Tag Archives: Respect for Diversity

Hundreds protest in Lincoln on the eve of KXL hearings

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From the Lincoln Journal Star:

Over 500 protesters from across the country converged outside the state Capitol and onto downtown streets Sunday afternoon in response to TransCanada’s proposed Keystone XL pipeline.

The protest comes on the eve of week-long proceedings in front of the Nebraska Public Service Commission where local landowners, TransCanada representatives, Native American tribal leaders and others will present testimony on whether or not the pipeline serves the public interest.

The proceedings mark the last major hurdle TransCanada must get over for approval of the pipeline, which would carry nearly 830,000 barrels of oil per day from Canada through Montana, South Dakota and Nebraska for export.

K Street on the north side of the Capitol was blocked off as hundreds of sign-bearing protesters gathered. After speakers rallied the crowd, Native protesters astride horses led a march north down 16th Street.

Read the full story.

 

Upcoming events: KXL hearings, Green Drinks, solar workshop, and more

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Keystone XL Public Hearing

  • When: Wednesday, July 26, at 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (doors open at 9 a.m.).
  • Where: Ralston Arena, 7300 Q Street, Omaha.
  • What: Your final opportunity to speak on the record against KXL.

Omaha Green Drinks

  • When: Wednesday, July 26, at 5:30 p.m.
  • Where: Whole Foods Market, 10020 Regency Pkwy, Omaha.
  • What: Carpool, cycle, walk, or ride the bus! This is a great way to network, inspire, share ideas, and catch up with other “Green” people! Please RSVP on Facebook.

LES Sustainable Living Festival

  • When: Saturday, July 29, at 9 a.m. to noon
  • Where: The Railyard, West Haymarket, Lincoln.
  • What: Come and learn how you can help build a more sustainable Lincoln. Read more.

Solar Energy Workshop

  • When: Saturday, August 5, at 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m.
  • Where: Eiseley Branch Library, 1530 Superior, Lincoln.
  • What: Hosted by Community Crops, this workshop will discuss the economics and installation options that are available in Lincoln. Register here ($5 fee).

Reminder: March to Give Keystone XL the Boot

  • When: Sunday, August 6, at 3 to 5:30 p.m.
  • Where: Beginning at the State Capitol.
  • What: Hundreds of Nebraskans, along with Water Protectors and Pipeline Fighters from near and far, will come together in Lincoln on the eve of the week-long Keystone XL intervenor hearings at the Nebraska Public Service Commission, and march through the streets to send the message that Keystone XL is a threat to our land, water and climate, and not in the public interest. Read more and sign up.

Stand With Us: Keystone XL Intervenor Hearings

  • When: Monday, August 7, through Friday, August 11. Starts at 9 a.m. daily.
  • Where: Nebraska Public Service Commission, 1200 N Street, Suite 300, Lincoln.
  • What: The Nebraska Public Service Commission has scheduled its “intervenor” public hearings on TransCanada’s permit for its proposed Keystone XL pipeline. More than 90 landowners who have refused to sell their land to TransCanada for the pipeline and fought eminent domain in court will challenge the permit, along with 30+ Nebraska residents, the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska and Yankton Sioux Tribe, Bold Nebraska, Sierra Club, 350.org and Oil Change International. Read more and RSVP.

Aug. 6 march in Lincoln: Give KXL the Boot!

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From BOLD Nebraska:

Join the March to Give Keystone XL the Boot in Lincoln on June 19. For nine years, Pipeline Fighters and Water Protectors have been fighting the Keystone XL pipeline, which is abusing eminent domain for private gain, trampling sovereign rights, and threatening our land, water, and climate.

The final regulatory hurdle for KXL is at the Nebraska Public Service Commission (PSC), which is planning a week-long public hearing August 7-11 in Lincoln, Nebraska. Nebraska is our last stand, and the PSC will be voting on whether to accept or reject TransCanada’s permit application.

On the eve of the hearing — Sunday, August 6 — we call on all Pipeline Fighters to join us in Lincoln for the March to Give Keystone XL the Boot.

Upcoming events: conservation, peace, music, and budget talk

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Community Conservation: Making Land Protection Relevant in the Communities Where It Occurs

  • What: Dave Sands, Executive Director, Nebraska Land Trust
  • When: Thursday, June 8, 7 p.m.
  • Where: Unitarian Church, 6300 A Street, Lincoln
  • More info.

Nebraskans for Peace Annual Rice & Beans Potluck Fundraiser

  • What: Annual event for building peaceful, just and beloved communities of resistance!
  • When: Saturday, June 10, 6 p.m.
  • Where: Hanscom Park United Methodist Church, 4444 Frances St., Omaha (One Block South of 45th & Center Street)
  • More info.

A Future of Care and Peacemaking or War and Waste? The 2018 Federal Budget

  • What: Music, spiritual resources, and resources to resist provided at rally. Drum and Lakota prayer, Pastor Lin Quenzer. Speaker is Kevin Martin from PeaceAction.
  • Where: West side of the Nebraska Capitol
  • When: Sunday June 11, 1 p.m.
  • More info.

Discussion about Soil Health and Climate Change

  • What: Discussion organized by the Nebraska League of Conservation Voters. This event is free and open to the public. Light refreshments will be provided.
  • When: Tuesday, June 20, 5:30 p.m. to 7 p.m.
  • Where: Barbara Weitz Community Engagement Center, University of Nebraska Omaha
  • More info and register.

