the pipeline and had never done anything particularly political. ‘I’m not really an activist,’ he says, a bit sheepishly. But he wanted his grandson to ‘see democracy at work.’ The 61-year-old civil engineer also happens to be an expert in the transport of hazardous materials. And as he learned more about Keystone XL, he saw a disaster in the making. After the meeting, Stansbury began poring over official risk assessments of the pipeline and thought they grossly underestimated the probability of a spill. He was so troubled that he did something he’s never done before—he courted media attention. He drafted an independent report on the pipeline, asked the organization Friends of the Earth to help announce his findings, and held a press conference. He predicts the pipeline could have approximately 91 significant spills over the next 50 years—eight times as many as the energy company TransCanada estimated. …The pipeline could be a rare moment for Obama to act on his commitment to post-partisan politics, make good on his promise to act on climate change, and stop one of the world’s most environmentally disastrous projects.” Read here.
In “3 Reasons Why the Tar Sands Pipeline Has to be Stopped,” Janet Redman writes “why the pipeline is truly idiotic and why I’m willing to get arrested to stop it.” The AlterNet article begins “The latest bone-headed move by the fossil fuel industry to build a pipeline across the United States is testing my patience. And I’m someone who’s seen a lot of really dumb environmental behavior. …For all the oil money in politics — and there’s about $24 million of it in Congress — I still hold out the hope that with a little help from his friends Obama will see the Keystone XL pipeline expansion as a really stupid idea. Obama’s no dummy. He knows that increasing national energy security means reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. He knows that we don’t have extra money lying around to clean up spills and foot the bill for health impacts. And he knows that building a clean, renewable energy economy in the United States would create millions of jobs.” The complete article is here.
“Keystone XL Pipeline Infograph: Built to Spill,” was posted at Huffington Post by Emma Pullman of DeSmogBlog and Heather Libby of TckTckTck.  Their statement, with the infographic, provides the following description: “TransCanada says their Keystone pipelines are the safest on the continent. But what about those 12 spills in the past year? Since its operation began in June of 2010, the Keystone 1 pipeline has suffered more spills than any other 1st year pipeline in US history, a track record which does not bode well for the proposed Keystone XL which tracks across one of the largest aquifers in the world – the Ogalalla – which supplies drinking water to millions of mid-Westerners and provides 30% of the nation’s groundwater used for irrigation. The Keystone pipeline map shows the spills documented in TransCanada’s publicly released safety records alongside the proposed route for Keystone XL, indicating key risk areas near waterways and major metropolitan areas.” Please click here to view this new infograph.
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.)
The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him with thanks for his letter to the President and Secretary of State, ask him to call a special session of the legislature, and also contact your own senator requesting he or she joins Ken Haar in seeking a special session. Continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska.  And please plan to be at the Department of State Public Hearings in Lincoln, Tuesday, September 27th at Pershing Center, 12:00pm – 3:30pm, and 4:00pm – 8:00pm; and Thursday, September 29th at West Holt High School in Atkinson, 4:30pm – 10:00pm.  E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. New armbands that say “Sandhills and Ogallala Aquifer Lover” and “Pipeline Fighter” will be ready for the State Department hearings.
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.

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.

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

SCROLL 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. here.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

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.

POV . . . Wednesday, September 14, 2011, 7:00pm, Simon Kilmurry, Executive Director of POV, the PBS “independent non-fiction film” series, will present a behind-the-scenes look with film clips, followed by Q&A at NET Television, 1800 North 33rd Street, Lincoln. No reservations are required.

UPRISING: SYRIA AND ISLAM . . . Thursday, September 15, 2011, 3:30 to 5:00pm, Dr. Leif Stenberg, Director of the Center for Middle Eastern Studies at Lund University in Sweden, will present “Uprising in the Middle East: The Example of Syria and Official Islam,” at the Un-L City Campus Union, 15th & R Streets, Lincoln. For more information, e-mail Lory Dance, danceinthecorn [at] gmail [dot] com

WEEKLY WALKABOUTS AT WILDERNESS PARK . . . Friends of Wilderness Park is hosting weekly hikes through the Park, led by Adam Hintz, starting at 1:00pm every Saturday, now through October. Each week will focus on a different area, highlighting the diversity of life in the Park. Hikes will start in parking lots according to the following schedule: the first and second Saturday of the month, meet at the Pioneers Boulevard entrance; the third Saturday, meet at Old Cheney Road; the fourth Saturday, meet at 14th Street north of Rokeby Road; and every fifth Saturday, the hike will start at Saltillo Road east of the Jamaica Trail. For more information, contact Adam at 402.421.8464.

BENEFIT FOR THE COALITION AGAINST THE PIPELINE . . .  Saturday, September 17, 2011, 7:00pm, there will be a Benefit Concert for the Coalition Against the Pipeline at Meadowlark Coffee & Espresso, 1624 South Street, Lincoln, with live performances by Chance Preston, Joe Lenzo, and Elijah Jett.  Members of the Coalition will be available for questions.   Meet  pipeline opponents, learn about the State Department Hearings, and pitch in with a suggested donation of $5 to help with expenses of continuing the campaign to Stop the XL Pipeline in Nebraska.

