The governor's race in Nebraska is heating up, and there is a stark divide on two issues in the race that both the Democratic and Republican candidates are staking their positions on: The Keystone XL Pipeline, and anthropomorphic global warming. The two candidates' positions could not be more different on those issues, and I will try to lay them out below the orange cloud of exhaust gasses and carbon emissions.
The Scottsbluff (NE) Star-Herald had an article in Sunday's paper on the positions of the two candidates for Nebraska's next governor. (Those candidates are Democratic candidate Chuck Hassebrook and Republican candidate Pete Ricketts.)
The Star-Herald reprinted an article from the Omaha World-Herald by staff writer Robynn Tysver here. The article goes into detail, but the World-Herald writer calls it a close race. I strongly encourage you read it: the candidates clearly lay out their positions.
(Interestingly, the paper has a photograph of the two candidates standing together; I wonder how they arranged that.)
Mr Hassebrook (goes to official Website) is staunchly opposed to the pipeline, whilst Mr Ricketts favours it.
(On a side note, someone needs to connect Mr Hassebrook with the Act Blue folks: I do not see any mention of them on his Website.)
They are also opposed on issues that are related to the pipeline. Mr Ricketts is "sceptical" about human-caused climate change (and I love how the World-Herald put sceptical in scare quotes), whilst Mr Hassebrook is firmly convinced that the science is settled and the cause is fossil fuels.
Both candidates also indicate that their positions on the pipeline could cost them some core supporters. For example, many otherwise very conservative ranchers and farmers are opposed to the idea of a foreign corporation gaining eminent domain rights over their properties for profit (which Mr Ricketts supports) rather than public good, while many construction union workers support the pipeline project because that translates to construction jobs.
Mr Ricketts specifically notes that there are some in Western Nebraska (that would be here) that are opposed to any route over the aquifer and Nebraska Sandhills (something about that's where our drinking and farm and ranch water comes from) but in the end he believes the Panhandle will support him.
Of note, Mr Ricketts is opposed to the minimum wage referendum now certified for the November ballot. Of the eleven Panhandle counties (generally considered the most conservative of this conservative state), nine of eleven put enough signatures on the petitions to qualify it for the ballot. (A certain number of signatures and a certain number of counties are required to qualify, and both metrics were met. Interestingly, there were several signatures on the petition here in the Village of Broadwater when the canvasser came to my house. You betcha, I signed it too.)
In the meantime, Jane Kleeb, the director of Bold Nebraska, the most prominent group fighting the pipeline proposal and wedding Natives, environmentalists, hunters, ranchers, farmers, and landowners into one opposition group says that keeping the Keystone XL project in people's minds should be a priority for the upcoming election.
Ms Kleeb notes that the pipeline project might not be the defining factor in the race, but it is amongst the top five things Nebraskans are considering. She also believes that the pipeline is a litmus test for a significant block of voters, and her group intends to cultivate that block and make sure they get out to vote in November.
Bold Nebraska put together a concert featuring Willie Nelson and Neil Young in September (sadly four hundred miles from here and sold out in a flash) to raise money for the cause of fighting the pipeline proposal.
The appeal of the pipeline ruling will be heard by the Nebraska Supreme Court on September 5. Both candidates feel that the issue is now out of the hands of politicians, and the courts will have the final say. They also both feel that President Obama is unlikely to issue a final ruling until the state Supreme Court issues one — this could be a real October surprise in the gubernatorial election.
Real Clear Politics aggregates only two polls. One was conducted by CBS/The New York Times/YouGov in July and puts Mr Ricketts ahead by +8. The other is by Rammussen in May and puts Mr Rickets up by +7.
Real Clear Politics notes that politics in Nebraska is somewhat complex: on the Federal level conservatives are generally the rule, while at home on the state and local level you get a mix of politicians.
I am surprised that there have been no more polls, as this is a critical race with Nebraska standing as the only state mucking up TransCanada's pipeline.
Their biographies could not be more different, with Mr Hasselbrook serving in rural affairs in Nebraska and Mr Ricketts serving as the COO of Ameritrade. Their bios are both available on the Real Politics Website, and the two men could not be more different in their CVs.
The World-Herald article seems to indicate the race is tighter than the polling indicates, and the commentary on the article seems to heavily favour Mr Hasselbrook. (I would note here though that the World-Herald circulates in the urban areas of the state and not out here in the Panhandle. I suspect, considering the number of Ricketts campaign signs and billboards out here the Star-Herald's commentary will be quite different when it puts the article up on its Website later this morning.)