Action Alerts

Wind Not in NPPD's 2010 Plans

The state's largest utility has decided against adding more large-scale wind-energy projects this year as it considers raising retail rates by 11 percent.

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A State of Wind

Nebraska is one of the windiest places in the country. I was reminded of that in August while traveling around the state, not only by the wind which blew at every stop, but in meetings with fellow Nebraskans who are working on plans to turn the wind into energy.

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Ord Station Adds Ethanol Blender Pump, Fifth in Nebraska

According to the Nebraska Corn Board, Country Partners Cooperative will host a blender pump grand opening Thursday at their location at 424 N. 14th St. in Ord.

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Drive for Green Homes Hits Area

The drive for energy efficiency is hitting home in Omaha, Lincoln and around the Midlands.

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SBIR Grants Explained and Impact on Region Analyzed

SBIRs are grants written by 11 federal agencies intended to help small businesses create and commercialize new innovations and technologies.

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UNL-Led Group Gets Federal Grant for Green Homes

A coalition of University of Nebraska-Lincoln researchers, Omaha and Lincoln-area homebuilders, city governments, non-profit groups and utilities will receive money from the U.S. Department of Energy to develop and improve technologies for making local homes more energy-efficient.

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Scottsbluff Clean Water Act Violations: Western Sugar Co-op Fined

Western Sugar Cooperative, of Denver, Colorado, reached an agreement with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency over charges related to Clean Water Act Violations. According to the EPA press release, Western Sugar Cooperative will pay a $56,736 civil penalty and spend $350,000 on plant upgrades to settle claims that its sugar beet processing facility in Scottsbluff, Nebraska, had excessively high discharges of fecal coliform bacteria in wastewater.

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Wayne County Property Owner Pays $30,000 for CWA Violations

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency announced on Monday, August 30, 2010 that a Nebraska landowner and an excavation contractor will pay a civil penalty of $30,000 to the United States, in order to quell allegations they used earth-moving equipment to construct a dam on a tributary to Spring Branch Creek without obtaining the necessary permit from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

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Senator Kent Rogert wants Third Nuclear Power Plant in Nebraska

According to the Lincoln Journal Star, Nebraska Senator Kent Rogert supports a third nuclear power plant in his state. The possibility of a third plant in Nebraska will be discussed at a public hearing Sept. 17 in Blair.

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As in Cancer-Striken Nevada Town, Acreage Cancer-Cluster Suspicion Doesn't Match Hard Data

When children were coming down with leukemia roughly once a month in a small farming community in western Nevada, health experts were confident they would pinpoint the cause.

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Waterfowl Seasons Set for 2010

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has approved all waterfowl seasons for 2010 as amended at the July meeting.

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From Deep-Fried Delights to Biofuel

The Nebraska State Fair is a lot of fun and a lot of food. Make that a lot of deep-fried food. Even the most health-conscious fair-goer is tempted by the many deep-fried food fancies offered at the fair. But that’s all right with Robert Byrnes, owner of Nebraska Renewable Energy Systems.

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Birds Find New Nest in Nebraska

Six refugees from the BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico took up residence in Nebraska on Friday.

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BP Says Limits on Drilling Imperil Oil Spill Payouts

BP is warning Congress that if lawmakers pass legislation that bars the company from getting new offshore drilling permits, it may not have the money to pay for all the damages caused by its oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.

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VeraSun Wants Farmers to Return Corn Payments

Almost two years after one-time ethanol giant VeraSun filed for bankruptcy protection, attorneys for the Sioux Falls-based company want Nebraska farmers to return money they got for delivering corn to plants at Albion, Central City and Ord.

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Students Study with Representatives from Nebraska Game and Parks Commission

Seventh-graders at Fremont Middle School stepped outside of the classroom to get some of their lessons on Thursday.

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Health Alerts at 2 Nebraska Water Bodies Over Algae

Nebraska officials have extended health alerts for Willow Creek Lake near Pierce and Red Willow Reservoir near McCook.

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Nebraska Game and Parks Commission OKs Reorganization

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission has approved a new administrative structure that will eliminate some layers of management.

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Dems May Push Lame-Duck Energy Bill

Cap and trade may be dead, but a proposal for wind and solar energy mandates is making a comeback in Congress.

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Hearing to Address Part of Mine's Expansion Plan

A Nebraska Department of Environmental Quality (NDEQ) hearing in Crawford on Monday will address a proposal by Crow Butte Resources to prevent a 2,100 acre portion of an aquifer lying north of Crawford from ever being used as drinking water.