LINCOLN FARMERS MARKETS . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market is open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, in the Haymarket District at 7th & P Streets. Expect to find more than 120 vendors with fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items plus a performance showcase featuring local folk, jazz, blues and classical music. The Market continues through October 15th. Every Sunday, from 10:00am to 2:00pm, the Old Cheney Road Farmers Market at 5500 Old Cheney Road features in-season heirloom and traditional produce, artisan breads and cheeses, homemade baked goods, wild-crafted and traditional jams, jelly, honey, meats, fish, eggs, and bedding plants. The Piedmont Farmers Market is open Saturdays, 8:00am to noon, at 1265 South Cotner, through mid-September. Saturday Farmers Markets at the FARM, 11855 Yankee Hill Road, 9:00am to noon, run until October 29th. Community CROPS, 1551 South 2nd Street, has garden pick-up 4:00 to 6:00pm Monday and Thursday, through October 20. Through mid-September, a Wednesday market in University Place is open from 3:00 to 7:00pm at the former Green’s Plumbing site, 48th & Madison Streets. Thursday’s market from 4:00 to 8:00pm at Fallbrook Town Square Park on the corner of Fallbrook Blvd. between NW Sixth and Seventh Streets will be open through October 13th. Check an interactive map of Lincoln’s Farmers Markets, Farms and Community Supported Agriculture programs, and learn more about markets, CSAs, and local farms at the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Facebook page.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

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, September 14, 2011, the main attraction, Fresh, celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. View trailers here.  Matt Ohloff, from Food and Water Watch, will be the guest speaker. The weekly event is always free and open to the public. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

REAL DEMOCRACY, NOT HYPOCRISY . . . On Thursday, September 15th, 2011, “International Day of Democracy,” rallies and demonstrations will be held across the country and around the world to bring awareness to the the upcoming vital UN Vote on Palestinian Statehood September 20th.  The Omaha Call to Action will be at 5:00pm, on the Dodge Street side of Memorial Park, in support of Palestinian self-determination and ending US tax dollars for Israel’s military occupation of Palestinian territory.  For more information, click here.  To volunteer helpful resources, contact Katie Huerter, or at khuerter [at] unomaha [dot] edu

POV . . . Thursday, September 15, 2011, 6:30pm, Simon Kilmurry, Executive Director of POV, the PBS “independent non-fiction film” series, will present a behind-the-scenes look with film clips, followed by Q&A, at Film Streams, 1340 Mike Fahey Street, Omaha. To reserve tickets, e-mail maggie [at] filmstreams [dot] org

MASTER PLAN PUBLIC MEETING . . . Thursday, September 15, 2011, 6:30pm, the City of Omaha will hold a Transportation Master Plan Public Meeting at the UN-O Scott Conference Center, 6450 Pine Street. The meeting will include an opportunity for citizens to vote on street design and transportation preferences, and will send a signal to the City Council and Mayor that citizens are interested in expanded mobility in Omaha. Click here for a video that explains why this is so important. For more information, check out Mode Shift Omaha, which is organizing express buses and group bike rides to the meeting.

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 xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

BENSON COMMUNITY GARDEN . . . Omaha’s newest community garden is at 60th & Lafayette, at the south side of the historic Benson neighborhood. For more information, phone 402.714.0290 or e-mail goetzinger2 [at] cox [dot] net. To get involved, or help support the garden, please register here.

