Wednesday was a difficult day for The American Independent News Network, which is the larger entity that operates The Iowa Independent. Our chief executive and founder announced two of our sister sites would close and their content would be moved to The American Independent.
A recently introduced bill could have far-reaching impact on the U.S. sugar industry, including American Crystal Sugar, a farmer-owned cooperative that locked out 1,300 Midwest workers on Aug. 1.
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The Iowa Senate will remain under the control of a slim 26-25 Democratic majority when it reconvenes in January 2012.
Nebraska Gov. Dave Heineman, a Republican, has come out publicly in opposition to the approval of the current Keystone XL project, which would carry tar sands oil from Alberta, Canada to the Gulf Coast by going through a key water source in his state.
In a letter to President Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, who are responsible for approving or denying the permit for the project, Heineman says that the risk of a spill that could damage the Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking and irrigation water for Nebraska and surrounding states. Specifically, Heineman is concerned that a spill could cause significant harm to his state’s $17 billion per year ag industry.
Full text of the letter is reprinted below:
Dear President Obama and Secretary Clinton:
I am writing you today regarding a very important issue to the State of Nebraska and to our citizens — the Keystone XL pipeline. I am opposed to the proposed route of this pipeline. The Final Environmental Impact Statement compares a potential spill in the Sand Hills region to a 1979 Bemidji, Minnesota spill and concludes that “the impacts to shallow groundwater from a spill of a similar volume in the Sand Hills region would affect a limited area of the aquifer around the spill site.” I disagree with this analysis, and I believe that the pipeline should not cross a substantial portion of the Ogallala Aquifer.
Of the current proposed route, 254 miles of the pipeline would come through Nebraska and be situated directly over the Ogallala Aquifer. The aquifer provides water to farmers and ranchers of Nebraska to raise livestock and grow crops. Nebraska has 92,685 registers, active irrigation wells supplying water to over 8.5 million acres of harvested cropland and pasture. Forty-six percent of the total cropland harvested during 2007 was irrigated.
Maintaining and protecting Nebraska’s water supply is very important to me and the residents of Nebraska. This resources is the lifeblood of Nebraska’s agriculture industry. Cash receipts from farm marketings contribute over $17 billion to Nebraska’s economy annually. I am concerned that the proposed pipeline will potentially have detrimental effects on this valuable natural resource and Nebraska’s economy.
I want to emphasize that I am not opposed to pipelines. We already have hundreds of them in our state. I am opposed to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline route because it is directly over the Ogallala Aquifer.
Therefore, I am asking you to disapprove TransCanada’s pending permit request. Do not allow TransCanada to build a pipeline over the Ogallala Aquifer and risk the potential damage to Nebraska’s water. Thank you for your consideration of this matter.
Sincerely,
Dave Heineman
Governor
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