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

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

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

THANKS IN ADVANCE CAMPAIGN . . . Every Monday at noon, dedicated activists against the Keystone XL pipeline will deliver homemade gifts such as food, family photos, and Nebraska flowers–the very things we’re fighting to protect–to Governor Heineman with notes attached asking that he call a special session right away. Join us over the lunch hour (or stop by anytime after) to drop off gifts right at the gate of his mansion, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. From noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty will also be present for the weekly vigil. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here.

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

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

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

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

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

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

OCCUPY LINCOLN . . . The second OCCUPY Lincoln march will be Saturday, October 22, 2011, starting at noon on the north side of the state capitol building, 14th & K Streets. A parade permit has been granted for this action and every following Saturday at noon until January 1, 2012. The Facebook page is Occupy Lincoln, Nebraska For more information, e-mail occupylincoln [at] gmail [dot] com or phone 402.585.5865. The Lincoln Occupy Together website is here.  Lincoln Journal Star coverage of the first OCCUPY march is here.  Once again, the number of people reported in LJS is about half the number estimated by participants.

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

BIONEERS CONFERENCE REGISTRATION . . . Registration is now open for the Beaming Bioneers Nebraska 2011 Fall Conference on Saturday, November 19, 2011, 9:00am to 5:00pm, in Lincoln at the Lincoln-Lancaster County Health Department conference room, 3140 N Street. This Conference is the year’s premiere environmental and social justice conference in the state, and Nebraska Green Party is one of the sponsors. Check out the website for information about the day’s agenda, mark your calendar, and plan to be there. Register online here.

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

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

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

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

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, October 19, 2011, the film will be “Man on Wire,” a documentary that looks at tightrope walker Philippe Petit’s daring, but illegal, high-wire routine performed between New York City’s World Trade Center twin towers in 1974, what some consider, “the artistic crime of the century.” The weekly event is always free and open to the public. A discussion will follow the film. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

OCCUPY OMAHA . . . Check the Omaha Occupy Together Community website for information about OCCUPY Omaha planning. The FaceBook page is here. Twitter: #occupyomaha

PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace Coordinator xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . The Sunday, October 16, 2011 Lincoln Journal Star letters to the editor section was again dominated by opposition to the TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer.  A Local View by the Reverends Betsy Blake Bennett and Don Huber, “Choose life, health over pipeline,” was also published on the Opinion page. Paul Johnsgard wrote about the ecosystem and wildlife risks involved with this potential “ecological disaster.” Nebraska Sierra Club Board Chairman Dick Boyd recalled the Santa Barbara spill of 1969, urging that the pipeline route be changed.
“Jobs claim dubious,” by Jack Lindell, begins “Nebraskans are challenged to find the truth among the ocean of claims by both sides about the Keystone XL. Luckily, this issue has garnered enough attention that independent groups are studying these claims to provide an unbiased perspective. …Before we believe the slick ads and lobbyists on both sides, it is our duty to inform ourselves. Everyone should read the Global Labor Institute’s findings.[pdf]  It is difficult to see the positive economic impact the Keystone XL purports to offer.” Read the entire letter here.
“Literal vision of hell,” by Richard Dale Sullivan, observes “It’s quite interesting that the narrative that’s been created and discussed is essentially only about the route of the pipeline, i.e., should it be through the Ogallala Aquifer in the Nebraska Sandhills or rerouted? I imagine TransCanada is thrilled with this narrative, because it excludes a more serious discussion: Should this pipeline even be constructed?” Ten “Facts in pipeline debate,” are presented by C. MichaelCowan here.  And the LJS Art Hovey article on October 16 is here.
Another LJS Editorial Opinion, “Pipeline process not trustworthy,” was published Thursday, October 14th. “No wonder the environmental impact statement for the Keystone XL pipeline was so superficial and unduly dismissive of the unique characteristics of Nebraska’s Sandhills. The firm that authored the report has financial ties to the TransCanada, the firm seeking approval for the pipeline, according to the New York Times.
It’s outrageous that the State Department would have hired a company for the environmental study that has such a clear interest in seeing that the project wins approval. We noted in an earlier editorial that the supplemental impact statement digressed from environmental issues at one point to dwell on the economic benefits of running the pipeline through the Sandhills. The shorter route “would typically translate to lower overall construction capital costs and lifetime operating costs of the system,” the report said. Now we know why the authors of the environmental impact statement were so concerned with TransCanada’s profit margin. …Assurances that the Keystone XL pipeline only would have a minimal environmental impact on Nebraska’s fragile and beautiful Sandhills were implausible under any circumstances. But no one should be expected to trust in promises from a company with such a clear conflict of interest. The State Department’s permitting process for the Keystone XL pipeline is fundamentally flawed.” Read the complete editorial here.
Merrick County landowner Randy Thompson, was one of many letter writers to LJS this past week. In “Ranchers, farmers not misguided,” also published October 14th, Randy wrote “Russ Girling, CEO of TransCanada, made the statement this past week that farmers and ranchers all along the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline are being misguided by environmentalists. If he thinks we are too stupid to see through TransCanada’s shell game on our own, then he’s the one who is a naive fool.”
Lois Bauer wrote “If Mari Sandoz still were around, she would fight to the death the destruction of her land, the land that healed her whenever she was able to get away from the torments of the city. She is buried out there among the hills she loved. Can we ignore history in the decisions we make? Can we blatantly ignore the beauty of this land and the comfort it brings to all who travel its highways? Can we take any chance, slim or severe, of harming Nebraska’s greatest natural asset in order to pipe oil from Canada. I say no, now and forever. All who have connection to this project should think hard, study hard and be sure they know what this transaction would mean. Then, they should speak up, stop the destruction and search for alternatives, if they can. I know this is a fight between that which calms the soul and that which fills the pockets. Are we ready to give up this offering of peacefulness to brag on our wealth?” Read Bauer’s “Sandoz would fight pipeline,” here.
In a lengthy meeting with state senators in Norfolk on Tuesday, TransCanada representatives refused to budge on siting of the pipeline, admitting in LJS coverage that a move would “invalidate the federal exercise and force us to go back and start all over again.” In “TransCanada not budging on route,” the Omaha World Herald reports “…Such a delay would be unacceptable for the Texas oil refineries that would be customers for the 700,000 barrels of diluted tar-sand oil — called bitumen — from Canada. Customers such as the Conoco, Shell and Valero oil companies are losing supplies of heavy crude oil from their traditional sources in Mexico and Venezuela and are relying on the pipeline — to be completed in 2013 — to fill that gap. Our customers need a solution for supply. They can’t wait another two or three years.”
Meanwhile in New Zealand, an oil spill from a stranded cargo ship off the east coast threatened a “wildlife tragedy” for local penguins, whales, seals and seabirds. Read and view a 1:18 minute video here.  Calling the disaster New Zealand’s “worst in decades,” the BBC report with 1:15 minute video is here.  Video of an October 7th pipeline break in this country at Edmond, Oklahoma is here.  International oil sands news from Daily Climate recently reported that “Oil from controversial and environmentally destructive tar sands is likely to be all but banned from Europe.”
Position Statements opposing the XL pipeline released last week include Nebraska Sierra Club comments on the National Interest Determination, and Nebraska Farmers Union formal comments to the State Department on the Final Environmental Impact Statement.  “An Open Letter to Secretary Clinton: KO Keystone XL,” by David Yarnold, President of National Audubon Society, was published in the Huffington Post on October 12, 2011. “Since last fall, a steady stream of damning evidence about questionable relationships, lobbying practices and political bias have been flowing from the Keystone XL pipeline process. This weekend’s outrageous revelation that TransCanada supervised the environmental review has poisoned the process beyond repair. It’s time to KO Keystone XL. It is irreversibly polluted.” Read here.
More news about the Entrix scandal was release last week. “Bombshell: State Department Outsourced Tar Sands Pipeline Environmental Impact Study to ‘Major’ TransCanada Contractor” was written by Joe Romm at ClimateProgress. Quoting the article sourced to AlterNet October 10th, “The Game was Rigged: Entire Environmental Impact Statement Should Be Invalidated. The State Department assigned an important environmental impact study of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline to a company with financial ties to the pipeline operator, flouting the intent of a federal law meant to ensure an impartial environmental analysis of major projects.” Read here.
From The Daily Beast, “Obama’s Pipeline Mess,” by Bill McKibben and Naomi Klein, October 8th: “Obama’s plan to transport oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast reeks of cronyism. …there’s still time for the president to step in and stop it. …The story started coming out a few weeks ago when Nebraska activists preparing for State Department hearings on the Keystone XL pipeline noticed something odd. The hearings were actually being run by a private company called Cardno Entrix—their name was even at the bottom of the State Department official website. If you wanted to send in public comments, you sent them to the company. …This is quite possibly the biggest potential scandal of the Obama years. But there’s a danger that it will go ignored for three reasons ” Read page 1 of 2 here.
Other Lincoln Journal Star letters last week encouraged legislative action to pass a pipeline bill, and tied the Occupy Wall Street Movement with the pipeline debate in Nebraska. Alexandra Svoboda writes “These two issues are part of the same story, the story of powerful economic interests, the 1 percent, dictating the fate of the people, the 99 percent. Wall Street has never been held accountable for the greed and corruption that plunged our nation into an ongoing recession.”
Janene Sheldon urged the governor to call a special legislative session, expressing disappointment in his “lack of leadership,” and encouraging readers to contact Heineman and their state senators asking for action now. In “Don’t trust pipeline statements,” Darlene Todd writes “…I don’t trust anything these government people say, because they want the pipeline to go through. There is no such thing as the safest pipeline ever built. The proposed route is across the very fragile Sandhills and across America’s prime farming country. That’s one big impact. Without water, people cannot work. Thousands of jobs will last only till the pipeline is done. Those don’t sound like permanent jobs to me.” And Scott Sandquist writes “…So with the exception of TransCanada, one truly has to wonder why either side would be against a much safer route for the Keystone XL pipeline.”
Call Your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session. We have no legal petition route. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from constituents.  And join pipeline opponents at the governor’s mansion Monday from noon to 1:00pm for the Thanks in Advance action detailed at the top of CD 1 Green Notes above.
           Add your voice to the “Protect Our Water, Stop the Keystone XL Pipeline!” petition urging the president to deny the construction permit here.
New from CREDO Action, “Tell Oprah: Stop promoting dirty tar sands lies on your network.”  Oprah Winfrey is a respected voice for advancing the rights and lives of women all over the world. But now she is allowing that work to be co-opted, by validating a dangerous campaign of flat out lies that promote the development of the Canadian tar sands on her network. Read the petition, and join almost 100,000 signers with an e-mail here.
The White House Switchboard number is 202.456.1111. Tell the President to deny the permit to build this pipeline.
Comprehensive coverage of international, national and local opposition to the XL pipeline since May 30, 2010 are archived in a Green Notes tab above. At the Index, scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Update.
           The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him with thanks for his letters to the President and Secretary of State, ask him to call a special session of the legislature, and also contact your own senator requesting he or she joins the senators seeking a special session. Continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska. (If you haven’t written the LJS yet, please do so here.) actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. New armbands say “Sandhills and Ogallala Aquifer Lover” and “Pipeline Fighter.”
Be a community educator and organizer. Help make Nebraska the first state to successfully oppose a pipeline project.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.

PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.  Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.

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

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

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

STOP THE PIPELINE

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

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

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

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

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

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, from noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

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

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

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

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

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

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

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

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

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

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, October 5, 2011, the film will be “Lone Star,” John Sayles’ murder-mystery exploring interpersonal and interracial tensions in Rio County, Texas. Watch the trailer here.  The weekly event is always free and open to the public. A discussion will follow the film. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

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

PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace Coordinator xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

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

ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

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

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.

PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.  Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.

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

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

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

STOP THE PIPELINE

EARTH CIRCLE . . . On the first day of every month, people around the world stop everything for five minutes, joining with thousands of others to visualize peace and focus on new levels of kindness, understanding, and compassion necessary for collectively facing the challenges of the 21st century. New Dimensions invites peacemakers everywhere to join at 4:00pm Greenwich Mean Time, 10:00am in Lincoln and Omaha, 9:00am in District 3 where Mountain Time begins, Saturday, October 1, 2011, with the intention of deep healing for the Planet and all its people. Click here for more information about Earth Circle.

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

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

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

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, from noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

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

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

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

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.

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

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, September 28, 2011, the film will be “Remote Control,” a Free Speech TV film that “focuses on the effects of young people spending much of their time on various media versus possibly more useful pursuits.” The weekly event is always free and open to the public. A discussion will follow the film. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

MAKE PEACE AND PRACTICE NON-VIOLENCE . . . There will be a public prayer and action for peace on Sunday, October 2, 2011, 2:30 to 3:20pm, at STRATCOM, Offut Air Base in Bellevue, Nebraska. For details, click here.

PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace Coordinator xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

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

ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.

PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.  Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.

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

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

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

STOP THE PIPELINE

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

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

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, from noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, September 21, 2011, the film will be “911 Eyewitness Hoboken,” a documentary that exposes inconsistencies between the U.S. Government version of events on September 11, 2001 and the irrefutable evidence of eyewitnesses. The weekly event is always free and open to the public. A discussion will follow the film. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

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

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

PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace  Coordinator xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

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

ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

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

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

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

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

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.

PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.  Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.

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

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

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

STOP THE PIPELINE

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

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, from noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here. here.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. Wednesday, September 14, 2011, the main attraction, Fresh, celebrates the farmers, thinkers and business people across America who are re-inventing our food system. View trailers here.  Matt Ohloff, from Food and Water Watch, will be the guest speaker. The weekly event is always free and open to the public. For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

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

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

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

PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace Coordinator xMark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

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

ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

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

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.

PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.  Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.

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

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

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

STOP THE PIPELINE

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

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, from noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

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

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

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

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

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

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

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha.  For September 7th a special film tribute to the American labor movement is planned. From the website:  “We are in the process of carefully selecting JUST the right film, so please check back soon as we know we’ll find it. Where would we be without the brave forebears of today’s labor unions, the ones who paved the way? Learn all about it on Sept. 7, after the BBQ and the downtown parade. Stay tuned!”  The event is always free and open to the public. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

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

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

PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace Coordinator Mark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

