Category Archives: Green Notes

Green Notes Week of December 9, 2012

December 9, 2012Green Notesgreenone

12.12.12: Gateway Day to Healing for the World. Wednesday, December 12, 2012, at 12:12pm, people worldwide will be sharing the experience of Realignment with Our Collective Consciousness as Humans. This Recalibration prepares the world for winter solstice, December 21, 2012, the heralded, prophesied “ascension” for spiritual alignment. In Nebraska, the end of this 26,000 year cycle will be observed with a Program of original music, readings and guided meditation in the chapel of First-Plymouth Church, 2000 D Street, Lincoln, beginning exactly at noon on 12.12.12. Joining with an unprecedented World Meditation and Planetary Transmission, we will create a living field of powerful loving energy for Our Collective Shift to the Heart. The December 8th Lincoln Journal-Star article about 12.12.12 is here. EveryOne is invited to participate, either in person, or in Spirit. For more information, e-mail mjberry [at] inebraska [dot] com.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

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.

WACHISKA HOLIDAY PARTY . . . Thursday, December 13, 2012, the annual Wachiska Audubon Holiday Party will be at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 8320 South Street, Lincoln, starting at 6:15pm. Jeff Kurrus, nature writer and photographer, will present “Writing with a Camera,” featuring photos from NEBRASKAland Magazine and his collaboration with Michael Forsberg about sandhill cranes, Have You Seen Mary? Ernie Rousek will be honored as the first recipient of the Spring Creek Prairie Audubon Center Tallgrass Prairie Champion Award for his 40 years of prairie conservation work. All are welcome at this free potluck.

OCCUPY EDUCATION LINCOLN . . . Occupy Education Lincoln and the Calvary United Methodist Church, 1610 South 11th Street, Lincoln, (corner of South 11th and Garfield Streets) will hold weekly Workshop/Skills Teaching Sessions, The Repair Cafe, every Thursday, starting at 5:30pm. (The time coincides with the start of FoodNet.) Toss It? No Way! Fix it, find another use, use some of its parts, recycle it, and say no to the throw away culture. Everything and everyone has value. We must discover the value. For more information, contact Barbara van den Berg, 402.488.6926, barbvandenberg [at] hotmail [dot] com.

OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . There is a calendar of Occupy Lincoln events here. The Facebook page is here. The Twitter feed is @OccupyLincoln. For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. Corporate Greed is Revolution’s Seed!

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, December 12, 2012, the film will be “Frontline: College Inc.” investigating the $400 Billion business of higher education. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at the northwest corner of 72nd and Dodge Streets in Omaha. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store lot. Contact Steve Horn, 402.426.9068, for more information about Saturday vigils.

ATM LEAFLETTING IN OMAHA . . . An Alternatives To the Military supporter who lives in Omaha would like to put together and participate in a local leafletting group there. She wants to start small–maybe leafletting at just one or two schools. If you have an interest in joining a Omaha ATM group, please contact Kevin Haake, atmlincoln [at] gmail [dot] com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE.
Leafletting in Omaha.

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 at http://www.engageomaha.com/.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . The Sisters of Mercy West Midwest Community was one of the first to promote action in response to the outrageous conflict of interest of the president’s choice for US Secretary of State, Susan Rice, who holds millions of dollars of stock in Canadian energy companies and banks that will profit tremendously if the Keystone XL pipeline is built. If confirmed by the Senate, one of Rice’s first duties likely would be consideration, and potentially approval, of the controversial mega-project. Did they think we wouldn’t find out?
Action Alert: Please send a message to President Obama expressing deep concern about UN Ambassador Susan Rice’s blatant conflict of interest within the next few days at the Roots Action website.
To read more about this issue, click here and here. Act in harmony and interdependence with all creation.
Reader Supported News reported “Susan Rice Has a Major Financial Stake in Canadian Tar Sands,” November 28, 2012: “Susan Rice, the candidate believed to be favored by President Obama to become the next Secretary of State, holds significant investments in more than a dozen Canadian oil companies and banks that would stand to benefit from expansion of the North American tar sands industry and construction of the proposed $7 billion Keystone XL pipeline.”
Meanwhile, December 5th, Art Hovey reported for the Lincoln Journal Star from Albion, Nebraska as “Hundreds show for final say on pipeline project.”
And a December 4th NebraskaWatchdog report by Deena Winter, “Passions run high at Keystone oil pipeline hearing,” estimated “800 people filled a huge metal county fairgrounds building Tuesday night to talk about a proposed $7 billion oil pipeline that would be built through Nebraska en route from Canada to Texas. A whopping 168 people signed up to testify at the hearing, which went from 6 p.m. until about 2 a.m. today. More than 100 people testified, but others left as the hour got late.” Considering the number of people who could not testify, the Department of Environmental Quality extended the comment period to 5 p.m. on Friday, December 7th.
Bold Nebraska responded with a press release, also December 4th: DEQ Hearing Doesn’t Assuage Nebraskans’ Keystone Concerns: “Last night, hundreds of anti-pipeline Nebraskans crowded the DEQ hearing room in Albion to voice their concerns about the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. That the hearing was mismanaged and kept many pipeline opponents from speaking illustrates the serious issues with Nebraska’s DEQ process. On a press call today, landowners and advocates discussed the failure of the DEQ to truly consider Nebraska’s risks, the concern that the pipeline goes along the Ponca’s Trail of Tears, and growing anti-pipeline momentum in the state.
“The fight over this export pipeline goes beyond the environment and beyond jobs,” said BOLD Nebraska Executive Director Jane Kleeb. “What is really driving this fight is the basic fundamental American principle that our families have a right to own land without a foreign company coming in and taking away.” Kleeb continued, “The so-called re-route is nothing but a PR move. The wishes of over 75% of Nebraskans, Governor Heineman and Senator Johanns have not been met. Those people asked that the pipeline avoid the Aquifer and the Sandhills. Those requests have not been met.”
“I was shocked by the lack of attendance of our elected officials,” said Nebraska landowner Randy Thompson. “This is a critical issue for our state, and our political leaders have essentially dropped this hot potato in our lap and said that it’s up to the citizens to solve it. To me, that is a shameful thing on their part—that they don’t have the courage to come and listen to the concerns of the people of NE.”
“There is no indication that DEQ has read and analyzed the legal documents of the easements,” said Nebraska Easement Action Team lawyer Brian Jorde. “If the DEQ has not analyzed each and every term of that taking of Nebraska land, how possibly can they effectively have analyzed the impacts on Nebraskans, on the people who are the collateral damage of this route that is going from Alberta to Houston? If these impacts have not been considered and evaluated, the DEQ analysis is inherently flawed.”
“Last night’s DEQ hearing showcased the deficiencies in this process,” said Sierra Club Nebraska’s Ken Winston. “Only 2.5 pages of the entire 600 pages that DEQ put together in their draft report addressed the issue of what would happen to the groundwater or Aquifer if there was a pipeline release, and there was no analysis whatsoever related to climate change or the drought that is gripping the entire state of Nebraska.” Winston continued, “If the President wants to be taken seriously on climate change, he cannot approve Keystone XL”
“The route that is currently being proposed for this pipeline passes through multiple points along the Ponca’s Trail of Tears,” said Indigenous Environmental Network’s Marty Cobenais. “There are spots along the route where they have buried their ancestors along the Trail of Tears. In fact, Nebraska’s tribes consider this entire region to be sacred, even where there aren’t burials and other sacred sites.”
For the Citizens’ Report, click here. [pdf]
Quoting Ken Winston, Nebraska Sierra Club Policy Advocate, “The Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality has numerous statutory duties to protect our air, land and water. However, the report from DEQ’s highly paid consultant looks more like an attempt to carry water for a foreign pipeline company than the critical assessment of issues required by Nebraska law to protect our natural resources. The thousands of Nebraskans who have spoken up about their concerns about this pipeline deserve better than the report that DEQ is presenting to the public. Because Nebraska law declares that we are the owners of our groundwater, we all deserve a better and more thorough examination of potential threats to our vast and vulnerable Ogallala Aquifer posed by this pipeline.”
This week, National Wildlife Federation released a report [pdf] shining a spotlight on the miserable records of Big Oil companies backing a massive expansion of tar sands pipelines in the U.S. The report warns that if the U.S. commits to thousands of miles of new pipelines, including Keystone XL, then it commits to decades of high carbon dirty fuel. The report urges policy makers to reject Keystone XL and put in place a series of incentives to spur development of clean energy. “Crude Behavior: TransCanada, Enbridge, and the Tar Sands Industry’s Tarnished Legacy,” by Peter LaFontaine, describes tar sands sludge and warns that a “veritable spider web of tar sands pipelines is being proposed to stretch to ports in British Columbia, Maine, and even others in Texas, with more likely to follow.
From “To Stop Climate Change, Students Aim at College Portfolios,” by Justin Gillis, New York Times, December 4, 2012: “…In recent weeks, college students on dozens of campuses have demanded that university endowment funds rid themselves of coal, oil and gas stocks. The students see it as a tactic that could force climate change, barely discussed in the presidential campaign, back onto the national political agenda. … Mr. McKibben’s goal is to make owning the stocks of these companies disreputable, in the way that owning tobacco stocks has become disreputable in many quarters.
…Mr. McKibben has laid out a series of demands that would get the fuel companies off 350.org’s blacklist. He wants them to stop exploring for new fossil fuels, given that they have already booked reserves about five times as large as scientists say society can afford to burn. He wants them to stop lobbying against emission policies in Washington. And he wants them to help devise a transition plan that will leave most of their reserves in the ground while encouraging lower-carbon energy sources.”
Lessons learned, by Mark Daharsh, is a December 8th Lincoln Journal Star letter to the editor: “… Those folks at TransCanada have taught me a lot about the oil market since they arrived on Nebraska soil. For example, they taught me how they have helped displace thousands of their own Native citizens by developing the boreal wetlands, releasing methane, polluting waterways, and destroying pristine wilderness and wildlife.
They taught me that the minimal rerouting of the Keystone XL pipeline still crosses a portion of the shallow aquifer.
They taught me that being a bully on the playground in Nebraska is not worth it after getting their own noses bloodied by landowners.
They taught me promising thousands of new jobs is just a form of propaganda.
They taught me this pipeline will be a conduit for only what eventually will be sales to China.
They taught me the people of their own country would not approve such a pipeline to the West Coast of Canada because of environmental concerns.
They taught me how the world now faces the very real threat of our planet warming, mainly because of burning fossil fuels.
It is time for President Obama to draw a line in the tar sands, and reject the Keystone XL pipeline. Click here to sign a CredoAction petition to President Obama. The petition reads: “If you are committed to fighting climate change, you must reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. You simply cannot have it both ways.” If you are on Facebook, click here to post the petition to your Wall. If you have a Twitter account, click here to automatically tweet:
Tell @BarackObama: You can’t have it both ways on climate change. Reject the Keystone XL pipeline.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
Dear President Obama: 171 reasons to deny the pipeline.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . 4 Scary New Finds About Fracking This Week, by Tara Lohan for Alternet, adds to the continually growing list of warnings about fracking.
From “Five Effects of Fracking You May Not Know About” by Alyssa Figueroa, AlterNet: “What comes to mind when you think of fracking? Perhaps it’s images of tap water being lit on fire or stories of families suffering health problems after nearby wells are fracked. Indeed, the health and environmental impacts of fracking are being documented, but it’s important to know that fracking is a catalyst for widespread negative consequences.” Petition Congress: “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” A new article, “Fracking Our Food Supply,” was published by Reader Supported News, and Truthout published “Fracking’s Health Calamaties Left to Fester,” both on December 1, 2012.

BUY FRESH. BUY LOCAL . . . . Farmers, gardeners, and craftspeople meet through The Nebraska Food Cooperative, an on-line, year-round farmers’ market and local food distribution service offering the best in local freshness. For ordering and pickup schedules, refer to the calendar here. Click here for products and prices from North Star Neighbors, a Cooperative member that doesn’t therapeutically medicate or unduly confine animals. Click here for Tomato Tomäto, Omaha’s year-round indoor Farmer’s Market at 156th & West Center. Shop for fresh foods grown in or very near your own community at Open Harvest, Lincoln’s member-owned natural foods retail cooperative at 1618 South Street. Buying local grows family farming, grows the local economy, and is thousands of miles fresher.

HELP NEBRASKA GREENS WITH GOODSEARCH . . . Each time you search the Internet (or shop online at a participating store), a donation can be made to Nebraska Green Party at no cost to you! To help NGP in this way, enter Nebraska Green Party where it asks you to name your cause here. Bookmark the GoodSearch Homepage, or make it your own Home Page. Enter the url you want in the GoodSearch search box. Each time you do, one penny will be donated to Nebraska Greens. THANK YOU for your support!

Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.“

Green Notes Week of December 2, 2012

December 2, 2012Green Notesgreenone

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

OPEN HOUSE WITH CITY COUNCIL CANDIDATES . . . Four people are finalists for a vacant at-large Lincoln City Council seat. There will be an open house Wednesday, December 5, 2012, 5:30 to 7:00pm, in Room 113 on the first floor of the County-City Building, 555 South 10th Street, so the public can meet applicants to fill the position being vacated.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, December 5, 2012, the film will be “Crime After Crime,” about the battle to free Debbie Peagler, an incarcerated survivor of brutal domestic violence. Watch a 2:18 minute trailer here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

ATM LEAFLETTING IN OMAHA . . . An Alternatives To the Military supporter who lives in Omaha would like to put together and participate in a local leafletting group there. She wants to start small–maybe leafletting at just one or two schools. If you have an interest in joining a Omaha ATM group, please contact Kevin Haake, atmlincoln@gmail.com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE.
Leafletting in Omaha.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . DEQ HEARING, RALLY AND LANDOWNERS MEETING: A Department of Environmental Quality hearing on the review of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline route in Nebraska will be Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 6:00pm, at the Boone County Fairground, Albion, Nebraska. It is critical that voices of opposition to the pipeline continue to be heard. This route is no better than the last one–it is still in sandy soil, it is still crossing the Aquifer, and it is still carrying tarsands and chemicals that TransCanada will not disclose. There will be a NEAT landowner meeting before the hearing, 4:00 to 5:00pm, at J’s Grill, 333 South 1St Street, Albion. And a No KXL Pipeline Rally will be from 5:00 to 5:30pm at the Boone County Fairground, in Albion. Gather at 5:00pm to hold signs before hearing. Bring homemade signs, line the streets with signs. Citizens’ voices will continue to move this pipeline right out of our state! For more information, the facebook event page is here. Sign a Pledge to Speak at the DEQ Hearing on December 4th, and find links to submit comments via e-mail.
It is time for President Obama to draw a line in the tar sands, and reject the Keystone XL pipeline. Click here to sign a CredoAction petition to President Obama. The petition reads: “If you are committed to fighting climate change, you must reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. You simply cannot have it both ways.” If you are on Facebook, click here to post the petition to your Wall. If you have a Twitter account, click here to automatically tweet: Tell @BarackObama: You can’t have it both ways on climate change. Reject the Keystone XL pipeline
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
Dear President Obama: 171 reasons to deny the pipeline.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . From “Five Effects of Fracking You May Not Know About” by Alyssa Figueroa, AlterNet, October 23rd: “What comes to mind when you think of fracking? Perhaps it’s images of tap water being lit on fire or stories of families suffering health problems after nearby wells are fracked. Indeed, the health and environmental impacts of fracking are being documented, but it’s important to know that fracking is a catalyst for widespread negative consequences.” Petition Congress: “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.”
On December 1, 2012, “Fracking Our Food Supply,” was published by Reader Supported News, and Truthout published “Fracking’s Health Calamaties Left to Fester.”

Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.“

Green Notes Week of November 25, 2012

November 25, 2012Green Notesgreenone

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

IMMIGRATION . . . Monday, November 26, 2012, 11:30am, Nebraska Appleseed Executive Director Becky Gould will discuss the “Intersection of US Immigration Policy and Human Rights” at Aldersgate United Methodist Church, 84th and South Streets, Lincoln. To reserve lunch (at 11:30) e-mail unanebraska [at] gmail [dot] com. The free program begins at noon.

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. When weather is bad, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. “It’s barbaric. It’s outlawed in all but a few extremely repressive countries like Iran, China, and not many others. It’s shameful that it continues to be performed. It’s well established that mistakes are made–yet half of our states practice pre-meditated state-sponsored murder. It’s also known that it’s not effective. So why is it done? Revenge & retribution? That’s not what our justice system is supposed to be about. It’s not an effective deterrent.” –Jill Stein, GP Presidential Nominee.

FORUM ON THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Wednesday, November 28, 2012, 7:00pm, the E.N. Thompson Forum Series will present “The Death Penalty: Justice, Retribution and Dollars” at the Lied Center for Performing Arts, 301 North 12th Street, Lincoln. Moderated by Susan Poser, Dean of UNL College of Law, speakers will be J. Kirk Brown, Nebraska Solicitor General, and Michael Radelet, University of Colorado Boulder Professor. Radelet has testified in dozens of death penalty cases, before congressional committees, and legislatures. He has worked with scores of death row inmates and works closely with families of homicide victims in Colorado. Click here for (free) ticket information. The Forum will be streamed live online at http://www.unl.edu/. Log on 10 minutes before the Forum.

GREEN HOLIDAY OPEN HOUSE . . . Sunday, December 2, 2012, 1:00 to 4:00pm, Spring Creek Prairie is partnering with Keep Lincoln and Lancaster County Beautiful for an Annual Green Holiday Open House. There will be live music, hot cider and treats, and the prairie trails will be open for a brisk winter stroll. No registration is needed for the free afternoon event. Twenty miles southwest of Lincoln near Denton, SCP Audubon Center features more than 800 acres of native tallgrass prairie. For more information, phone 402.797.2301.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

PUBLIC HEARINGS ON BLENDING 102 AND 22 . . . The Omaha City Council will hold two Public Hearings this week: Monday, November 26, 2012, 4:00pm, at the City Council Office, 1819 Farnam Street, Ste LC-1. Room to be arranged; and Tuesday, November 27, 2012, 4:00 pm, at the Swanson Library, 9101 West Dodge Road, Omaha. The City has only one channel for public access television previously utilizing two channels, channels 109 and 22. By December 4, there will be only one channel, broadcasting on the basic tier in the spot now used by Channel 22. The issue that must be decided immediately is how to create a new station blending the existing channels in a way that would best serve the people of Omaha. Your input is needed. For further information, phone Frances Mendenhall, 402.208.3717.

GREEN DRINKS . . . Omaha Green Drinks will meet from 5:30 to 8:30pm, Wednesday, November 28, 2012, at Whole Foods Market, 10020 Regency Circle, in the education room by restaurant seating, across from the coffee bar. Green Drinks social networks are now active in 695 cities worldwide.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, November 28, 2012, will be Occupy Omaha Night. Check the Progressive Omaha website for details. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

NEBRASKA SIERRA ANNUAL BANQUET . . . The Nebraska Sierra Club Annual Banquet with Bill McKibben will be from noon to 3:00pm, Saturday, December 1, 2012, at Fontenelle Nature Association’s Camp Brewster Lodge, 1313 Bellevue Blvd., Bellevue. For more information, e-mail ClydeLAnderson [at] cox [dot] net.

DO THE MATH TOUR . . . The “Do the Math” 350.org tour with Bill McKibben will continue in Omaha on Saturday, December 1, 2012, 6:00 to 9:00pm, at the Joslyn Museum, Witherspoon Concert Hall, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha. McKibben will be on a nationwide tour talking about climate, oil subsidies, and the pipeline, bringing together tens of thousands of people over one month to start an historic push to win real solutions to the climate crisis. Purchase tickets online here.

ATM LEAFLETTING IN OMAHA . . . An Alternatives To the Military supporter who lives in Omaha would like to put together and participate in a local leafletting group there. She wants to start small–maybe leafletting at just one or two schools. If you have an interest in joining a Omaha ATM group, please contact Kevin Haake, atmlincoln@gmail.com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE.
Leafletting in Omaha.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

DEQ HEARING, RALLY AND LANDOWNERS MEETING . . . A Department of Environmental Quality hearing on the review of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline route in Nebraska will be Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 6:00pm, at the Boone County Fairground, Albion, Nebraska. It is critical that voices of opposition to the pipeline continue to be heard. This route is no better than the last one–it is still in sandy soil, it is still crossing the Aquifer, and it is still carrying tarsands and chemicals that TransCanada will not disclose. There will be a NEAT landowner meeting before the hearing, 4:00 to 5:00pm, at J’s Grill, 333 South 1St Street, Albion. And a No KXL Pipeline Rally will be from 5:00 to 5:30pm at the Boone County Fairground, in Albion. Gather at 5:00pm to hold signs before hearing. Bring homemade signs, line the streets with signs. Citizens’ voices will continue to move this pipeline right out of our state! For more information, the facebook event page is here. Sign a Pledge to Speak at the DEQ Hearing on December 4th, and find links to submit comments via e-mail.

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Thousands gathered in Washington DC last Sunday, November 18, 2012, to protest the TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Read the Huffington Post coverage, with photos, calling this the “next chapter in the fight against” the pipeline. Among other media coverage, the protest was reported by Reuters,
The Globe and Mail, InsideClimate News, and MSNBC videos with Bill McKibben.
Meanwhile, as reported by Roberta Rampton, Reuters, sourced to Reader Supported News, November 19th: “A bipartisan group of senators [including Nebraska’s Mike Johanns] on Friday urged President Barack Obama to quickly issue a permit for the northern leg of the Keystone XL pipeline.” Read “Senators Turn Up Pressure on Obama to Approve Keystone Pipeline” here.
It is time for President Obama to draw a line in the tar sands, and reject the Keystone XL pipeline. Click here to sign a CredoAction petition to President Obama. The petition reads: “If you are committed to fighting climate change, you must reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. You simply cannot have it both ways.” If you are on Facebook, click here to post the petition to your Wall. If you have a Twitter account, click here to automatically tweet: Tell @BarackObama: You can’t have it both ways on climate change. Reject the Keystone XL pipeline.
SAVE THE DATES: The “Do the Math” 350.org tour with Bill McKibben will be in Omaha on Saturday, December 1, 2012, 6:00 to 9:00pm, at the Joslyn Museum Witherspoon Concert Hall, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha. See CD 2 Green Note above. Purchase tickets online here.
DEQ HEARING, RALLY AND LANDOWNERS MEETING . . . A Department of Environmental Quality hearing on the review of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline route in Nebraska will be Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 6:00pm, at the Boone County Fairground, Albion, Nebraska. It is critical that voices of opposition to the pipeline continue to be heard. This route is no better than the last one–it is still in sandy soil, it is still crossing the Aquifer, and it is still carrying tarsands and chemicals that TransCanada will not disclose. There will be a NEAT landowner meeting before the hearing, 4:00 to 5:00pm, at J’s Grill, 333 South 1St Street, Albion. And a No KXL Pipeline Rally will be from 5:00 to 5:30pm at the Boone County Fairground, in Albion. Gather at 5:00pm to hold signs before hearing. Bring homemade signs, line the streets with signs. Citizens’ voices will continue to move this pipeline right out of our state! For more information, the facebook event page is here. Sign a Pledge to Speak at the DEQ Hearing on December 4th, and find links to submit comments via e-mail.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
Dear President Obama: 171 reasons to deny the pipeline.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee.

Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.“

Green Notes Week of November 18, 2012

November 18, 2012Green Notesgreenone

FORSBERG DOCUMENTARY ON NET . . . Sunday, November 25, 2012, 8:30pm, acclaimed Nebraska photographer Michael Forsberg will be featured in a new documentary,”Great Plains: America’s Lingering Wild,” airing on NET1 and NET-HD. Watch an 11:46 minute trailer here. Forsberg explores what remains of the Great Plains wilderness in 11 states. One Nebraska segment features the annual Platte River Valley Sand Hill Crane migration. Lincoln area: Congressional District 1 VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. When weather is bad, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. “It’s barbaric. It’s outlawed in all but a few extremely repressive countries like Iran, China, and not many others. It’s shameful that it continues to be performed. It’s well established that mistakes are made–yet half of our states practice pre-meditated state-sponsored murder. It’s also known that it’s not effective. So why is it done? Revenge & retribution? That’s not what our justice system is supposed to be about. It’s not an effective deterrent.” –Jill Stein, GP Presidential Nominee. 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. OCCUPY EDUCATION LINCOLN . . . Occupy Education Lincoln and the Calvary United Methodist Church, 1610 South 11th Street, Lincoln, (corner of South 11th and Garfield Streets) will hold weekly Workshop/Skills Teaching Sessions, The Repair Cafe, every Thursday, starting at 5:30pm. (The time coincides with the start of FoodNet.) Toss It? No Way! Fix it, find another use, use some of its parts, recycle it, and say no to the throw away culture. Everything and everyone has value. We must discover the value. For more information, contact Barbara van den Berg, 402.488.6926, barbvandenberg [at] hotmail [dot] com. OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . There is a calendar of Occupy Lincoln events here. The Facebook page is here. The Twitter feed is @OccupyLincoln. For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. Corporate Greed is Revolution’s Seed! Omaha area: Congressional District 2 OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, November 21, 2012, the film will be “Lifting the Fog (Part 2),” the scientific method applied to the World Trade Center disaster. A discussion will follow the film. EveryOne is welcome. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004. OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at the northwest corner of 72nd and Dodge Streets in Omaha. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store lot. Contact Steve Horn, 402.426.9068, for more information about Saturday vigils. ATM LEAFLETTING IN OMAHA . . . An Alternatives To the Military supporter who lives in Omaha would like to put together and participate in a local leafletting group there. She wants to start small–maybe leafletting at just one or two schools. If you have an interest in joining a Omaha ATM group, please contact Kevin Haake, atmlincoln@gmail.com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE. Leafletting in Omaha. 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 at http://www.engageomaha.com/. Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3 KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Friday, November 16, 2012, AlterNet Editorial Staff reported “Disaster in the Gulf Again as Oil and Gas Rig Explodes.” The article begins “So far at least two people have been confirmed dead and two more are missing. Yesterday BP was charged with manslaughter for the 2010 Gulf disaster and today two workers on a Black Elk Energy oil and gas rig off the coast of Louisiana are dead after an explosion. NBC has reported that two more workers are missing and four others in critical condition were flown to a hospital.” From the Huffington Post, “The largest oil spill in America’s history should have been a wake-up call. If we refuse to learn from that mistake, it will become a recurring nightmare instead.” November 14th, Wildlife Promise, reported on a new poll from the National Wildlife Federation. “Keystone XL Pummeled by Clean Energy,” released results of a Zogby commissioned poll covering several climate and energy issues. “The poll, done just after the election, finds support for Keystone XL was dwarfed by voters’ desire for expanded renewable energy investments. Support for Keystone barely broke out of the single digits. With protests this weekend against Keystone XL in the nation’s capital, the poll shows that the President has a mandate to fight climate disruption. Keystone XL takes the fight to slow climate change in the wrong direction.” Voters want clean energy, 4 to 1. #nokxl The Lincoln Journal Star published Bill McKibben’s November 13th op-ed “Obama needs to face climate change, reject Keystone pipeline.” The editorial begins “It will be painfully easy to tell if President Barack Obama is going to take a serious stab at doing something about climate change in his second term: The purest, starkest test he faces will be the proposed Keystone XL pipeline from the tar sands of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico.” The November 18th Truthout reported “Unity College Becomes First to Pull Money From Dirty Energy” in response to McKibben’s 350.org “Do the Math” campaign. To help fight climate change, it will divest its financial holdings from fossil-fuel companies. LJS published “Oil industry group pushes Obama to OK pipeline,” by Josh Funk, AP, November 16th: “The fight over a proposed pipeline to transport crude oil from Canada to Gulf Coast refineries has picked up again with groups on both sides putting pressure on President Barack Obama to either approve or reject the pipeline. The attention given to TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline project has increased now that the election is over because it’s clear who will decide the project’s future and because Nebraska is close to deciding whether to approve a revised route through the state.” And also on November 16th, LJS published a McClatchy article by Sean Cockerham, “With election over, will Obama OK Keystone pipeline?” Cockerham asserts that this decision “could define Obama on energy and climate change.” It is time for President Obama to draw a line in the tar sands, and reject the Keystone XL pipeline. Click here to sign a CredoAction petition to President Obama. The petition reads: “If you are committed to fighting climate change, you must reject the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. You simply cannot have it both ways.” If you are on Facebook, click here to post the petition to your Wall. If you have a Twitter account, click here to automatically tweet: Tell @BarackObama: You can’t have it both ways on climate change. Reject the Keystone XL pipeline. SAVE THE DATES: The “Do the Math” 350.org tour with Bill McKibben will be in Omaha on Saturday, December 1, 2012, 6:00 to 9:00pm, at the Joslyn Museum Witherspoon Concert Hall, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha. McKibben will be on a nationwide tour talking about climate, oil subsidies, and the pipeline, bringing together tens of thousands of people over one month to start an historic push to win real solutions to the climate crisis. Purchase tickets online here. DEQ HEARING, RALLY AND LANDOWNERS MEETING . . . A Department of Environmental Quality hearing on the review of TransCanada’s Keystone XL pipeline route in Nebraska will be Tuesday, December 4, 2012, 6:00pm, at the Boone County Fairground, Albion, Nebraska. It is critical that voices of opposition to the pipeline continue to be heard. This route is no better than the last one–it is still in sandy soil, it is still crossing the Aquifer, and it is still carrying tarsands and chemicals that TransCanada will not disclose. There will be a NEAT landowner meeting before the hearing, 4:00 to 5:00pm, at J’s Grill, 333 South 1St Street, Albion. And a No KXL Pipeline Rally will be from 5:00 to 5:30pm at the Boone County Fairground, in Albion. Gather at 5:00pm to hold signs before hearing. Bring homemade signs, line the streets with signs. Citizens’ voices will continue to move this pipeline right out of our state! For more information, the facebook event page is here. Sign a Pledge to Speak at the DEQ Hearing on December 4th, and find links to submit comments via e-mail. Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet. Dear President Obama: 171 reasons to deny the pipeline. “The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee. STOP FRACKING NOW . . . From “Five Effects of Fracking You May Not Know About” by Alyssa Figueroa, AlterNet, October 23rd: “What comes to mind when you think of fracking? Perhaps it’s images of tap water being lit on fire or stories of families suffering health problems after nearby wells are fracked. Indeed, the health and environmental impacts of fracking are being documented, but it’s important to know that fracking is a catalyst for widespread negative consequences.” Petition Congress: “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” BUY FRESH. BUY LOCAL . . . . Farmers, gardeners, and craftspeople meet through The Nebraska Food Cooperative, an on-line, year-round farmers’ market and local food distribution service offering the best in local freshness. For ordering and pickup schedules, refer to the calendar here. Click here for products and prices from North Star Neighbors, a Cooperative member that doesn’t therapeutically medicate or unduly confine animals. Click here for Tomato Tomäto, Omaha’s year-round indoor Farmer’s Market at 156th & West Center. Shop for fresh foods grown in or very near your own community at Open Harvest, Lincoln’s member-owned natural foods retail cooperative at 1618 South Street. Buying local grows family farming, grows the local economy, and is thousands of miles fresher. HELP NEBRASKA GREENS WITH GOODSEARCH . . . Each time you search the Internet (or shop online at a participating store), a donation can be made to Nebraska Green Party at no cost to you! To help NGP in this way, enter Nebraska Green Party where it asks you to name your cause here. Bookmark the GoodSearch Homepage, or make it your own Home Page. Enter the url you want in the GoodSearch search box. Each time you do, one penny will be donated to Nebraska Greens. THANK YOU for your support! Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.”

Green Notes Week of November 11, 2012

November 11, 2012Green Notesgreenone

GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . “Jill Stein and the Green Party After Election Day 2012,” by Ellie Maclin, was published in Examiner.com, November 8, 2012: “It’s a wake-up moment for America,” said Jill Stein in an online election night “Hangout” with Cheri Honkala and their campaign manager. “On the climate, on the export of our jobs… on bailouts for Wall Street… we have answers to all of [these concerns] in the Green New Deal,” she said. The race was “a real nailbiter,” Stein told viewers, and “it’s a real achievement” that vote counts increased by such a margin despite a close, historic race. Said Stein:
“The Green Party is the way forward, and I so look forward to continuing this fight… We are here for the long haul, and I’m so gratified to hear that’s the case from our volunteers and our supporters … what they care about is that we have recovered our political voice and our political coverage and that we are not going away. Together we are unstoppable, and thank you all so much for making it so!”
Campaign Manager Ben Manski reported “We began the 2012 campaign with 16 states in which we could run candidates on the ballot, and ended it with 38 states. We qualified for public financing. Our candidates appeared on national television and in all the national press. Our message of the need for a new economy and a new democracy was heard and seen everywhere. Roughly one million Americans voted with us, and millions considered voting Green for the first time. …Winning nearly a million votes doesn’t happen often for independent parties. We’ve done five times better than in the previous election cycle. We are moving in a good direction.”
“I’m honored to have been the Green Party’s presidential candidate and deeply moved by the support we’ve received from people like you all across the country. Thank you for your support.” –Jill Stein On Election Night
Another U.S. is Possible — Another Party is Necessary.

AMERICA RECYCLES DAY . . . America Recycles Day is Thursday, November 15, 2012. Reduce, reuse and recycle.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

WATER POLICY CONFERENCES . . . Tuesday, November 13 and Wednesday, November 14, 2012, there will be two University of Nebraska Water Policy Conferences at the Cornhusker Hotel, 333 South 13 Street, in Lincoln. Water: Science, Practice and Policy, with the latest research, programming and policy on water in Nebraska will be Tuesday, and the Water Law Conference is Wednesday. Register and find more information here.

NEBRASKA SUSTAINABILITY ROUNDTABLE . . . The UN-L ASUN Environmental Sustainability Committee is hosting the second annual Nebraska Sustainability Roundtable, Tuesday, November 13th, 2012, from 3:00 to 7:00pm, in the Ballroom of the City Union, between 14th & 15th on R Street. This will be a unique public discussion to expand and strengthen Nebraska’s existing sustainability initiatives. Faculty, students, and industry experts will be in attendance, providing the opportunity to discuss and network on Energy, Water, Lifestyle, and Food/Agriculture. More information can be found at the facebook event page.

LEADING ON THE WORLD FOOD ISSUE . . . 2003 World Food Prize Laureate Catherine Bertini will speak about “Where America Must Lead: Ensuring the World Can Feed Its People” on Thursday, November 15, 2012, 3:30pm, at Hardin Hall on UN-L East Campus, 33rd & Holdrege, Lincoln. A 3:00 reception in the Hardin Hall lobby will precede the lecture.

FORSBERG AT THE ROSS . . . Thursday, November 15, 2012, renowned Nebraska wildlife photographer and author Michael Forsberg will present “Pulse of the Plains” at the Mary Riepma Ross Media Arts Center, 313 North 13th Street, Lincoln, at 7:00pm. The event is open is open to EveryOne. Sponsored by Friends of Wilderness Park, there is an admission charge. For more information, phone 402.421.8464.

FREE SATURDAY . . . There will be another Free Saturday at Neighbor’s Park, 2901 D Street, Lincoln, on Saturday, November 17, 2012, 2:00pm. The Cold weather/bad weather alternate location is Common Root Mutual Aid Center, 1315 South 24th Street. For more information, e-mail Barb Van den Berg, barbvandenberg [at] hotmail [dot] com.

SUNDAY WITH JOHANSGARD ON BIRDS . . . Sunday, November 18, 2012, 1:30 to 4:30pm, UN-L Professor Emeritus Paul Johnsgard will be featured at Sunday With A Scientist on City campus at Morrill Hall, located just south of 14th and Vine Streets, Lincoln.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, November 14, 2012, the film will be “Soldiers of Conscience,” a documentary examining the dilemma of being ordered to kill, and the morality of killing in war. A discussion will follow the film. EveryOne is welcome. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

PUBLIC MEETING ON FORT CALHOUN . . . Thursday, November 15, 2012, 6:00 to 9:00pm, at the Dana College Gardner-Hawks Center, Blair, Nebraska, there will be a public meeting with the Nuclear Regulatory Commission updating the troubled Fort Calhoun Nuclear Power Plant, 20 miles north of Omaha. There will be a Q&A after NRC officials discuss their efforts to restart the plant.

DEEP TRANSITION . . . Transition Omaha is hosting a Deep Transition Experience, “Call to Evolutionary Catalysts,” at Knowles Mercy Center, 2304 Campanile Road, Waterloo, NE, Thursday, November 15 through Sunday, November 18, 2012. Focus will be on the the inner work we need to do as we respond to our many challenges. Driving directions and a map are here. [pdf]

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . .Dear President Obama, Protect Our Homes.
SAVE THE DATE: The “Do the Math” 350.org tour with Bill McKibben will be in Omaha on Saturday, December 1, 2012, 6:00 to 9:00pm, at the Joslyn Museum Witherspoon Concert Hall, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha. McKibben will be on a nationwide tour talking about climate, oil subsidies, and the pipeline, bringing together tens of thousands of people over one month to start an historic push to win real solutions to the climate crisis. Purchase tickets online here.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee.

Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.”