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The Whooping Cranes: Survivors Against All Odds

Although many Nebraskans have had the indescribable pleasure and joy of watching tens of thousands of sandhill cranes overhead, or even seeing them roosting on Platte River bars and islands during spring migration, only a tiny handful can say that they have ever seen whooping cranes in Nebraska. The sheer odds against it are daunting.

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Game and Parks Commission Passes on Plan to Stock Prairie Dogs

The state's wildlife agency rejected a request Tuesday by a private nature sanctuary to reintroduce prairie dogs in north-central Nebraska.

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Ethanol Surpasses Gasoline for First Time Since December: Energy Markets

For the first time since December, ethanol prices are higher than gasoline as corn surges and refiners profit from tax breaks.

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With Neighbors Unaware, Toxic Spill at a BP Plant

While the world was focused on the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a BP refinery here released huge amounts of toxic chemicals into the air that went unnoticed by residents until many saw their children come down with respiratory problems.

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Product Stewardship

Every year in Nebraska, close to 27 million pounds of electronics are disposed of; 450 thousand gallons of unused paint are dumped in the trash or down the train and 720 thousand fluorescent lamps are thrown in the trash. Many of these products—televisions, computer screens, unused house hold products and batteries—contain toxic chemicals that can seep through landfills and contaminate waterways and soil. What should be done with all of this waste?

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CENTRAL NEBRASKA PUBLIC POWER AND IRRIGATION DISTRICT v. NORTH PLATTE NATURAL RESOURCES DISTRICT

The primary issue in this case is whether the appellant, a power and irrigation district that appropriates and stores surface water for the benefit of public users, may bring a judicial review proceeding under the Administrative Procedure Act (APA)[ 1 ] to challenge a natural resources district's ground water appropriation. Because we agree with the district court that the appellant lacks standing to do so, we affirm the court's dismissal of the appellant's complaint.

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Irrigation in Niobrara river basin in hands of judges

The Nebraska Supreme Court is expected to decide whether to scrap state-mandated restrictions that have kept a long stretch of the Niobrara River basin off-limits to new irrigation development for more than two years.

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A renter's market?

For the first time in decades it's cool to be a renter. So why is it so hard to rent a home and still be “green"?

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TransCanada Already Bullying Landowners in Nebraska

A Canadian oil giant wants to expand an already-massive pipeline to bring oil from the tar sands of Canada all the way down to the Gulf of Mexico. The US has yet to even approve the 1,980-mile TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline, but the company is already sending threatening letters to landowners in their pathway.

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Health alerts at 4 Nebraska water bodies over algae

Nebraska health officials have issued an alert for Willow Creek Lake near Pierce because of high levels of toxic blue-green algae.

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Thank You!

Last night was a success! It was great to see everyone, old friends and new ones. We appreciate all of your support and look forward to our next event. Again, thanks so much!

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New Study: Coal Ash Water-Contamination Much Worse Than Previously Estimated, With 39 Additional Toxic Sites Identified in 21 States

Total of 70 Problem Sites Identified by Groups Since February Is Over and Above the 67 EPA-Acknowledged Sites; New Report Identifies Water Contamination At Coal Ash Dump Sites in AR, CT, FL, IL, IA, KY, LA, MI, NE, NY, NC, ND, OH, OK, OR, PA, SD, TN, TX, VA, and WI.

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Website is clearinghouse for Republican Basin information

A new website focused on the Republican River Basin offers education and information about the contested river.

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Mine's foes oppose aquifer exemption

Uncertainties regarding the presence of faults and factures in the land underlying northwest Nebraska are a major reason that the Crow Butte Resources uranium mine should not receive an ‘aquifer exemption’ for its proposed North Trend expansion project, opponents of the mine said Monday.

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Nebraska City awarded $83,000 for cobra head and post top LED streetlights

Nebraska City has been awarded $83,081 in federal and local funds for the installation of approximately ninety-four LED streetlights. The funds are a combination of grants from the US Department of Energy’s Energy Efficiency and Conservation Block Grant (EECBG) program and local city matching funds. The total award of $83,081 combines $66,464 of EECBG funds and local matching funds of $16,616.

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Concertvation 2010

Don't Forget the NLCV's Benefit Concert Tonight at Red9!

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Wind Farm Proposed for Ogallala Area

A Michigan company, Green Oak Renewables, has plans to build a 10-megawatt wind farm southeast of Ogallala.

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Sugar co-op agrees to pay fine, upgrade Nebraska plant

The Western Sugar Cooperative will pay a fine and invest at least $350,000 in pollution control upgrades at its Nebraska Panhandle plant.

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Irrigation and Energy Conservation Field Day planned for Aug. 30

An Aug. 30 Irrigation and Energy Conservation Field Day at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln's South Central Agricultural Laboratory near Clay Center will help corn growers save water and money.

