Nebraska XL (Nebraska: More Mindful Than Washington?)

29 Sep, 2011

Make no mistake: Nebraskans are fully aware of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. Everywhere from cafes to churches to bars, schools, ranches and farms, people are talking about the pipeline. While various media portray rumors of indecision, the experience of cycling through the state has taught me that most Nebraskans do not want this pipeline.

Ranchers all over the state of Nebraska are up in arms about this pipeline. These gentlemen came all the way across the debate to voice their opposition. Not exactly your typical understanding of "environmentalists."

To aid in my assessment, look no further than football. Nebraskans love their football. Along with that enthusiasm comes advertisement. Most advertisements in the Cornhuskers’ Memorial Stadium are mostly background noise to the action on the field. However, an ad promoting the Keystone XL pipeline prompted the stadium to boo in such earnest rejection that University of Nebraska’s legendary Athletic Director Tom Osborne pulled the ad.

This fervent opposition echoed the voices that I heard as I cycled through the state. In particular, ranchers in the Sandhills voiced their concern for both the fragile Ogallala Aquifer and for the pristine landscape of the Sandhills.

Randy Thompson has become the iconic figure of Nebraskan opposition to the pipeline. He manages the Thompson Family Farm—400 acre farming and livestock operation in Merrick County. All over the state, you can see people wearing shirts that say, "I stand with Randy."

In the midst of my conversations, I learned that on the one day that I had scheduled to be in Lincoln, the State Department was having a hearing to examine whether or not the Keystone XL pipeline was in the best interest of both the nation and Nebraska. When I first heard about this hearing, I expected it to be a charged debate held by Nebraskan citizens that had come to their own conclusions about the benefits of the pipeline. What I saw was far from that.

Here you see what seems like reasonable debate of equal testimony. On stage at the center table, there are two people from the State Department. At the table set back a little, you can see a representative from TransCanada, which is the organization that hopes to build the Keystone XL pipeline. Note the lack of any other interested parties--ranchers, farmers, EPA, etc.--on stage. The apparent mix of orange and red would suggest Nebraskan conflict over the case. The truth is that the people in orange were paid to be there. Most of them were bussed in from out of state by TransCanada.

TransCanada—the company proposing the pipeline—went through extra effort to make it seem like Nebraskans were undecided on the issue of the pipeline. They paid busloads of workers from as far away as Illinois and Missouri to come and pose as local laborers. I know this because I spoke with the workers at length. It was no secret. The busses were parked directly in front of the building, and a few of the Illinois folks wore their orange Rockfort, IL union shirts. (The Nebraskans opposing the pipeline dressed in Husker red. The TransCanada employees dressed in construction orange.) Toward the end of the evening, I was talking to some of the folks that had been bussed in from Missouri. While perfectly friendly folks in need of a decent wage, they did not even know the issue at hand. They thought it involved natural gas. In a sadly telling misnomer, they repeatedly called the Sandhills the “Tar Hills.”

Here are folks bussed in from Illinois and Missouri.

As you can see from these shirts, these folks were paid to be bussed in from Rockfort, IL.

Although these folks were hired hands, they were not even clear on why they were there. Many thought that the issue at hand was a natural gas resource. Still nice to talk to. Just good folks looking for work.

This couple did not know anything about the Sandhills, the Ogallala Aquifer, or the pipeline. But there were a few moments of intimate beauty in the midst of something disturbing.

TransCanada also paid attractive, college-aged girls to pose as reporters so that they could collect video of the most outlandish opponents of the pipeline. I spoke at length with one such faux-reporter who showed me the video she’d gathered. She knowingly called her pay “blood money.” As a result of this deceitful action, the girls collected rally cries that give distorted images of the hearing.

 

Here are some the images that dominated my view of the hearing: conservative ranchers concerned about the future of the land they work, live on, and love; 5th generation Nebraskan farmers for whom water quality is of the utmost concern; young children thinking about the future; elderly witnesses appalled by immoral shortsightedness and greed; mothers with their babies; Republicans and Democrats agreeing on the importance of the agricultural economy in Nebraska over oil; clergy in their collars voicing the concerns of their congregations; a wave of Nebraskans fighting for both present jobs and future sustainability.

Many elderly folks gave testimony in opposition.

Not exactly your typical environmental activists. Note the foam glove: "No Oil in Our Soil."

The red clothing and armbands illustrate opposition to the pipeline. A lot of sweet folks of all ages. Here, holding future Nebraska.

A rancher voicing his opposition to the pipeline.

This collection of concerned individuals had driven from all over the state at their own expense. Their concern was evident in the intent looks on their faces and their enthusiastic applause. That concern differed greatly from the looks on the faces of the executives from TransCanada, who sat in a back corner laughing to one another with casual glances. Those faces differed greatly from the folks in orange, who spent most of their time in front of the building smoking cigarettes while waiting for the day to end.

In a cafe in Friend, NE, I had a chat with a number of good folks who expressed their opposition to the pipeline as I ate and read the headlines that suggested the tension I would have preferred to find instead of the farce I witnessed.