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 . . . A National Interest Determination document released September 8, 2011, by the Natural Resources Defense Council, Sierra Club, Oil Change International, and the Dakota Resource Council begins with the following paragraph.
“The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline proposed by the Canadian pipeline company TransCanada would bring as much as 900,000 barrels per day to the United States from under Canada’s Boreal Forest. To give a presidential permit to the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, the U.S. State Department must find that the pipeline serves the national interest. This pipeline will double U.S. reliance on dirty tar sands fuel and contribute to a massive expansion of destruction of the Boreal Forest in Canada. The pipeline threatens to pollute drinking water supplies in the U.S. heartland and poses safety risks from oil spills. The pipeline will also increase already dangerously high greenhouse gas emissions from tar sands extraction undermining the many gains being made in the United States through fuel efficiency standards and other means to reduce our dependence on oil and to reduce our contribution to climate change. And rather than increasing U.S. energy security, this pipeline will provide tar sands producers with a major deepwater port from which it will be exported to other countries. The Keystone XL pipeline primarily serves oil industry interests increasing the profits of tar sands producers. Tar sands have no place in America’s clean energy economy.” The Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline Is Not in the National Interest. Other links relating to the National Interest Determination are here.  Peter Lehner summarizes the NID document here.
A September 9, 2011 Lincoln Journal Star letter to the editor by Kenneth W. Moore begins “The Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is not in the national interest. Unless the State Department responds to the requests of our governor and our senators to relocate the pipeline, it would cross the ecologically sensitive Nebraska Sandhills. This is a fragile area with few pipelines of any kind. …This project is not in the national interest because the pipeline would run directly over and through the nation’s largest aquifer and would move our nation toward dependence on an even dirtier and more dangerous form of oil at a time when we need to be investing instead in clean, sustainable sources of energy.”
On the last day of sit-ins in Washington DC opposing the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer, Bill McKibben wrote from the White House lawn: “In front of me there’s a sprawling rally underway, with speakers ranging from indigenous elders to the great Canadian writer Naomi Klein. In back of me, another 243 courageous people are being hauled away to jail — it’s the last day of Phase 1 of the tar sands campaign, and 1,252 North Americans have been arrested, the biggest civil disobedience action this century on this continent.  But we’ve been just as cheered by the help that has poured in from around the world — today, activists in front of the White House held a banner with a huge number on it: 618,428. That’s how many people around the world who signed on to the “Stop the Tar Sands” mega-petition to President Obama.” Check out photos of passion and courage on display here.  Click on the Tar Sands Action website for final press releases, more photos and videos.
Activist author Ted Glick, also writing after the White House protest for his Future Hope Column September 5th, says “…”Let’s be the generation that finally frees America from the tyranny of oil.” That’s one of the things Obama said, along with this big applause line, that his election was “the moment when the rise of the oceans began to slow and our planet began to heal.” He hasn’t yet delivered. Worse, he and his administration have opened up public lands in Wyoming for coal mining, allowed most mountaintop removal permits to proceed forward, done nothing to stop natural gas fracking, supported the expansion of deepwater ocean drilling beyond the Gulf of Mexico and, so far, given lots of indications that he will approve the Keystone XL pipeline. These methods of extreme extraction of fossil fuels are exactly the wrong direction to be going. …For those who want to see Obama reelected, for those who are turned off by all of his administration’s many betrayals of his campaign promises and unsure of what they’ll be doing about the Presidential election, and for those who have had it with both Republicans and Democrats, the campaign to defeat the Keystone XL pipeline is a classic unifying issue, an urgent issue. The next few months are key. Let’s keep building the Tar Sands Action momentum and win one for the people and the earth this year. Si, se puede!”
Local activist Carol Smith joined 15 other Nebraskans on caravan to DC for the sit-ins. Carol’s pre-trip Local View for the LJS, “I Will be Sitting in Front of the White House,” is here.  On Thursday, September 1st, a photo of Carol being arrested ran in LJS with a column by Cindy Lange-Kubick reporting on Carol’s activism. A blog about the caravan’s experiences on the road, with photos, is here.  Thank You Carol!
A photo of climate change activist James E. Hansen being arrested at the White House accompanies his must read post-sit-in article “Climate Story Tellers” published in TruthOut September 4th. “If the Keystone XL pipeline is approved, can we make a citizen’s arrest on Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama for violating the Energy Independence and Security Act? If they were put in the back of a hot paddy wagon in DC and held for at least several hours with their hands tied behind their backs, maybe they would have a chance to think over this matter more clearly. …Have no doubt — if the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline is approved, we will be back, and our numbers will grow. For the sake of our children and grandchildren, we must find a leader who is worthy of our dreams.” Hansen’s remarks to the protesters before his arrest are here.
Public support for a special session of the Nebraska legislature continues with new letters to the LJS editor this past week. Quoting Pam Herbert Barger’s September 7th letter, “All of us who own cars must admit that we make use of the very oil that is choking our planet. Even as we drive to the mall, we admit to discomfort about being “dependent” upon oil from tenuous sources. However, it does not follow that the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline is a good thing. There is no reason for TransCanada to insist that this pipeline flow through our Sandhills and our Ogallala Aquifer, especially when a safer route exists. Oil may be precious, but water is a necessity. Even TransCanada’s most optimistic predictions allow for leaks. Are we willing to risk ruining the very water we drink and use for irrigation?  I urge Gov. Dave Heineman to call a special legislative session so that we may find a way to insist upon rerouting the pipeline away from our state’s lifeblood.”
On September 6th, Mary Jane Bruce wrote “Thanks to Gov. Dave Heineman for taking a stand against the Keystone XL pipeline (“Pointing fingers,” Sept. 1). Now it’s time for him to put action behind his words. I call for Gov. Heineman to call a special session of the Legislature to reroute the pipeline away from the Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer. If he doesn’t deal with this important issue, we’ll know his opposition is purely political and an effort to straddle the fence. Don’t play politics with our water.”
A September 4th letter by Jim Knopik of Belgrade also asks the governor to “Call special session on Keystone.” It begins “Wednesday morning I heard some great news. Gov. Dave Heineman wrote a letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton opposing the Keystone XL pipeline, but he continues to drag his own feet, saying the ball is in the hands of our federal government. Sen. Ben Nelson, on the other hand, said Gov. Heineman could do something about making TransCanada reroute the pipeline. Personally, I believe all of them could do something, but won’t. The letter is here.
“Dismayed by Heineman,” a letter by Vernon Forbes, begins “I was dismayed that Governor Dave Heineman will not call for a special session of the Legislature to protect the Ogallala Aquifer, even though he admits that a majority of Nebraskans (including himself) believe that the Keystone XL Pipeline should not go through the Sandhills. He believes this should have been taken care of in the regular session, that a special session is too expensive, and that the votes to pass a bill are not there. During the regular session, the senators did not feel they had the authority to determine a pipeline’s route through the state. It is now clear they do have that authority, and Senator Ken Haar is trying to make that correction.” The letter continues here.
Several Nebraska groups have formed a coalition called Save Our Sand Hills for the purpose of calling for a special session.  Call Your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session of the legislature. We have no legal petition route to calling a special session. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from constituents.
In a September 8th letter to the editor, “TransCanada’s ploy,” Nancy A. Anderson writes “So now TransCanada thinks it can ingratiate itself with Nebraskans with a none-too-subtle sponsorship of a HuskerVision video celebrating the football team’s own “pipeline”? I’m happy that judging by fans’ response — stunned silence quickly followed by resounding boos — that the ploy appeared to have backfired. Anyone in the Athletic Department who approved this brazen attempt to win favor on a highly controversial issue by association with the Huskers should be ashamed.”