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Concertvation 2010

Don't Forget the NLCV's Benefit Concert Tomorrow Night at Red9!

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Can Wind Energy Match Nebraska's Ethanol Boom?

Thanks largely to a state production credit that expired in 2006 and a continuing federal mandate for renewable fuels, Nebraska went from one ethanol plant in 1991 to 26 in 2010.

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The NLCV on KZUM's "Earth to Lincoln"

The NLCV will be interviewed on tonight's edition of "Earth to Lincoln" with Adam Hintz on KZUM at 6 pm tonight. You can listen on-line at kzum.org or on the radio at 89.3 FM.

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Push Coming to Shove in Pipeline Easements

Shirley Condon never thought she would be one to say, "Not in my backyard." But now that the proposed route of the Keystone XL petroleum pipeline cuts through her family's 60-acre retreat in Polk County, the place where parents, kids, grandkids and now great-grandkids gather every year for an Easter egg hunt, she's not willing to sign an easement to allow construction.

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Game and Parks: Plenty of Pheasants in Southwest Nebraska

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission's 2010 Upland Game Hunting Outlook says pheasant numbers are highest in southwest Nebraska this year. The outlook is compiled from surveys and reports and counsel from biologists and staff members. The outlook report says the abundance of pheasants in Nebraska this year is highest in the southwest, followed by the Sandhills, central, northeast, Panhandle and southeast regions.

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Concertvation 2010: A Benefit Concert to Protect Our Environment

THURSDAY, AUGUST 26TH, 8PM @ RED 9-The NLCV is hosting a benefit concert to protect Nebraska's environment. Kris Lager Band, The Son of '76 and Stonebelly will be performing. Raffle prizes. Beer tasting with Goose Island Brewing Company.

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Who Wants Waist-high Weeds?

"The reason why there are volunteer positions, why we volunteer, is because if we didn't mow it wouldn't get mowed," she says. "We want the park to be usable, and the city doesn't have the manpower and the tools and the money to do it. It's just physically impossible, not enough people power."

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Nebraska Reaches Out to Wind Energy Exporters

Nebraska rolled out the red carpet for wind energy companies on Tuesday, and plenty of people responded to the invitation to hear details of the state's recently ramped-up aspirations for exporting wind power.

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Keystone XL Letters Cause Stir

A spokesman for TransCanada acknowledged Friday that the company has sent letters to Nebraska landowners along the proposed route of the Keystone XL petroleum pipeline urging them to sign easements in the next 30 days or face land condemnation proceedings.

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Nebraska Game and Parks Call on Hunters, Anglers to Clean Up

The Nebraska Game and Parks Commission is asking hunters and anglers to clean up after themselves.

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Big Frack Attack: Is Hydraulic Fracturing Safe?

Natural gas is cleaner than coal and oil, helping make it the hottest fossil fuel in America lately. But a controversial drilling technique known as 'fracking' has some wondering if a U.S. natural gas boom is worth the risks.

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Lincoln City Council Restores Funds for Forester Position, But Job Will Change

The Lincoln City Council voted Wednesday to restore funding for the city forester's position to the city budget, but that doesn't mean the forester's job has been saved. The parks director plans to use the money to create a new "professional forester" position that most likely will pay less and won't have management duties.

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The Midwest Should Use Its Own Ethanol

The EPA continues to study a proposal to approve E15 for the fuel supply, but I would submit that there is a better path forward. I don’t believe the ethanol industry requires E15, nor do they require a taxpayer-backed ethanol pipeline in order to grow their market. The biggest opportunity resides in the Midwest, where the ethanol is produced.

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Creighton Will Tap Solar Power

Solar panels are now permanent fixtures in a Creighton parking lot along Cuming Street, on the roof of the campus fitness center and next to the school's theater, part of a $2.6 million project funded mostly by the federal government.The juice on the solar panels will start to flow Friday when the project is complete. The panels will produce approximately 110 kilowatts of power on a sunny day, enough energy to power about 30 average houses.

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Big Oil's Long History of Compromising National Security for Profit

Months after the worst environmental disaster in U.S. history, BP is delaying deepwater drilling off the coast of Libya and exploratory drilling off of the Scottish Shetland islands. The delays also reflect the political pressure BP faces because of its lobbying efforts “over the prisoner transfer agreement with Libya that led to the release of Lockerbie bomber Abdel Basset al-Megrahi.” Senator Robert Menendez (D-NJ) is planning to send members to the UK and Scotland to question witnesses on the role of BP in the release of the Lockerbie bomber. This development follows the postponement of a Senate Foreign Relations hearing because the witnesses declined to show.

