Electric car charging stations popping up in Lincoln

News

From JournalStar.com:

Electric car owners in Lincoln will soon have places other than their homes where they can charge up. Lincoln Electric System is putting two electric vehicle charging stations in a city parking garage that’s under construction at 530 P St.

Marc Shkolnick, manager of energy services at LES, said the two stations will be on the first level of the Green Deck No. 2 garage. Each station will have two charging ports, and one port will be dedicated for LES use for charging its three electric vehicles. The other three ports will be open to the public, the first in Lincoln.

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In Neligh Sept. 27: Neil Young and Willie Nelson

Events,

From BOLD Nebraska:

Two music legends — Neil Young and Willie Nelson — will perform a benefit concert on Sept. 27 on a farm near Neligh, Nebraska, that is on the route of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and also crosses the historic Ponca Tribe “Trail of Tears.”

Proceeds from the “Harvest the Hope” concert will go to Bold Nebraska, the Indigenous Environmental Network and the Cowboy & Indian Alliance, to fund the ongoing fight against the Keystone XL pipeline, as well as a number of small, community-based clean energy projects on farms and tribal land. The afternoon concert will take place in a field on a farm owned by a family who are part of a strong collective of Nebraska landowners refusing to sell their land to TransCanada for the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline, and a sacred tribal ceremony will be included in the day’s events.

Also performing will be Native American hip-hop artist Frank Waln, Lukas Nelson (son of Willie!) and the “Stopping the Pipeline Rocks All-Stars,” some of the local Nebraska artists who recorded a benefit album in the solar-powered barn built inside the path of the Keystone XL pipeline last summer.

Read more and purchase tickets.

March against climate change crosses pipeline’s path

News,

From the Columbus Telegram and the Schuyler Sun:

BRADSHAW — Corn grew to the left, soybeans to the right and gravel crunched under their feet on Road 22 Saturday afternoon as about 70 Nebraskans met 35 marchers who are on a cross-country trek to inspire action in combating climate change.

The Great March for Climate Action, which started in Los Angeles, reached Nebraska soil on June 30 and participants have been slowly winding their way through the state. By Saturday, their shoes’ soles had covered about 1,800 miles — about 20 miles a day — with about 1,200 miles to go to reach Washington, D.C.

In the Cornhusker State, those marching have sung in the People’s Church in tiny Max, walked in the July 4 parade in Culbertson, slept in a farmer’s field between Arapahoe and Holdrege — and spoke with thousands of Nebraskans along the way.

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Petition: End subsidies for mega-farms

Action Alerts,

From the Center for Rural Affairs:

In the final hours of debate on the 2014 Farm Bill, Congress stripped the popular bi-partisan reform that would have tightened what it means to be “actively engaged” in farming. This definition is important, because without it, mega-farmers use this as a loophole to multiply their payments for every acre they add to their operation. Instead of acting, Congress punted the issue to the administration. The time has come for the Obama Administration to fulfill their 2007 campaign pledge and close the loopholes mega-farms use to get around farm program payment limits.

Step forward by adding your voice today! President Obama and Vice President Biden need to deliver on the promise they made to Iowa farmers when working for their vote in 2007.

Sign the petition.

Great Climate March in Omaha this week

Events

The Great Climate March is coming to Omaha this week. The marchers are demonstrating great dedication, courage and determination by walking across the entire United States to help make people aware of climate change. They have been marching across the state of Nebraska during the month of July. The marchers have participated in several events to increase awareness of climate change and issues with fossil fuels, including events at the Build Our Energy barn on July 19, delivering a petition to the Governor asking for public disclosure of the contents of oil pipelines and oil trains on July 24, and a celebration at the Zoo Bar in Lincoln on July 25.

Come join the marchers and local supporters at events at McFoster’s, 38th and Farnam in Omaha, on Tuesday evening from 7 to 10 pm, and at the Bob Kerrey bridge on Wednesday at 5 pm Tuesday’s celebration includes Cajun tunes from the Prairie Gators and reggae from Cool Roots, featuring Jumpin Kate Logan, as well as messages from marchers and local leaders. David Corbin and Matt Cronin will also perform.

Tuesday’s event is also a celebration of OPPD’s recently announced clean energy plan, which will enable them to obtain one-third of their energy from renewable sources, and reduce their demand by 300 megawatts in the next nine years.

Wednesday’s event will include short speeches and then a march across the bridge into Iowa.

Come join the fun. You are also likely to be inspired.

–Ken Winston, Nebraska Sierra Club

State Council Meeting Aug. 16

Action Alerts,

Get involved and help set the future direction of the Nebraska Green Party at the statewide council meeting in Lincoln Saturday, August 16.  The meeting will start at 2 p.m. at Meadowlark Coffee and Espresso, 1624 South Street.  There will be a report from the recent Five State Strategy Conference in Kansas City, Transforming Politics on the Prairie: Building the Green Party in the Midwest, and discussion of how Nebraska Greens will go forward from this point.

Great March for Climate Action July 19

Action Alerts,

From BOLD Nebraska:

This Saturday, July 19, a determined group of concerned citizens in the midst of a 3,000-mile cross-country march to raise awareness about climate change will set off from an historic church in Marquette, Nebraska. They will walk 10 miles through picturesque farmland to the renewable energy-powered barn near the town of Bradshaw, which BOLD Nebraska built last summer on land in the path of the Keystone XL pipeline. You can join the marchers for a 10-mile or 1-mile walk.

Read more and sign up.

Iowa ruling is victory for solar energy

News

From The Des Moines Register:

A nationally watched Iowa Supreme Court ruling in favor of a solar energy company could spur growth of the solar industry throughout the state, advocates said Friday.

A split Iowa Supreme Court ruled Friday that Eagle Point Solar would not violate Iowa law by selling electricity to the city of Dubuque that the company generates through a solar panel installation on the roof of a city building. Industry leaders praise such arrangements, called power purchase agreements, as a key to developing more solar energy.

Read More.