Environmental Alchemy

by Brandon Vogel

When it rains in Omaha, it pours raw sewage, industrial waste and toxic chemicals into nearby waterways. The city’s century-old sewer system is designed to either put it there or into your basement. Neither is an inviting option. But that design is changing thanks to a federal mandate from the Environmental Protection Agency. The oldest part of the city — nearly everything east of 72nd St....

Nebraska’s Clean Energy Future

by Kietryn Zychal

“There is a large and united coalition growing in Nebraska. It started with the pipeline and it is moving into clean energy,” said Graham Christensen, Director of the Nebraska Farmer’s Union, and member of a new coalition called Clean Energy Nebraska. 

“There are a lot of people working hand in hand. There is no going backward,” he said. The Farmer’s Union, the Nebraska Wildlife Federation,...

Leaders for a Greener Omaha

by Jessica Clem-McClaren

Clayton Chapman-Executive Chef, The Grey Plume

The simplicity of chestnut puree blends perfectly with a slice of lemon on a spoon. Details are the highlight of this subtle bar; the lip of a wine glass matches the silverware. This place could be nestled in the hills of San Francisco, celebrities knitted among the seated clientele.

Only this is Omaha. This is The Grey Plume, already so well...

The High Cost of Transportation

by Jessica Clem-McClaren

Just twenty years ago, getting from the outer suburban edge of Omaha to downtown only took ten minutes. Now, in the time it takes a travel mug of coffee to get cold, an Omaha commuter will still be battling traffic on a typical workday. Coined by the Omaha Chamber of Commerce as the “Twenty Minute City,” most commute times in Omaha range between 24-25 minutes one way, with higher numbers during...

NEWS: Update on the Keystone XL pipeline

by admin

Story taken with permission from Nebraska.StatePaper.Com Also see: Our April 21 cover story via Prairie Fire: Water Amnesia: Risking our most valuable natural resource for an oil pipeline could prove costly The Legislature gave second-round approval Monday to a bill that mostly gives lip service to the notion that the state would hold builders of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline responsible...

Water Amnesia

by admin

BY JULIE MEYERS, COURTESY OF PRAIRIE FIRE Scientists now know that ground and surface water should be treated as a single hydrological system, because that's how they behave in nature. Since 1996, Nebraska has changed its law twice to finally recognize this profound connection of surface water and to bring coherency to its water law. But recently, apparently fearful of being viewed by the oil...

Whirling Crops

by Andrew Norman

When State Sen. Ken Haar drives through Iowa or Colorado and sees the towering turbines that have helped make Nebraska's neighbors national leaders in wind-power production, “It makes me think we've got this great energy resource in Nebraska and we're not using it,” he says. Nebraska is among the country's leaders in potential wind power capacity, but has just nine more wind turbines than it...

New bill offers more control over pipelines

by Brandon Vogel

For Nebraskans who felt powerless to stop the Keystone XL pipeline, a few state lawmakers have proposed an answer. State Sen. Annette Dubas of Fullerton introduced the Hazardous Liquid Pipeline Notification Act, LB 340, Jan. 12 that would require pipeline operators to undergo an extensive application process and seek final approval from the Nebraska Public Service Commission before pumping oil...