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World Herald Editorial: Comparing Energy Costs

Solar energy is getting more attention lately, some of it the result of a Duke University study indicating that the costs of new photovoltaic systems have fallen below the projected costs of new nuclear plants. The finding of the study are true — as far as they go.

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Green Plains Renewable Energy to Present and Global Industrial and A&D Conference

OMAHA, Neb., Aug 10, 2010 (GlobeNewswire via COMTEX) -- Green Plains Renewable Energy, Inc. announced today that Todd Becker, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present at the Jefferies & Company 6th Annual Global Industrial and A&D Conference in New York City on August 11, 2010 at the Mandarin Oriental, New York.

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Sewage Cleaning Device Produces Electricity, Too

Small units that purify household sewage could provide a source of electricity for urban and remote communities in the developing world, according to researchers.

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Omaha Becomes More Bike Friendly

Painted or real, bicycles are popping up all over Omaha’s streets. The city has painted bicycle outlines with directional arrows — called “sharrows” — on streets near the Benson neighborhood and near 16th Street and Capitol Avenue as part of its BikeOmaha Pilot Network.

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Ag Adventure Tour 2010

The 2010 Ag Adventure Tour, AgriCULTURE a South Central Nebraska Experience, exposed participants to the diverse cultures within the general label of “rural” vs. “urban.” The intent of the tour is to remove the “vs.” and connect rural and urban leaders on an “adventure” that leaves participants with a better understanding of how intertwined rural and urban industries, society and culture truly are across the state of Nebraska. The tour is coordinated each year with efforts spearheaded by Nancy Eberle, Executive Secretary of the Nebraska LEAD Alumni Association who works in conjunction with Lynda Shafer with Leadership Omaha. These women are joined with a committee of volunteers as well.

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Poll Finds that Belief in Global Warming is Declining-"For Consumers, Green Isn't About Climate Change, It's About Matters Closer To Home"

A new national poll of green consumers found that belief in global warming is declining, and even the worst nightmare scenarios would not change people’s minds or behaviors.

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Concertvation 2010: A Benefit Concert to Protect Our Environment

The Kris Lager Band, The Son of '76 and Stonebelly are coming together to help preserve Nebraska's environmental legacy. All proceeds will go directly to initiatives dedicated to turning environmental values into public policy. Cost $10

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World Bank Report Takes New Look at Food and Fuel

Ethanol production probably had less impact on global commodity prices in 2008 than many were saying at the time. A newly released working paper, entitled “Placing the 2006/08 Commodity Price Boom into Perspective,” from the Development Prospects Group at the World Bank, concludes that “…the effect of biofuels on food prices has not been as large as originally thought.”

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James M. Taylor: Event Filled With Expertise on Global Warming Debate

Charles Riedesel, an assistant professor of computer sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, stepped outside his field of knowledge and unwittingly wrote an extremely amusing (as in ridiculous) attack on climate scientists who believe global warming is not an imminent crisis.

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The Truth About Global Warming

IN A DEPRESSING case of irony by juxtaposition, the death of climate change legislation in the Senate has been followed by the appearance of two government reports in the past week that underscore the overwhelming scientific case for global warming -- and go out of the way to repudiate skeptics.

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TransCanada Keystone Pipeline Springs Two Leaks in Two Months, Meets Century Spill Quota

I was wrong: the June oil spew at Pump Station 22 near Roswell on the TransCanada Keystone Pipeline was not the first reported spill. Shortly after posting the DENR report on the Roswell incident, I received this DENR report documenting a 5-gallon leak at Pump Station 21 near Carpenter in Beadle County on May 21, 2010. This time a leaky valve was the culprit.

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Lplan2040

The new city-county comprehensive plan, called "lplan2040," has some good opportunities for citizen input. If you act today or tomorrow you can add your own ideas on the theme of BEAUTY, which includes natural beauty. Please also consider voting for the idea to "Expand Wilderness Park South" as well as the one called "Expand Prairie Corridor" that would link Spring Creek and Pioneers Park prairies with a hiker-biker trail. The "Expand Prairie Corridor" idea was submitted by Mayor Chris Beutler.

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Climate Change: The Last Resort

IT MAY seem premature to talk about last-ditch measures to deal with runaway climate change, but Ben Lieberman has it right. Lieberman, an energy expert at the Heritage Foundation, a Washington think-tank, responded to the news that the US Senate will not pass any climate legislation this year by saying: "It's pretty clear that no post-Kyoto treaty is in the making -- certainly not in Cancun, and maybe not ever."

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Nelson: Views of State and Local Officials Must be Considered in Proposed Keystone Pipeline

Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson said Wednesday that he sent a letter to the U.S. State Department asking for an update and copies of correspondence concerning its efforts to gather analyses and viewpoints from federal, state and local officials about the Keystone XL pipeline proposed to be constructed from Canada through Nebraska.

