Senator Bostar Holds NCV Spring Event
On the 11th of May, the Nebraska Conservation Voters had their Spring get-together. The organization is run by Senator Eliot Bostar, the representative for district 29 of the Lincoln area. The Nebraska Conservation Voters (NCV) revolves around educating voters on policies that will effect the state that have to do with the environment and conservation, as well as advocating for those policies and electing representatives that will put conservation as their focus. The Spring event is their annual get-together to allow citizens to meet others who have an interest in preserving the environment, as well as a Q&A with Senator Bostar to answer questions about the previous senate sessions.
Bostar began by outlining what he felt were the most positive achievements of this legislative session. Nebraska had managed to pass a plan to update the state-wide climate plan. The previous climate plan was created in 2014, after a year-long climate report in 2013. This new plan, under LB483 proposed by Senator John Cavanaugh, will update the current data and models, as well as use data from a third-party science organization hired by the state, which was information that was missing from the previous study. The final results of this new study will be done in the next two years.
The legislature has also allocated funding for a study to secure a second source of water for Lincoln, as the city is set to see shortages within the next ten years at the rate it is currently going. Bostar said that this is “one of the largest issues facing Lincoln” and that they are “dependant on well fields near Ashland.” This study will have a budget of $20 million, in which it will evaluate and study the current options for Lincoln. As it stands, the two best options are for Lincoln to connect with MUD in Omaha, or to connect directly with Missouri. This study will also work in conjuncture with a study being done on the impact and feasibility of the recreational lake that is set to be built outside of Gretna, and any effect this will have on the Lincoln water system in regards to stressing or contaminating the water shed, as well as on the proposed $500 million canal that Governor Rickets has planed between Colorado and Nebraska.
Bostar said the legislature also managed to pass an extension on the public health study currently being done on pollution exposure in Mead, extending the study by one year. Bostar considered this a “half win”. He also stated that many of the bills that were detrimental to the environment and conservation were blocked, which he also considered a win.
Bostar also went on to speak of the Nebraska Environmental Trust, at the request of many of the people at the event. The Trust was created in 1992, with its members appointed to the board by the Legislature, but otherwise has no management. He stated that it has the lowest level approval, and it only takes twenty-five votes to get on the board. Many of the people at the event, including a member of the Friends of the Nebraska Environmental Trust, which is a group that exists to protect the integrity of the Trust, have misgivings over the most recent appointees to the board.
As he finished the meeting, Bostar went on to remind those at the event that there are ways to engage with the community and with legislation. That one can attend meetings of the Trust, as well as find out information on important events by contacting your representatives.
All information on who your representatives are, as well as their email addresses, are easily found at the Nebraska Legislative website at nebraskalegislature.gov.
For more information about the NCV, you can go to their website at necv.org or their Facebook page at Nebraska Conservation Voters. You can contact Senator Bostar with his email at ebostar@leg.ne.gov.
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