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

ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Saturday was the last day of sit-ins at the White House in opposition to the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and the Ogallala Aquifer.   A petition with 617,428 names opposing the pipeline was delivered to the White House at the end of the sit-ins and arrests.  Click on the Tar Sands Action website for final press releases, photos and videos.
350.org leader and protest organizer Bill McKibben wrote from the White House lawn: “In front of me there’s a sprawling rally underway, with speakers ranging from indigenous elders to the great Canadian writer Naomi Klein. In back of me, another 243 courageous people are being hauled away to jail — it’s the last day of Phase 1 of the tar sands campaign, and 1,252 North Americans have been arrested, the biggest civil disobedience action this century on this continent.  But we’ve been just as cheered by the help that has poured in from around the world — today, activists in front of the White House held a banner with a huge number on it: 618,428. That’s how many people around the world who signed on to the “Stop the Tar Sands” mega-petition to President Obama.” Check out photos of passion and courage on display here.
“Over 1,000 Arrested While Protesting the Keystone XL Pipeline” by Sarah Alexander, sourced from Food and Water Watch by AlterNet, September 2, 2011 begins “One of the largest acts of civil disobedience in the environmental movement is underway as over 1,000 people have been arrested in front of the White House while gathering to oppose the Keystone XL Pipeline. The pipeline, which will extend from the Athabasca tar sands of Canada to the Gulf of Mexico, is a threat to our environment and threatens the drinking water of millions of people in its path. …Add your voice to the over 250,000 people that have already petitioned the president to deny the construction permit.
“Naomi Klein Arrested in Oil Sands Protest,” by Mitch Potter of The Toronto Star was published in Reader Supported News September 3rd. It also begins “More than 1,000 people have been busted at the gates of the White House the past two weeks, as the most ambitious of climate protests against Canadian oil comes to a head. Toronto author and activist Naomi Klein was not planning to be among them. …Yet there was Klein on Friday, being led away by police in the latest harvest of detainees after a last-second decision to put her liberty on the line in opposition to the controversial Keystone XL pipeline.”  See the photo and read the article here.
Local PeaceMaker and Green Party supporter Carol Smith hosted riders on buses from California and Texas, and then began the trip East to pick up others along the way in caravan to the White House. Carol’s pre-trip Local View for the LJS, “I Will be Sitting in Front of the White House,” is here. It was picked up by Common Dreams here.  On Thursday, September 1st, a photo of Carol being arrested ran in LJS with a column by Cindy Lange-Kubick reporting on Carol’s activism. A blog about the caravan’s experiences on the road, with photos, is here. Thank You Carol!
In the news this past week was Nebraska Governor Dave Heineman’s letter to the President and Secretary of State asking them to deny a permit to TransCanada for the proposed route through the Sand Hills and the Ogalalla Aquifer. The Omaha World-Herald covered the letter here, and Lincoln Journal Star reporting is here.
A September 2nd Steve White report on NTV, “Special Session Urged Over Pipeline Route” began “Now that Governor Dave Heineman has come out against the proposed route of the Keystone XL oil pipeline, farm groups call for a special session of the unicameral. Nebraska Farmers Union has been talking with ag producers during the state fair. They credit the governor for listening to their concerns about putting the pipeline through the Sandhills. Now NFU President John Hansen calls on the legislature to act. He said, “The ball really is in the legislature’s court. So the legislature needs to go into special session so they can deal with issues and authority of siting and routing.”
A Sunday, September 4th letter to the Lincoln Journal Star editor by Jim Knopik of Belgrade, NE. also asks the governor to “Call special session on Keystone.” It begins “Wednesday morning I heard some great news. Gov. Dave Heineman wrote a letter to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton opposing the Keystone XL pipeline, but he continues to drag his own feet, saying the ball is in the hands of our federal government. Sen. Ben Nelson, on the other hand, said Gov. Heineman could do something about making TransCanada reroute the pipeline. Personally, I believe all of them could do something, but won’t. The letter is here.
“Dismayed by Heineman,” a LJS letter by Vernon Forbes published August 18th begins “I was dismayed that Governor Dave Heineman will not call for a special session of the Legislature to protect the Ogallala Aquifer, even though he admits that a majority of Nebraskans (including himself) believe that the Keystone XL Pipeline should not go through the Sandhills. He believes this should have been taken care of in the regular session, that a special session is too expensive, and that the votes to pass a bill are not there. During the regular session, the senators did not feel they had the authority to determine a pipeline’s route through the state. It is now clear they do have that authority, and Senator Ken Haar is trying to make that correction.” The letter continues here.
Several Nebraska groups have formed a coalition named Save Our Sand Hills for the purpose of calling for a special session to re-route the pipeline away from the Sand Hills.  Call your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session of the legislature. We have no legal petition route to calling a special session. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from constituents.
In the Final Environmental Impact Statement, the Obama administration “removed a major roadblock to a planned $7 billion oil pipeline from western Canada to the Texas coast” saying that the project is unlikely to cause significant environmental problems during construction or operation. The EIS is 1,200 pages. Early AP coverage is here.  Lincoln Journal Star coverage is here.  The New York Times called the EIS “a crucial green light” to the 1,711-mile tar sands pipeline. The Department of State said it was eliminating route alternatives from further consideration! Read the BOLD Nebraska response to the FEIS here.
A background document on the FEIS by the Natural Resources Defense Council mailed to grouplists September 2nd summarizes the bottom line: “1) There is ample evidence that Keystone XL will cause an increase in tar sands oil extraction and significant harm to climate, wildlife, water and health. 2) The pipeline will risk health and safety through oil spills as well as water and air pollution. 3) The State Department’s finding that the pipeline will cause “no significant impact” is flawed. 4) The FEIS is lacking in several areas including an expert study on safety impact, clean energy alternatives to the pipeline, a serious review of an alternative path avoiding the Nebraska Sandhills and the Ogallala Aquifer, climate change impacts, and an on-the-ground study or refinery pollution in Port Arthur and Houston.” Ken Winston’s response for Nebraska Sierra, “Final Environmental Impact Statement Flawed” is here.  Please take a moment to call the White House and tell the President to deny the permit to build this pipeline.  The White House Switchboard number is 202.456.1111.
Department of State Public Hearings following the final EIS will offer the final opportunity to speak for preservation of Our land and water. Randy Thompson and the entire Coalition of groups taking action to Save the Sand Hills will now focus on fostering a large presence at the two Nebraska hearings.  Please mark your calendars now: Tuesday, September 27, 2011: Pershing Center, 226 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, 12:00 pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 8:00 pm; and Thursday, September 29, 2011: West Holt High School, 100 North Main Street, Atkinson, Nebraska, 4:30 pm – 10:00 pm.
Sunday, August 28th, the Omaha World-Herald editorialized “Protect this Special Gift,” a strong statement for rerouting the pipeline. “The Ogallala Aquifer is a special gift to Nebraskans. Nebraskans have a special responsibility to protect it. Allowing an oil sands pipeline to cross the heart of that aquifer poses a potential threat to a unique natural resource. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline should be rerouted.” And a Lincoln Journal Star Op-Ed September 2nd called for a strong public presence at the scheduled State Department hearings. Although that day’s editorial is not online, it says “We hope senators continue the effort to establish stronger state control before it’s too late.” The editorial board first wrote “Reroute Keystone LX pipeline around Sand Hills” on September 28, 2010.
In a LJS letter to the editor published September 3rd, Joyce Petit asks the following questions: “Have any of our elected officials asked TransCanada to change the route? Have any of our elected officials asked for a guarantee that the United States will get a certain amount of that oil? Have any of the elected officials asked TransCanada to give each state a superfund to pay for the damage when/if there are spills/leaks? Have any of our elected officials asked how many of the “thousands” of jobs will be permanent? How many of the jobs will be for only a few months? Will TransCanada bring its own trained/skilled pipe workers to do the high-paying jobs? Will the company create high-paying jobs all along the pipeline route?” Continuing, she writes “Elected officials seem to be so mesmerized by all the money hanging out of TransCanada’s pockets they can’t think straight. They were elected to protect the citizens and the environment of the United States, not a foreign company. Our Nebraska elected officials should be demanding that the route be changed. After all, the state elected officials are the ones who are supposed to dictate what happens in the state, not TransCanada.”
“No to TransCanada,” a letter from Elke Roby, reveals new information most of us probably hadn’t noticed: “I was wondering how many folks are aware that if they go to the Nebraska State Fair, they would be accepting money from TransCanada.  On the State Fair’s website, TransCanada is listed as one of the four big sponsors.  Does TransCanada think it can buy our goodwill by sponsoring our fair? I, for one, am not willing to take TransCanada’s blood money.”
A Bill McKibben article published in the Daily Beast, “Global Warming’s Heavy Cost,” says “Hurricane Irene’s dangerous power can be traced to global warming -— and Obama is at fault for his failed leadership on the environment.”
From “Pipeline Protests: Beyond the Usual Suspects,” by Madeline Ostrander, Yes! Magazine, in TruthOut August 29th, “Several months ago, John Stansbury, a soft-spoken professor from Omaha, Nebraska, took his 12-year-old grandson to a public meeting to discuss Keystone XL, the proposed mega-pipeline that would carry oil from Canada across his home state to the Gulf of Mexico. At the time, Stansbury knew almost nothing about the pipeline and had never done anything particularly political. ‘I’m not really an activist,’ he says, a bit sheepishly. But he wanted his grandson to ‘see democracy at work.’ The 61-year-old civil engineer also happens to be an expert in the transport of hazardous materials. And as he learned more about Keystone XL, he saw a disaster in the making. After the meeting, Stansbury began poring over official risk assessments of the pipeline and thought they grossly underestimated the probability of a spill. He was so troubled that he did something he’s never done before—he courted media attention. He drafted an independent report on the pipeline, asked the organization Friends of the Earth to help announce his findings, and held a press conference. He predicts the pipeline could have approximately 91 significant spills over the next 50 years—eight times as many as the energy company TransCanada estimated. …The pipeline could be a rare moment for Obama to act on his commitment to post-partisan politics, make good on his promise to act on climate change, and stop one of the world’s most environmentally disastrous projects.” Read the article here.
“Nebraska Landowners vs. TransCanada’s Pipeline,” by Bradley Olson, published September 1st in Businessweek, quotes Omaha lawyer David Domina, whose firm studied the Keystone proposal, saying “it is hard to imagine local judges and juries in eminent domain cases—both in initial stages and on appeal—siding with a Canadian company against their neighbors. Eventually, the judges will have to face a public vote.” Read page 1 of 2 here.
In “3 Reasons Why the Tar Sands Pipeline Has to be Stopped,” Janet Redman writes “why the pipeline is truly idiotic and why I’m willing to get arrested to stop it.” The AlterNet article begins “The latest bone-headed move by the fossil fuel industry to build a pipeline across the United States is testing my patience. And I’m someone who’s seen a lot of really dumb environmental behavior. …For all the oil money in politics — and there’s about $24 million of it in Congress — I still hold out the hope that with a little help from his friends Obama will see the Keystone XL pipeline expansion as a really stupid idea. Obama’s no dummy. He knows that increasing national energy security means reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. He knows that we don’t have extra money lying around to clean up spills and foot the bill for health impacts. And he knows that building a clean, renewable energy economy in the United States would create millions of jobs.” The complete article is here.
A great new Huffington Post “Keystone XL Pipeline Infograph: Built to Spill,” was posted August 28th. Emma Pullman of DeSmogBlog and Heather Libby of TckTckTck created the infographic. Their statement provided the following description: “TransCanada says their Keystone pipelines are the safest on the continent. But what about those 12 spills in the past year? Since its operation began in June of 2010, the Keystone 1 pipeline has suffered more spills than any other 1st year pipeline in US history, a track record which does not bode well for the proposed Keystone XL which tracks across one of the largest aquifers in the world – the Ogalalla – which supplies drinking water to millions of mid-Westerners and provides 30% of the nation’s groundwater used for irrigation. The Keystone pipeline map shows the spills documented in TransCanada’s publicly released safety records alongside the proposed route for Keystone XL, indicating key risk areas near waterways and major metropolitan areas.” Please click here to view this new infograph.
“Cornhuskers vs Dirty Oil” is a new four part YouTube video by Nebraska Greens featuring a great original song to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies; interviews with Senators Dubas, Fulton, Avery, and Coash; clips from the rally at the capitol, and great quotes from Raymond Joe Moller, a Douglas, NE resident with family property near Central City. Thanks to John Carlini, Shari Schwartz, and Anthony DiCostanzo for production. View Part 1 of 4 here.
As Nebraska’s National Geographic contributing photographer Joel Sartore wrote in a Journal Star Local View, please contact “Governor Dave Heineman, Congressmen Jeff Fortenberry, Adrian Smith and Lee Terry, and Senators Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns” and let them know that “trading our environmental heritage in order to cater to greed and increase the wealth of a select few will not be tolerated. Nebraska is better than this.”
Contact information for Nebraska’s Congressional Representatives is as follows: Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, CD-1, 1517 Longworth House Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515, 202.225.4806, 402.438.1598 (Lincoln), FaceBook; Rep. Lee Terry, CD-2, 1524 Longworth HOB, Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.4155, 402.397.9944 (Omaha); Rep. Adrian Smith, CD-3, 503 Cannon House Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.6435, 888.ADRIAN7 (Toll Free); Senator Ben Nelson, 720 Hart Senate Office Building, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.6551; Senator Mike Johanns, 404 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.4224.  Contact Governor Dave Heineman, at linked e-mail or PO Box 94848, State Capitol Bldg., Lincoln, NE 68509, 402.471.2244.  Please contact them all if you oppose the environmental devastation that XL would cause Nebraska’s ecosystems.
Comprehensive Green Notes covering international, national and local opposition to the XL pipeline since May 30, 2010 are in archives here.  (Scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Notes.)
The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him with thanks for his letter to the President and Secretary of State, ask him to call a special session of the legislature, and also contact your own senator requesting he or she joins Ken Haar in seeking a special session. Continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska. E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers, and t-shirts. New armbands that say “Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer Lover” and “Pipeline Fighter” will be ready for the State Department public hearings.
Be a community educator and organizer. Help make Nebraska the first state to successfully oppose a pipeline project.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.

PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.  Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.

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

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

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

STOP THE PIPELINE

EARTH CIRCLE . . . On the first day of every month, people around the world stop everything for five minutes, joining with thousands of others to visualize peace and focus on new levels of kindness, understanding, and compassion necessary for collectively facing the challenges of the 21st century. New Dimensions invites peacemakers everywhere to join at 4:00pm Greenwich Mean Time, 10:00am in Lincoln and Omaha, 9:00am in District 3 where Mountain Time begins, Thursday, September 1, 2011, with the intention of deep healing for the Planet and all its people. Click here for more information about Earth Circle.

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

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, from noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here.  A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about 84-year old Norma Fleisher’s summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

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

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

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha.  This week there will be a special Keystone XL Presentation by Duane Hovorak, President of National Wildlife Federation and Smart Energy Group.  The film will be about issues surrounding the proposed pipeline. Learn more about the status of the pipeline, the risks associated with the proposed route, the players, and how you can get involved at this informative session followed by Q&A.  The event is always free and open to the public. For more information, click here.  The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

MENTAL LIBERATION . . . Friday, September 2, and Saturday, September 3, 2011, The Malcolm X Foundation will present an exhibit featuring the spoken word with poet/activist/recording artist Amir Sulaiman, at the Malcolm X Center, 3448 Evans Street, Omaha. Khalid El-Hakim, the founder of Black History 101 Museum, an innovative cultural education project, will also be featured. The exhibit with Amir Sulaiman will be 6:00 to 8:00pm Saturday; and the exhibit with Khalid El-Hakim will be 10:00am to 8:00pm Friday, and 10:00am to 4:00pm Saturday. For more information, e-mail Sharif Liwaru, info [at] malcolmxfoundation [dot] org

COFFEE RIDE . . . Saturday, September 3, 2011, the Bellevue Bicycle Club, will meet at Culver’s off of 36th Street in Omaha, at 8:00am, to ride the Keystone Trail.  For more information, submit an e-mail here.

PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace Coordinator Mark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

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

ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Mainstream media, particularly network tv, was not covering the mass protest and arrests at the White House even before the earthquake and the hurricane. But arrests continue, and the second wave will go on for another week. Fifteen Nebraskans are with thousands of protesters at the Washington DC action against the proposed TransCanada Keystone XL tar sands pipeline through Nebraska’s fragile Sand Hills and the Ogalalla Aquifer.
Writing for the Guardian UK, Democracy Now’s Amy Goodman published “A Line in the Sand for Obama,” August 24, 2011. It begins “The White House was rocked Tuesday, not only by the 5.9 Richter-scale earthquake, but by the protests mounting outside its gates. More than 2,100 people say they’ll risk arrest there during the next two weeks. They oppose the Keystone XL pipeline project, designed to carry heavy crude oil from the tar sands of Alberta, Canada, to refineries on the US Gulf Coast.” Read Amy’s commentary here.
A report on Friday’s events by TruthOut’s Mike Ludwig, “Fifty-Four Protesters Arrested as Environmental Report on Tar Sands Pipeline Is Released,” starts “As environmental activists were handcuffed in front of the White House on Friday, the State Department released the final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) for the massive Keystone XL pipeline that would pump crude oil from the Alberta tar sands in Canada across six western states to stations in Oklahoma and Texas. Climate change and environmental groups have staged protests against the proposed pipeline across the country in recent months, including a two-week sit-in currently underway in front of the White House.” Click here for the August 26th report.
In the EIS, the Obama administration “removed a major roadblock to a planned $7 billion oil pipeline from western Canada to the Texas coast” saying that the project is unlikely to cause significant environmental problems during construction or operation. The EIS is 1,200 pages. Early AP coverage is here.  Lincoln Journal Star coverage is here. The New York Times called the EIS “a crucial green light” to the 1,711-mile tar sands pipeline. The DOS said it was eliminating route alternatives from further consideration!  Read Jane Kleeb’s response at the BOLD Nebraska website here.  Watch a debate between Jane and an industry spokeswoman for TransCanada on Democracy Now! from DC here.
Department of State Public Hearing dates following the final EIS were announced last week. They offer the final opportunity to speak in opposition to the Canadian plan for preservation of Our land and water. Randy Thompson and the entire Coalition of groups taking action to Save the Sand Hills will now focus on fostering a large presence at the two Nebraska hearings.  Please mark your calendars now: Tuesday, September 27, 2011: Pershing Center, 226 Centennial Mall South, Lincoln, 12:00 pm – 3:30pm, 4:00pm – 8:00 pm; and Thursday, September 29, 2011: West Holt High School, 100 North Main Street, Atkinson, Nebraska, 4:30 pm – 10:00 pm.  Quoting Kleeb, “Sometimes we forget that decisions are made by people. And I think landowners and scientists and grandmas who get out there and testify and explain why they’re opposed to the pipeline and why they’re opposed to the route will have an impact.”   Sunday, August 28th, the Omaha World-Herald editorialized “Protect this Special Gift,” a strong statement for rerouting the pipeline.                      Local PeaceMaker and Green Party supporter Carol Smith hosted riders on the two buses and then began the trip East to pick up others along the way. Several cars were also in the caravan. Carol’s pre-trip Local View for the LJS, “I Will be Sitting in Front of the White House,” is here.  It begins “Here in Nebraska, the controversy over the proposed Keystone XL pipeline has largely focused on the danger of an oil spill contaminating our groundwater resources. Nationally though, growing numbers of people are warning of the irreparable damage that tar sands oil will wreak on the climate if we burn the filthy fossil fuel that the pipeline would haul.” Please make time to read Carol’s entire op-ed here. It was picked up by Common Dreams here.
Carol wrote to the LincolnBioneers grouplist from DC on Sunday: “Most of our caravan arrived safely in Washington DC before the hurricane hit. One car stayed in PA and will rejoin us shortly. We got about 8” of rain in Silver Spring, but the sun is shining now. I am so overwhelmed by what I have seen and learned so far that I will try tell you about it after processing it awhile. Two days ago, we went to Kayford Mountain to view mountain top removal and visited with Larry Gibson, the man who drew a line on the mountain that the coal company hasn’t been able to cross yet. His blog can be found here.  A member of our caravan is blogging about our experiences on the road here.” Thank You, Carol!
An early report from Democracy Now! made on Tusday listed 160 arrests. The number grew with each day as waves from around the country joined the White House sit-in. Bill McKibben was one of the first. The Democracy Now! interview with him is here.  In his article for TomDispatch.com, “Jailed Over Big Oil’s Latest Attempt to Kill the Planet,” McKibben shares what he learned from the experience after two nights in jail. “…We may not be facing the same dangers Dr. King did, but we’re getting some small sense of the kind of courage he and the rest of the civil rights movement had to display in their day — the courage to put your body where your beliefs are. It feels good.”
“No to TransCanada,” by Elke Roby, in LJS letters to the editor August 24th, reveals new information most of us probably hadn’t noticed: “I was wondering how many folks are aware that if they go to the Nebraska State Fair, they would be accepting money from TransCanada.  On the State Fair’s website, TransCanada is listed as one of the four big sponsors.  Does TransCanada think it can buy our goodwill by sponsoring our fair? I, for one, am not willing to take TransCanada’s blood money.”
Other alternative news coverage of the first week’s White House sit-in comes from the Guardian UK, published in Reader Supported News August 21st, here and here.
From another Bill McKibben article published in the Daily Beast, “Global Warming’s Heavy Cost,” “Hurricane Irene’s dangerous power can be traced to global warming -— and Obama is at fault for his failed leadership on the environment.”
In “3 Reasons Why the Tar Sands Pipeline Has to be Stopped,” Janet Redman writes “why the pipeline is truly idiotic and why I’m willing to get arrested to stop it.” The AlterNet article published August 19th begins “The latest bone-headed move by the fossil fuel industry to build a pipeline across the United States is testing my patience. And I’m someone who’s seen a lot of really dumb environmental behavior. …For all the oil money in politics — and there’s about $24 million of it in Congress — I still hold out the hope that with a little help from his friends Obama will see the Keystone XL pipeline expansion as a really stupid idea. Obama’s no dummy. He knows that increasing national energy security means reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. He knows that we don’t have extra money lying around to clean up spills and foot the bill for health impacts. And he knows that building a clean, renewable energy economy in the United States would create millions of jobs.” The complete article is here.
“Dismayed by Heineman,” a Lincoln Journal Star letter to the editor by Vernon Forbes published August 18th begins “I was dismayed that Governor Dave Heineman will not call for a special session of the Legislature to protect the Ogallala Aquifer, even though he admits that a majority of Nebraskans (including himself) believe that the Keystone XL Pipeline should not go through the Sandhills. He believes this should have been taken care of in the regular session, that a special session is too expensive, and that the votes to pass a bill are not there. During the regular session, the senators did not feel they had the authority to determine a pipeline’s route through the state. It is now clear they do have that authority, and Senator Ken Haar is trying to make that correction.” The letter continues here.
This week it was announced by Ken Winston, Sierra Club Nebraska, that several groups have formed a coalition called Save Our Sand Hills for the purpose of calling for a special session to re-route the pipeline away from the Sand Hills. Stop by the Farmers Union booth at the State Fair to get involved. Call Your senator and ask him or her to press for a special session of the legislature. We have no legal petition route to calling a special session. Citizen input is the only way the senators will become interested enough to act. They need to hear from their constituents.
A 350.org Stop The TarSands! petition to the president reads “The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and instead focus on developing safe, clean energy.” Please sign, and add comments if you wish, here.
“Stop The Tar Sands Pipeline” is a Credo Action petition to the president that reads “The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. President Obama, you have the final word. You do not have to negotiate with Congress or industry. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.” Click here to sign and add personal comments.
“Cornhuskers vs Dirty Oil” is a new four part YouTube video by Nebraska Greens featuring a great original song to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies; interviews with Senators Dubas, Fulton, Avery, and Coash; clips from the rally at the capitol, and great quotes from Raymond Joe Moller, a Douglas, NE resident with family property near Central City. Thanks to John Carlini, Shari Schwartz, and Anthony DiCostanzo for production. View Part 1 of 4 here.
As National Geographic contributing photographer Joel Sartore wrote in a Journal Star Local View, please contact “Governor Dave Heineman, Congressmen Jeff Fortenberry, Adrian Smith and Lee Terry, and Senators Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns” and let them know that “trading our environmental heritage in order to cater to greed and increase the wealth of a select few will not be tolerated. Nebraska is better than this.”
Contact information for Nebraska’s Congressional Representatives is as follows: Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, CD-1, 1517 Longworth House Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515, 202.225.4806, 402.438.1598 (Lincoln), FaceBook; Rep. Lee Terry, CD-2, 1524 Longworth HOB, Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.4155, 402.397.9944 (Omaha); Rep. Adrian Smith, CD-3, 503 Cannon House Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.6435, 888.ADRIAN7 (Toll Free); Senator Ben Nelson, 720 Hart Senate Office Building, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.6551; Senator Mike Johanns, 404 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.4224. BOLD Contact Governor Dave Heineman, at linked e-mail or PO Box 94848, State Capitol Bldg., Lincoln, NE 68509, 402.471.2244. UNBold Please contact them all if you oppose the environmental devastation that XL would cause Nebraska’s ecosystems.
Comprehensive Green Notes covering international, national and local opposition to the XL pipeline since May 30, 2010 are in archives here.  (Scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Notes.)
The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him, continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska. E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers and t-shirts. More actions EveryOne can take are listed here.
Be a community educator and organizer. Help make Nebraska the first state to successfully oppose a pipeline project.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.

PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.  Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.

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

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

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

STOP THE PIPELINE

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

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, from noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here. here. A Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story about Norma Fleisher’s statewide summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

MORRILL HALL THURSDAYS . . . The UN-L State Museum, Morrill Hall, at 14th & Vine Streets in Lincoln, is offering free admission every Thursday, 4:30 to 8:00pm, through August 25th. Visit the Morrill Hall website for summer schedule information.

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

ALTERNATIVES TO THE MILITARY ANNUAL PEACEMAKER OF THE YEAR POTLUCK . . . The annual potluck supper for Alternatives to the Military will be Thursday, August 25, 2011, 5:30pm, at Christ United Methodist Church, 45th & A Street, Lincoln. Longtime local peace and justice activists Paul Olson and Lela Shanks will receive the Peacemaker of the Year Award. For more information, and to rsvp, phone Marge Schlitt, 402.474.0682.

PFLAG CELEBRATION . . . The 30th Anniversary of Lincoln’s Chapter of Parents, Families and Friends of Lesbians and Gays will be celebrated Sunday, August 28, 2011, 3:30pm, at Auld Pavilion in Anelope Park, 1650 Memorial Drive. Longtime member Jean Eileen Durgin-Clinchard will present a history of the group, and recognition of honorees. There will be music and refreshments. PFLAG meets on the fourth Tuesday of each month, 7:00pm, at the Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street. For more information, phone 402.434.9880.

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

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

BUDRUS . . . Monday, August 22, 2011, 7:00pm, there will be a free preview of BUDRUS, a film that looks at the unintended consequences of the wall between Israel and Palestine, at First United Methodist Church, room 112, 7020 Cass Street, Omaha (use entrance on the east end of the north side). A discussion will follow the 58 minute film.

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. The event is always free and open to the public. This week’s film is “Blood in the Mobile,” a 2010 documentary addressing the issue of illegal mining and lack of corporate social responsibility from the mobile phone industry. View the official 2:48 minute trailer here.  For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

DUNDEE COMMUNITY DAY . . . Saturday, August 27, 2011, Dundee Community Day will start at 8:00am with a pancake breakfast. Click here [pdf] for a schedule of the Day’s events at 50th & Underwood in Omaha’s Dundee neighborhood.

PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace Coordinator Mark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