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Guest Column: Cultivating Our Prairie Heritage

DARYL SMITH is a professor of biology and director of the Tallgrass Prairie Center at the University of Northern Iowa. Each year that I work on prairie reconstruction projects I become a more avid prairie preservationist. Prior to Euro-American settlement, the tallgrass prairie was an awesome place. It occupied the eastern part of the mid-continent grassland that dominated the horizon, from the forest margins of the Wabash River in western Indiana to the foothills of the Rocky Mountains and from the Gulf of Mexico to the boreal forest of central Canada. Those long grasses held sway across Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota, Missouri, Wisconsin, Kansas, Nebraska, North and South Dakota and northwest Indiana. Their dominance extended into southern Manitoba and across eastern Oklahoma and Texas to the Gulf Coast and a bit of Louisiana. Scattered outliers occurred in Ontario, Ohio, Kentucky, Arkansas, Mississippi and Alabama.

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It's a Critical Time for Ethanol

It's time for the federal government to move beyond offering tax credits to companies that combine ethanol with gasoline, said the CEO of the fourth-largest ethanol producer in the country. Instead, he said, government incentives are needed for companies that install special pumps at gas stations and design cars capable of handling higher amounts of the fuel additive.

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Nebraska is the Epicenter of Wind Energy Potential

Sen. John Harms of District 48 was pragmatic. “LB1048 was not an easy bill — it doesn’t solve all the problems,” Harms said to a crowd of about 90 attending the Wind Energy in the Panhandle: A Forum on our Future, presentation at the Harms Advanced Technology Center in Scottsbluff Tuesday night. “But it does open doors to the largest single thrust to our economy in the past two decades.”

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31 Nebraska Entities Will Share in $500,000 in US Ag Dept Energy-efficiency Grants

LINCOLN, Neb. — Thirty-one Nebraska recipients have been selected to receive about $500,000 in loans and grants to be used to make energy-efficiency improvements that will promote energy conservation.

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USDA Announces Conservation Reserve Program General Sign-up

WASHINGTON, D.C. – July 26, 2010 - Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack today announced that a general sign-up for the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) will begin on August 2, 2010 and continue through August 27, 2010. During the sign-up period, farmers and ranchers may offer eligible land for CRP's competitive general sign-up at their county Farm Service Agency (FSA) office. The 2008 Farm Bill authorized USDA to maintain CRP enrollment up to 32 million acres. Jim Miller, Agriculture Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agriculture Services, made the announcement on behalf of Secretary Vilsack during a conference call with reporters.

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Teaching 'Stuff' about Ecology

Annie Leonard used to spout jargon. She reveled in the sort of geek-speak that glazes your eyeballs. Externalized costs, paradigm shifts, the precautionary principle, extended producer responsibility. That was before she discovered cartoons. Today the 45-year-old Berkeley, Calif., activist is America's pitchperson for a new style of environmental message. Out with boring PowerPoints and turgid reports; in with witty videos that explain complex issues in digestible terms.

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Keystone XL Timetable Extended

Sen. Mike Johanns has not passed personal judgment on the Nebraska impact of the proposed Keystone XL petroleum pipeline. Nonetheless, Johanns said Monday, he sees it as "a very unusual process" to have the U.S. State Department in charge of the environmental review and the Environmental Protection Agency in a consultant capacity.

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Who Cooked the Planet?

New York Times Op-ed Columnist Paul Krugman asks: "So why didn’t climate-change legislation get through the Senate?"

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Administration Officials and Utility Executives Meet to Salvage Climate Bill

Top Obama administration officials met Tuesday with utility executives in another sign that senior Democrats are pushing to salvage a limited climate change bill this year. The White House meeting comes amid a growing consensus among utility officials involved in the talks that a climate bill is dead for the summer, raising the question of whether it is possible at all this year.

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Securing Foreign Oil: A Case for Including Military Operations in the Climate Change Impact of Fuels

Military operations are major industrial activities that use massive amounts of fuel and materials that significantly contribute to climate change. In this article, we assert that military activity to protect international oil trade is a direct production component for importing foreign oil—as necessary for imports as are pipelines and supertankers—and therefore the greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions from that military activity are relevant to U.S. fuel policies related to climate change. Military security for protection of global maritime petroleum distribution is part of the acquisition process, but in addition, recent Middle Eastern wars may also be related to securing petroleum reserves.

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Fortenberry Bill Redesigns America's Renewable Fuels Strategy

Jul 21,2010 - Washington, D.C. -- Congressman Jeff Fortenberry this week introduced the Renewable Fuels for America’s Future Act (H.R. 5757). The bill incentivizes biofuels production over current levels, saves taxpayer money, and builds renewable fuels transportation infrastructure across America.

