Op-ed: We’re Omaha Catholics. Here’s why we oppose AG Hilgers’ lawsuit against OPPD

by Dan DiLeo, Jeanne Schuler, Patrick Murray, and Perlie Whitley

Published in the Omaha World Herald October 15th 2025

On Oct. 9, Attorney General Mike Hilgers sued OPPD to block the utility’s plan to transition its North Omaha Station from burning coal.

The lawsuit, supported by Gov. Jim Pillen, says OPPD:

1) Should ignore social and environmental costs of energy.

2) And should ignore “environmental justice,” the idea that marginalized communities should not bear greater burdens of ecological harm.

The Catholic Church, to which we, Hilgers, Pillen, and 450,000 other Nebraskans belong, says the opposite.

Many non-Catholics affirm Church teachings as common-sense ways to protect human dignity and life, especially among the poor.

The Catholic Church recognizes that pollution violates human rights to dignity and life. This is particularly true for the marginalized, who usually contribute least to ecological harm and whom Christians are especially called to love.

In 1989, St. John Paul II affirmed that every person has a “right to a safe environment.” In 1993, the U.S. Catholic bishops established their Environmental Justice Program to protect this right, above all among the marginalized.

To achieve environmental justice, Pope Benedict XVI emphasized, “When making use of natural resources, we should be concerned for their protection and consider the cost entailed environmentally and socially—as an essential part of the overall expenses incurred.”

He continued, “It is not hard to see that environmental degradation is often due to the lack of far-sighted official policies or to the pursuit of myopic economic interests, which then, tragically, become a serious threat to creation.”

Hilgers’ lawsuit is an example of such tragic policy.

Study after study shows coal pollution, even at levels allowed by current regulations, causes higher rates of asthma, heart attack, stroke, neurological damage, and premature death. These cost human dignity and lives. They also cost money through higher rates of medical treatment. Hilgers and Pillen ignore these costs.

Hilgers claims data shows that the plant does not harm local air quality. He ignores that the closest EPA monitor of coal pollution in Omaha does not measure air surrounding the plant—it’s is five miles away at 4102 Woolworth Ave.

In Omaha, the poor and people of color are especially vulnerable to the health impacts of coal pollution. Historic redlining housing policies segregated these demographics closer to the coal plant.

Hilgers warns that financial energy costs will rise if the North Omaha Station transitions from coal. He omits that one of the primary drivers of any likely rate increases is corporate entities demanding more energy, especially Google and Meta data centers.

The Washington Post notes, “Meta’s Nebraska data center alone used nearly as much energy as the North Omaha coal units produced in 2023.” That year, Meta revenue was $134 billion.

Environmental justice stresses those who cause a problem and have the most resources should fund solutions—not pass social, environmental, and economic costs on to the most vulnerable, who contribute least.

Rewiring America concludes that home investments in heat pumps, rooftop solar, batteries, and efficiencies that lower energy bills “could offset all new projected data center energy demand.”

In Dilexi Te: On Love for the Poor, ironically published the day Hilgers sued OPPD, Pope Leo XIV stressed the ancient Judeo-Christian principle that wealth should not come at the expense of the poor.

Dan DiLeo, Jeanne Schuler, and Patrick Murray are members of Sacred Heart Catholic Church in North Omaha; Perlie Whitley is a member of St. Benedict the Moor Catholic Church in North Omaha.