January 18th, 2012

The Obama Administration’s rejection of the Keystone XL pipeline today earned the president a fierce tongue-lashing from Republican foes in the House of Representatives.

The president, faced with a 60-day deadline imposed by Republicans in the House and passed as a poison pill with the payroll tax cut, gave the pipeline thumbs down. But he left the door open for a reapplication by pipeline owner TransCanada.

[Read more →]

October 26th, 2011

Bold Nebraska, a progressive group that’s leading the Nebraska fight against the Keystone XL pipeline, has issued a call to supporters to harness the spirit of the season.
The group is urging those who oppose the pipeline to take one or more of these four actions:

[Read more →]

October 24th, 2011

In a move that had been talked about, but was by no means considered a sure bet, Nebraska’s Gov. Dave Heineman has called for the Obama Administration to turn down the permit request for the controversial Keystone Pipeline XL that would carry Canadian tar sands oil across the U.S..

A Nebraska pow-wow, or specifically a special session of the legislature, had been a growing possibility since Heineman said earlier this year that he agreed with opponents of the pipeline that its route across a delicate region of the state could jeopardize the Ogallala Aquifer.

[Read more →]

August 30th, 2011

By now you’ve probably heard about the two-week long tar sands protest at the White House, where people have been lining up to voice grave doubts about the proposed 1,700 mile pipeline that would carry dirty bitumen oil from Canada to the Gulf Coast.

Picketers are sending a message to President Obama that stopping the Keystone XL pipeline would help America kick its oil addiction and protect its natural water sources.

[Read more →]

August 16th, 2011

It’s time to turn our attention to the Keystone XL pipeline, targeted for possible approval by the US this fall and the subject of imminent protests planned for late summer in D.C..

To the oil industry, this 1,700-mile transcontinental pipeline, which is teed up to carry crude oil from Alberta’s tar sands to refineries in Texas, would bring a gusher of profits, creating jobs, filling gas tanks and boosting America’s energy security.
Environmentalists hold a much darker view of the thick tar sands project, citing its destruction of Canadian forests, threat to the vital Ogallala Aquifer in the U.S. and extension of our reliance on the dirty fossil fuels that are overheating the planet. Tar sands oil extraction has been estimated to produce, barrel for barrel, three times the carbon pollution as conventional oil operations.

[Read more →]

June 18th, 2009

By Barbara Kessler
Green Right Now

This Global Change Research report released this week is a compendium of the expected fallout from climate change in the U.S.

It’s not something you’ll want to curl up with in place of your bedtime novel; it won’t make you hazy, happy and sleepy (picture yourself bolt upright, watching crime news to calm down). Still, for those of us deliberately trying to keep our heads above the sand (or our real estate above the tide) it’s a must read.

I recommend skipping a lot of the governmentish intros and conclusions. Cut to the heartland synopses; these assessments of each region are a great reality check. This section of the report is stout and specific and will wrest away any fuzzy notion you have that climate change will just make things a tad warmer and we’ll all wear fewer sweaters.

[Read more →]