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Pipeline Expansion: State's Hands Tied

There is a Keystone pipeline for crude oil that runs through Nebraska north to south, just east of Lincoln. Now, Sen. Annette Dubas and Sen. Kate Sullivan say Nebraska has little impact on an upcoming federal decision to build a pipeline expansion, Keystone XL.

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House Committee Approves Comprehensive Energy Bill

Washington, D.C. - Capping a decade of investigations and dozens of oversight hearings held on the beleaguered Minerals Management Service, the House Natural Resources Committee today approved landmark comprehensive legislation authored by Chairman Nick J. Rahall (D-WV) to address the Deepwater Horizon oil rig explosion and to implement reforms of America's federal offshore and onshore oil and gas leasing program.

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Nebraska Gets Quick Results with Wind Energy

Nebraska dropped its line in the water Thursday morning. By noon, on the very first day for its new wind energy program, it had hooked a very big fish. Chicago-based Invenergy -- described by a member of its management team as the largest independent, American-owned wind energy company in the United States -- stepped up with plans for a $448 million wind farm in Antelope and Boone counties.

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Ads Backed by Fossil-Fuel Interest Groups Aruge 'CO2 is Green'

A group with ties to the fossil fuel industry launched a new ad campaign today pushing the idea that carbon dioxide isn't an environmental pollutant.

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Pass the Potatoes Please: Environment Omaha Wants Your Project Ideas

OMAHA - Do you have an idea for a project, large or small, that could help make Omaha a greener community? Environment Omaha wants to hear from you. If the public supports your idea and it’s deemed feasible by a panel of local experts, it could be put into practice. Environment Omaha - a partnership of the City of Omaha, the community and Omaha by Design - is partnering with Community ReDesigned to launch www.passthepotatoes.com, a virtual town hall event that invites anyone interested in Omaha to submit practical, creative and resourceful ideas for improving the sustainability of the city. The virtual town hall event is powered by mindmixer, an innovative web platform developed by Community ReDesigned and designed by What Cheer that allows the public to generate ideas, help others evolve their ideas and ultimately vote and prioritize the best ideas.

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Reconnecting Americans to the Outdoors Part of Federal Initiative

Creating flexible federal conservation programs allowing local people to solve local problems was just one of many issues discussed on Monday in Grand Island at America's Great Outdoors Initiative. More than 200 people attended the listening session, where representatives from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), the U.S. Department of the Interior and other federal agencies gathered comments on conservation, recreation and other outdoors issues.

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Congress: CBO Says Energy Bill Would Cut Deficit by $19B

"Senator John F. Kerry’s signature energy and climate change legislation would cut the deficit by $19 billion, according to an estimate released yesterday by the Congressional Budget Office," the Boston Globe reports. "The legislation faces strong opposition from Republicans and some Democrats from energy-producing states, but the report gives the Massachusetts Democrat and his allies a compelling financial argument amid concerns about the implications of a burgeoning deficit."

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Farm Groups Back Legislation 'To Promote Further Production and Use of Biofuels'

The National Corn Growers Association, the American Coalition for Ethanol, and the Renewable Fuels Association sent a June 24 letter to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-NV) encouraging him include the Consumer Fuels and Vehicle Choice Act (CHOICE Act), S. 1627, and the Green Jobs Act of 2010, S. 3231 in energy legislation.

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BP To Test New Cap on Oil Spill

BP prepared on Tuesday to try sealing off its runaway well with a new cap that it says could for the first time in 12 weeks finally arrest the flow of oil spewing from the floor of the Gulf of Mexico.

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EPA Proposes New Maximum Achievable Control Technology Standards for Boilers and Incinerators

The EPA has published new rules in the Federal Register regarding new Maximum Achievable Control Technology (MACT) for boilers and incinerators. The target of the new rules is to limit toxic emissions and mercury, which is known to be extremely harmful to human health. The Federal Register is available to the public, and the EPA will be accepting public comments on these rules through August 3, 2010.

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'Green' House Could Set Example

In the midst of a monstrous U.S. oil spill and a precarious national economic recovery, the people of Corning, Iowa, aren’t the only ones who see that energy and personal income are severely limited resources. But with help from Iowa State University and other groups, the city and its citizens are poised to become a new face of green, sustainable and affordable housing.

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Energy Efficient Appliance Rebates Went Fast

The $100 to $250 rebates -- first made available July 6 -- ran out by midday Saturday.

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5 Nebraska nonprofits get $272,000 in USDA funding

Five Nebraska nonprofits have been awarded $272,000 in grants from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The money from USDA Rural Development will support business development and entrepreneurship.

