Pipeline opponents take part in No DAPL Day of Action
The Call for Action Day stems from the Indigenous Environmental Network and an organization called 'Honor the Earth' asking for opponents to take a stand globally.
Laree Pourier says, "The Dakota Access Pipeline is honestly only one instance of global indigenous resistance to continued colonization, capitalism, and extract energy sourcing that targets indigenous communities specifically. It's amazing that it's gotten such global attention and our people have been resisting this for a long time."
The Dakota Access Pipeline would cross four-states, including South Dakota and proponents say it would bring jobs to the region. Opponents say they plan to keep pressuring state leadership to take action, saying the Lakota people depend of the Missouri River for their livelihood.
Hundreds protest in downtown Sacramento against Dakota oil pipeline
“Our first priority should be protecting the climate,” Campus said.
The Corps on Monday called for more study and input from the Standing Rock Sioux before it decides whether to allow the pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe, according to the Associated Press.
The 1,200-mile pipeline would carry North Dakota oil through South Dakota and Iowa to a shipping point in Illinois. It is largely complete except for the Standing Rock stretch, which will skirt the tribe’s reservation. The tribe says the pipeline threatens drinking water and cultural sites.
The Corps in July granted Energy Transfer Partners the permits needed for the project, but it said in September that further analysis was warranted, given the tribe’s concerns. Its announcement Monday came amid speculation that federal officials were on the brink of approving the crossing. ETP last week began preparing equipment to bore under the river.
“Dakota Access has been waiting long enough to complete this pipeline,” the company’s CEO, Kelcy Warren, said Tuesday.
Bernie Sanders joined #NoDAPL protestors in Washington, DC to stand with Standing Rock. “We are here to tell Trump, we are not going silently into the night!”
Time is running out to stop the Dakota pipeline.
Obama has 66 days to stop Dakota pipeline
On January 20, America will inaugurate a new president who is not only a tool of Big Oil, but (as is the case in a number of areas) is also a walking conflict of interest. Here's a brief explanation from Time magazine (which still exists):
Trump has not announced a public position on the pipeline, but everything else we know about Trump suggests that he would support continuing the project. Trump has made scrapping environmental regulations a top priority and North Dakota GOP Congressman Kevin Cramer, a key Trump energy advisor, has said Trump will take particular aim at the Clean Water Act. That is one of the key rules that gives the federal government jurisdiction over the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Beyond policy, Trump owns stock in the company building the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, as well as another company that will own a share of the pipeline once it is completed. He also received more than $100,000 in campaign contributions from the company’s CEO.
So, is resistance futile? Absolutely not. For one thing, lost causes are the only ones worth fighting for. More importantly, shutting this project down would force the incoming president to take public action to reverse course -- thus calling attention to his massive personal conflict. And Obama would be leaving office with a powerful statement -- that fighting climate change and pollution from fossil fuels still matters.
You have 66 days left in office, Mr. President. What are you waiting for?