Tag Archives: Grassroots Democracy

VICTORY: Nebraska Becomes the 19th State to Abolish the Death Penalty!

News, ,

From Nebraskans for Peace:

Wow, who would have thought it possible? Red-state Nebraska (with a few purple splotches) actually has repealed the death penalty by voting to override the Governor’s veto! And who were the people responsible for finally pushing this through? A strong coalition of abolitionists, plus some unlikely suspects, that’s who.

First, a little bit of history: Nebraska was the first state to legislatively abolish the death penalty in the modern era, in 1979, but the bill failed to survive the governor’s veto. Subsequently, we saw three executions in the 1990’s, the last one being in 1997.

Read more.

Join the Tar Sands Resistance March on June 6: Bus picking up from Lincoln and Omaha

Events,

A charter bus from Nebraska, picking up in Lincoln and Omaha, has been arranged for the Tar Sands Resistance March, Saturday, June 6, 2015, in St. Paul, MN. There are 50 seats available. The cost is only $25/seat.

Stand with thousands of people coming together to say NO at the Tar Sands Resistance March, the largest ever anti-tar sands event in the Midwest. Our public pressure has stopped President Obama from approving Keystone XL — so far. But the Tar Sands industry and Koch brother’s aren’t waiting: They are pursuing a major expansion of a network of pipelines to bring even more toxic tar sands into the Midwest — and the Obama Administration has already approved some of these plans. We need to send a powerful, public message that any tar sands expansion allowed by President Obama and other leaders is a failure of their moral obligation to protect our families.

Tar Sands Resistance March:

  • When: Saturday, June 6th, noon to 4 p.m.
  • Where: March to the State Capitol Lawn, St Paul, MN. Starting at Lambert Landing, Corner of Shepard Road and N. Sibley Street. Ending at the State Capitol Lawn, 75 Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard.
  • Getting there: Charter bus from Nebraska, picking up in Lincoln and Omaha, only $25/seat!

Read more about the event and buy tickets here.

Action Alert: Veto override vote today at 1:30 p.m.

Action Alerts, ,

The Nebraska Legislature has passed and the governor has vetoed a bill to repeal the death penalty in Nebraska. The Unicameral has the opportunity to make history by overriding the governor’s veto in a vote scheduled for 1:30 p.m. today.

Enough senators have voted to repeal in past rounds to make a successful override likely; however, now is the moment of truth when a vote to repeal will truly mean repeal. This is a BIG deal, and the senators’ votes will follow them for the rest of their political careers. We need to give them confidence that voting to override the veto is the right thing to do — a vote they can be proud of and that Nebraska will be proud of for decades to come.

This morning, urge your senator to help override the governor’s veto and end the death penalty in Nebraska.

If you don’t know your senator, find him or her here.

Happy Earth Day!

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From the Green Party of the United States:

Today is Earth Day! Every day this month we have posted an ecological issue we care about to our followers on social media. We want you to spread the word to your social media connections that the Green Party is working year-round to elect candidates and promote a party that will take action on issues like the climate crisis, fracking, oil and gas mining, and more!

We brought you 22 different ecological issues as we counted down to Earth Day, including some that we may not think about every day (like the ecological impact of landmines, the importance of our underfunded national parks, and bees), but we know the list doesn’t end there. No matter what issues are affecting your community, your place is in the Green Party, working to build city councils, state legislatures, and a Congress that understands the connections between our human communities and natural communities.

Thank you for your work in your community, and for your support of the Green Party on Earth Day. Use the hashtag #GPEarthDay to spread the word! Search #GPEarthDay on Facebook and Twitter to follow our outreach. Share our tweets, Facebook messages and graphics! Happy Earth Day!

Lower Platte South NRD seeks applicants to succeed Larrick

Action Alerts,

From the Lincoln Journal Star:

The Lower Platte South Natural Resources District is seeking qualified applicants to fill a vacancy on its 21-member board.

The opening was created when the board vacated the seat held by Steve Larrick, who represented Subdistrict 5 in west Lincoln. Larrick is no longer serving on the board as he is teaching in China. The Lincoln-based NRD will accept letters of application from interested residents of Subdistrict 5 until April 17 at P.O. Box 83581, Lincoln, NE 68501. All applicants must be registered voters.

With board approval, the person selected would serve the balance of the first half of Larrick’s four-year term, through December 2016, then be eligible to run for the seat in the 2016 primary and general elections.