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Gov. Heineman: Wind Development in Nebraska

Governor Dave Heineman addresses wind development in an open letter to Nebraskans.

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Hassebrook Hopes He Delivered Message with Green Vote

The University of Nebraska-Lincoln has biotechnologists skilled enough to attract a $2.5 million payment from Monsanto in 2005 to follow through on promising soybean research. With that and the rights to an exclusive licensing agreement comes the potential for UNL researchers and the university to share in millions more in royalty payments in the years ahead. But among the things that the state's flagship university does not have in 2010 is even one tenured rural sociologist to attend to the needs of rural communities steadily losing population in one of the nation's most rural states.

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Nelson: Government Must Take All Precautions Before Proceeding with Pipeline

July 2, 2010 – Today, Nebraska’s Senator Ben Nelson spoke with U.S. State Department Under Secretary William Burns and others in charge of reviewing a proposed Keystone XL pipeline crossing Nebraska and urged full consideration of its environmental and economic impact, as well as the views of Nebraska citizens and officials.

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Department of Energy Awards $1.8 Billion to Create Clean Energy Jobs

As part of the reform to create a sustainable environment and get Americans back to work, the Department of Energy awarded Abengoa Solar and Abound Solar Manufacturing $1.8 billion to fund new solar plants. The award is part of the $862 billion stimulus bill earmarked to reduce the U.S.’s dependence on oil, protect the environment, and create sustainable jobs.

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British Panel Clears Climate Scientists

A British panel issued a sweeping exoneration on Wednesday of scientists caught up in the controversy known as Climategate, saying it found no evidence that they had manipulated their research to support preconceived ideas about global warming.

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To EPA, Milk is 'Toxic Sludge'?

WASHINGTON — Imagine treating milk the same as the toxic sludge now washing up on Gulf Coast beaches. It may sound absurd, but some dairy producers are worried that it could happen under U.S. Environmental Protection Agency regulations intended to prevent oil spills from polluting waterways.

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From Scratch: You Don't Have to Own a Cow to Have Raw Milk

Here's a new word for you: Locavore. A person who endeavors to eat local food. (Fun fact: It was the New Oxford American Dictionary's word of the year in 2007.) You might also hear these individuals referred to as "localvores," "food patriots" or "100-mile dieters." There are a lot of detours you can make if interested in getting off the beaten path of your grocery aisle, but let's start with a basic: milk.

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U.S. Soybean Farmers Define and Measure Sustainability On-Farm and in Livestock/Aquaculture Operations

At a time when sustainability is hotter than ever, what’s often missing is a clear definition of what exactly the trendy term means. U.S. soybean producers are working to change that through a new web platform, www.usbthinkingahead.com, that defines the concept and points to agriculture as the original sustainability success story.

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Nebraska Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program Starts Tuesday

The Nebraska Energy Efficient Appliance Rebate Program starts Tuesday, and not before, with rebates of $100-$250 on six qualifying Energy Star products: central air conditioners, clothes washers, refrigerators, dishwashers, air source heat pumps and natural gas and propane furnaces.

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Wind Developer Eyes Hallam Area for 30-Tower Wind Farm

The project, which is still in the conceptual stage, would involve 30 wind turbines that would tie into Sheldon Station, a coal-fired power plant owned by the Nebraska Public Power District on the edge of Hallam.

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Keystone Pipeline May Contain Defective Steel

Vermillion, SD – Today Plains Justice released a report showing that defective steel might have been used in TransCanada’s already constructed Keystone pipeline. “During a recent pipeline building boom, the steel pipe industry rushed to make pipe for a large number of new pipelines. Some manufacturers got sloppy with safety standards,” said Paul Blackburn, a Plains Justice attorney who has researched the issue.

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Report: Ag Research Too Focused on Food Production

American farmers are producing more food than ever, but agricultural research is too focused on increasing production and needs to do better at considering consequences such as water and air pollution, according to a report issued Tuesday by a federal advisory group.

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US Approach to Farming Should Expand to Meet New Challenges and Expanding Needs

U.S. farmers are under pressure to produce more, pollute less, fulfill consumer preferences, and make a living -- all with increasingly scarce natural resources and the uncertain effects of climate change, says a new report from the National Research Council. To help U.S. agriculture evolve to meet these demands, the report concludes, national agricultural policies and research programs should look beyond focusing only on low costs and high production and adopt a holistic perspective to farming that encompasses multiple end goals.

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What To Do With All That Wind?

