LINCOLN- The Nebraska Environmental Trust is the state's most visionary and successful endeavors. The trust has provided $350 million in grants distributed throughout the state. The projects have aided communities across Nebraska and have bolstered the state's environmental health.

The Legislature has a duty to clear up the latest round of disagreements over the trust's grant selections for this year. The main controversy is centered on ethanol promotion in which the trust voted to defund almost $2 million for a set of habitat grants and will instead give money to a project to finance ethanol pumps. The trust has also recently requested $3.7 million from the state. The disagreements have made the governor's relationships with different groups tense.

The governor appoints the majority of members to the trust board while the other members are state agency heads. The legislature writes the laws that outlines the trust's duties. So, if they fail to bring this issue up in the upcoming session, they are not doing their job.

A longstanding problem is that state officials and interest groups are both searching for funding for their specific needs. The legislature has allowed the trust to be harmed because of the controversies the state has seen, so they need to right those wrongs this session.

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