Green Notes Week of November 4, 2012

November 4, 2012Green Notesgreenone

GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . Jill Stein will participate in two more presidential debates to be broadcast online from Washington, DC, including the Free and Equal debate originally scheduled for October 30 and postponed to Monday, November 5, 2012, because of Hurricane Sandy. Dr. Stein won her place in Free and Equal Elections Foundation’s one-on-one debate after receiving over 17,000 online votes within 24 hours on the Free and Equal site. She will face Gary Johnson of the Libertarian Party livestreamed at 9:00pm ET. And the Green Party will livestream a debate hosted by Ralph Nader on Sunday, November 4, at Busboys and Poets, 7:30pm ET. View a November 3rd, 12:40 minute video interview with Nader talking about the need to end the “two party dictatorship” in this country here.
Video of previous presidential candidates’ debates with Dr. Stein and vice-presidential nominee Cheri Honkala are at the Green Party Livestream Channel, Democracy Now!, and Free & Equal.
SEE MEDIA COVERAGE FROM THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN here.
“We need a serious debate focused on energy: Phasing out coal plants, ending mountaintop removal, banning fracking, and halting the Keystone XL pipeline.” –Jill Stein
From “Imagine All the Voters Treating the Green Party like another realistic option,” by Carrie Peyton Dahlberg, North Coast Journal, quoting Jill Stein, “To go into the voting booth and vote for either Wall-Street-backed candidate, that is the definition of throwing away your vote.” WRITE-IN JILL STEIN AND CHERI HONKALA IN NEBRASKA. Your write-in vote will be counted! Another U.S. is Possible — Another Party is Necessary.
Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

WALK-IN VOTING . . . Vote at the Lancaster County Election Commission, 601 North 46th Street, Lincoln, Monday, November 5, 2012, 8:00am to 4:30pm.

ELECTION DAY . . . Tuesday November 6, 2012, vote at precincts. Find Polling Locations by Precinct ID (on your new voting card) here. [pdf] Find a Sample Ballot here. [pdf]

AUDUBON ANNUAL . . . The Wachiska Audubon Annual Meeting will be Thursday, November 8, 2012, 7:00pm, at Union College in the Dick Auditorium, 3800 South 48th Street, Lincoln. Michelle Garwood, from the Niobrara Council, will present on the Council Outdoor Education Program. All are welcome. Save The Date: December 13, 2012 Holiday Potluck Party featuring “Writing with a Camera.”

NEBRASKA SUSTAINABILITY ROUNDTABLE . . . The UN-L ASUN Environmental Sustainability Committee is hosting the second annual Nebraska Sustainability Roundtable, Tuesday, November 13th, 2012, from 3:00 to 7:00pm, in the Ballroom of the City Union, between 14th & 15th on R Street. This will be a unique public discussion to expand and strengthen Nebraska’s existing sustainability initiatives. Faculty, students, and industry experts will be in attendance, providing the opportunity to discuss and network on Energy, Water, Lifestyle, and Food/Agriculture. There will be free food for those who RSVP by Friday, November 9th. More information can be found at the facebook event page.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, November 7, 2012, the film will be “Gerrymandering,” a documentary examining the longstanding practice of geographical boundary manipulation for voting purposes. A discussion will follow the film. EveryOne is welcome. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

ATM LEAFLETTING IN OMAHA . . . An Alternatives To the Military supporter who lives in Omaha would like to put together and participate in a local leafletting group there. She wants to start small–maybe leafletting at just one or two schools. If you have an interest in joining a Omaha ATM group, please contact Kevin Haake, atmlincoln@gmail.com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE,
Leafletting in Omaha.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Following Jill Stein’s arrest for delivering supplies to Keystone XL blockaders in Winnsboro, Texas, Stein issued this statement: “I’m here to connect the dots between super storm Sandy and the record heat, drought, and fire we’ve seen this year – and this Tar Sands pipeline, which will make all of these problems much worse. And I’m here to connect the dots between climate devastation and pipeline politicians – both Obama and Romney – who are competing, as we saw in the debates, for the role of Puppet In Chief for the fossil fuel industry. Both deserve that title. Obama’s record of “drill baby drill” has gone beyond the harm done by George Bush. Mitt Romney promises more of the same.”
This past week, the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality released a Pipeline Draft Evaluation Report for TransCanada’s proposed Nebraska Reroute of the Keystone XL Pipeline. The agency also announced a public hearing and information session to be held on December 4, 2012, at the Boone County Fairgrounds, 2616 Fairgrounds Road, Albion, Nebraska, starting at 6:00pm.
he hearing will be preceded by an information session from 3:00 to 5:30pm, in the Casey’s Building at the Boone County Fairgrounds. The information session will be an opportunity for the public to meet and talk with those from the agency involved in the review, in an informal “open house” format.
Public comments will continue to be accepted through December 4th. Comments may be submitted via e-mail to NDEQ.SEISpubliccomment [at] Nebraska[dot] gov. Written comments can be mailed to: NDEQ Pipeline Project Comments, P.O. Box 98922, Lincoln, NE 68509-8922. Written comments can also be submitted at the information session on December 4, 2012. Written testimony can be provided at the public hearing.
Bold Nebraska answered the Report with the following statement: The new Nebraska DEQ Report on Keystone XL Leaves Many Questions Unanswered. Citizens and Landowners Continue to Ask for Common Sense Assurances About their Safety and Economic Future. Despite promises to the contrary, the proposed route still crosses the Ogallala Aquifer, several rivers, hundreds of families wells and of course the Sandhills. (link to high res map: http://tinyurl.com/sandhillsmap)
This new route is still too risky and according to Governor Heinmenan, in a letter to President Obama August 2011, a pipeline that crosses the Ogallala Aquifer, “will have potentially detrimental effects on this valuable natural resource and Nebraska’s economy.” If Heineman stays true to his word: than denying this proposed pipeline route is the only answer.
Quoting Bold’s Jane Kleeb, “How can the DEQ do an environmental study of the pipeline route if they don’t know the exact contents and chemicals of the pipeline? The DEQ must start with what’s in the pipeline and then do their own soil, water, wildlife and climate studies to ensure the route is the safest for landowners and the citizens of our state. Simply reviewing what TransCanada submitted is not sufficient.”
Tom Genung, president of Nebraska Easement Action Team, said “Landowners and citizens continue to hear lots of talk from TransCanada and our politicians but we still do not have the exact contents of this pipe that our families could be living with for generations. We have asked for simple assurances for our health and safety. In return, all TransCanada and the DEQ continue to give us are empty promises that ‘everything will be ok.’ Our families farms, ranches and water require a little bit more than promises.”
The ongoing issue of pipeline siting laws continues. “How much will PSC pipeline rules matter?” by Art Hovey, was published in the Lincoln Journal Star, October 30, 2012. “The Nebraska Public Service Commission is scheduled to take another look on Tuesday at its proposed rules for siting petroleum pipelines that come after TransCanada’s Keystone XL. A final vote is expected by mid-November.
Presumably, the results of months of work will show how rigorously the commission intends to carry out duties assigned to it last November during heated debate over a proposed Sandhills route for Keystone XL in the 2011 special session of the Nebraska Legislature. Will commissioners, for example, require applicants to disclose what other chemicals potentially harmful to groundwater might be in petroleum shipments besides crude oil? But the bigger question might be how much these PSC regulations matter. That’s because the Legislature changed direction in April, during a flurry of amendments in the final days of its regular session, and made the Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality the first stop for future pipeline routing decisions by the state. That decision moved the state’s pipeline oversight toward a department responsible to the governor and away from independently elected officials. It also appears to have been an effort to avoid vulnerability in court. But a lawsuit quickly emerged anyway.
Because the change included in LB1161 came after committee hearings, the public never had a chance to weigh in on a departure from the November decision putting the PSC in charge.” The article is continued here.
“B.C. quake a warning to risk of oil pipeline, critics say,” by Petti Fong, was published in The Star, October 29th: “Critics of the Northern Gateway pipeline say the weekend’s massive earthquake just off the B.C. coast is a warning that should be heeded. The region is the most prone in the west for earthquakes and the subsequent tsunamis that often follow. A 7.7 earthquake off Haida Gwaii on Saturday evening left hundreds of residents without power but caused little damage. Imagine what would happen if the quake had struck where a pipeline was located, said Keith Stewart, climate and energy campaign coordinator for Greenpeace.”
From Globe and Mail October 31st, “Energy board launches TransCanada audit,” by Nathan VanderKlippe, begins “The National Energy Board has launched a major audit of TransCanada Corp., after a whistle blower’s revelations about problems in the pipeline company’s operating practices. In a letter sent to Calgary-based TransCanada, the NEB said it will examine the integrity management programs at almost all of the company’s pipelines, including its natural gas systems and Keystone pipe.”
Also in the Globe and Mail October 21st, “British Columbia government rethinks pipeline-approval process,” reported “The lawn of the B.C. legislature is expected to be filled with protesters on Monday for a mass sit-in against the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline. Scorched by the growing opposition, the B.C. government has already adopted a more hostile stand toward the $6-billion project.”
Lincoln Journal-Star editorialized that the “Legislature should take another look at pipeline law,” on October 22nd.
SAVE THE DATE: Tickets are now on sale for The “Do the Math” 350.org tour with Bill McKibben in Omaha on December 1, 2012, 6:00 to 9:00pm, at the Joslyn Museum Witherspoon Concert Hall, 2200 Dodge Street, Omaha. McKibben will be on a nationwide tour talking about climate, oil subsidies, and the pipeline, bringing together tens of thousands of people over one month to start an historic push to win real solutions to the climate crisis. Purchase tickets online here.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee.

Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.“

Green Notes Week of October 28, 2012

October 28, 2012Green Notesgreenone

GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . Another victory. Another debate. Another chance! Thanks to tens of thousands of supporters, Jill Stein won a spot in the last Free and Equal debate. She’ll face-off against Gov. Gary Johnson on Tuesday, October 30, 2012, 8:00 to 9:30pm Central, from Washington D.C. There are 90 million eligible voters who don’t plan on voting – enough to win the election for Dr. Stein. Almost none of those people know that Stein is running. They must know there is a candidate who stands with working and poor people, not corporations and SuperPACs.
Ask MSNBC to air this debate. The debate should be covered. In fact, MSNBC’s Lawrence O’Donnell of The Last Word just pointed that out. Join us in thanking him, urging him to have Jill on the show, and demanding MSNBC cover the 10/30 debate.
Tweet @Lawrence Thanks for discussing the 10/23 Alternative #Debate on @msnbc! It’s not too late to have @jillstein2012 on @TheLastWord. Facebook him. Thanks for stepping up and recognizing the importance of independent parties. There’s still time to have Jill Stein on The Last Word. Watch the live debate at www.freeandequalorg/live, and RT America’s YouTube channel. Together, another world is possible.
SEE MEDIA COVERAGE FROM THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN at http://www.jillstein.org/media_coverage.
“We need a serious debate focused on energy: Phasing out coal plants, ending mountaintop removal, banning fracking, and halting the Keystone XL pipeline.” –Jill Stein
From “Imagine All the Voters Treating the Green Party like another realistic option,” by Carrie Peyton Dahlberg, North Coast Journal, quoting Jill Stein, “To go into the voting booth and vote for either Wall-Street-backed candidate, that is the definition of throwing away your vote.” WRITE-IN JILL STEIN AND CHERI HONKALA IN NEBRASKA. Another U.S. is Possible — Another Party is Necessary.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

NAACP ANNUAL . . . Saturday, November 3, 2012, starting at 5:30pm with a social hour, the Annual Scholarship Banquet of the Lincoln Chapter of the NAACP will be at the Cornhusker, 333 South 13th, in Lincoln. Native activist Frank LaMere will keynote, speaking on the theme “Your Power, Your Decision–Vote.” To order tickets, call Jareldine Mays, 402.488.0853.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, October 31, 2012, will be Occupy Omaha Night. The film will be End: CIV, a documentary that asks the questin “If your homeland was invaded by aliens who cut down the forests, poisoned the water and air, and contaminated the food supply, would you resist?” A discussion will follow the film. EveryOne is welcome. For more information, go to http://www.progressiveomaha.com/films.htm . The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

HUMANIZING EMPLOYMENT . . . “Organized Labor: the Folks Who Humanized the Employment Relationship” will be presented Saturday, November 3, 2012, 2:00pm, at the W. Dale Clark (Main) Library, Farnam and 15th Street, Omaha. John Kretzschmar, Director of the William Brennan Institute of Labor Studies, UN-O, will speak about the history and accomplishments of labor unions, the challenges and achievements of organizing, and the crises and threats that face working people. The talk is free and open to the public.

