Keystone XL May Not Be Dead But Could The Democrats Win A Senate Seat In Nebraska?

Nebraska? It's a conservative bastion. Even the occasional Democrat who gets elected to something there is conservative-- think Ben Nelson, one of the Insurance Industry asswipes who destroyed the public option and ruined the Affordable Care Act. The state has one of the biggest percentages of registered Republicans of any state in the Union-- and they hold every federal and every statewide office. Of the state's 93 counties, no fewer than 89-- and in one case, all 93-- have gone red in the last 4 presidential races! In the last 5 decades (how old are you?) Republican presidential candidates have won an average of 60% of Nebraska's votes. Only Utah, Wyoming and Idaho have been worse. In 2012, even running a very conservative former governor and senator, Bob Kerrey, the Democrats were beaten by a mediocre Republican, Deb Fischer, 455,593 (58%) to 332,979 (42%). Kerrey outspent her, $6,116,555 to $5,146,461 and outside money was about even, but he just couldn't get the needed traction in a state now as red as Nebraska.

That all said, keep the name Dave Domina in mind. Dave is being ignored by the risk-adverse DSCC, but he's the Democratic candidate for Nebraska's open Senate seat. Lawyers in Nebraska and across the country swear he's the most accomplished trial lawyer in Nebraska history. His clients have primarily been family farmers, ranchers, and small business people taking on huge corporate interests, and he has won most of the time. He's smart, a great speaker, and has a top-notch sense of strategy. Can he win? Before today, no one would have thought so. Today, however, something very big happened-- and it was even electoral.

A judge has struck down a Nebraska law used to reroute the Keystone XL pipeline, although it appeared Wednesday that the ruling represents another delay rather than a fatal blow to the project.



Lancaster County District Judge Stephanie Stacy ruled that the 2012 law unconstitutionally gave the governor authority to approve the oil pipeline route in Nebraska. That authority properly rests with the Nebraska Public Service Commission, the judge decided.



The court also declared the state's approval of the Keystone XL route “null and void.”



“The pipeline project is at a standstill in this state,” said Omaha attorney David Domina, who represents the three landowners who challenged the law.



Attorney General Jon Bruning filed notice that he intends to appeal the ruling to the Nebraska Court of Appeals. Gov. Dave Heineman, who approved the pipeline route, said he supported the decision to appeal.



“This is an important issue for the state of Nebraska,” Heineman said in a statement.

Domina said he doesn't think the ruling will necessarily derail the State Department's ongoing review of the pipeline.



The federal agency is currently weighing whether the project is in the national interest and should receive a presidential permit to cross the U.S.-Canadian border.



President Barack Obama has said he will make the final call on the Keystone XL.


Jane Kleeb, director of pipeline opponent Bold Nebraska, said the State Department will have to hit the pause button now that TransCanada has no Nebraska route. The department will have to do a new environmental review in Nebraska if the company succeeds in gaining approval for a new route, she argued.



She predicted more lawsuits by national environmental groups if the State Department moves forward without waiting for the issues in Nebraska to be settled.



She and other pipeline opponents suggested that the law struck down Wednesday was essentially written by TransCanada, which hired lobbyists in the state during the 2012 session.

Speaking of Jane Kleeb, she's less formal and guarded when she's not giving media interviews. She also said this today: "The arguments of landowners' attorney David Domina beat a corrupt process endorsed by Gov. Dave Heineman. Judge Stacy said the Nebraska Legislature's LB 1161 should not have wrested the power of eminent domain from the Public Service Commission and given it to Gov. Heineman-- who then ultimately gave TransCanada the green light to bully Nebraska landowners with threats of eminent domain. 'Under the court's ruling, TransCanada has no approved route in Nebraska,' said landowners' attorney Dave Domina. 'TransCanada is not authorized to condemn the property against Nebraska landowners. The pipeline project is at a standstill in this state.' Citizens won today. We beat a corrupt bill that Gov. Heineman and the Nebraska Legislature passed in order to pave the way for a foreign corporation to run roughshod over American landowners."