American Energy “Not So Friendly” County – Recap & Call to Action

Today was the public hearing for LB503. A bill that would allow counties to obtain special designation for wind and solar farms to have blanket access to their county.

Senator Bosn, Introducer of LB503, started out with countering opposition. She went so far as to infer that if you opposed LB503 that you weren’t actually serious about seeing property tax relief. An absolute manipulation and downright offensive. To suggest that normal every day Nebraskans just don’t understand is ridiculous. It is the senators that don’t understand!

The Nebraska tax system is BROKEN! Working with solar and wind farm developers is NOT the solution.

Senators Jacobson and Sorrentino asked all of the right questions. Pushing back on the notion that this bill protects “local control.”

Let’s be clear, what she is saying is that because there’s a vote to become a designated “American Energy friendly county” (whether by the Board or by vote of the people) that that means there is local control.

Even though it removes the local control over who, how, where, and when a private energy developer moves in, there was a vote, so it’s still local control. Insert major eye roll.

Only 3 supporters testified. All 3 were paid lobbyists. Dave Levy, with Nextera, admitted to authoring the bill and was caught lying both by Senator Von Gillern and the first opponent testifier.

He played fast and loose with the truth about LB503. Out of the gate, he made the claim that he was a lobbyist for a renewable energy developer headquartered in Minnesota that had been founded by a local farmer. We discovered later that that is untrue. They’re funded by National Grid based out of the UK.

Senator Jacobson asked him about the process for determining the costs of decommissioning a site. Mr. Levy’s reply was later called out by Senator Von Gillern for inconsistency after a follow-up from Senator Sorrentino highlighted that the actual verbiage of the bill was counter to his explanation given. The true answer was that a county CAN OBTAIN an agreement for decommissioning if that is not already provided for by a zoning board, but that agreement is entirely up to the developer to determine.

Senator Kauth rightly objected to the fund that is also created to work towards awarding monies for the resources to help and encourage other counties to obtain designation.

Senator Ibach asked a key question : Does the bill force counties to become less restrictive? The short answer, absolutely, it does.

Al Davis with the Sierra Club also showed up in support nearly bouncing out of his seat with excitement that Senator Bosn brought this legislation forward. That should’ve been clue enough that LB503 is a BAD BILL.

The last proponent was Kristen Hassebrook, a lobbyist with Nature Conservancy. She was very excited that this would facilitate their 2030 goals for wind energy.

Opponents of the bill outnumbered the proponents 4 to 1. Their testimonies were factual, relevant, and at times extremely personal.

Kathy and Wes Wilmot both testified again today!  Kathy pointed out that the proponents of this bill also supported the 30/30 Land Grab, the Green New Deal, and that this bill incentives counties to go against the will of the people for monetary benefit.

A woman named Cindy testified about her overwhelming regret for falling for the “renewable energy” scam and allowing the destruction of land that can never be undone. It was truly heartbreaking. We can only hope the senators heed her warning.

Several others testified to loss of local control and public input, loss of discretion over who and when to approve, removal of due process, and the ability to be more strict on guidelines.

Former Senator Bruce Bostleman also showed up to OPPOSE LB503. He made the statement, “This bill undoes over 10 years of work done by the Natural Resources Committee and Government Military and Veterans Affairs Committee! This is an unprecedented bill!”

NAGO genuinely thanks him for his time and commitment to protecting Nebraska agriculture and lands! We hope the committee gives serious consideration to his testimony and kills this bill.

Unfortunately, Senator Bosn doubled down.

To her, it’s about the potential property tax relief. The local board can vote in a resolution to give broad access to wind and solar farms (with or without the vote by the people) and you should be okay with that because “property tax relief”.

“Property tax relief” has become a dog whistle.  The phrase no longer holds meaning.  Senators toss it around and just hope everyone comes begging.

This is disingenuous. Bosn doesn’t even seem to understand her own bill and the effect it will have in varying counties, and she completely ignored the warning by former Senator Bostleman. Working with solar/wind farms is NOT a solution to fixing the tax issues in Nebraska!

We hope this is the Final Call to Action for LB503. The committee received 24 proponent comments, 162 opponents, and 0 neutral comments online. The senators spoke several times about the many emails expressing concerns – but they need to hear MORE!

Email the Revenue Committee to KILL LB503.

Sen. R. Brad von Gillern, Chairperson – bvongillern@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Mike Jacobson, Vice Chairperson – mjacobson@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Eliot Bostar – Ebostar@leg.ne.gov
Sen. George Dungan – Gdungan@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Teresa lbach – tibach@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Kathleen Kauth – kkauth@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Dave Murman – dmurman@leg.ne.gov
Sen. Tony Sorrentino – TSorrentino@leg.ne.gov

As always, feel free to contact us with any comments, questions, or concerns. If you haven’t yet, sign up for our newsletter and get involved today! www.nago.group

How a Brooklyn Native is Controlling Nebraska’s Public Power

Contributed by Ashley Mason, Beatrice, NE

Did you know that State Senator Eliot Bostar, a Brooklyn-born politician, has played a major role in shifting Nebraska’s public power toward a radical green agenda? With the help of millions in East Coast and international funding, Bostar and his allies have stacked Nebraska’s public power boards with environmental activists—and Nebraskans are paying the price.

💰 Out-of-State Money, Local Control Lost – Millions from Washington, D.C.-based League of Conservation Voters (LCV) and the San Francisco-based Sea Change Foundation were funneled into Nebraska’s public power board races, helping Bostar and his allies push a net-zero carbon agenda.

🗳 Fake Grassroots, Big Influence – Groups like Nebraskans for Common Ground (NCG) and Nebraskans Against Corruption (NAC) were set up to disguise the real source of funding—East Coast special interests. These groups spent hundreds of thousands to get “clean energy” candidates elected.

⚡ Nebraska’s Energy Future at Risk – Thanks to Bostar and the environmental groups backing him, Nebraska Public Power District (NPPD), Omaha Public Power District (OPPD), and Lincoln Electric System (LES) have all committed to net-zero carbon goals by 2040-2050. That means shutting down reliable coal and natural gas plants—leading to higher costs, energy shortages, and blackouts.

📢 Who Really Runs Nebraska? – Bostar, who first came to Nebraska as an activist against the Keystone XL pipeline, has used East Coast money to reshape our public power system, pushing an agenda most Nebraskans don’t support.

Read the full article: https://www.nebraskasunrisenews.com/public/nebraska-public-power-now-privately-controlled

What do you think? Should a Brooklyn-born politician backed by out-of-state money be deciding Nebraska’s energy policy? ⬇️ Share your thoughts in the comments!