All posts by Shane Pekny

Lawmakers OK proposals to plan for climate change, boost wind energy

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

Environmentalists notched a pair of victories in the Nebraska Legislature on Wednesday, with measures aimed at boosting wind energy development and preparing the state for the effects of climate change.

More people are beginning to acknowledge climate change exists, said Sen. Ken Haar of Malcolm, a longtime champion of environmental issues.

“I think that’s progress,” he said.

Haar’s proposal establishing a special panel of lawmakers to examine climate change was adopted on a 28-3 vote. Because the resolution doesn’t carry the weight of law, it does not require approval from Gov. Pete Ricketts.

The wind energy bill sponsored by Omaha Sen. John McCollister overcame a filibuster for the second time to pass on a 34-10 vote, and now awaits the governor’s OK.

Both measures faced some opposition.

Read the full story.

LJS Editorial: The only way to “fix” the death penalty is to end it

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

Before voters go to the polls on Nov. 8 to vote on whether they want to put the death penalty back on the books in Nebraska, they ought to think about the learning process undergone by Christy Sheppard.

If voters are able to put themselves in her shoes, they too are likely to reach the same conclusion Sheppard did: the death penalty should be abolished.

Sheppard shared her story last week in appearances in Omaha, Grand Island, Kearney and Hastings.

Sheppard was a supporter of the death penalty when here cousin was raped and murdered in 1982.

She was a supporter of the death penalty when two men were arrested in 1987 and charged with murdering her cousin. Upon conviction, Ron Williamson was sentenced to death, and Dennis Fritz was sentenced to life in prison.

Then 11 years later DNA testing proved that Williamson and Fritz had been wrongfully convicted.

Read the full editorial.

Get involved in the campaign to end Nebraska’s death penalty once and for all.

Unicameral Approves Protections Against Fracking Waste, Reforms at Oil & Gas Commission

From BOLD Nebraska:

Bold Nebraska applauds the Nebraska Legislature today for approving LB 1082 by a 48-0-1 vote, a bill to reform the Nebraska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission (NOGCC) and put stronger protections for our water and land in place against fracking waste.

Although Bold Nebraska believes the bill could have gone much farther, LB 1082 is a step in the right direction.

“Citizens stood up and demanded more transparency on risky fracking waste being dumped into our land and water,” said Bold Nebraska director Jane Kleeb. “Wastewater injection wells are the result other state’s reckless fracking practices and should be banned. While we did not achieve everything citizens think must happen to protect our land and water, we once again took a major step forward, because every day folks are standing up to Big Oil.”

Read more about the impact of LB 1082.

Join a discussion about the future of wind energy in Lancaster County

From the Nebraska League of Conservation Voters:

On Monday, March 28, from 6 to 7:30 p.m. at the Hardin Hall Auditorium (3310 Holdrege St., Lincoln), a coalition of community leaders will participate in a panel discussion about the benefits of wind power, and the anti-wind policies that have prevented wind development in Nebraska. The panel will discuss the recent vote taken by the Lancaster County Board of Commissioners that effectively prohibits the development of wind energy in Lancaster County. They will discuss the implications of that decision and how the coalition plans to get that decision reversed. The panel is hosted by the Nebraska League of Conservation Voters (NLCV) and is free and open to the public.

Those who are participating in the panel discussion include:

  • Senator Ken Haar, Nebraska State Senator for Legislative District 21
  • Lancaster County Commissioner Bill Avery, former State Senator for Legislative District 28
  • John Hansen, President of the Nebraska Farmers Union
  • John Markey, Business Manager and Financial Secretary for the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers Local 265
  • Greg Schwaninger, Lancaster County Landowner
  • Eliot Bostar, Executive Director of the Nebraska League of Conservation Voters

Read more and register for the event.

People’s Film Festival Upcoming Shows

As always, the People’s Film Festival is held at First Unitarian Church, 31st and Harney streets, Omaha, at 7 p.m. Note that the schedule has changed from Tuesdays to Mondays.

1913: Seeds of Conflict (Thursday 3/24): 1913 examines a critical yet overlooked moment of transformation in Palestine, long before the Balfour Declaration and British Mandate period usually considered the matchstick for today’s ongoing struggles. It was a time when identities were fluid and few Arabs or Jews living there could imagine the conflict that would engulf their region for the next century.