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

ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Jane Kleeb, Executive Director of BOLD Nebraska, is currently in Washington DC with environmentalists from around the country who will hold sit-ins and other acts of civil disobedience outside the White House every day for the next two weeks. The protest action is intended to pressure the Obama administration to deliver on years of clean energy promises and decide against approval of TransCanada’s tar sands pipeline project. Friday, August 19, 2011, Jane was on Democracy Now! debating an American Petroleum Instutute issues manager on the question “Should the US approve TransCanada’s massive Keystone XL tar sands oil pipeline?” Watch the broadcast from DC here.
“Massive Protest at White House Against Alberta Tar Sands Pipeline,” by Suzanne Goldenberg, Guardian UK, was published in Reader Supported News, August 21st: “A protest at the White House against a pipeline from the Alberta tar sands is emerging as the biggest green civil disobedience campaign in a generation, organizers said.” Read here.  Another August 21st update on the mass action from Reader Supported News reports “65 Arrested Outside White House in Keystone Pipeline Protests.  The article begins “US President Barack Obama wasn’t around to see it, but 65 protesters were arrested Saturday as they participated in a peaceful protest outside the White House aimed at pressuring him to block TransCanada’s controversial Keystone XL pipeline. Bill McKibben, a leading American environmentalist and one of the organizers of the two-week protest, was among those arrested. Others included gay rights activist Dan Choi; Jane Hamsher, the founder of the popular liberal blog Firedoglake; and Gus Speth, a onetime environmental expert under former president Jimmy Carter.”
Daily Climate coverage of the DC action, “Climate Justice Movement Keys off Civil Rights Crusade,” by Geoff Dembicki, was also published August 19th. Quoting 350.org’s Bill McKibben, at time of writing, “More than 1,500 people have signed up to be arrested so far, including Hollywood actors Danny Glover and Mark Ruffalo.” At the time of McKibben’s next update, the number was 2,000. “This is getting exciting,” reports “As momentum builds, we’re hearing from the famous and powerful: the wonderful Bernie Sanders just offered up a blogpost pointing out how many more jobs we’d create if we concentrated on clean energy; and the dynamic actor Mark Ruffalo chipped in a heartfelt video imploring people to head to Washington for the protest.”
August 16th, The Washington Post published McKibben’s article “A watershed moment for Obama on climate change.” Also printed in the Lincoln Journal Star, it calls the DC action “the biggest display of civil disobedience in the environmental movement in decades, and one of the largest nonviolent direct actions since the World Trade Organization demonstrations in Seattle back before September 11, 2001. …The issue is simple: We want the president to block construction of Keystone XL, a pipeline that would carry oil from the tar sands of northern Alberta down to the Gulf of Mexico. We have, not surprisingly, concerns about potential spills and environmental degradation from construction of the pipeline. But those tar sands are also the second-largest pool of carbon in the atmosphere, behind only the oil fields of Saudi Arabia. If we tap into them in a big way, NASA climatologist James Hansen explained in a paper issued this summer, the emissions would mean it’s “essentially game over” for the climate. That’s why the executive directors of many environmental groups and 20 of the country’s leading climate scientists wrote letters asking people to head to Washington for the demonstrations. In scientific terms, it’s as close to a no-brainer as you can get.” Continued here.
In “3 Reasons Why the Tar Sands Pipeline Has to be Stopped,” Janet Redman writes “why the pipeline is truly idiotic and why I’m willing to get arrested to stop it.” The AlterNet article published August 19th begins “The latest bone-headed move by the fossil fuel industry to build a pipeline across the United States is testing my patience. And I’m someone who’s seen a lot of really dumb environmental behavior. …For all the oil money in politics — and there’s about $24 million of it in Congress — I still hold out the hope that with a little help from his friends Obama will see the Keystone XL pipeline expansion as a really stupid idea. Obama’s no dummy. He knows that increasing national energy security means reducing our dependence on fossil fuels. He knows that we don’t have extra money lying around to clean up spills and foot the bill for health impacts. And he knows that building a clean, renewable energy economy in the United States would create millions of jobs.” The complete article is here.
“Protest Makes Canada-To-US Pipeline Project Newest Front in Climate Clash,” by Elana Schor, is in the August 19th New York Times. “…Enlisted participants in the White House anti-pipeline event are “not typically who people think of as activists — it’s farmers, doctors, lawyers, church and faith leaders, not the cliche college student out there protesting in the streets,” said Matt Leonard, coordinator of the demonstration and a veteran environmental protester, in an interview. “It’s a cross section of average American citizens who realize that they have an obligation to address climate change for their sons and their daughters.” The complete article is here.
From “Environmentalists Put Obama to Test on Climate Over Pipeline Plan,” by Renee Schoof, McClatchy, published in TruthOut, “Two weeks of protests will raise the question of what the United States should do about climate change, putting the topic back into the spotlight. They’ll pressure President Barack Obama, who must decide whether the pipeline is in the national interest and whether it will be built. For some participants, the key issues are local matters of land and water conservation. The proposed Keystone XL pipeline from the oil sands of Alberta would run from Canada through Montana, South Dakota, Nebraska, Kansas, Oklahoma and Texas.” Read here.
The August 21st Lincoln Journal Star published a Local View by Richard Schmeling, “Consider rail as safe alternative to Keystone XL.”  Schmeling begins “The proposed Keystone XL Pipeline that would be used to transport crude oil extracted from oil shale in Alberta, Canada, to Louisiana for refining is a genuine threat to the Ogallala Aquifer and should not be approved. The danger of pipeline rupture or spill from some other casualty is real, dangerous and may be deadly. It still has not been determined if the extraction process uses benzine (a known cause of cancer), which remains in the crude following the extraction of the oil. A spill in Michigan of crude from oil shale resulted in significant releases of benzine into the water and soil.”  He introduces the reader to “a very real alternative to pipeline transportation of the crude. It is via Tanktrain.” Schmeling encourages giving “Tanktrain a hard look as an alternative to the pipeline. Let’s let Hillary Rodham Clinton and her bunch know an alternative exists. We just might not need to have any new pipelines built across Nebraska in view of our fine existing rail network.” An August 21st letter to the editor at LJS, “Pipeline consequences ignored,” by Jim Anderson, addresses the very misleading argument of necessity in an August 10th Guest View.
Common Dreams published Joe Uehlein’s August 10th article “Joining the Labor Movement and the Sustainabilty Movement: Together We Can Stop the Tar Sands Climate Catastrophy,” explaining why he’s marching with McKibben to protest the XL pipeline: “I’ve decided to walk the walk.”
An August 19th press release announced that the Transport Worker Union and the Amalgamated Transit Union oppose approval of the Keystone XL pipeline and call for an end to increased use of tar sands oil. The unions’ joint statement calls on the State Department NOT to approve construction of the XL pipeline saying that approval of this project now would be reckless given the EPA’s own assessment of the environmental risks. The statement calls for “major “New Deal” type public investments in infrastructure modernization and repair, energy conservation and climate protection as a means of putting people to work and laying the foundations of a green and sustainable economic future for the United States.”
This past week an unrefined gasoline pipeline leak between Decatur, Nebraska, and Onawa, Iowa became the latest “in a string of pipeline accidents in a year, many of which–like the leaks on Enbridge’s two crude lines last summer and the 1,000 barrels of crude oil spilled from Exxon Mobil’s Silvertip pipeline in July–have raised serious environmental concerns.” A Reuter’s report is here.  A Nebraska City News Press article, “Pipeline Leak in Missouri River Flood Plain in Monona County, Iowa,” begins “A pipeline carrying natural gasoline developed a leak over the weekend, with the potential to lose about 140,000 gallons of gasoline in the Missouri River floodplain southwest of Onawa.”
The Daily Climate also published “A quest to clean up Canada’s oil Sands Carbon,” a National Geographic article reporting “The first large-scale effort to capture carbon dioxide emissions in the Canadian oil sands surmounted a crucial hurdle this summer with the signing of government agreements to underwrite nearly two-thirds of the $1.35 billion project’s cost.”  The entire article is here.
Another article about the Friday August 5th “I Stand With Randy” protest against the XL pipeline at the governor’s mansion in Lincoln was published August 15th at HARVEST. “Pipeline controversy continues as decision deadline gets closer” was written by Fred Knapp. Photos from the event are here.  Although the governor was not present, protesters described the action as “awesome,” “amazing,” “wonderful” and “inspiring.”
From “Overheard: Asia’s View of Alberta, Tar Sands and Pipelines,” by Michael Byers, August 15th, “…If the Canadians were smart, they’d build the capacity to refine all their bitumen at source, so as to ship a much more valuable product to Asia and elsewhere. But there are only a handful of upgraders in Alberta — and their capacity is actually going down. …But the people at the State Department aren’t stupid,” I protest. “Surely they can see right through this?” “Don’t count on it,” he laughs derisively. “They’re focused on the Middle East. They don’t understand the Asian energy market. They really don’t.” He leans over and whispers: “And even if they did realize that Gateway is an empty threat, they’d still approve Keystone XL, eventually. No matter what the EPA says, the State Department isn’t about to depart from its practice of approving pipelines from Canada. It’ll just spin out the decision as long as it can, hoping the project dies for other reasons.”” Read here.  Read more on the Enbridge pipe-dream in “Rumours of pipeline’s demise grow as speculation surrounds Enbridge.”
“Dismayed by Heineman,” a Lincoln Journal Star letter to the editor by Vernon Forbes published August 18th begins “I was dismayed that Governor Dave Heineman will not call for a special session of the Legislature to protect the Ogallala Aquifer, even though he admits that a majority of Nebraskans (including himself) believe that the Keystone XL Pipeline should not go through the Sandhills. He believes this should have been taken care of in the regular session, that a special session is too expensive, and that the votes to pass a bill are not there. During the regular session, the senators did not feel they had the authority to determine a pipeline’s route through the state. It is now clear they do have that authority, and Senator Ken Haar is trying to make that correction.” The letter continues here.
Other recent letters: “Economic interest,” by Merle Myers, begins “The interesting part of the debate over the Keystone XL pipeline is that those who defend the pipeline across the aquifer always have an economic interest. …Never do they acknowledge or even address the mere act of moving the pipeline path away from the aquifer, which would resolve the problem! Why? Additional cost to TransCanada, that’s why. Our senators need to address this problem and force TransCanada to rethink its shortsighted strategy. If they don’t they won’t have to worry about term limits since their term will end come the next election.” In “Not the Sandhills,” Larry Caldwell writes “I have lived in, worked in and taken a conservation course in the Sandhills of Nebraska. It simply is NOT the place for a pipeline. I would ask anyone that doubts this to spend some time traveling through, living in or studying the Sandhills.”
In “Oil insider misleads,” Dianne S. Ferguson writes “The latest pro-Keystone XL pipeline guest view by petroleum industry insider Michael Economides plays fast and loose with fact, ignoring contamination issues at the heart of the debate over Keystone XL.” An August 11th letter by Charles Holderby also commented on the Guest View “Keystone pipeline necessary.”
SolveClimate News published Lisa Song’s “Keystone XL Primer: How the Pipeline’s Route Could Impact the Ogallala Aquifer,” on August 11th, reporting “In the debate over TransCanada’s controversial Cananda-to-Texas oil pipe, the Ogallala aquifer and the Nebraska sandhills have emerged as flashpoints.” Page 1 of 5 is here.
A Tarsands Action–Stop The Pipeline White House Sit-In Website is here, and a 350.org Stop The TarSands! petition to the president reads “The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and instead focus on developing safe, clean energy.” Please sign, and add comments if you wish, here.
“Stop The Tar Sands Pipeline” is a Credo Action petition to the president that reads “The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. President Obama, you have the final word. You do not have to negotiate with Congress or industry. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.” Click here to sign and add personal comments.
“Cornhuskers vs Dirty Oil” is a new four part YouTube video by Nebraska Greens featuring a great original song to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies; interviews with Senators Dubas, Fulton, Avery, and Coash; clips from the rally at the capitol, and great quotes from Raymond Joe Moller, a Douglas, NE resident with family property near Central City. Thanks to John Carlini, Shari Schwartz, and Anthony DiCostanzo for production. View Part 1 of 4 here.
As National Geographic contributing photographer Joel Sartore wrote in a Journal Star Local View, please contact “Governor Dave Heineman, Congressmen Jeff Fortenberry, Adrian Smith and Lee Terry, and Senators Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns” and let them know that “trading our environmental heritage in order to cater to greed and increase the wealth of a select few will not be tolerated. Nebraska is better than this.”
Contact information for Nebraska’s Congressional Representatives is as follows: Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, CD-1, 1517 Longworth House Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515, 202.225.4806, 402.438.1598 (Lincoln), FaceBook; Rep. Lee Terry, CD-2, 1524 Longworth HOB, Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.4155, 402.397.9944 (Omaha); Rep. Adrian Smith, CD-3, 503 Cannon House Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.6435, 888.ADRIAN7 (Toll Free); Senator Ben Nelson, 720 Hart Senate Office Building, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.6551; Senator Mike Johanns, 404 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.4224.  Contact Governor Dave Heineman, at linked e-mail or PO Box 94848, State Capitol Bldg., Lincoln, NE 68509, 402.471.2244.  Please contact them all if you oppose the environmental devastation that XL would cause Nebraska’s ecosystems.
Comprehensive Green Notes covering international, national and local opposition to the XL pipeline since May 30, 2010 are in archives here.  (Scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Notes.)
           The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him, continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska. E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers and t-shirts. More actions EveryOne can take are listed here.
Be a community educator and organizer. Help make Nebraska the first state to successfully oppose a pipeline project.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.

PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.  Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.

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

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

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

STOP THE PIPELINE

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

Lincoln area: Congressional District 1

VIGIL AGAINST THE DEATH PENALTY . . . Every Monday, from noon to 1:00pm, Nebraskans for abolition of the death penalty meet in front of the governor’s mansion when weather is good, 1425 H Street, Lincoln. In winter, the vigil is inside the capitol, near the Information Desk. The lunch-hour presence reminds the governor of a constituency that does not want state killings. Weekly vigils have taken place year-round since July, 1991. All abolitionists are welcome to participate for a few minutes, or the hour. For information about Nebraskans Against the Death Penalty, click here.   A July 13, 2011 Lincoln Journal Star front page feature story with photo about Norma Fleisher’s statewide summer tour of all Nebraska counties calling for an end to the death penalty is here.

LINCOLN PEACE VIGILS . . . Lincoln peace vigils continue at the Federal Building, 15th and O streets, every Wednesday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. Contact Mark at 402.499.6672 or e-mail mark [at] weddleton [dot] com for more information.

MORRILL HALL THURSDAYS . . . The UN-L State Museum, Morrill Hall, at 14th & Vine Streets in Lincoln, is offering free admission every Thursday, 4:30 to 8:00pm, through August 25th. Visit the Morrill Hall website for summer schedule information.

THINK GREEN IT’S THURSDAY . . . TGIT is a new happy hour for planning a sustainable future at the Eco Stores Conference Room, 530 West P Street, Lincoln. This is an informational, educational, and social weekly event, with locally grown food and beverages. (Beverage donations will be accepted.) Learn about the latest green products, businesses, policies and practices every Thursday from 5:00 to 6:00pm. For the spring schedule of TGIT speakers, click here.   For more information, e-mail mitch [dot] paine [at] ecostoresne.org.

CELEBRATE AND ENGAGE . . . The Human Rights Campaign, a national gay rights organization, will be in Nebraska August 20 and 21, 2011, as part of a nationwide effort to visit places where GLBT legal rights are limited. In Nebraska, gay people face obstacles in adoption, marriage and the workplace. In Lincoln, the tour bus will be parked outside the UN-L Nebraska Union, 15th & R Streets, the evening of Saturday, August 20th; and outside Memorial Stadium Sunday, August 21st. Click here for a Lincoln Journal Star article about the trip.

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

SAVE THE DATE . . . The annual potluck supper for Alternatives to the Military will be on Thursday, August 25, 2011, 5:30pm, at Christ United Methodist Church, 45th & A Street, Lincoln. Longtime local peace and justice activists Paul Olson and Lela Shanks will receive the Peacemaker of the Year Award.

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

Omaha area: Congressional District 2

TOWN HALL MEETING WITH LEE TERRY . . . There will be a Town Hall Meeting with CD 2 House Representative Lee Terry on Tuesday, August 18, 2011, at noon, in Brown Park, 5708 South 15th Street, Omaha. Ask him how he can support putting a tar sands pipeline through the Ogallala Aquifer when the first pipeline built by Transcanada has leaked 12 times in 12 months.

OMAHA PEACE VIGILS . . . Omaha peacemakers vigil every Wednesday, 4:30-5:30pm, at StratCom/UN-O, 6801 Pine Street, east of the Scott Technology Center on the UN-O campus. Free parking is available at the NE Corner of 67th Street and Pine in a student lot. For more information, phone Jerry Ebner, 402.502.5887. Every Saturday, 1:00-2:00pm, there is a Peace Vigil at 72nd and Dodge Streets. Park next to 72nd Street, in the pet store parking lot. Contact Steve Horn at 402.426.9068 for more information about Saturday vigils.

OMAHA PEOPLE’S FILM FESTIVAL . . . There is a People’s Film Festival every Wednesday evening, 7:00pm, at McFoster’s Natural Kind Cafe, 38th and Harney in Omaha. The event is always free and open to the public. This week’s film is “The Human Family Tree,” a National Geographic television series which invites viewers to “retrace the deepest branches of the human species to reveal interconnected stories hidden in our genes.” For more information, click here. The People’s Film Festival – Expanding Political Consciousness Since 2004.

CELEBRATE AND ENGAGE . . . The Human Rights Campaign will be in Omaha on Saturday, August 20, 2011, as part of a nationwide effort to visit places where GLBT legal rights are limited. In Nebraska, gay people face obstacles in adoption, marriage and the workplace. Omaha’s “On the Road to Equality Open House” will be a the ConAgra Campus, 10th & Harney Street, 9:00am to 2:00pm. Explore the Equality exhibit and share what equality means to you at HRC’s photo and video booths. Click here for a Lincoln Journal Star article about the tour.

PROTEST KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE . . . Omaha protests with Guardians of the Good Life continue. E-mail japlapoo [at] netzero [dot] net for details. STOP THE PIPELINE yard signs are available in Omaha by calling Nebraskans for Peace Coordinator Mark Welsch, 402.453.0776, or e-mail NFPOmaha [at] nebraskansforpeace [dot] org.

CITY SPROUTS GALA . . . The ninth annual City Sprouts Gala, “Cultivating Urban Food Systems,” will be Sunday, August 21, 2011, 2:00 to 4:00pm, at Lauritzen Gardens, 100 Bancroft Street, Omaha. There will be brief speeches, live music, organic food, and a silent auction. This is City Sprouts’ only annual fundraising event to benefit programs in gardening education, increasing the neighborhood food supply, community building, and jobs creation for at-risk youth. For questions and ticket information, contact Norita Matt, Morita [dot] Matt [at] ci [dot] omaha [dot] ne [dot] us or phone 402.214.0534.

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

ENGAGE OMAHA . . . One of the nation’s first city-wide, virtual town hall websites, EngageOmaha, is now online. Omaha residents may weigh in on issues for the city to consider. Pick a topic, and join the mix here.

Greater Nebraska: Congressional District 3

JOHANNS TOWN HALL MEETINGS . . . Click here for dates and locations of Johanns’ Town Hall meetings in CD 3 August 15 through August 19, 2011.