ATM LEAFLETTING IN OMAHA . . . An Alternatives To the Military supporter who lives in Omaha would like to put together and participate in a local leafletting group there. She wants to start small–maybe leafletting at just one or two schools. If you have an interest in joining a Omaha ATM group, please contact Kevin Haake, atmlincoln@gmail.com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE.
Leafletting in Omaha.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Quoting “TransCanada Pipeline Protest in Fifth Week,” by William Boardman, Reader Supported News, October 27, 2012, “Officially, it seems, the Tar Sands Blockade was supposed to be over in mid-October, when The New York Times, having thus far ignored the story, announced that it was a ‘last-ditch bid.’ But Tar Sands Blockade, a grassroots coalition of Texans opposed to the Keystone XL pipeline, is still there, still occupying the treehouse blockade it mounted September 24, still trying to hold up construction of TransCanada’s $7 billion pipeline that will bring hot, toxic tar sands oil sludge from Canada for global markets.”
“Stopping Trans Canada’s Keystone XL Pipeline: Activism from the Trees and on the Ground,” by former US diplomate and Army Colonel Ann Wright, was published October 26th by Information Clearning House. “In East Texas, the farm lands and forests have been seized for the Canadian company through eminent domain and are already being destroyed for the foreign pipeline. …The Tar Sands Blockade has been vigilant in their campaign of non-violent protest of this pipeline, and in doing so, these modern day patriots have also been protecting our freedoms. By building and refusing to leave tree house villages, chaining themselves to equipment, and working with landowners who wish to meritoriously exercise their right of ownership, they have valiantly defended our Gulf Coast, as well as our nation’s constitution.”
“SLAPPed, Arrested, Charged With Eco-Terrorism: TransCanada Blockaders Persevere,” by Candice Bernd, for Truthout, October 24th, continues covereage of the Tar Sands Blockade. “Activists maintain their vigil in the trees despite the best efforts of hired security and legal wrangling to dislodge them.”
CBC News reported “Quality concerns arose before TransCanada pipeline blast,” by Charles Rusnell, Timothy Sawa and Joseph Loiero, also on October 24th. The report says that “A natural gas pipeline operated by TransCanada exploded near Gillette, Wyo., in July 2011 because of quality assurance issues and poorly trained inspectors, citing internal company documents. “Documents obtained by CBC News detail a pipeline project with problems relating to welding and inspection. ‘We are in trouble on the Bison project,’ the pipelines’ construction manager wrote in a Sept. 18, 2010 internal email, which lists problems related to welding and inspection. … CBC News also obtained an all-staff internal memo issued by TransCanada CEO Russ Girling on Aug. 11, 2011, in which he acknowledged problems with an earlier phase of the existing Keystone line, and the ill-fated Bison pipeline.” Read the report and watch videos at http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/story/2012/10/24/transcanada-pipelines-bison-explosion.html?cmp=rss.
On October 22nd, Reader Supported News published “Keystone Shutdown Highlights Fox’s Dubious Claims About Pipeline Safety,” by Chelsea Rudman, sourced from Media Matters for America: “TransCanada Corp. recently announced that it has temporarily shut down the existing portion of its Keystone pipeline due to safety concerns. Fox News figures previously attacked the Obama administration for delaying a decision on the Keystone pipeline extension because of environmental and safety concerns, claiming that the project posed no such threats.”
The Globe and Mail article by Justine Hunter, October 21st, “Brirish Columbia government rethinks pipeline-approval process,” reported “The lawn of the B.C. legislature is expected to be filled with protesters on Monday for a mass sit-in against the proposed Northern Gateway oil pipeline. Scorched by the growing opposition, the B.C. government has already adopted a more hostile stand toward the $6-billion project.”
Lincoln Journal-Star editorialized that the “Legislature should take another look at pipeline law,” on October 22nd: “The Nebraska Legislature would be very well advised to have another look at the law that is supposed to allow Nebraska to regulate where oil pipelines pass through the state. If there is any recent policy issue that deserves to have Nebraskans all on the same page of law, this is it.”
SAVE THE DATE: Tickets are now on sale for the “Do the Math” tour with Bill McKibben in Omaha, December 1st, at the Joslyn Musuem, 2200 Dodge Street, 6:00 to 9:00pm. McKibben will be on a nationwide tour talking about climate, oil subsidies, and the pipeline. Purchase tickets online here.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee.

Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.“

Green Notes Week of October 21, 2012

October 21, 2012Green Notesgreenone

GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . October 18, 2012, Jill Stein reported “Our arrest went viral in the U.S. We’re trending in Egypt on Twitter. The world is watching. Interview requests are pouring in from around the globe.
On election day, winning 1% of the vote puts us squarely back on the political map. We’ll make history with a win of 3%. And we’re dealing with a total game changer at 5% by unleashing $20 million in public funds for the Green Party’s 2016 presidential bid. Please contribute today. Every dollar will increase our outreach. Thank you for your support. I’m so proud to be part of a campaign owned and operated by supporters like you.”
Amy Goodman wrote “Binders Full of Women, and Two Women Bound,” for Truthdig, October 19th. It begins “You may have noticed that the Green Party presidential candidate, Dr. Jill Stein, was absent from the “town hall” presidential debate at Hofstra University the other night. That’s because she was shackled to a chair in a nearby New York police facility, along with her running mate, Green Party vice president nominee Cheri Honkala. Their crime: attempting to get to the debate so Stein could participate in it. While Mitt Romney uttered the now-famous line that he was given “whole binders full of women” while seeking staff as newly-elected governor of Massachusetts in 2002, the real binders were handcuffs used to shackle these two women, who are mothers, activists and the Green Party’s presidential ticket for 2012.”
Democracy Now! coverage of the arrests, “Green Party Candidates Arrested, Shackled to Chairs For 8 Hours After Trying to Enter Hofstra Debate,” October 17th, quotes Stein’s condemnation of “this mock debate, this mockery of democracy.” Just hours after being released, Stein was in the Democracy Now! studio.
Exclusive: Expanding the Debate with Third-Party Candidates Jill Stein, Virgil Goode, Rocky Anderson, on Democracy Now! October 17th gave Dr. Stein, Goode and Anderson the same amount of time to answer the same questions posed to the corporate candidates. Amy Goodman introduces the expanded debate: “President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney sparred last night in their second of three debates. Today, in a two-hour special, we expand the debate by including the voices of three presidential candidates shut out of the official debate. We are joined by Jill Stein of the Green Party, Constitution Party nominee Virgil Goode, and Justice Party candidate Rocky Anderson. We re-air parts of last night’s presidential debate, pausing the videotape to give third-party candidates a chance to respond to the same questions put to the major-party candidates.”
Another DN! video, “Secret Debate Contract Reveals Obama and Romney Campaigns Exclude Third Parties, Control Questions,” October 16th, reveals “As President Obama and Republican challenger Mitt Romney prepare for their second debate tonight at Hofstra University on Long Island, we speak with George Farah, author of “No Debate: How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates.” The debate will feature questions from the audience that have been pre-selected by moderator Candy Crowley of CNN — a detail revealed when Time magazine published the contract secretly negotiated by the Obama and Romney campaigns and the Commission on Presidential Debates.”
Also from the October 16th Democracy Now!, “Presidential Debates Highlight “Faux Objectivity” of Mainstream Journalists: “The issue is not what separates Romney and Obama, but how much they agree. This hidden consensus has to be exposed,” writes Guardian columnist Glenn Greenwald about the presidential debates as he criticizes the recent performances of the debate moderators. Greenwald also criticizes the exclusion of third-party candidates. “Only by excluding those candidates and having the two parties focus on the tiny differences that they have … can this mythology be maintained that we have massive and real choice in this country,” Greenwald says. We also speak to George Farah, author of “No Debate: How the Republican and Democratic Parties Secretly Control the Presidential Debates.”
SEE MEDIA COVERAGE FROM THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN at http://www.jillstein.org/media_coverage.
This coming Monday and Tuesday evening, October 22 and 23, Jill Stein will take part in two real debates. All of the national ballot-qualified presidential candidates have been invited. Larry King, Amy Goodman, Thom Hartmann, and others will moderate. In the real debates, Jill Stein will be talking about the issues neglected in the CPD debates -climate change, civil liberties, drone warfare, drug policy, and the student loan debt, for example.
Monday Oct. 22, Democracy Now!’s expanded online presidential debate: Jill Stein will respond in real time to the same questions as Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Click here for more details.
Tuesday Oct. 23, Broadcast live on Al Jazeera and on the web: Free & Equal’s live online debate with Jill Stein and presidential candidates Gary Johnson (LP), Rocky Anderson (JP), and Virgil Goode (CP), with host Larry King accepting debate questions in advance on Reddit. Click here for more details.
“We need a serious debate focused on energy: Phasing out coal plants, ending mountaintop removal, banning fracking, and halting the Keystone XL pipeline.” –Jill Stein
From “Imagine All the Voters Treating the Green Party like another realistic option,” by Carrie Peyton Dahlberg, North Coast Journal, September 27, 2012, quoting Jill Stein, “To go into the voting booth and vote for either Wall-Street-backed candidate, that is the definition of throwing away your vote.” WRITE-IN JILL STEIN AND CHERI HONKALA IN NEBRASKA. Another U.S. is Possible — Another Party is Necessary.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

UNITED NATIONS DAY BANQUET . . . Sunday, October 21, 2012, 6:00pm, the Nebraska Chapter of UNA-USA will present “Global Water, Food Security, and the United Nations,” at the Nebraska Wesleyan University Student Center, 50th and St. Paul, in Lincoln. Keynote Speaker will be Roberto Lenton, Founding Director of the Daugherty Water for Food Program at UN-L. For more information, and to make a reservation, e-mail unanebraska [at] gmail [dot] com.

L.E.S. NEEDS YOUR INPUT . . . Lincoln Electric System is developing an Integrated Resources Plan that will serve as a road map for how LES will provide electricity to Lincoln residents in the future. 85% of Lincoln’s electricity now comes from coal-fired power plants. Do you want more wind? More solar? More energy efficiency? Learn about the LES draft plan, ask questions, and make your voice heard Tuesday, October 23, 7:00pm, on the LES proposed 2013 budget and rate adjustment, at the LES Walter Canney Service Center, 2620 Fairfield, Lincoln.

TAR SANDS AWARENESS AT BOURBON . . . Saturday, October 27, 2012, 5:30 to 6:30pm, “Raising the Red Flag on Tarsands, Be a New Energy Voter” will be presented at the Bourbon Theatre/Bar, 1415 O Street, Lincoln. There will be Movie Talk featuring Pipe Dreams, with Moms from Michigan and Nebraskans featured in the film speaking to the devastation to our land, water and air, caused from toxic tar sands, as documented in the film. All ages are welcome. FB event link: http://www.facebook.com/events/322040707887684/.

SUNDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . The Old Cheney Road Farmers Market offers local produce, baked goods and natural meats every Sunday, 10:00am to 2:00pm, at 55th Street and Old Cheney Road, through October 28th.

NEBRASKA WIND CONFERENCE . . . The 5th annual Nebraska Wind Conference, will be Monday and Tuesday, October 22 and 23, 2012, at the Cornhusker Hotel, 333 South 13th Street, in Lincoln. Register, view the program, and learn more about Nebraska’s largest conference on renewable energy at http://nebraskawindconference.com/

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, October 24, 2012, the film will be “Matewan,” John Sayles’ period feature about a volatile 1920s labor dispute in the town of Matewan, West Virginia, a coal town where local miners’ lives are controlled by the powerful Stone Mountain Coal Company. A discussion will follow the film. EveryOne is welcome. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

ATM LEAFLETTING IN OMAHA . . . An Alternatives To the Military supporter who lives in Omaha would like to put together and participate in a local leafletting group there. She wants to start small–maybe leafletting at just one or two schools. If you have an interest in joining a Omaha ATM group, please contact Kevin Haake, atmlincoln@gmail.com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

GREEN TEAM IN HASTINGS . . . Central Community College Hastings Campus will host a Green Team Roundtable meeting on Wednesday, October 24, 2012, 11:30am to 1:00pm, in the Walnut Room of the Platte Building on CCC Campus, 550 South Technical Blvd., three miles east of Hastings on U.S. Highway 6. CCC’s efforts to reduce its environmental impacts will be discussed, and a newly organized Hastings Green Team will be present to give a report on its progress to-date. For more information on upcoming Roundtable locations and topics go to www.wastecapne.org/greenteams or contact Julie Diegel, 402.434.7376; or email jdiegel [at] wastecapne [dot] org.

