John --
We celebrated the 9th Annual Planting of Ponca Sacred Corn on April 30th. The rain let up just long enough on Saturday for folks to get out into the field on the Tanderup Farm -- on land returned by the Tanderups to the Ponca Nation -- to plant the corn by hand once again in the path of the (DEAD!) Keystone XL pipeline, along the historic Ponca Trail of Tears. (View photo album.)
The day after the planting, the Nebraska Easement Action Team (NEAT) hosted a brunch and panel discussion in Norfolk: "Landowner Experiences with Eminent Domain & Pipelines":
The discussion focused on landowners sharing their experiences with bullying land agents, surveying, and eminent domain threats -- on both Keystone XL and new proposed carbon pipelines (and for some unfortunate folks, both) -- along with an overview from attorney Brian Jorde with Domina Law Group on the growing landowners' legal co-ops that are forming under the Easement Action Teams in Nebraska, Iowa, South Dakota, and North Dakota. (View the landowner discussion recording.)
The next Pipeline Fighters Hub briefing -- "Counties and States Can Regulate Pipelines" -- is set for Monday, May 23. The program will feature a discussion of what steps that counties can take to put protections in place from pipelines -- including participation from several local elected officials who have themselves voted to pass a resolution or other ordinance governing pipelines.
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WHAT: "Counties & States Can Regulate Pipelines" (Pipeline Fighters Hub Briefing)
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WHEN: Monday, May 23, 5:30 p.m. CT
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SPEAKERS:
- Paul Blackburn, Attorney, Bold Alliance
- Bill Caram, Executive Director, Pipeline Safety Trust
- Brian Jorde, Attorney, Domina Law Group & Nebraska Easement Action Team
- Several local elected officials who have enacted pipeline protections
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WHERE: Register to join via Zoom.*
(*If you're not able to join at the time of the event, you may still register and receive a recording of the full program.)
Also, be sure to check out the new blog post that resident Pipeline Fighters Hub expert and attorney Paul Blackburn published this week, "Does Federal Law Prohibit Counties from Imposing Setbacks on CO2 Pipelines?"
"The short answer is that it depends on the type of pipeline. The federal Natural Gas Act (NGA) does preempt county setbacks for interstate natural gas pipelines, but this act does not apply to oil and CO2 pipelines. Instead, no federal law authorizes the federal government to generally determine the route or location of an oil or CO2 pipeline. More specifically, the federal Pipeline Safety Act does not prohibit county setbacks for or county routing of oil and CO2 pipelines. (Read Paul's full blog post.)
Thanks for standing with us.
The Bold team
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Bold Nebraska
P.O. Box 254
Hastings, NE 68902 US
