“Without Jane Kleeb, the Keystone XL pipeline might be a done deal right now.” -promoted by desmoinesdem

Keystone Killer to Headline Climate Caucus

by Ed Fallon



The movement toward climate sanity has had plenty of set-backs over the years. But the tide is turning, and our recent victory with the defeat of the Keystone Pipeline is indicative of momentum swinging our way.



No one has been more instrumental in the fight to block Keystone than Jane Kleeb, the Nebraska activist who fired-up the national effort by building a powerful coalition of rural folks not typically involved in these types of struggles.

So, as folks across Iowa find themselves battling the Bakken Pipeline (truly, Keystone’s replacement), what better person to headline the Climate Emergency Caucus on Friday, January 29th from 7:00-9:00 p.m. in the auditorium of Central Campus at 1800 Grand Avenue in Des Moines?



(Jane Kleeb on the cover of July/August 2015 Omaha Magazine)


Kleeb is the founder and director of Bold Nebraska. She pulled together farmers, ranchers, Native Americans and environmentalists to stop the Keystone XL Pipeline. Yet her work extends far beyond the borders of Nebraska. Rolling Stone dubbed Jane the Keystone Killer, and she wore the badge proudly as she went on MSNBC, Fox and other national media outlets to take-on oil industry pundits.



She’s also the former Executive Director of the Young Democrats, and fought health insurance companies in order to get eating disorders included in the Mental Health Parity bill.



(Jane Kleeb and Tom Genung. Photo by Mark Hefflinger / Bold Nebraska)


When Jane confirmed she’d be able to headline the Climate Emergency Caucus, she said, “I’m excited to visit Iowa on the verge of the Iowa Caucuses, and to have this chance to speak with Iowa pipeline fighters and climate activists. This is a critical moment in the movement to protect our farms and rural communities from the corporate fossil-fuel giants who simply want to take whatever they can, enrich themselves, and leave us to clean up the mess.”


I and other activists are working hard to make this a big event. The model caucus portion invites attendees to stand up for the presidential candidate they believe is most committed to stopping the Bakken Pipeline and leading a full-employment, WWII-scale mobilization to retire all fossil fuel infrastructure, drive the U.S. economy to net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2025, and restore a safe climate for humanity. The program for the evening also includes remarks from The Climate Mobilization’s founders, Margaret Klein Salamon and Ezra Silk, and a call to further action in the lead-up to the February 1st Iowa Caucuses.


For more information, contact me at (515) 238-6404 or fallonforum@gmail.com .