Discussion about the Plight of the Honeybee

  • What: Free and open to the public. Light refreshments provided.
  • When: Tuesday, June 27, 5:30 PM – 7:00 PM
  • Where: UNL Student Union, Lincoln
  • More info and register.

Green Drinks in Omaha May 24

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Here is a friendly reminder that Omaha Green Drinks will be taking place this upcoming Wednesday, May 24, at 5:30 p.m. at Whole Foods Market, 10020 Regency Pkwy, Omaha.

Carpool, cycle, walk, or ride the bus! This is a great way to network, inspire, share ideas, and catch up with other “Green” people!

Please RSVP on Facebook.

Sign the Petition: Single-Payer Medicare for All

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From the Green Party U.S.:

The Green Party supports single-payer universal health care and preventive care for all. We believe that health care is a right, not a privilege.

Our current health care system lets tens of thousands of people die each year by excluding them from adequate care, while its exorbitant costs are crippling our economy. The United States is the only industrialized nation in the world without a national health care system.

Under a universal, comprehensive, national single-payer health care system, the administrative waste of private insurance corporations would be redirected to patient care. If the United States were to shift to a system of universal coverage and a single payer plan, as in Canada and many European countries, the savings in administrative costs would be more than enough to offset the cost of additional care. Expenses for businesses currently providing coverage would be reduced, while state and local governments would pay less because they would receive reimbursement for services provided to the previously uninsured, and because public programs would cease to be the “dumping ground” for high-risk patients and those rejected by health maintenance organizations (HMOs) when they become disabled and unemployed. In addition, people would gain the peace of mind in knowing that they have health care they need. No longer would people have to worry about the prospect of financial ruin if they become seriously ill, are laid off their jobs, or are injured in an accident.

Read more and sign the petition.

LB 461: Regressive tax cuts that fix nothing

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From Open Sky Policy Institute:

LB 461, the tax-cut package put forth by the Revenue Committee, is first and foremost an income tax cut for wealthy Nebraskans and the proposal does little to truly address property tax relief. In fact, LB 461 is fundamentally flawed in a way that makes it more likely to exacerbate, not help, Nebraska’s reliance on property taxes to fund K-12 education. Furthermore, some Nebraskans would actually pay more in overall taxes under LB 461.

Read the full policy brief.

Liquor Commission denies licenses for Whiteclay beer sellers

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From the Omaha World-Herald:

Frank LaMere finally got the decision he’s been waiting for.

For two decades, he’s called for an end to alcohol sales in Whiteclay, Nebraska, due to the dreadful consequences.

On Wednesday, a state liquor board voted 3-0 to end the long-controversial beer sales in Whiteclay, an unincorporated village known as the “Skid Row of the Plains” that sells millions of cans of beer each year to residents of the officially dry Pine Ridge Indian Reservation.

“I think today that the Oglala Lakota people won. I think Nebraskans won. We’ll be better for it in this state,” said LaMere, a Native American activist from South Sioux City.

Read the full story.

Upcoming marches: Support science and climate action, demand Trump’s tax returns

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Tax March: Demanding the release of President Trump’s tax returns.

Lincoln Tax March

  • Saturday, April 15, 2017, 12 p.m.
  • Nebraska State Capitol Building
  • 1445 K Street
  • Lincoln, NE  68508

Omaha Tax March

  • Saturday, April 15, 2017, 1 p. m.
  • Turner Park
  • 3101 Dodge Street
  • Omaha, NE 68131

March for Science: Supporting the scientific method and evidence-based policies.

March for Science – Lincoln

  • Saturday, April 22, 2017, 3 – 4 p.m.
  • Nebraska Union, 1400 R Street
  • Marching from the Union through Centennial Mall to the Nebraska State Capitol

March for Science – Omaha

  • Saturday, April 22, 2017, 5:30 p.m. to 10 p.m.
  • Marching from Elmwood Park to Stinson Park

March for Science, Climate, and Social Justice – Hastings

  • Saturday, April 22, 2017, 12:30 – 2 p.m.
  • Hastings, NE

People’s Climate March: Standing up for the climate, for jobs, and for justice.

People’s Climate March, Lincoln

  • Saturday, April 29, 2017, 10:30am
  • Nebraska State Capitol Building
  • 1445 K Street
  • Lincoln, NE

People’s Climate March, Omaha

2016 Green Party Vice Presidential Candidate Ajamu Baraka has accepted our invitation to speak at the Omaha event, starting at noon. The march will start at 2 p.m.

  • Saturday, April 29, 2017, 12:00pm
  • Gene Leahy Mall
  • 1302 Farnam
  • Omaha, NE

Nebraska voter ID proposal harms democracy, solves nothing

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From the Lincoln Journal Star Editorial Board:

There is a common phrase employed in legislative debates: This is a solution looking for a problem.

Cliches become clichés precisely because there’s a kernel of truth at their center. In this case, a voter ID measure — LR1CA offered by Sen. John Murante of Gretna, requiring a photo ID to participate in Nebraska elections — is a solution looking for a problem.

Secretary of State John Gale has stated plainly that there’s been no evidence of voter fraud being a problem in Nebraska. An earlier Local View from Kristie Pfabe noted that impersonation, the type of fraud an ID plan aims to stop, is the least efficient way possible to sway a race. It comes with a high cost criminally, and that high potential cost yields but one vote.

Murante argues that the bill is necessary to restore Americans’ confidence in the voting process.

But the plan creates more problems than it solves and does more harm to our democracy than it helps.

Read the full editorial.