June 18
10am
PSC Hearing Room, 1200 N St., 3rd Floor, Lincoln
Hearing on 2nd set of rules and regulations in Rule/Reg #183 and the standard progression order in OP-001/PI-183 

As part of the Public Service Commission (PSC) new responsibility to site future oil pipelines in Nebraska (except TransCanada's Keystone XL pipeline since the Unicameral gave special favors for TransCanada), they are hosting various meetings to get feedback and inform the public on their process.

After several comments from almost a dozen Nebraska citizens asking the NPPD board to vote down a resolution on TransCanada's Keystone Export Pipeline, the board voted 9-1 to pass the resolution. Board member Mary Harding was the lone dissenter, after voicing opinions contrary to her peers.

Harding basically argued (and we agree) that the resolution, which calls on NPPD to "work proactively with TransCanada to make the process of developing new electric infrastructure to serve the proposed pipeline route occur in a timely and cost effective manner," is unneccessary and redundant. TransCanada does not deserve, or need, special treatment.

There has been much ado about green jobs lately, and it's not about nothing. The Brookings Institute reported that there are currently 2.7 million jobs in the clean economy, already more than what is in the fossil fuel industry, and there's enormous potential for growth. "Clean-tech" jobs that have to do with renewable energy are a fairly small proportion of these jobs, but they have made the most gains in recent years—and our nation isn't even close to utilizing our full potential!