This past week a group of Nobel Peace Prize Laureates, including The Dalai Lama, and Archbishop Desmond Tutu, wrote President Obama urging him to reject the Keystone XL pipeline permit and build a clean energy legacy. From the letter, “We urge you to say no“ to the pipeline and “turn your attention back to supporting renewable sources of energy and clean transportation solutions. …This will be your legacy to Americans and the global community: energy that sustains the lives and livelihoods of future generations.” Read a September 7th Nobel Womens Initiative here.
Pipeline Inspection Agency Chronically Undermanned,” by Dan Frosch and Janet Roberts, was sourced by Reader Supported News from the New York Times, September 10, 2011: “This summer, an ExxonMobil pipeline carrying oil across Montana burst suddenly, soiling the swollen Yellowstone River with an estimated 42,000 gallons of crude just weeks after a company inspection and federal review had found nothing seriously wrong. And in the Midwest, a 35-mile stretch of the Kalamazoo River near Marshall, Michigan, once teeming with swimmers and boaters, remains closed nearly 14 months after an Enbridge Energy pipeline hemorrhaged 843,000 gallons of oil that will cost more than $500 million to clean up.” Read the article here.
The Kochs’ Keystone Clique Exposed, by Robert Greenwald, Guardian UK, RSN, September 8, 2011: “The Koch brothers would profit from this oil pipeline at the expense of working families, who live and work along the approximately 2,000 miles of the pipeline’s route. The brothers own almost all of the $100 billionn Koch Industries, which is ‘among Canada’s largest crude oil purchasers, shippers and exporters,’ according to a Koch subsidiary’s website. The Kochs also operate an entire business line called Koch Exploration Canada, LP, which is devoted to exploring and refining one of the most toxic energy sources on Earth.” Read, view 3:47 minute video, and sign the petition here.  The video is dated–it mentions 7 leaks, not 12 in 12 months of the current Keystone pipeline production, but it includes Hillary Clinton’s “we are inclined” to sign off on XL remark. When asked if she would be willing to reconsider, her answer was “probably not.” Please watch, and sign the petition.
Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging the president to deny the construction permit here.
And new this week from CREDO Action,  “Tell Oprah: Stop promoting dirty tar sands lies on your network.”  Oprah Winfrey is a respected voice for advancing the rights and lives of women all over the world. But now she is allowing that work to be co-opted, by validating a dangerous campaign of flat out lies that promote the development of the Canadian tar sands on her network. Read the petition, and sign with an e-mail here.
In the Final Environmental Impact Statement, the Obama administration “removed a major roadblock to a planned $7 billion oil pipeline from western Canada to the Texas coast” saying that the project is unlikely to cause significant environmental problems during construction or operation. The EIS is 1,200 pages. Early AP coverage is here.  Lincoln Journal Star coverage is here.  The New York Times called the EIS “a crucial green light” to the 1,711-mile tar sands pipeline. The Department of State said it was eliminating route alternatives from further consideration! Read the BOLD Nebraska response to the FEIS here.
A background document on the FEIS by the Natural Resources Defense Council mailed to grouplists September 2nd summarizes the bottom line: “1) There is ample evidence that Keystone XL will cause an increase in tar sands oil extraction and significant harm to climate, wildlife, water and health. 2) The pipeline will risk health and safety through oil spills as well as water and air pollution. 3) The State Department’s finding that the pipeline will cause “no significant impact” is flawed. 4) The FEIS is lacking in several areas including an expert study on safety impact, clean energy alternatives to the pipeline, a serious review of an alternative path avoiding the Nebraska Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer, climate change impacts, and an on-the-ground study or refinery pollution in Port Arthur and Houston.” Ken Winston’s response for Nebraska Sierra, “Final Environmental Impact Statement Flawed” is here.  Please take a moment to call the White House and tell the President to deny the permit to build this pipeline.  The White House Switchboard number is 202.456.1111.
Department of State Public Hearings following the final EIS will offer the final opportunity to speak for preservation of Our land and water. Randy Thompson and the entire Coalition of groups taking action to Save the Sand Hills will now focus on fostering a large presence at the two Nebraska hearings.  Please mark your calendars now for Tuesday, September 27, 2011, at Pershing Center, 226 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, 12:00pm – 3:30pm, and 4:00pm – 8:00pm; and Thursday, September 29, 2011, West Holt High School, 100 North Main Street, Atkinson, Nebraska, 4:30pm – 10:00pm.
The Omaha World-Herald editorialized “Protect this Special Gift,” a strong statement for rerouting the pipeline. “The Ogallala Aquifer is a special gift to Nebraskans. Nebraskans have a special responsibility to protect it. Allowing an oil sands pipeline to cross the heart of that aquifer poses a potential threat to a unique natural resource. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline should be rerouted.” And a Lincoln Journal Star Op-Ed September 2nd called for a strong public presence at the scheduled State Department hearings. Although that day’s editorial is not online, it says “We hope senators continue the effort to establish stronger state control before it’s too late.” The editorial board first wrote “Reroute Keystone LX pipeline around Sand Hills” on September 28, 2010.
From “Pipeline Protests: Beyond the Usual Suspects,” by Madeline Ostrander, Yes! Magazine, in TruthOut August 29th, “Several months ago, John Stansbury, a soft-spoken professor from Omaha, Nebraska, took his 12-year-old grandson to a public meeting to discuss Keystone XL, the proposed mega-pipeline that would carry oil from Canada across his home state to the Gulf of Mexico. At the time, Stansbury knew almost nothing about the pipeline and had never done anything particularly political. ‘I’m not really an activist,’ he says, a bit sheepishly. But he wanted his grandson to ‘see democracy at work.’ The 61-year-old civil engineer also happens to be an expert in the transport of hazardous materials. And as he learned more about Keystone XL, he saw a disaster in the making. After the meeting, Stansbury began poring over official risk assessments of the pipeline and thought they grossly underestimated the probability of a spill. He was so troubled that he did something he’s never done before—he courted media attention. He drafted an independent report on the pipeline, asked the organization Friends of the Earth to help announce his findings, and held a press conference. He predicts the pipeline could have approximately 91 significant spills over the next 50 years—eight times as many as the energy company TransCanada estimated. …The pipeline could be a rare moment for Obama to act on his commitment to post-partisan politics, make good on his promise to act on climate change, and stop one of the world’s most environmentally disastrous projects.” Read here.
In “3 Reasons Why the Tar Sands Pipeline Has to be Stopped,” Janet Redman writes “why the pipeline is truly idiotic and why I’m willing to get arrested to stop it.” The AlterNet article begins “The latest bone-headed move by the fossil fuel industry to build a pipeline across the United States is testing my patience. And I’m someone who’s seen a lot of really dumb environmental behavior. …For all the oil money in politics — and there’s about $24 million of it in Congress — I still hold out the hope that with a little help from his friends Obama will see the Keystone XL pipeline expansion as a really stupid idea. Obama’s no dummy. He knows that increasing national energy security means reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. He knows that we don’t have extra money lying around to clean up spills and foot the bill for health impacts. And he knows that building a clean, renewable energy economy in the United States would create millions of jobs.” The complete article is here.
A great new Huffington Post “Keystone XL Pipeline Infograph: Built to Spill,” was posted August 28th. Emma Pullman of DeSmogBlog and Heather Libby of TckTckTck created the infographic. Their statement provided the following description: “TransCanada says their Keystone pipelines are the safest on the continent. But what about those 12 spills in the past year? Since its operation began in June of 2010, the Keystone 1 pipeline has suffered more spills than any other 1st year pipeline in US history, a track record which does not bode well for the proposed Keystone XL which tracks across one of the largest aquifers in the world – the Ogalalla – which supplies drinking water to millions of mid-Westerners and provides 30% of the nation’s groundwater used for irrigation. The Keystone pipeline map shows the spills documented in TransCanada’s publicly released safety records alongside the proposed route for Keystone XL, indicating key risk areas near waterways and major metropolitan areas.” Please click here to view this new infograph.
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.)
The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him with thanks for his letter to the President and Secretary of State, ask him to call a special session of the legislature, and also contact your own senator requesting he or she joins Ken Haar in seeking a special session. Continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska.  And please plan to be at the Department of State Public Hearings in Lincoln, Tuesday, September 27th at Pershing Center, 12:00pm – 3:30pm, and 4:00pm – 8:00pm; and Thursday, September 29th at West Holt High School in Atkinson, 4:30pm – 10:00pm.  E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. New armbands that say “Sandhills and Ogallala Aquifer Lover” and “Pipeline Fighter” will be ready for the State Department hearings.
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.