KEYSTONE XL PIPELINE UPDATE . . . Photos from the “I Stand With Randy” protest against the Keystone XL pipeline at the governor’s mansion Friday night, August 5th, are here.  Saturday morning koln tv news coverage is here.  Although Lincoln Journal Star got the number of protesters wrong, the Art Hovey article did a good job of reporting the event. Protesters described the event as “awesome,” “amazing,” “wonderful” and “inspiring,” although the governor was not present.
Several new letters to the editor of Lincoln Journal Star were published this week. “Economic interest,”  by Merle Myers, begins “The interesting part of the debate over the Keystone XL pipeline is that those who defend the pipeline across the aquifer always have an economic interest. …Never do they acknowledge or even address the mere act of moving the pipeline path away from the aquifer, which would resolve the problem! Why? Additional cost to TransCanada, that’s why. Our senators need to address this problem and force TransCanada to rethink its shortsighted strategy. If they don’t they won’t have to worry about term limits since their term will end come the next election.” In “Not the Sandhills,”  Larry Caldwell writes “I have lived in, worked in and taken a conservation course in the Sandhills of Nebraska. It simply is NOT the place for a pipeline. I would ask anyone that doubts this to spend some time traveling through, living in or studying the Sandhills. I have referred many people to the June 2008 issue of Nebraskaland magazine, the article with pictures starts on page 10 explaining about Sandhills Blowouts. If the money spent on this issue would have been used to develop alternative fuels we would not have as much need for oil in the future. Can’t the engineers spend their time on that instead of ruining precious Sandhills pasture and hay ground?” Also published Sunday, August 14, 2011, a letter by Jim Elsener, suggests “They should change the name from the Keystone XL pipeline to the Rep. Lee Terry pipeline. This way we can celebrate his name every time the pipeline oil contaminates our water.”
In “Oil insider misleads,” Dianne S. Ferguson writes “The latest pro-Keystone XL pipeline guest view by petroleum industry insider Michael Economides (“Keystone pipeline necessary for energy security”, Aug. 10) plays fast and loose with fact, ignoring contamination issues at the heart of the debate over Keystone XL.” An August 11th letter by Charles Holderby also commented on the Guest View “Keystone pipeline necessary.” “Of course Michael J. Economides thinks the pipeline should be built. He’s from Houston. He’s not worried about our aquifer. He should be. That water feeds many, many people in this nation. The issue is not to build it but where. If they moved the pipeline a bit east, it would miss the Sandhills. They already did that with the previous pipeline. History shows us pipelines will leak.”
Also on Thursday, August 11th, SolveClimate News published Lisa Song’s “Keystone XL Primer: How the Pipeline’s Route Could Impact the Ogallala Aquifer,” reporting “In the debate over TransCanada’s controversial Cananda-to-Texas oil pipe, the Ogallala aquifer and the Nebraska sandhills have emerged as flashpoints.” Page 1 of 5 is here.  “Oil Spills Inspire Bipartisan Surprise on Federal Pipeline Safety Reforms,” by Elizabeth McGowan, was published in SolveClimate News, on August 12th. “Three bills moving through Congress would significantly strengthen federal oversight for pipelines like the proposed Keystone XL.  A series of headline-grabbing ruptures along the nation’s 2.5 million-mile network of oil and gas pipelines is prompting a rare attempt at bipartisanship. Democrats and Republicans seem equally intent on significantly beefing up the pipeline safety standards that might have prevented some of these spills. The timing of the legislation they’re considering is especially vital because the State Department is in the midst of deciding whether a Canadian company should be allowed to expand its U.S. presence by building a $7 billion pipeline through the Ogallala Aquifer and other fragile landscapes in the nation’s heartland.”  Page 1 of 4 is here.
Bill McKibben’s latest article, “New Pipeline to Challenge Obama’s Promises,” says the president now has the opportunity to make good on his environmental promises, but questions if he will. McKibben will join as many as a thousand people, including Nebraskans, who will risk arrest in daily protests of the XL pipeline at the White House over the last two weeks in August. This will be the largest outbreak of civil disobedience in recent environmental history. There is still transportation money available for Nebraskans who want to go to DC.  E-mail jane [at] boldnebraska [dot] org or call 402.705.3622 for more information. There is also money to cover the cost of getting arrested. The fine will be similar to a j-walking ticket, with no jail time.  A Tarsands Action Stop The Pipeline White House Sit-In Website is here.  A 350.org Stop The TarSands! petition to the president reads “The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and instead focus on developing safe, clean energy.” Please sign, and add comments if you wish, here.
Keystone XL is “the fuse to the biggest carbon bomb ever.” Now the US Chamber of Commerce has announced the “Partnership to Fuel America,” which they claim will promote energy policy to keep America “clean.” The first major initiative of this partnerhship is a campaign to promote the Keystone XL pipeline–one of the dirtiest projects on the entire planet. Here’s the 3-part plan to fight back from 350.org:
1) Petition President Obama to reject the permit for the pipeline. Already, nearly 30,000 people have signed on–but we’ll need many more to make a big impact for our high-profile petition delivery in DC. The petition says “The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline and focusing on developing safe, clean energy.” Please click here and sign on.
2) Spread the word about a civil disobedience campaign being planned in DC this August. If you’re ready to escalate your committment to this movement–or know someone who is–please click here.
3) Join hard-hitting activism in all the states that the Keystone pipeline passes through. 350.org will be dominating public comment hearings to oppose the pipeline, recruiting local chambers of commerce to take a stand to stop the tar sands, and on September 24th there wil be big rallies for the Moving Planet day of action.
“Stop The Tar Sands Pipeline” is a Credo Action petition to the president that reads “The tar sands represent a catastrophic threat to our communities, our climate, and our planet. President Obama, you have the final word. You do not have to negotiate with Congress or industry. We urge you to demonstrate real climate leadership by rejecting the requested permit for the Keystone XL pipeline.” Click here to sign and add personal comments.
“Cornhuskers vs Dirty Oil” is a new four part YouTube video by Nebraska Greens featuring a great original song to the tune of The Beverly Hillbillies; interviews with Senators Dubas, Fulton, Avery, and Coash; clips from the rally at the capitol, and great quotes from Raymond Joe Moller, a Douglas, NE resident with family property near Central City. Thanks to John Carlini, Shari Schwartz, and Anthony DiCostanzo for production. View Part 1 of 4 here.
As National Geographic contributing photographer Joel Sartore wrote in a Journal Star Local View, please contact “Governor Dave Heineman, Congressmen Jeff Fortenberry, Adrian Smith and Lee Terry, and Senators Ben Nelson and Mike Johanns” and let them know that “trading our environmental heritage in order to cater to greed and increase the wealth of a select few will not be tolerated. Nebraska is better than this.”
Contact information for Nebraska’s Congressional Representatives is as follows: Rep. Jeff Fortenberry, CD-1, 1517 Longworth House Office Bldg., Washington, D.C. 20515, 202.225.4806, 402.438.1598 (Lincoln), FaceBook;  Rep. Lee Terry, CD-2, 1524 Longworth HOB, Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.4155, 402.397.9944 (Omaha); Rep. Adrian Smith, CD-3, 503 Cannon House Office Bldg., Washington, DC 20515, 202.225.6435, 888.ADRIAN7 (Toll Free); Senator Ben Nelson, 720 Hart Senate Office Building, United States Senate, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.6551; Senator Mike Johanns, 404 Russell Senate Office Building, Washington, DC 20510, 202.224.4224.  Contact Governor Dave Heineman, at linked e-mail or PO Box 94848, State Capitol Bldg., Lincoln, NE 68509, 402.471.2244.  Please contact them all if you oppose the environmental devastation that XL would cause Nebraska’s ecosystems.  Comprehensive Green Notes covering international, national and local opposition to the XL pipeline since May 30, 2010 are in archives here.  (Scroll from the bottom up for links to each week’s Notes.)
The governor could stop this pipeline madness right now by making the Sand Hills and Ogallala Aquifer off limits to pipelines. He needs to hear from EveryOne who opposes the XL project.  Please contact him, continue writing letters to the editor of your local newspaper, and keep the issue alive in conversations at the kitchen table, in cafes, churches, and clubs around Nebraska. E-mail actions [at] boldnebraska [dot] org for yard signs, bumper stickers and t-shirts. More actions EveryOne can take are listed here.
Be a community educator and organizer. Help make Nebraska the first state to successfully oppose a pipeline project.

STOP FRACKING NOW . . . “We, the undersigned, call on Congress to pass the Fracturing Responsibility and Awareness of Chemicals Act this year. It’s time to hold the oil and gas production industry to the same standards as any other industry to ensure the safe protection of America’s drinking water.” Sign the Petition and view 6:20 minute Colbert Report interview with Tom Ridge.

PETITION THE EPA . . . Tell the Environmental Protection Agency to immediately prohibit the use of clothianidin and conduct a full scientific review to determine its impact on honey bee populations.  Learn more about clothianidin and sign the petition here.

TELL PRESIDENT OBAMA NOT TO CAVE TO MONSANTO AND THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY . . . The Obama administration has unbelievably chosen to approve three biotech crops, Roundup Ready genetically modified alfalfa, Roundup Ready genetically modified sugar beets and a new industrial biotech corn for ethanol production. These decisions are a devastating blow to our democracy and the basic rights of farmers to choose how they want to grow food on their land and the rights of consumers who increasingly choose organic and sustainably grown food for its positive health and environmental impacts. Please tell the President it’s time to stand up to Monsanto and reject GMO crops.

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

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

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

STOP THE PIPELINE