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . “Public addresses commissioners about pipeline issues,” from the York News Times, October 18, 2012, begins “A number of people addressed the York County Commissioners this week, as the board readdresses its haul route agreement with TransCanada for the proposed Keystone XL pipeline.” The article is Part II of a series on landowners’ concerns along the route.
The Tar Sands Blockade sent out a big expression of gratitude to those who have joined the Blockade. Following a weekend of direct action training, 50 blockaders attempted to break through police lines and some succeeded in reaching the people sitting in trees to restock their food and water supplies. More engaged in other types of actions to stop the construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline. Occupier Dave Warren was moved by his experience at the training to write a poem. This week Chris Hedges interviewed Tom Weis of Climate Crisis Solutions. Tom is riding his rocket trike throughout Colorado delivering letters to campaign headquarters asking both candidates to withdraw support for the pipeline. You can learn more about his travels on this week’s edition of Clearing the FOG Radio Show. And if you are still not convinced that this campaign is not only winnable, but necessary for our future survival, watch the newest Planetary Service Announcement, and please share this video widely!
Reader Supported News reported on the temporary shut down of Keystone I on October 19th “after tests showed possible safety issues.”
From “Keystone XL Pipeline Brings Out the Protest in Locals,” by Molly Hennessy-Fiske, LA Times, also in RSN October 20th: “Texas landowners are joining outside activists in the fight against the massive tar sands pipeline going in across their properties. Some, including one great-grandmother, have been hauled to jail.”
“Why I’m Standing Up To the Keystone Pipeline,” by Daryl Hannah, was published in RSN, October 17th. “Seems there’s showdown in Texas, but, in fact, it’s a battle being waged all over the United States.” From the article, “Make no mistake, we are going through fire. If we just stand there doing nothing, we are going to get burned. But if we accept our ethical responsibility to stand up for each other, and for our life support systems, and if we focus on and work tirelessly for a better future, then that just may be within our reach.”
From Page 1 of 2, “Join the Blockade of the Keystone Pipeline,” by Chris Hedges, Truthdig, October 15th: “The next great battle of the Occupy movement may not take place in city parks and plazas, where the security and surveillance state is blocking protesters from setting up urban encampments. Instead it could arise in the nation’s heartland, where some ranchers, farmers and enraged citizens, often after seeing their land seized by eminent domain and their water supplies placed under mortal threat, have united with Occupiers and activists to oppose the building of the Keystone XL tar sand pipeline. They have formed an unusual coalition called Tar Sands Blockade (TSB). Centers of resistance being set up in Texas and Oklahoma and on tribal lands along the proposed route of this six-state, 1,700-mile proposed pipeline are fast becoming flashpoints in the war of attrition we have begun against the corporate state. Join them.”
Video of “Texas Landowners Join Environmentalists for Historic Blockade of Keystone XL Tar Sands Pipeline,” was on Democracy Now! October 15th: “A standoff is underway in Texas over construction of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, which would run oil from the Canadian tar sands fields to U.S. refineries on the Gulf Coast. In a protest now entering its fourth week, dozens of environmental activists working with local Texas landowners have blocked the pipeline’s path with tree sits and other nonviolent protests. We speak to Susan Scott, who owns land where the pipeline will run; actress Daryl Hannah, who was arrested there last week and has long been active in protests against the pipeline; and Tar Sands Blockade coalition spokesperson Ron Seifert.”
“Fresh Recruits, More Arrests Begin Week Four in Texas Tar Sands Blockade,” by Candice Bernd, Truthout, October 15th reported “As the Texas tar sands tree-sit enters its fourth week, activists re-enter the tree village to supply and defend members of the Tar Sands Blockade. The arrests continue.”
From “Keystone XL Contractor and SUNY Buffalo Shale Institute Conduct LA County’s Fracking Study,” by Steve Horn, DeSmogBlog, also in Truthout, October 16th, “A huge report was published on Oct. 10 by Los Angeles County that’ll likely open the floodgates for hydraulic fracturing (“fracking”) for unconventional oil and gas in the Monterey Shale basin. The report, as it turns out, was done by LA County in name only. …In the opening paragraphs of his article, Ruben Vives of the Times wrote, “A long-awaited study released Wednesday says the controversial oil extraction method known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, would not harm the environment if used at the Inglewood Oil Field in the Baldwin Hills area.” …It’s not until the middle of the story that Vives says the study wasn’t done by LA County itself, but rather what he describes as a “consulting firm that conducted the study” by the name of Cardno Entrix. Cardno Entrix isn’t any ordinary “consulting firm.” It’s the third party contractor that conducted the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS), ran the public hearings and made the website all on behalf of the Obama State Department’s review process for the controversial Keystone XL tar sands pipeline. Cardno Entrix, in turn, was hired by TransCanada to do the EIS, a conflict-of-interest blatant enough that it’s yielded an ongoing Office of the Inspector General investigation of State’s entire review process.”
“With pipeline, Texas landowners take a rare stand against Big Oil,” by AP, was published in Lincoln Journal-Star October 18th. The article quotes Julia Trigg Crawford, and other Texas landowners, about their opposition to construction of TransCanada’s 1,179-mile-long tar sands XL pipeline.
LJS also published “PSC official now agrees about secondary pipeline role” October 16th, reviewing how confused elected officials are on the role of the Public Service Commission vs Department of Environmental Quality when it comes to the pipeline issue.
“Why Scientists Are in Alarm Mode Over the Keystone XL Pipeline,” by Laray Polk, was published by Alternet October 18th. “Environmental science gets politicized because it has economic implications,” says a leading scientist. …it is time to consider environment and economy as mutually dependent: “We’re at a stage we can’t afford to lose any more forests in the world. The building up of carbon, year after the year, is the problem. We’re pulling climate out from under all life including civilization, and the consequences of that are devastating.”
From “Alberta Tar Sands Illegal Under Treaty 8, First Nations Charge,” by Kristin Moe, The First Perspective, October 19th: “In 1899, First Nations in northern Alberta signed a treaty with Queen Victoria that enshrined their right to practice traditional lifeways. Today, it’s the basis for a legal challenge to Shell Oil’s mining of tar sands.”
October 15th, “Nebraska Pipeline Debate Dies Down Despite Unresolved Problems with Keystone XL Route,” Lisa Song reported for InsideClimate News: “The decision to detour the Keystone XL around land owned by its noisiest opponents, plus the distraction of the fall election, has lowered the volume of protests against the proposed pipeline. In the reroute TransCanada released in early September, 55 miles of the pipeline still run through Holt County, an area that sits above the aquifer and is especially vulnerable to oil spills due to its permeable soils and high water table. Despite a few small adjustments, the route through the county is nearly identical to the route TransCanada, the pipeline operator, proposed in April.”
SAVE THE DATES: Saturday, October 27, 2012, and Saturday, December 1, 2012. “Raising the Red Flag on Tar Sands,” will be Saturday, October 27th, 5:30-6:30pm, at the Bourbon Theatrer, 1415 O Street, Lincoln. This will be a Movie Talk featuring Pipe Dreams. Moms from Michigan have been invited to speak on the devastating tar sands spill in their state that is documented in the movie, and the ongoing threat of the TransCanada Keystone XL to our land, water and air. Nebraskans featured in the movie will also be present. All ages are welcome. Facebook event link: http://www.facebook.com/events/322040707887684/.
And tickets are now on sale for the “Do the Math” tour with Bill McKibben in Omaha on December 1st, at the Joslyn Museum, 2200 Dodge Street, 6:00 to 9:00pm. McKibben will be on a nationwide tour talking about climate, oil subsidies, and the pipeline. Purchase tickets online here.
An e-mail from ForestEthics covers a new report, “Tar Sands Refineries: Communities at Risk,” that exposes the appalling health problems that tar sands refineries dump onto U.S. communities. The Environmental Protection Agency says short-term exposure to sulfur dioxide is associated with a host of respiratory problems, including decreased lung function, respiratory illness, and deterioration of the lung’s defense system. Despite the EPA’s knowledge that health problems from refinery pollution are greater for disadvantaged groups than for others, it has failed to address the problem of tar sands refinery impacts on community health. Big Oil wants to dramatically increase US refinery use of tar sands, further harming some of the most vulnerable populations in our society. Take a few minutes to read this report and share it with your contacts. It is crucial that everyone know the severe health consequences of allowing more tar sands refining in our communities.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . At the First-Ever National Mobilization Against Fracking, celebrities, community groups, and more than 100 organizations joined forces for “Stop the Frack Attack” in Washington, DC, where they made three demands of Congress: 1. Stop dangerous fracking; 2. Close 7 legal loopholes that exempt the oil and gas industry from parts of the Safe Drinking Water, Clean Air, and Clean Water Acts; and 3. Implement a pathway towards 100% clean renewable energy. Learn more about the event here. Petition Congress: “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.”

Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.“

Green Notes Week of October 14, 2012

October 14, 2012Green Notesgreenone

GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . Media outlets from Democracy Now! to USA Today have reported on Dr. Jill Stein’s unfair exclusion from the presidential debates, bringing her message to millions of Americans.
Democracy Now! Expanding the debate with Jill Stein and Rocky Anderson: Democracy Now! aired the Obama/Romney debate and paused after questions to include responses from two presidential contenders who were shut out of the official debate: Jill Stein of the Green Party, and Rocky Anderson of the Justice Party.
Black Agenda Report: Why this black man is watching the debates, and voting Green: “I still believe my voice and my vote mean something. Kwame Toure used to say the thing to do is find an organization you’re in substantial agreement with and join it, or if it does not exist, start one and recruit your neighbors.”
Free Speech Radio News: In Denver, Green Party ticket, Occupy activists protest exclusion of third party candidates from debates: “Last night in Denver, activists and members of the Occupy Movement gathered to protest Governor Romney and President Obama… Green Presidential candidate Jill Stein and Vice Presidential candidate Cheri Honkala joined them at a rally.”
USA Today: Jill Stein’s response to the presidential debate: “My mandate, if elected, will be to end mass unemployment once and for all. I will do this in my first term through a Green New Deal — the centerpiece of my campaign — which will create 25 million jobs through direct public works programs and support for cooperatives and community businesses.”
NPR: The third-party candidate debate: and Libertarian Party nominee Gary Johnson joined moderator Guy Raz of All Things Considered for a debate focusing on domestic issues: the economy, health care and the role of government.
SEE MEDIA COVERAGE FROM THROUGHOUT THE CAMPAIGN at http://www.jillstein.org/media_coverage
“We need a serious debate focused on energy: Phasing out coal plants, ending mountaintop removal, banning fracking, and halting the Keystone XL pipeline.” –Jill Stein
From Imagine All the Voters Treating the Green Party like another realistic option,” by Carrie Peyton Dahlberg, North Coast Journal, September 27, 2012, quoting Jill Stein, “To go into the voting booth and vote for either Wall-Street-backed candidate, that is the definition of throwing away your vote.” WRITE-IN JILL STEIN AND CHERI HONKALA IN NEBRASKA. Another U.S. is Possible — Another Party is Necessary.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

PSC HEARING ON PIPELINE RULES . . . Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 1:00 to 3:00pm, there will be a public PSC Hearing on Pipeline Siting Rules at The Atrium, 1200 N Street, Room 300, in Lincoln. Learn more about the PSC process, and read the proposed rules here. The Facebook event link is http://www.facebook.com/events/138168712993779/.

ATM LEAFLETTING . . . Alternatives To the Military fall leafletting opportunities at Lincoln High Schools continue this week on Wednesday, October 17, 2012, at Lincoln Northeast HS, 2635 North 63rd (meet at 7:15am near 63rd and Madison Avenue). This fall’s leaflet can be found here. [pdf] An LPS opt-out form will also be enclosed. EveryOne is welcome to help inform high school students routinely recruited by the military that they have other options. If you’d like to get involved with ATM in this way, or have questions about this effort, please e-mail atmlincoln [at] gmail [dot] com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE.

SUSTAINABLE FARMING AND FOOD SYSTEMS . . . “Sustainable Farming and Food Systems in the Great Plains” will be presented by Chuck Francis, professor of agronomy at UN-L, Wednesday, October 17, 2012, 3:30pm, in the Great Plains Art Museum, 1155 Q Street, Hewit Place, first floor (across the street south from the Lied Center in downtown Lincoln). There will be a reception preceding the talk. This presentation is free and open to the public.

MARY PIPHER TEDTALK . . . Lincoln author and KXL pipeline opposition leader Mary Pipher will speak at Lincoln’s TEDTalk, Thursday, October 18, 2012. The theme of the local version of TEDTalks will be “Wide Horizons and Open Minds.” The broadcast will live-stream on NET, starting at 10:00am.

