Green Drinks in Omaha May 28

Events,

Please join our growing numbers next Wednesday for Green Drinks, back at our old haunt. And as always, please pass the word to others who might be interested in attending!

Omaha Green Drinks: 5:30 to 8 p.m., Wednesday, May 28, 2014

(Typically the fourth Wednesday of every odd month: January, March, May, July, September, November.)

Whole Foods Market Omaha, 10020 Regency Circle, Omaha (education room near the restaurant seating, across from coffee bar).

Anyone working on environmental issues (green business, architecture, design, clean energy, natural resources, and more) or studying them is welcome to attend. Enjoy conversation,  make contacts, have a few drinks (alcohol or non-alcohol), and take in some green inspiration. First time? Just go up to someone and say, “Are you green?” And you’ll be made welcome.

There is a a send-only email circulation list; to get on it, send an email to GDsubscribe@p2ric.org with subject heading “Green Drinks NE”

Green Drinks Facebook Group

Facebook Event Listing

Transgender UNO professor retiring after 38 years of inspiring students

News

From the Omaha World-Herald, a short profile of Professor Meredith Bacon, one of UNO’s most honorable professors and an inspiration to thousands of students:

The Faculty Senate president at the University of Nebraska at Omaha completed a third one-year term Wednesday, but not consecutively — and now under a different name from the first two terms.

“Two as Wally,” the out­going president said, “and one as Meredith.”

Meredith Bacon, formerly known as Walter M. Bacon Jr., is believed to be the first transgender person in America elected as a college or university faculty leader.

Read the full story.

#NOKXL Events in Nebraska May 17

Action Alerts,

From Bold Nebraska:

1. Hands Around the Spirit Camp: Join the Cowboy and Indian Alliance — including Aldo Seoane and Oyate Wahacanka Woecun (“Shielding the People”), and Bold Nebraska — at the Rosebud Sioux Tribe Spirit Camp erected to protest Keystone XL. We’ll join hands and do a circle dance to show our unity and to protect sacred water and lands from KXL.

2. Hands Around the Barn: Join us at the “Build Our Energy” barn, a renewable energy-powered structure built by volunteers on land directly in the path of Keystone XL. We’ll join hands and encircle the barn to show we mean to protect our investment in clean, renewable energy against a foreign tarsands export pipeline.

3. Hands Across the Bridge: Join us at the Bob Kerrey Pedestrian Bridge, which spans the Missouri River in downtown Omaha, NE. We’ll stand side-by-side and join hands for a photo, to show Pres. Obama and Congress that we stand strong together against the Keystone XL tarsands export pipeline, and together call for a transition from dirty fossil fuels to clean, renewable energy.

Jill Stein to speak at Midwest gathering June 13-15

Events,

The Greens of Kansas City and the Progressive Party of Missouri invite you to a five-state Green organizing meeting. Held June 13 to 15 just outside of Kansas City, Transforming Politics on the Prairie: Building the Green Party in the Midwest will feature Jill Stein as keynote speaker.

The venue is the Heartland Center, a beautiful rural conference center at 16965 NW 45 Highway, Parkville, Missouri. It is located very close to the K.C. International Airport. Attendees arriving at reasonable times will be provided a free shuttle service.

Never in the history of our country has there been a greater need for a new, vibrant party. With 60% of the people saying “We need a third party,” our holistic message and strong moral foundation put us in a unique position to accept the challenge. The Greens are leading the way in many parts of the country, and this meeting is intended to bring multi-state leadership together, to confer and develop plans for rejuvenating our Green Parties in the Prairie States.

Registration will begin at 4 p.m. on Friday night, June 13. Dinner is at 5:30 with a keynote address by Jill Stein, followed by conversations with Jill Stein, other workshop leaders, and meeting attendees. Saturday will be filled with workshops on topics important to Greens. On Saturday night we will explore how to build the Green Party in our states and how to incorporate the workshop issues, politics, and related movements into a strong force for change. On Sunday, we will meet in small groups to discuss multi-state, multi-issue collaborative efforts. Conference ends at 10:00 Sunday morning.

Workshops will include: Single-payer health care, Fighting the Grand Bargain, Transforming Food/Farm Issues, Running Green Campaigns, Climate Disruption.

Confirmed speakers include:

  • Jill Stein, Green Presidential candidate, 2012
  • Ed Weisbart, MD, Missouri Chair PNHP, St. Louis, MO
  • David Kinsley, PhD, Professor of Health Policy and Management at KU Medical Center
  • Mark Swaney, Green candidate for US Senate from Arkansas
  • John Fish Kurman, Coordinator of 350KC

Cost:

  • Full Conference (includes 5 meals and lodging for 2 nights, triple occupancy): $180.00
  • Early registration (before May 15): $160.00
  • Students: $125.00
  • Saturday only: $40.00  (Please add any of the following: Breakfast $8.00, Lunch $10.00, Dinner $13.00)

There are scholarships available. Let us know what you can afford.

