There is a great injustice occurring in the United States as we speak. This injustice has seemingly been excluded from primetime media coverage. Civil and religious liberties are at stake, yet we continue to hear only about sitting or kneeling during a national anthem. This injustice is the pending installation of the Dakota Access pipeline in the Great Plains.
The efforts to secure a domestic oil transfer system has been in the works for years. Some would say that the issue entered the limelight with the Keystone XL pipeline which traversed Nebraska and South Dakota. Amidst protest, the Obama administration rejected the building plan. However, this pipeline is different. As a matter of fact, the Dakota Access pipeline wasn’t even issued an environmental impacts statement.
United States environmental law requires oil expansion projects to be professionally analyzed and issued an environmental impacts statement. The Army Corps of Engineers has found a loophole to the law. According to a Huffington Post article, the Corps broke up the Dakota Access pipeline into a series of thousands of half-acre projects, which then allows the pipeline to be approved under a generic permit that requires no environmental analysis or consideration. Without any environmental safety guarantees, there is no way of knowing its impact on the Great Plains ecosystem, which rightfully so aggravates many environmental activists like myself.
The Keystone XL pipeline mentioned above was coined as the safest pipeline to ever be built on American soil. Yet, upon testing, the pipeline experienced twelve leaks in one year of operation. A “leak” sounds like an insignificant event, but all it takes is one leak in the area of the Missouri River or other water supply for an environmental catastrophe to occur.
The water at risk has many uses: drinking water for humans and animals, recreational water for sports and swimming, the home of thousands of diverse organisms, and the water used for farming and growing the food that the entire country eats. If this water becomes contaminated, the impact will be felt throughout the entire country, far from limited to North Dakota.
The other problem with the pipeline is the fact that it is being built on sacred land. While in stark contrast to the white European’s relationship with the land, Native Americans relish a deep, spiritual connection with the Earth upon which they live, work, and eat. The land that is being destroyed by the pipeline cannot be replaced by more land down the river; the land being built on is truly priceless to the inhabitants of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.
Not only is this project destroying sacred land, but it is being built near the reservation on purpose. The original blueprints had the pipeline built near Bismarck, North Dakota. The demographics of Bismarck, though, show a large population of middle to upper class citizens. In order to avoid potential harm to these wealthier citizens, the pipeline plan changed to be built near one of the poorest reservations in the state. This is a classic example of environmental injustice, as low-income people are swept under the rug to protect the higher-income people. As climate change begins to really affect the Earth’s environment, this will continue to be a disturbing theme, especially in America.
People are profit-hungry. Profit drives European Americans to continue to commit injustices against the Native Americans. Whether analyzing our history, such as the Battle at Wounded Knee or our glorified concentration camps in the reservations, or our present, such as the Dakota Access Pipeline or the disproportionate number of liquor stores in towns bordering the reservations, profit has driven great injustice in the United States.
The media won’t cover this story because some of their most influential donors have ties to the oil companies. The two front-running presidential candidates won’t talk about this because they have financial ties to the oil industry. (Jill Stein went up to North Dakota and protested and was arrested for her activism efforts, however). The media seems to have forgotten about them, the government seems to have forgotten about them.
But let us, the people, not forget about the Native Americans and their cause and their incredibly unique culture. All it takes is for every one of us to stand up to these big oil companies and say enough is enough, because numbers are on our side. The oil companies thrive off of us; we are the only reason they are able to make such a profit.
If every American took the side of the Standing Rock Sioux reservation, these profit-hungry oil companies would have no choice but to ensure justice and work for us. So, get involved and get passionate. Write your senators and representatives, send money or resources to the protest cause, start the conversation about these injustices on your campuses or hometowns. If we work together as one unified, American body, we can bring the people of Standing Rock peace and solitude knowing that their culture and our environment is appreciated and respected.