GLOBAL WARMING IS HERE NOW . . . What to do? Mark Reynolds and the Citizens Climate Lobby have a plan. Hear Reynolds speak on Friday, October 19, 2012, 7:00 to 9:00pm, at the Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street, Lincoln.

SUNDAY WITH A SCIENTIST . . . The Ogallala Aquifer will be the topic of discussion at Sunday With A Scientist, October 21, 2012, 1:30 to 4:30pm, at Morrill Hall on the UN-L campus, just south of 14th and Vine Streets, in Lincoln. Learn more at http://museum.unl.edu/sundaywithascientist/oct2012.html.

NEBRASKA WIND CONFERENCE . . . Registration is now open for the 5th annual Nebraska Wind Conference, Monday and Tuesday, October 22 and 23, 2012, at the Cornhusker Hotel, 333 South 13th Street,in Lincoln. Register, view the program, and learn more about Nebraska’s largest conference on renewable energy at http://nebraskawindconference.com/.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OCCUWORD . . . Monday, October 15, 2012, 7:00 TO 10:00pm, The PS Collective, 6056 Maple Street, Omaha, will host OCCUWORD, a Celebration of Spoken Word, Poetry, and Comedy, helping to defray legal costs for victims of police brutality. Presenters will include local activists and Omaha personalities, including the Nebraska Green Party’s Doug Paterson, at 7:15pm. The suggested donation is $5.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, October 17, 2012, the film will be “If a Tree Falls: Earth Liberation Front,” a behind-the-curtain look at the Earth Liberation Front, the radical environmental group that the FBI calls America’s ‘number one domestic terrorist threat.’ A 2:10 minute trailer is here. A discussion will follow the film. EveryOne is welcome. For more information, go to http://www.progressiveomaha.com/films.htm. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

CLIMATE CHANGE SCIENCE FORUM . . . A Climate Change Science Forum on Energy Basics will be Saturday, October 20, 2012, 9:00am to 12:00 noon, at First United Methodist Church, 7020 Cass Street, Omaha. Speakers will focus on the science of climate change, and implications for urban areas like Omaha. National Wildlife Federation executive director Duane Hovorka will be talking about alternatives for a clean energy future.

FOOD DAY . . . Food Day Omaha will be Sunday, October 21, 2012, 9:00am to 1:00pm, at Aksarben Farmers Market, 67th Avenue and Mercy Road, in solidarity with National Food Day, Wednesday, October 24th–a nationwide celebration and a movement for healthy, affordable, sustainable food. For more information, e-mail Danelle Myer, dmyer [at] centerfornutrition [dot] org or phone 402.559.5513.

GLOBAL WARMING IS HERE NOW . . . What to do? Citizens Climate Lobby has a plan. Mark Reynolds, Executive Director of CCL, will speak in Omaha on Sunday, October 21, 2012. 2:00pm, at First Unitarian Church 3114 Harney Street.

ATM LEAFLETTING IN OMAHA . . . An Alternatives To the Military supporter who lives in Omaha would like to put together and participate in a local leafletting group there. She wants to start small–maybe leafletting at just one or two schools. If you have an interest in joining a Omaha ATM group, please contact Kevin Haake, atmlincoln@gmail.com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE.
Leafletting in Omaha.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

NFP PEACE CONFERENCE . . . The Nebraskans for Peace Annual Peace Conference is Saturday, October 20, 2012, 9:00am to 4:00pm, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 5th and Elm Streets, Grand Island. This year the conference will feature Mark Reynolds, executive director of Citizens Climate Lobby, a group working to end the United State’s reliance on carbon-based fuels. A mail-in registration form is at http://nebraskansforpeace.org/uploaded/pdfs/APC2012brochure.pdf. Early registration ends October 17th.

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Quoting “Disaster in the Making: Grave Warnings Issued That Keystone Pipeline Is Structurally Flawed,” by Andrew Nikiforuk, The Tyee, AlterNet, October 9, 2012, “TransCanada is trying to get its Keystone XL pipeline approved, but a whistleblower is raising the alarm.” Read page 1 of 3, the first of a two-part series, at http://www.alternet.org/environment/disaster-making-grave-warnings-issued-keystone-pipeline-structurally-flawed?page=0%2C0. Read part-2 here.
From “TransCanada Transforms Tar Sands Blockade Area Into Police State,” by Kevin Gosztola, FireDogLake, Reader Supported News, October 12th: “Enlisted off-duty police officers are intimidating, harassing and arresting just about anyone they think is trespassing, even if those people happen to be on property they own. And, officers who are acting as armed henchmen for TransCanada have arrested three journalists in the past twenty-four hours for simply being there to report on resistance to the pipeline construction.”
Another Reader Supported News report from East Texas, “Protesters Challenge Bulldozers at Keystone Pipeline Site,” by Dan Frosch, sourced from the New York Times October 13th begins “Deep within the oak and pine forests that blanket this stretch of East Texas, the chug of machinery drones on late into the day, broken only by the sounds of a band of activists who have vowed to stop it.” Read more about the dangerous situation and determined Texas landowners at http://readersupportednews.org/news-section2/312-16/13956-protesters-challenge-bulldozers-at-keystone-pipeline-site.
Meanwhile, “Oil in New Gulf Slick Matches That of 2012 Spill, by Steven Mufson and Joel Achenbach, Washington Post, to Reader Supported News, October 12th reported “Ian MacDonald, a professor of oceanography at Florida State University and a spill expert, cautioned said that the origin of the new oil remains uncertain. ‘The jury is out here,’ he said, adding that it was too early ‘to rule out that this is oil freshly released from the reservoir.'”
Truthout published “BP Amnesia: Life and Death After the Spill,” by Mike Ludwig, also on October 12th. “As weathered oil and dead marine life continue to wash up on Gulf shores, environmentalists worry that America has failed to heed the lessons of the summer of 2010, when an ocean of oil gushed from a broken pipe, and mesmerized a nation.” Read at http://truth-out.org/news/item/12084-bp-oil-spill-amnesia-life-and-death-after-the-spill-cam?tmpl=component.
Reader Supported News also published a Common Dreams article “New England Tar Sands Pipeline Plotted Behind Closed Doors,” October 11th. “A new analysis released today by national and regional environmental groups shows that US oil giant Exxon Mobile and Canada’s Suncor hold a majority stake in a pipeline system that local residents along its route fear could soon be used to transport tar sands from western Canada to the New England coast.”
An InsideClimate News article by Dave Hasemyer, October 10th, “EPA Worried Dilbit Still a Threat to Kalamazoo River, More Than 2 Years After Spill,” reported “Enbridge needs to dredge accumulating oil from 100 acres of the river’s bottom, EPA says. The work could take up to a year and cost tens of millions more. The hidden, long-term effects of the 2010 pipeline accident that spilled more than a million gallons of heavy Canadian crude oil into Michigan’s Kalamazoo River became public last week when the EPA revealed that large amounts of oil are still accumulating in three areas of the river. The problem is so serious that the EPA is asking Enbridge Inc., the Canadian pipeline operator, to dredge approximately 100 acres of the river. The additional work could take up to a year and add tens of millions of dollars to a cleanup that has already cost Enbridge $809 million.” Read page 1 of 3 at http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20121011/epa-dilbit-enbridge-6b-pipeline-kalamazoo-river-cleanup-tar-sands-oil-sands-keystone-xl-landowners-environment.
“As Texas Pipeline Blockade Continues, Activists Challenge First U.S. Tar Sands Strip Mine in Utah,” on the October 9th Democracy Now! takes a look at possible tar sands mining in the US. “As a direct action blockade of the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline continues in Texas, we look at what could be the first actual tar sands and oil shale strip-mining operation in the United States. Not far from Moab, Utah, the state has already leased land to a Canadian energy development company that recently changed its name to U.S. Oil Sands. The company plans to mine nearly 6,000 acres in an area of unspoiled wilderness that is also the watershed of the Colorado River, which provides water to more than 30 million people. The mine itself would be water-intensive in what is already the second-driest state in the country, and activists say chemicals used in the mine could pollute the water that is left. We’re joined by two activists working to block the project: John Weisheit, longtime conservation director of Living Rivers & Colorado Riverkeeper; and Ashley Anderson, founder and director of Before It Starts, which is leading the fight to stop tar sands drilling in Utah.” Watch the video at http://www.democracynow.org/2012/10/9/as_texas_pipeline_blockade_continues_activists.
Indian Country Today published “Oil sands lawsuit part of ‘tooth and nail’ fight against pollution,” by David P. Ball, October 5th. “A First Nation whose land sits in the heart of the Alberta oil sands has ramped up its legal battle against the vast industrial development, which has generated controversy because of its massive carbon footprint, untreated tailings ponds and at least three proposed pipelines.”
“TransCanada reproached by NEB over pipeline compliance,” by CBC News, October 12th, reports “A complaint by a former TransCanada Pipelines employee has prompted the National Energy Board to warn the company that its pipeline inspection practices aren’t up to snuff.”
SAVE THE DATES: Saturday, October 27, 2012, and Saturday, December 1, 2012. “Raising the Red Flag on Tar Sands,” will be Saturday, October 27th, 5:30-6:30pm, at the Bourbon Theatrer, 1415 O Street, Lincoln. This will be a Movie Talk featuring Pipe Dreams. Moms from Michigan have been invited to speak on the devastating tar sands spill in their state that is documented in the movie, and the ongoing threat of the TransCanada Keystone XL to our land, water and air. Nebraskans featured in the movie will also be present. All ages are welcome. Facebook event link: http://www.facebook.com/events/322040707887684/.
And tickets are now on sale for the “Do the Math” tour with Bill McKibben in Omaha on December 1st, at the Joslyn Musuem, 2200 Dodge Street, 6:00 to 9:00pm. McKibben will be on a nationwide tour talking about climate, oil subsidies, and the pipeline. Purchase tickets online here.
A Keystone XL “Open Letter” to President Obama and Governor Romney was released to the media September 27, 2012, and the “Defend America, Stop Keystone Tour” started the following day. Click here to add your name to the Letter calling on President Obama and Governor Romney to withdraw their support for Keystone XL on economic, public health and national security grounds. There’s no top down strategy here, just grassroots democratic activism. Everyone has a critical role to play, so please do what you can to help spread the word. Post the letter on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/RideforRenewables.
An e-mail from ForestEthics covers a new report, “Tar Sands Refineries: Communities at Risk,” that exposes the appalling health problems that tar sands refineries dump onto U.S. communities. The Environmental Protection Agency says short-term exposure to sulfur dioxide is associated with a host of respiratory problems, including decreased lung function, respiratory illness, and deterioration of the lung’s defense system. Despite the EPA’s knowledge that health problems from refinery pollution are greater for disadvantaged groups than for others, it has failed to address the problem of tar sands refinery impacts on community health. Big Oil wants to dramatically increase US refinery use of tar sands, further harming some of the most vulnerable populations in our society. Take a few minutes to read this report and share it with your contacts. It is crucial that everyone know the severe health consequences of allowing more tar sands refining in our communities.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee.

Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.”

Green Notes Week of October 7, 2012

October 7, 2012Green Notesgreenone

GREEN PARTY PRESIDENTIAL UPDATE . . . On Wednesday, Jill Stein participated in Democracy NOW’s “Expand the Debate,” broadcast in over 25 million households. From the campaign, “We need a serious debate focused on energy: Phasing out coal plants, ending mountaintop removal, banning fracking, and halting the Keystone XL pipeline.”
WRITE-IN JILL STEIN AND CHERI HONKALA IN NEBRASKA. Another U.S. is Possible — Another Party is Necessary.

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

OCCUPY EDUCATION . . . Sunday, October 7, 2012, 7:00 to 8:00pm, Justin Orem will present “Winterizing Your Home” at the last weekly Occupy Education class of this Series, Meadowlark Coffee, 1624 South Street, Lincoln.

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. When weather is bad, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. See below for Note about NADP’s Annual Reception and Silent Auction, Thursday, October 11, 2012, 7:00 to 8:30pm. “It’s barbaric. It’s outlawed in all but a few extremely repressive countries like Iran, China, and not many others. It’s shameful that it continues to be performed. It’s well established that mistakes are made–yet half of our states practice pre-meditated state-sponsored murder. It’s also known that it’s not effective. So why is it done? Revenge & retribution? That’s not what our justice system is supposed to be about. It’s not an effective deterrent.” –Jill Stein, GP Presidential Nominee.

TUESDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . Tuesday, October 9, 2012, 4:30-7:30pm, will be the last Farmers Market of the season at St. Paul United Church of Christ, 13th & F Streets, Lincoln.