For more information contact Ben Kjelshus, bkjelshus@gmail.com, (816)623-3006.

An Open Letter to the Senate on KXL

News,

From BOLD Nebraska:

As the Senate once again prepares to take a vote on the Keystone XL tar sands pipeline, Nebraska voices will remind Senators that states’ rights are at stake, and that a vote for Keystone XL is a vote to disregard Nebraska’s legal process.

Nebraska rancher Randy (“Stand With Randy”) Thompson penned an open letter to the U.S. Senate on Wednesday, April 30. Thompson has been a key rural voice against Keystone XL — he was arrested along with others in a civil disobedience action at the White House protesting Keystone XL in 2013, and is one of the three landowner plaintiffs in Thompson v. Heineman, the lawsuit that successfully challenged the constitutionality of the KXL routing process in Nebraska, leaving TransCanada with no legal route or eminent domain power.

Read the letter.

Rice & Beans Potluck Dinner for Nebraskans for Peace

Events,

Join fellow Greens for the annual Rice & Beans Potluck in support of Nebraskans for Peace:

Saturday, May 3, 2014 at 6:00 p.m
Countryside Community Church, 8787 Pacific Street
(Memorial Hall: Enter the western door facing Pacific Street and follow the signs inside to the downstairs dining room.)

(Rice & drinks provided. A free-will collection will be taken — but it is free to attend. Just bring a food dish to share.)

John Pollack will deliver his keynote address, “Global Warming: The Third Degree Burn.”

John Pollack obtained his M.S. in meteorology from University of Wisconsin in 1976 and came to Omaha in 1978 to be a forecaster for the National Weather Service. He retired from forecasting in 2009, but he continues his interest in weather and climate change. He also remains active in other peace and justice issues, and is currently involved in the fight against the Keystone XL Pipeline.

Special Recognition for Courageous Anti-War Work will go toJerry Ebner and Mark and Marie Kenney.

RSVPs are requested so we know how much rice to cook. Call 402-453-0776 or e-mail NFPOmaha@NebraskansforPeace.org with “RSVP Rice & Beans” in the subject line.

Bill McKibben, founder of 350.org, in Omaha

Events,

Join fellow Greens in a discussion with Bill McKibben, environmentalist and founder of 350.org:

Thursday, May 1, 2014 at 6:00 p.m.
Countryside Community Church, 8787 Pacific Street

Bill McKibben is an author and environmentalist. His 1989 book The End of Nature is regarded as the first book for a general audience about climate change. He is founder of 350.org, the first planet-wide, grassroots climate change movement. Foreign Policy named him to their inaugural list of the world’s 100 most important global thinkers, and the Boston Globe said he was “probably America’s most important environmentalist.”

A former staff writer for The New Yorker, he writes frequently a wide variety of publications around the world, including the New York Review of Books, National Geographic, and Rolling Stone. He lives in the mountains above Lake Champlain with his wife, the writer Sue Halpern.

Bill’s talk will describe the current state of global warming through an explanation of the basic math and science of climate change. He will give updates on the movement, working to end our reliance on fossil fuel energy and create a world powered by renewable sources. Bill will join us via Skype in an effort to practice what he preaches, leaving a smaller carbon footprint. Rev. Eric Elnes, Ph. D. will give a brief introduction and facilitate the discussion.

Cowboys, Indians unite in opposition to KXL

News,

From the Omaha World-Herald:

The cowboys sported western hats and the Indians wore traditional feather headdresses as the sound of drumbeats and the smell of wood smoke filled the air Tuesday on the National Mall.

The band of protesters erected a large tepee among seven smaller ones already in place and vowed to defend their “sacred land” and “sacred water” against the Keystone XL pipeline.

It was the start of a weeklong series of themed demonstrations by the Cowboy and Indian Alliance, a group that represents landowners and tribal representatives opposed to the controversial pipeline.

Read more from the World-Herald.

Follow the weeklong protest at rejectandprotect.org

Nebraskans join Cowboy Indian Alliance in DC

Uncategorized

From JournalStar.com:

Ten years ago, if you had asked retired school teacher and Antelope County farmer Art Tanderup if he wanted to fly to Washington, D.C., for a political rally on the National Mall, he might have said you’re a few ears of corn short of a bushel.

“I never thought I’d see myself doing things like this, but here we are,” he said during a recent interview.

Monday afternoon, he was on the road with Carol Smith of Plainview and Oakdale-area rancher Mike Blocher, headed to Eppley Airfield in Omaha.

They plan to spend the week taking part in a “Reject and Protect” demonstration against the Keystone XL pipeline organized by the Cowboy and Indian Alliance, a group of farmers, ranchers and tribal leaders.

Read more.