Feeding Frenzy: The Food Industry, Marketing & the Creation of a Health Crisis (Monday 4/4): Over the past three decades, obesity rates in the U.S. have more than doubled for children and tripled for adolescents — and a startling 70% of adults are now obese or overweight. The result has been a widening epidemic of obesity-related health problems, including coronary heart disease, high blood pressure, stroke, and Type 2 diabetes. While discussions about this spiraling health crisis have tended to focus on the need for more exercise and individual responsibility, Feeding Frenzy trains its focus squarely on the responsibility of the processed food industry and the outmoded government policies it benefits from. It lays bare how taxpayer subsidies designed to feed hungry Americans during the Great Depression have enabled the food industry to flood the market with a rising tide of cheap, addictive, high-calorie food products, and offers an engrossing look at the tactics of the multibillion-dollar marketing machine charged with making sure that every one of those surplus calories is consumed. Features industry analysts, health experts, and advertising scholars, including Marion Nestle, Kelly Brownell, Sut Jhally, Brian Wansink, and Michele Simon.

Call of Life (Monday 4/18): Call of Life is the first feature-length documentary to fully investigate the growing threat posed by the rapid and massive loss of biodiversity on the planet. Featuring leading scientists, social scientists, environmentalists and others, the film explores the scope, the causes, and the predicted global impact of a mass extinction occurring on a scale not seen since the disappearance of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago. If current trends continue, scientists warn that half or more of all plant and animal species on Earth will become extinct within the next few decades. Entirely caused by human activities, this contemporary mass extinction is disrupting and destroying the complex, interconnected biological systems that support life on earth. Through interviews with eminent biologists and ecologists, the film examines the primary drivers of species loss: habitat destruction, global warming, pollution, and invasive species, all compounded by the expanding human population and our consumption patterns.

GMO-OMG (Monday 5/2): This provocative documentary follows one father’s search for answers to the question “What are we feeding our families?” and examines the risks of consuming genetically modified foods, or GMOs. Features Jeremy Seifert.

Charles E. Richardson: 1935-2016

Founding Co-chair of the Nebraska Green Party, Dr. Charles Richardson, died on Monday, March 7, 2016, in Hastings. Thank you, Charles, for your early Green Party support, your tireless District 3 work gathering hundreds of signatures in each petition campaign, convening meetings, and providing NGP visibility where we needed it most. Members of the Nebraska Green Party extend sympathy to your family and friends.

Read Charles’ obituary.

LJS Editorial: Reconsider noise restrictions for wind turbines

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

The Lancaster County Board should heed the request of a local coalition that it take another look at the super-strict noise limits it approved last year for wind turbines.

As John Hansen, president of the Nebraska Farmers Union, told the board last week, the regulations “make it next to impossible to develop wind energy in our county.”

The county board’s action takes a sizable bite out of property rights, and imposes an undue regulatory burden on industry.

The new regulations set a noise limit of 40 decibels in the day and 37 at night for wind turbines.

To put the limit in perspective, the board members probably exceeded the daytime limits in their own meeting room when they were discussing the issue.

Read the full editorial.

People’s Film Festival March 15 in Omaha

The next People’s Film Festival showing is next Tuesday, March 15 , at 7 p.m. at First Unitarian Church, 3114 Harney Street, Omaha. The film is “Pay 2 Play,” which documents filmmaker John Ennis’ quest to find a way out of the system where politicians reward their donors with ever larger sums from the public treasury. The topic could not be more timely!

Watch 2:15-minute trailer.

Super Tuesday: The empire strikes back, but the rebellion lives

From Jill Stein and Jill2016.com:

Super Tuesday was a big win for oligarchy, as the Democratic Party establishment delivered over 60% of available delegates for Hillary Clinton and billionaire demagogue Donald Trump stomped to victory in 8 states.

But despite the dominance of Clinton and Trump, the millions of votes for Bernie Sanders show that Americans are hungry for sweeping changes to a broken system that’s throwing workers, students, the middle class and the poor under the bus.

I agree with Bernie and his supporters that we must take our democracy back from the billionaires, win economic justice for the 99%, confront the existential threat of climate meltdown, adopt an improved Medicare For All healthcare system, provide a welcoming path to citizenship, and end racist violence in our criminal justice system.

On many issues, we must go further – for example, by canceling all student loan debt, urgently transitioning to 100% clean renewable energy by 2030, nationalizing the Federal Reserve, and reforming the electoral system with measures like proportional representation. And we must roll back the military-industrial-surveillance complex that is undermining our liberty and security while bankrupting us financially and morally.

Read more at Jill2016.com.