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.

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

SCROLL 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.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

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.

CROPS FARM WALK AND SOUP SUPPER . . . Friday, September 9, 2011, 5:00 to 7:00pm, Community CROPS will host a tour of Sunset Community Farm, SW 40th and F Streets, and an all-you-can-eat soup supper. There will be kids activities, live music, and a chance to meet growers with food to sample and vegetables to sell. Click here to purchase tickets.

BIRDING AT INDIAN CAVE . . . Sign up by Friday, September 9, 2011, 5:00pm, for a birding day at Indian Cave State Park hosted by Nebraska Game and Parks Commission staff on Thursday, September 15th. Meet at the Park Entrance 10 miles south of Brownville in Nemaha County, 8:00am. A park entry permit is required. Lunch will be served for a small fee, or bring your own. Contact Grant Powell, 402.471.5631, or e-mail ngpc [dot] southeast [dot] partner [at] nebraska [dot] gov with any questions. Click here for more details in a Lincoln Journal Star article.

IOWA PSR SYMPOSIUM . . . Friday, September 9 through Sunday September 11, 2011, the Iowa Chapter of Physicians for Social Responsibility will hold a Symposium at the energy-independent Arbor Day Farms Lied Conference Center, Nebraska City, on the Missouri River about 40 miles south of Omaha. Click here for the Program Schedule of “Advancing the Right to Health on a Sick Planet: Redefining Security & the Role of Militarism in a Changing Climate.”

DIG DEEPER FARM TOUR . . . Open Harvest has invited the entire community to visit four area farms on Saturday, September 10, 2011, 12:00 to 5:00pm. This year’s Frist Annual Dig Deeper Farm Tour, will include Branched Oak Farm, Raymond; Common Good Farm, Raymond; Caruso-Rozzano Farms, Lincoln; and Robinette Farms, Martell. Click here [pdf]  to view the brochure.

WEEKLY WALKABOUTS AT WILDERNESS PARK . . . Friends of Wilderness Park is hosting weekly hikes through the Park, led by Adam Hintz, starting at 1:00pm every Saturday, now through October. Each week will focus on a different area, highlighting the diversity of life in the Park. Hikes will start in parking lots according to the following schedule: the first and second Saturday of the month, meet at the Pioneers Boulevard entrance; the third Saturday, meet at Old Cheney Road; the fourth Saturday, meet at 14th Street north of Rokeby Road; and every fifth Saturday, the hike will start at Saltillo Road east of the Jamaica Trail. For more information, contact Adam at 402.421.8464.