WASTECAP NEBRASKA SUSTAINABILITY SUMMIT . . . The WasteCap Nebraska Sustainability Summit, will be Tuesday and Wednesday, October 9 and 10, 2012 in Lincoln and Omaha. Learn how to “Get Green done!” The Summit features a speech in Omaha, October 9, by Auden Schendler (Aspen Skiing Company’s Vice President of Sustainability), a conference in Lincoln, October 10, with presentations on sustainable business practices, and a free public policy panel discussion with Schendler and public officials the evening of October 10, in Lincoln. See the details at http://www.wastecapne.org/sustainability-summit/2012-2/.

ATM LEAFLETTING . . . Alternatives To the Military fall leafletting opportunities at Lincoln High Schools continue this week: Thursday, October 11th, Lincoln High School, 2229 J Street (meet at 7:15am at the street circle where J ends, northeast of the football field (approximately 22nd and J); and Wednesday, October 17th, Lincoln Northeast HS, 2635 North 63rd (meet at 7:15am near 63rd and Madison Avenue). This fall’s leaflet can be found here.
An LPS opt-out form will also be enclosed. EveryOne is welcome to help inform high school students routinely recruited by the military that they have other options. If you’d like to get involved with ATM in this way, or have questions about this effort, please e-mail atmlincoln@gmail.com. The FB link is http://www.facebook.com/atmlincoln. Twitter is http://www.twitter.com/ATMLincolnNE.

NADP ANNUAL FUNDRAISING EVENT . . . The annual Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty Reception & Silent Auction will be Thursday, October 11, 2012, 7:00 to 8:30pm, at Beacon Hills at Country Inn & Suites, 5353 North 27th Street, Lincoln. (There is plenty of onsite parking, and its near the 27th Street interstate exit.) State Senator Danielle Conrad will be honored for her continued work to end the death penalty, and the featured speaker will be Victoria Coward, the mother of a murdered son. Her testimony played an integral role in the recent repeal of the death penalty in Connecticut. Register online at www.nadp.net.

SUSTAINABLE CHURCHES AUDUBON TOPIC . . . The Wachiska Audubon October general meeting, Thursday, October 11, 2012, 7:00pm, will feature Rev. Kim Morrow Hinrichs, Associate Minister at First-Plymouth Church in Lincoln. The free presentation, “Sustainable Churches: Re-Imagining Christianity for a Warming World,” will be at the Dick Administration Building Auditorium, 3800 South 48th on the Union College Campus. Refreshments will follow the program. All are welcome.

SATURDAY FARMERS MARKET . . . The last Haymarket Farmers Market of the season, on 8th Street in Lincoln’s Historic Haymarket District, will be Saturday, October 13, 2012, 8:00am to noon. More than 100 vendors bring farm-fresh produce, flowers, baked goods and handmade items to the local gathering place that also features a “Performance Showcase” for Nebraska folk, jazz, blues, classical, and dance talent, plus educational demonstrations and informational booths. Buy Fresh. Shop Local.

NEBRASKA WIND CONFERENCE . . . Registration is now open for the 5th annual Nebraska Wind Conference, October 22 and 23, 2012, at the Cornhusker Hotel, 333 S 13th Street,in Lincoln. Register, view the program, and learn more about Nebraska’s largest conference on renewable energy at http://nebraskawindconference.com/.

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, October 10, 2012, the film will be “The Line,” documenting the stories of people across the country living at or below the poverty line. A discussion will follow the film. EveryOne is welcome. For more information, go to http://www.progressiveomaha.com/films.htm. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

R.E.A.S.O.N. EVENT . . . Thursday, October 11, 2012, 7:00pm, R.E.A.S.O.N. (Rationalists, Empiricists, And Skeptics Of Nebraska) will host “The Decline of Ethics in Science and Medicine: Why Have We Plummeted?” presented by Roger Brumback, M.D., Professor of Pathology, Psychiatry and Neurology at Creighton University of Medicine, at the UNMC Durham Research Center auditorium, Room 1002. The Tower is at 45th and Emile Streets, and free parking is available in the garage southeast of Farnam and Saddle Creek. The talk is free and open to the public.

NEBRASKANS FOR JUSTICE HOST RAMSEY CLARK . . . Ed Poindexter and Mondo we Langa (a.k.a., David Rice) have now spent over 40 years in prison for a crime they did not commit. For 22 years, Amnesty International has called for a new trial for Ed and Mondo based on evidence of prosecutorial misconduct. saturday, October 13, 2012, 3:00pm, former U.S. Attorney General Ramsey Clark will be the featured speaker at a “Still Seeking Justice” event, at the Malcolm X Center, 3463 Evans Street, Omaha. The event is open to the public. For more information, contact mrydickin [at] gmail [dot] com.

OMAHA GREEN HOME TOUR . . . The Omaha Green Home Tour will be Sunday, October 14, 2012, 1:00 to 5:00pm. The fifth annual Tour features six local new and existing homes that showcase green living techniques. See green practices at work, talk to on-site experts and pick up tips on how to green your own living environment. Tour homes are in mid-town, and near Elkhorn. More information is at http://www.greenomahacoalition.org/councils/design-and-construction/2012/08/28/green-home-tour-2012/.

OMAHA FARMERS MARKETS . . . Click here for an Omaha Market schedule.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

NFP PEACE CONFERENCE . . . The Nebraskans for Peace Annual Peace Conference http://nebraskansforpeace.org/ is Saturday, October 20, 2012, 9:00am to 4:00pm, at Trinity United Methodist Church, 5th and Elm Streets, Grand Island. This year the conference will feature Mark Reynolds, executive director of Citizens Climate Lobby, a group working to end the United State’s reliance on carbon-based fuels. A mail-in registration form is at http://nebraskansforpeace.org/uploaded/pdfs/APC2012brochure.pdf. Early registration ends October 17th.

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . “Daryl Hannah and East Texas Great-Grandmother Arrested Protesting Keystone XL Pipeline,” by EcoWatch, was sourced to Reader Supported News October 5, 2012: “Anything can happen when a multi-national corporation comes in and expropriates your farm for their profit.”
Bold Nebraska reported that When TransCanada arrived on Eleanor Fairchild’s Texas farm without prior warning to remove trees and clear land, she decided to take action to halt their progress. Fairchild, who has been bullied by the foreign pipeline company attempting to build the “southern leg” of the Keystone XL pipeline, was arrested on her own farm when she stood in front of their heavy machinery. Daryl Hannah, actress and activist, stood alongside Fairchild in taking a peaceful stand to block TransCanada’s clearing of trees, the very trees TransCanada told Eleanor they will not replant.
Photos of Eleanor and Daryl’s attempt to stand up to TransCanada’s bullying tactics are at http://tarsandsblockade.org/darylandeleanor/ and http://www.flickr.com/photos/tarsandsblockade/sets/72157631695560081/. Video of the action is at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKqs7Fc45XM&feature=player_embedded and Video of Eleanor describing recent abuses by TransCanada is at http://tarsandsblockade.org/eleanor/. Background Videos of Eleanor from last year is here and here.
“TransCanada Pipeline protestor cements self to easement,” by Melanie Torre, KLTV News, Wood County, TX, October 1st: “Protestors continue to do all they can to delay the Transcanada Pipeline Project in East Texas. In Wood County on Monday, one of those protestors physically attached himself to the easement where construction was scheduled to take place. The protestor was using at least his arm and concrete to stay locked in place. A tarp, put up by officials, kept other protestors and media from seeing what exactly was going on.” Continued, with two minute video, at http://www.kltv.com/story/19689227/transcanda-pipeline-protestor-cements-self-to-easement.
Also reporting from Texas, Candice Bernd wrote for Truthout, October 6th, “Why Susan Scott Buried TransCanada’s Money on Her Family Farm.” “…Susan Scott worked for years and saved every penny she earned to buy her dream farm in Winnsboro, Texas. Well, it was her dream farm, but that was before the Keystone XL pipeline was slated for construction right over top of it. …Scott says she was intimidated into signing a contractual agreement with TransCanada for her land. “I said, ‘I ain’t signing that,’ and [a TransCanada representative] said to me, ‘Let me tell you why you ought to, because they are going file charges, take you to court and they’re going to sue you. You’re going to have to pay lawyer fees, you’re going to have to pay court costs,’ and God only knows what else they’re going to come up with, and I’m going like, ‘I am a farmer. I don’t have that kind of money. I’m a farmer for heaven’s sakes!”
“Planet Earth Needs You in Texas,” by Carl Gibson, Reader Supported News, September 30th: “…The battle happening in Texas right now is one we must win if we’re to have a planet on which to raise the next generation. A company motivated by nothing other than naked greed, like TransCanada, must not be victorious in their goal to harm our planet and brutalize our people all to make more money. On October 12th and 13th, www.tarsandsblockade.org is hosting a direct action training camp. If you need a ride, they can even help you get there. Get to Texas, ASAP. Your planet needs you.” Read at http://readersupportednews.org/opinion2/271-38/13732-focus-planet-earth-needs-you-in-texas.
A Keystone XL “Open Letter” to President Obama and Governor Romney was released to the media Thursday, September 27, 2012, and the “Defend America, Stop Keystone Tour” started the following day. Click here to add your name to the Open Letter calling on President Obama and Governor Romney to withdraw their support for Keystone XL on economic, public health and national security grounds. THEN PRINT OUT A COPY WITH YOUR NAME ON IT AND INVITE YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY TO JOIN YOU IN DELIVERING IT TO THE ROMNEY & OBAMA CAMPAIGN OFFICES NEAREST YOU (send it to your local newspaper, television and radio reporters, or better yet, invite them to join you). Video the delivery and post it on YouTube. Post the letter on your website, with a call for more signers. Send out a tweet asking your Twitter followers to join you in signing it. Post the letter on Facebook.
There’s no top down strategy here, just grassroots democratic activism. Everyone has a critical role to play, so please do what you can to help spread the word.
InsideClimate News reported “Michigan landowners quietly rack up court victories in pipeline fight with Enbridge,” a David Hasemyer article recounting that “a 66-year-old Detroit Edison retiree is among a handful of Michigan residents who have won court victories in the last few weeks against Canada’s biggest pipeline company over attempts to condemn their land for an oil pipeline, called Line 6B.”
From Globe and Mail, “British Columbia could withhold electricity from proposed pipelines, Premier suggests,” by Carrie Tait, Nathan VanderKlippe, and Justine Hunter, October 2nd: British Columbia Premier Christy Clark has issued a veiled threat to withhold electricity needed to operate controversial oil sands pipelines if the projects do not meet her demands.”
And from “Ambitious plans for Canada oil sands would create lakes from waste,” by Nathan Vanderklippe, October 3rd: “It could one day be Alberta’s very own Lake District, a recreational haven complete with campgrounds, boating, fishing – even swimming. Or it could turn into a landscape of ponds sullied by toxic chemicals and oil, a malingering presence left by an industrial experiment gone wrong.”
An e-mail from ForestEthics covers a new report, “Tar Sands Refineries: Communities at Risk,” that exposes the appalling health problems that tar sands refineries dump onto U.S. communities. The Environmental Protection Agency says short-term exposure to sulfur dioxide is associated with a host of respiratory problems, including decreased lung function, respiratory illness, and deterioration of the lung’s defense system. Despite the EPA’s knowledge that health problems from refinery pollution are greater for disadvantaged groups than for others, it has failed to address the problem of tar sands refinery impacts on community health. Big Oil wants to dramatically increase US refinery use of tar sands, further harming some of the most vulnerable populations in our society. Take a few minutes to read this report and share it with your contacts. It is crucial that everyone know the severe health consequences of allowing more tar sands refining in our communities.
Sign a Natural Resources Defense Council Action Alert telling Congress to reject all attempts to force approval of the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline by attaching it to any unrelated legislation. The Keystone XL will deliver billions in profits to Big Oil while the people get stuck with poisoned water, contaminated land and an overheated planet.
SAVE THE DATE: PSC Hearing on Pipeline Siting Rules, Tuesday, October 16, 2012, 1:00 to 3:00pm, at The Atrium, 1200 N Street, Hearing Rm 300, Lincoln.
“The Keystone pipeline will spew a massive amount of carbon pollution into our fragile atmosphere. It should be stopped. ” –Jill Stein, 2012 Green Party Presidential Nominee.

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. http://www.goodsearch.com/default.aspx Bookmark the GoodSearch Homepage, or make it your own Home Page. Enter the url you want in the GoodSearch search box. Each time you do, one penny will be donated to Nebraska Greens. THANK YOU for your support!

Remember, every man-made by-product of the petroleum industry could be replaced by hemp. “Help Save the Earth, Time to Substitute Hemp for oil.“