A quiz about wind power: 1. Who runs America's biggest wind farm? (A) Cannon Power Group, (B) General Electric, (C) BP or (D) Terra-Gen Power. 2. Where is it located? (A) Oregon, (B) Colorado, (C) California or (D) Indiana. The answers are BP and Indiana. BP? The company whose thirst for oil may have polluted the Gulf of Mexico for decades? And Indiana? I just assumed the best place to harvest the wind was on gusty, barren height out West. Not so; they're creeping up on Chicago.

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New Ethanol Fact Book Available

Published by the Clean Fuels Development Coalition and distributed through the Ethanol Across America campaign in cooperation with the Nebraska Ethanol Board, the Ethanol Fact Book addresses the ethanol tax incentive, energy security and oil import reductions, economic impacts and benefits to the U.S. Treasury, greenhouse gas reduction and environmental benefits, and advancements in cellulose conversion technologies. Developments in flexible fuel vehicle production and high level blends are also addressed.

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Congresswoman Urges Move To Higher Ethanol Blends

PIERRE, S.D. — U.S. Rep. Stephanie Herseth Sandlin, D-S.D., says she and other members of Congress want to find out why federal officials have delayed a decision on allowing higher concentrations of ethanol in gasoline.

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Washington This Week: As Oil Gushes, Renewables Look Great

Washington, June 27 – This will be another jam-packed week for Congress before it heads home for its week-long July 4th recess. . . also for the White House and Agriculture Sec. Vilsack. All three will be dealing with heightened interest in renewable energy due to the worsening BP oil disaster in the Gulf.

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TransCanada Pipeline Plan Threatens the Sandhills

The TransCanada Keystone XL pipeline — being considered to run tar sand oil from Alberta, Canada, to refineries in Oklahoma and Texas through the Great Plains (including Nebraska) — is a terrible scheme, from beginning to end. It is a bad project in the wrong place.

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Energy Innovation Conferences in Omaha, NE

Last week the path to clean energy and oil independence ran through the American heartland. Entrepreneurs, business leaders, investors, university researchers, non-profits, along with local government and White House officials met together in Omaha, Nebraska for the first of three regional Energy Innovation Conferences.

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LCV President Discusses Clean Energy Legislation on NPR

LCV President Gene Karpinski appeared today on an NPR Morning Edition story about President Obama's push for comprehensive clean energy legislation.

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Lincoln Photographer Documents Oil Spill

Local photographer, Joel Sartore, documents the unfolding fallout from the BP underwater disaster.

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Holmes Lake Restoration & Waterfest

Families are invited to kick off summer June 10 with a new fun and free event at Holmes Lake Park called Waterfest. “Waterfest is being held to celebrate the completion of Holmes Lake and the surrounding park,” said Coleen Seng. “This will be a great opportunity for families to have fun while also learning about the lake and what we can do to keep our streams and lakes clean and healthy.”

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Groups Working to Promote E85

The Nebraska Ethanol Board has announced a new joint effort with biofuels advocacy group Growth Energy as part of the "Fuel on the Fourth" program. The campaign will raise consumer awareness of ethanol blends such as E85, and encourage Flex Fuel Vehicle (FFV) owners to buy higher ethanol blends.

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Gulf of Mexico Oil Spill (2010)

New rules on shallow-water drilling, Obama to return to the Gulf Coast, progress in the capture of oil, the planning of a wildlife fund, and a photo gallery of the disaster.

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Nebraska's Economic Future Tied to Wind Energy

The U.S. wind industry could represent $330 billion in investments between 2010 and 2025, with more than 90 percent stemming from onshore wind. The Midwest, Great Plains and Rocky Mountain states will act as major wind export hubs to areas with large appetites for renewables, including California, the Mid-Atlantic and the South.

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Nebraska Wind Power 2010 Conference Dates Set

The two-day conference will focus on Nebraska's future wind energy development challenges and opportunities, including the recently passed LB1048 that clarifies the roles and responsibilities between private sector developers, public power, and the Power Review Board for wind generated electricity for export.

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Keystone XL Pipeline

The proposed Keystone XL pipeline would carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada, through the Nebraska Sandhills and across southeast Nebraska, to refineries in Oklahoma and Texas. Tar sands oil is one of the most carbon-intensive and environmentally damaging sources of oil, and the pipeline could add to climate change problems and put at risk Nebraska wetlands, rivers and groundwater sources.

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Dispersal of Oil Means Cleanup to Take Years

White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs and Adm. Thad W. Allen, the Coast Guard commander, spoke to reporters in Washington on Monday about the response to the oil spill.

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Feds Say White-tailed Prairie Dog Is Not Endangered

The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service announced Thursday that the white-tailed prairie dog does not merit protection under the Endangered Species Act.

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Environmental Leaders Honored at Thursday Luncheon

Local Environmental Leaders Honored

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