LINCOLN FARMERS MARKETS . . . The Haymarket Farmers Market is open every Saturday, 8:00am to noon, in the Haymarket District at 7th & P Streets. Expect to find more than 120 vendors with fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items plus a performance showcase featuring local folk, jazz, blues and classical music. The Market continues through October 15th. Every Sunday, from 10:00am to 2:00pm, the Old Cheney Road Farmers Market at 5500 Old Cheney Road features in-season heirloom and traditional produce, artisan breads and cheeses, homemade baked goods, wild-crafted and traditional jams, jelly, honey, meats, fish, eggs, and bedding plants. The Piedmont Farmers Market is open Saturdays, 8:00am to noon, at 1265 South Cotner, through mid-September. Saturday Farmers Markets at the FARM, 11855 Yankee Hill Road, 9:00am to noon, run until October 29th. Community CROPS, 1551 South 2nd Street, has garden pick-up 4:00 to 6:00pm Monday and Thursday, May 23 through October 20. Through mid-September, a Wednesday market in University Place is open from 3:00 to 7:00pm at the former Green’s Plumbing site, 48th & Madison Streets. Thursday’s market from 4:00 to 8:00pm at Fallbrook Town Square Park on the corner of Fallbrook Blvd. between NW Sixth and Seventh Streets will be open through October 13th. Check an interactive map of Lincoln’s Farmers Markets, Farms and Community Supported Agriculture programs, and learn more about markets, CSAs, and local farms at the Buy Fresh, Buy Local Facebook page.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

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.  For September 7th a special film tribute to the American labor movement is planned. From the website:  “We are in the process of carefully selecting JUST the right film, so please check back soon as we know we’ll find it. Where would we be without the brave forebears of today’s labor unions, the ones who paved the way? Learn all about it on Sept. 7, after the BBQ and the downtown parade. Stay tuned!”  The event is always free and open to the public. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

CAN YOU EXPLAIN THE INSANITY IN WASHINGTON? . . . The next Progressive Omaha meeting will be Saturday, September 10, 2011, 6:00 to 9:00pm, in a new location at 1517 North Happy Hollow Blvd. (mapquest:) There will be a potluck supper from 6:00 to 7:00, discussion on the topic of what’s happening in Washington with Hank Van den Berg from 7:00 to 8:00pm, and business/continued discussion until 9:00pm. Van den Berg, a UN-L Economics professor, is just returned from two international conferences in Nottingham and Oxford. He will offer thoughts on the economics implications of recent events in DC. For more information, e-mail Karen Abrams, kabrams123 [at] cox [dot] net

GREEN BELLEVUE MEETING . . .  The next meeting of Green Bellevue will be Sunday, September 11, 2011, 1:30 to 3:30pm, at Bellevue Public Library, Galvin Road near Bellevue East High School.  A Nebraska Wildlife Federation speaker will discuss the Keystone XL pipeline.  Learn more about the XL threat to our fragile ecosystem in Nebraska.

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.

BENSON COMMUNITY GARDEN . . . Omaha’s newest community garden is at 60th & Lafayette, at the south side of the historic Benson neighborhood. For more information, phone 402.714.0290 or e-mail goetzinger2 [at] cox [dot] net. To get involved, or help support the garden, please register here.

