Dakota pipeline is bad for environment
The Dakota Access Pipeline is not about oil. It’s not about energy independence. It’s not about jobs, and it’s not about Native Americans. It’s about money. The $3.8 billion project would stand to make a lot of money for Energy Transfer Partners and the big banks funding it.
But what are the risks? Turns out we don’t even know what all the environmental risks are, because the project has never undergone a sufficient environmental impact study. Construction was halted temporarily to allow for such a study, but now the current administration has signed an order to move forward without it, a move made somewhat more questionable given a $100,000 campaign donation from Energy Transfer Partners CEO, Kelcy Warren.
Let’s talk about jobs. Forty — that’s how many jobs will be required to maintain the pipeline. Oil production from the North Dakota Bakken formation has decreased so much that there’s more than enough existing capacity to move the oil. Contrast that with the Dakota Access Pipeline that will cross under numerous waterways, including the Missouri River, which provides drinking water for more than 12 million people. What we know for sure is that Sunoco, the company scheduled to operate the pipeline, has seen more than 200 spills since 2010, more than any other pipeline operator in the country.
It’s understandable that the Standing Rock Sioux would be upset about the proposed pipeline running just half a mile north of their reservation.
The community of Bismarck was upset, too, when they found out the original pipeline route would jeopardize their drinking water. For the Native Americans, though, having the pipeline rerouted has proved much more difficult, even with growing international support for the #NoDAPL movement.
There haven’t been this many indigenous people gathered together in North America in over a century. Veterans came too, more than a thousand of them. They considered it their patriotic duty to again put their bodies on the line in defense of what they believed in. Now that the pipeline’s back on, they’re coming back. If the project does get finished, it will first have to go through a wall of men and women who have risked their lives in service for our country.
How much violence will there be this time? The Dakota Access Pipeline and their allies in the Norton County Police Department of North Dakota have responded to the indigenous-led prayer camp with overwhelming shows of force. Attack dogs, round after round of tear gas, hoses trained on protesters in sub-freezing temperatures. A woman’s arm mangled to the bone by what several eyewitnesses claim to have been a concussion grenade thrown by police, despite Norton County’s claim to have used no such device.
As our country grapples with whether or not to provide water and air protections for its citizens, you can be sure those camped at Standing Rock will stand firm in defense of their water.