TransCanada's busses with the Lincoln capitol building in the background. Not an insignificant juxtaposition.

When I left the hearing, I was shocked. The underhanded behavior of TransCanada left me feeling ill. Across the nation, we are being told that Nebraskans are torn on this issue. We are being told that the debate is between objective Nebraskans looking toward a new horizon. This is not the case. I don’t blame the workers from out of state. I don’t blame the college kids who need spending money. TransCanada has the money to change public perception. But we all play a role in this debate. If we were to decrease the demand for oil, we might not have to risk losing one of the largest reserves of fresh water in the United States. We might not have to endanger the natural beauty of the Sandhills or the invaluable farmland that will be destroyed. Like many Nebraskans said in their testimonies, we can go without oil, but we cannot go without food and water.

Crossing the Platt River.

I've seen a lot of these guys along the road recently.

In the time since the hearings, my initial shock has been tempered by my memory of all of the great people I’ve met during my time in Nebraska. I have been blessed by the presence of hundreds of thoughtful, mindful, and concerned individuals. I’ve met incredible Christian leaders like Betsy Blake Bennett, whose work on environmental concerns spreads across the state. Her blog http://nebraskagreensprouts.blogspot.com/ is a source of sage observation and informative changes. I heard stories of folks like Nancy Packard, a 67 year-old former teacher from Hastings who went to Washington DC and was arrested as part of the XL pipeline protests at the White House (see http://www.hastingstribune.com/news0822arrested.php). I think of John and Melissa Schere, who in addition to running a community hotspot called The Hub in Burwell and juggling the jobs necessary to restore that building also pastor a church. I think of Professor Dan Deffenbaugh, whose work at Hastings College is raising awareness of climate change in a new generation of Nebraskan Christians. I think of Rev. Eric E. Elnes, Ph.D., whose walk across America chronicled in Asphalt Jesus is a model for a new understanding of what it means to be a Christian. His work The Phoenix Affirmations is a textual representation of the great work he does as a pastor at Omaha’s Countryside Community Church and the online faith network Darkwood Brew (see http://www.onfaithonline.tv/darkwoodbrew/). I have met so many Christians actively and mindfully responding to climate change in Nebraska that I am at a loss for how to capture their impressive work in this medium.

Speacial thanks to the extraordinary kindness of Diane and Doug Phelps who hosted me in Hastings! Doug and Diane passed on their intelligence and compassion to their daughter Ann, who was my friend and classmate at Yale Divinity School. Thanks to the greater Hastings crew for such an incredible visit!

John Schere at the Hub in Burwell. Great spot and great folks!

Dan Deffenbaugh-- sage of Christian environmental concerns-- shares his thoughts over a little soft serve. Dan suggests that one of the core issues facing Christian response to climate change is the ability to look beyond individual concerns to the needs of community. He is the author of Learning the Language of the Fields: Tilling and Keeping as Christian Vocation (Cowley, 2006) and http://www.seedsofshalom.com/. Check them out!

David McCarthy is the chaplain at Hastings College and a professor of religion. During our chat, we discussed how interesting it is that Nebraskans are perhaps more mindful than Hillary Clinton, who will review the State Department's findings. At Hastings College this past year, he organized a week of focussed on faith and the environment.

I happened to cycle through Nebraska during Junk Jaunt, which is a 300 mile long yard sale (garage sale, rummage sale, or tag sale-- depending on where you are from 🙂 You can find everything from boats to rusty shovels at this crazy event. Viva Nebraska!

My friend Kit demonstrates her sign for Junk Jaunt there in the Hub of Burwell.

John and Melissa Schere-- proprietors of the Hub-- sign the bike in the shop. Thanks again for your extraordinary kindness and friendship!

Betsy Blake Bennett and friends gather as part of our little Moving Planet group for 350.org. Great job to everyone who got out on 9/24 around the world!

Lincoln hosts Sara Jane and Malcom sign the bike.

Rev. Eric Elnes, PhD. poses with the bike in his beautiful garden. Eric and his wife Melanie have an amazing home in downtown Omaha that was once a Czech dance hall. Creative folks doing great work to shape the Christian identity in a positive way.

Trying out the Nebraska special sauce known as Dorothy Lynch. Tasty!

I spent the night in St. Paul, NE huddled in an outdoor tractor museum. Saved me the time of putting up the tent. Turned out to be wise, as the park sprinklers turned on around 3:30am and would have made the chilly morning a little harder.

I have seen things this week I wish I had never seen. This exposure feels like a curse. I have a more intimate vision of how our mindless action facilitates the destruction of the planet and one another. However, in the face of that deception and greed, the efforts of Nebraskans gives me hope.

Until we meet again

More actively hopeful

Than we thought possible.

Saw a number of coal trains-- same trains we saw in Wyoming now a bit down the line. Here, one comes and one goes

church ATM

Hastings College choir at First Presbyterian. The Midwest traditions live on and flourish.