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 . . . Saturday was the last day of sit-ins at the White House in opposition to the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer.   A petition with 617,428 names opposing the pipeline was delivered to the White House at the end of the sit-ins and arrests.  Click on the Tar Sands Action website for final press releases, photos and videos.
350.org leader and protest organizer Bill McKibben wrote from the White House lawn: “In front of me there’s a sprawling rally underway, with speakers ranging from indigenous elders to the great Canadian writer Naomi Klein. In back of me, another 243 courageous people are being hauled away to jail — it’s the last day of Phase 1 of the tar sands campaign, and 1,252 North Americans have been arrested, the biggest civil disobedience action this century on this continent.  But we’ve been just as cheered by the help that has poured in from around the world — today, activists in front of the White House held a banner with a huge number on it: 618,428. That’s how many people around the world who signed on to the “Stop the Tar Sands” mega-petition to President Obama.” Check out photos of passion and courage on display here.
“Over 1,000 Arrested While Protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline” by Sarah Alexander, sourced from Food and Water Watch by AlterNet, September 2, 2011 begins “One of the largest acts of civil disobedience in the environmental movement is underway as over 1,000 people have been arrested in front of the White House while gathering to oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline. The pipeline, which will extend from the Athabasca tar sands of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, is a threat to our environment and threatens the drinking water of millions of people in its path. …Add your voice to the over 250,000 people that have already petitioned the president to deny the construction permit.
“Naomi Klein Arrested in Oil Sands Protest,” by Mitch Potter of The Toronto Star was published in Reader Supported News September 3rd. It also begins “More than 1,000 people have been busted at the gates of the White House the past two weeks, as the most ambitious of climate protests against Canadian oil comes to a head. Toronto author and activist Naomi Klein was not planning to be among them. …Yet there was Klein on Friday, being led away by police in the latest harvest of detainees after a last-second decision to put her liberty on the line in opposition to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.”  See the photo and read the article here.
Local PeaceMaker and Green Party supporter Carol Smith hosted riders on buses from California and Texas, and then began the trip East to pick up others along the way in caravan to the White House. Carol’s pre-trip Local View for the LJS, “I Will be Sitting in Front of the White House,” is here. It was picked up by Common Dreams here.  On Thursday, September 1st, a photo of Carol being arrested ran in LJS with a column by Cindy Lange-Kubick reporting on Carol’s activism. A blog about the caravan’s experiences on the road, with photos, is here. Thank You Carol!
In the news this past week was Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman’s letter to the President and Secretary of State asking them to deny a permit to TransCanada for the proposed route through the Sand Hills and the Ogalalla Aquifer. The Omaha World-Herald covered the letter here, and Lincoln Journal Star reporting is here.
A September 2nd Steve White report on NTV, “Special Session Urged Over Pipeline Route” began “Now that Governor Dave Heineman has come out against the proposed route of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, farm groups call for a special session of the unicameral. Nebraska Farmers Union has been talking with ag producers during the state fair. They credit the governor for listening to their concerns about putting the pipeline through the Sandhills. Now NFU President John Hansen calls on the legislature to act. He said, “The ball really is in the legislature’s court. So the legislature needs to go into special session so they can deal with issues and authority of siting and routing.”
A Sunday, September 4th letter to the Lincoln Journal Star editor by Jim Knopik of Belgrade, NE. also asks the governor to “Call special session on Keystone.” It begins “Wednesday morning I heard some great news. Gov. Dave Heineman wrote a letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton opposing the Keystone XL pipeline, but he continues to drag his own feet, saying the ball is in the hands of our federal government. Sen. Ben Nelson, on the other hand, said Gov. Heineman could do something about making TransCanada reroute the pipeline. Personally, I believe all of them could do something, but won’t. The letter is here.
“Dismayed by Heineman,” a LJS letter by Vernon Forbes published August 18th begins “I was dismayed that Governor Dave Heineman will not call for a special session of the Legislature to protect the Ogallala Aquifer, even though he admits that a majority of Nebraskans (including himself) believe that the Keystone XL Pipeline should not go through the Sandhills. He believes this should have been taken care of in the regular session, that a special session is too expensive, and that the votes to pass a bill are not there. During the regular session, the senators did not feel they had the authority to determine a pipeline’s route through the state. It is now clear they do have that authority, and Senator Ken Haar is trying to make that correction.” The letter continues here.
Several Nebraska groups have formed a coalition named Save Our Sand Hills for the purpose of calling for a special session to re-route the pipeline away from the Sand Hills.  Call your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session of the legislature. We have no legal petition route to calling a special session. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from constituents.
In the Final Environmental Impact Statement, the Obama administration “removed a major roadblock to a planned $7 billion oil pipeline from western Canada to the Texas coast” saying that the project is unlikely to cause significant environmental problems during construction or operation. The EIS is 1,200 pages. Early AP coverage is here.  Lincoln Journal Star coverage is here.  The New York Times called the EIS “a crucial green light” to the 1,711-mile tar sands pipeline. The Department of State said it was eliminating route alternatives from further consideration! Read the BOLD Nebraska response to the FEIS here.
A background document on the FEIS by the Natural Resources Defense Council mailed to grouplists September 2nd summarizes the bottom line: “1) There is ample evidence that Keystone XL will cause an increase in tar sands oil extraction and significant harm to climate, wildlife, water and health. 2) The pipeline will risk health and safety through oil spills as well as water and air pollution. 3) The State Department’s finding that the pipeline will cause “no significant impact” is flawed. 4) The FEIS is lacking in several areas including an expert study on safety impact, clean energy alternatives to the pipeline, a serious review of an alternative path avoiding the Nebraska Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer, climate change impacts, and an on-the-ground study or refinery pollution in Port Arthur and Houston.” Ken Winston’s response for Nebraska Sierra, “Final Environmental Impact Statement Flawed” is here.  Please take a moment to call the White House and tell the President to deny the permit to build this pipeline.  The White House Switchboard number is 202.456.1111.
Department of State Public Hearings following the final EIS will offer the final opportunity to speak for preservation of Our land and water. Randy Thompson and the entire Coalition of groups taking action to Save the Sand Hills will now focus on fostering a large presence at the two Nebraska hearings.  Please mark your calendars now: Tuesday, September 27, 2011: Pershing Center, 226 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, 12:00 pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 8:00 pm; and Thursday, September 29, 2011: West Holt High School, 100 North Main Street, Atkinson, Nebraska, 4:30 pm – 10:00 pm.