Subdistrict 5 includes downtown Lincoln, the North Bottoms neighborhood, Capitol Beach and West O Street, and an area between A and O streets from 33rd Street west to about the Homestead Expressway. A map of the subdistrict is available lpsnrd.org.

Online petition: Don’t frack our water!

Action Alerts,

From BOLD Nebraska and the Sierra Club’s Nebraska Chapter:

The Nebraska Oil & Gas Conservation Commission is attempting to silence the voices of concerned citizens, farmers and ranchers by strictly limiting who can testify at Tuesday’s public hearing on a proposed toxic fracking wastewater disposal well in Sioux County, Nebraska — exported pollution that would forever endanger the Ogallala aquifer we all depend on.

One of the three members of the Commission, Tom Oliver, recently told the Scottsbluff Star-Herald: “It’s not just a public meeting where people can get up and give comments,” adding that only those who “own property within a half mile” of the proposed well will be able to testify.

This is unacceptable. Local citizens whose primary roads would be overwhelmed by 80 tanker truckloads of toxic wastewater delivered every day deserve to be heard. Nebraskans who don’t want to see our state and the Ogallala aquifer become a dumping ground for out-of-state toxic pollution deserve to be heard.  Whether we’re allowed to testify or not, we’ll be at the hearing on Tuesday, March 24, in Sidney. Stand with us!

Read more and sign the petition.

Landowners in KXL Path Win Injunction

News,

From BOLD Nebraska:

On Feb. 12, landowners won a huge victory when a Holt County, Nebraska, District Court judge halted TransCanada’s attempt to use eminent domain to take their land for the Keystone XL export pipeline. Many thanks go out to landowners’ attorneys Dave Domina and Brian Jorde for their excellent work fighting against eminent domain for private gain.

What the ruling means: All of the eminent domain claims that TransCanada has filed against landowners over the past month are now put on hold, until this case is eventually heard by the Nebraska Supreme Court — in a timeline that could take another 12 months, or longer.

Read the full story.

Jill Stein Takes Steps Toward 2016 Presidential Run

News

From jill2016.com:

It’s Time For A New Society, A New Economy, A New Way Forward.

Dr. Jill Stein is “testing the waters” and forming an exploratory committee to seek the Green Party nomination for President of the United States.

This is the time to come together. Solutions are in our hands. Justice is in our hands. Democracy is in our hands. Together we can create a world that works for all of us, and ensure that People, Planet and Peace will prevail. It’s in our hands.

Read the press release.

Watch Dr. Stein’s announcement speech on CSPAN.

Harrington Sisters Defend Tradition in Keystone Pipeline Fight

News,

From The New York Times:

BRADSHAW, Neb. — An unpainted wooden barn sits in a snow-dusted cornfield along a gravel road, one of many that dot the rural horizon here.

This barn, however, contains no horses, tractors or farming tools. Its roof is covered with solar panels, there is a windmill out front, and the interior is plastered with signs with slogans like “Build Our Energy” and “#NOKXL,” in protest of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, which could run under the property if President Obama approves the project.

The 1,179-mile pipeline, first proposed in 2008, would carry oil from Canada into the United States, connecting with existing pipelines in southern Nebraska. In Congress, the Senate continues to debate a bill to approve the pipeline, and the House has already passed a bill to approve its construction.

Four Harrington sisters — Abbi, Terri, Jenni and Heidi — grew up in the 1960s and ’70s tending livestock and crops here, and three of them have remained in Nebraska and continue to farm the land. They fear that construction of the pipeline could threaten their livelihood and a family farming tradition that dates back about 150 years, to when their great-great-grandfather settled on the plot.

Their wind- and solar-powered barn, constructed in 2013 after activists raised thousands of dollars online, was built as an unsubtle protest against the pipeline, a physical barrier along the proposed path.

Read the full story.

#NOKXL Rally at Rep. Ashford’s Office Tuesday

Action Alerts

From BOLD Nebraska:

Rep. Brad Ashford says we need to build the Keystone Pipeline and get on to bigger questions about the environment. Here in Nebraska, you would think that protecting the Ogallala Aquifer and the Sandhills would be the biggest environmental concern of our elected officials.

If you agree, come join Omaha Pipeline Fighters supported by Bold Nebraska at noon tomorrow in front of Brad Ashford’s Omaha office to express your disappointment over his vote to support the Keystone Pipeline:

  • WHAT: #NOKXL Rally at Rep. Brad Ashford’s Office
  • WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 13 at 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m
  • WHERE: 7126 Pacific Street (next to Clancy’s Pub)

Click here to RSVP so the organizers know you’re coming.