Sunday, August 28th, the Omaha World-Herald editorialized “Protect this Special Gift,” a strong statement for rerouting the pipeline. “The Ogallala Aquifer is a special gift to Nebraskans. Nebraskans have a special responsibility to protect it. Allowing an oil sands pipeline to cross the heart of that aquifer poses a potential threat to a unique natural resource. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline should be rerouted.” And a Lincoln Journal Star Op-Ed September 2nd called for a strong public presence at the scheduled State Department hearings. Although that day’s editorial is not online, it says “We hope senators continue the effort to establish stronger state control before it’s too late.” The editorial board first wrote “Reroute Keystone LX pipeline around Sand Hills” on September 28, 2010.
In a LJS letter to the editor published September 3rd, Joyce Petit asks the following questions: “Have any of our elected officials asked TransCanada to change the route? Have any of our elected officials asked for a guarantee that the United States will get a certain amount of that oil? Have any of the elected officials asked TransCanada to give each state a superfund to pay for the damage when/if there are spills/leaks? Have any of our elected officials asked how many of the “thousands” of jobs will be permanent? How many of the jobs will be for only a few months? Will TransCanada bring its own trained/skilled pipe workers to do the high-paying jobs? Will the company create high-paying jobs all along the pipeline route?” Continuing, she writes “Elected officials seem to be so mesmerized by all the money hanging out of TransCanada’s pockets they can’t think straight. They were elected to protect the citizens and the environment of the United States, not a foreign company. Our Nebraska elected officials should be demanding that the route be changed. After all, the state elected officials are the ones who are supposed to dictate what happens in the state, not TransCanada.”
“No to TransCanada,” a letter from Elke Roby, reveals new information most of us probably hadn’t noticed: “I was wondering how many folks are aware that if they go to the Nebraska State Fair, they would be accepting money from TransCanada.  On the State Fair’s website, TransCanada is listed as one of the four big sponsors.  Does TransCanada think it can buy our goodwill by sponsoring our fair? I, for one, am not willing to take TransCanada’s blood money.”
A Bill McKibben article published in the Daily Beast, “Global Warming’s Heavy Cost,” says “Hurricane Irene’s dangerous power can be traced to global warming -— and Obama is at fault for his failed leadership on the environment.”
From “Pipeline Protests: Beyond the Usual Suspects,” by Madeline Ostrander, Yes! Magazine, in TruthOut August 29th, “Several months ago, John Stansbury, a soft-spoken professor from Omaha, Nebraska, took his 12-year-old grandson to a public meeting to discuss Keystone XL, the proposed mega-pipeline that would carry oil from Canada across his home state to the Gulf of Mexico. At the time, Stansbury knew almost nothing about the pipeline and had never done anything particularly political. ‘I’m not really an activist,’ he says, a bit sheepishly. But he wanted his grandson to ‘see democracy at work.’ The 61-year-old civil engineer also happens to be an expert in the transport of hazardous materials. And as he learned more about Keystone XL, he saw a disaster in the making. After the meeting, Stansbury began poring over official risk assessments of the pipeline and thought they grossly underestimated the probability of a spill. He was so troubled that he did something he’s never done before—he courted media attention. He drafted an independent report on the pipeline, asked the organization Friends of the Earth to help announce his findings, and held a press conference. He predicts the pipeline could have approximately 91 significant spills over the next 50 years—eight times as many as the energy company TransCanada estimated. …The pipeline could be a rare moment for Obama to act on his commitment to post-partisan politics, make good on his promise to act on climate change, and stop one of the world’s most environmentally disastrous projects.” Read the article here.
“Nebraska Landowners vs. TransCanada’s Pipeline,” by Bradley Olson, published September 1st in Businessweek, quotes Omaha lawyer David Domina, whose firm studied the Keystone proposal, saying “it is hard to imagine local judges and juries in eminent domain cases—both in initial stages and on appeal—siding with a Canadian company against their neighbors. Eventually, the judges will have to face a public vote.” Read page 1 of 2 here.
In “3 Reasons Why the Tar Sands Pipeline Has to be Stopped,” Janet Redman writes “why the pipeline is truly idiotic and why I’m willing to get arrested to stop it.” The AlterNet article begins “The latest bone-headed move by the fossil fuel industry to build a pipeline across the United States is testing my patience. And I’m someone who’s seen a lot of really dumb environmental behavior. …For all the oil money in politics — and there’s about $24 million of it in Congress — I still hold out the hope that with a little help from his friends Obama will see the Keystone XL pipeline expansion as a really stupid idea. Obama’s no dummy. He knows that increasing national energy security means reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. He knows that we don’t have extra money lying around to clean up spills and foot the bill for health impacts. And he knows that building a clean, renewable energy economy in the United States would create millions of jobs.” The complete article is here.
A great new Huffington Post “Keystone XL Pipeline Infograph: Built to Spill,” was posted August 28th. Emma Pullman of DeSmogBlog and Heather Libby of TckTckTck created the infographic. Their statement provided the following description: “TransCanada says their Keystone pipelines are the safest on the continent. But what about those 12 spills in the past year? Since its operation began in June of 2010, the Keystone 1 pipeline has suffered more spills than any other 1st year pipeline in US history, a track record which does not bode well for the proposed Keystone XL which tracks across one of the largest aquifers in the world – the Ogalalla – which supplies drinking water to millions of mid-Westerners and provides 30% of the nation’s groundwater used for irrigation. The Keystone pipeline map shows the spills documented in TransCanada’s publicly released safety records alongside the proposed route for Keystone XL, indicating key risk areas near waterways and major metropolitan areas.” Please click here to view this new infograph.
“Cornhuskers vs Dirty Oil” is a new four part YouTube video by Nebraska Greens featuring a great original song to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies; interviews with Senators Dubas, Fulton, Avery, and Coash; clips from the rally at the capitol, and great quotes from Raymond Joe Moller, a Douglas, NE resident with family property near Central City. Thanks to John Carlini, Shari Schwartz, and Anthony DiCostanzo for production. View Part 1 of 4 here.
As Nebraska’s National Geographic contributing photographer Joel Sartore wrote in a Journal Star Local View, please contact “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.)
The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him with thanks for his letter to the President and Secretary of State, ask him to call a special session of the legislature, and also contact your own senator requesting he or she joins Ken Haar in seeking a special session. Continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and 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. New armbands that say “Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer Lover” and “Pipeline Fighter” will be ready for the State Department public hearings.
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.

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.

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