Recently, the news of the Dakota Access Pipeline, has been mainly controversial news.
The pipeline is 1,172 miles, stretching through four states; North Dakota, South Dakota, Illinois and Iowa, where an extensive underground deposit is located in the Bakken Formation.
It is said the amount of oil is immense--about 7.4 billion barrels of obscured oil. Once this pipeline is completed, an estimated amount of 470,000 barrels of oil a day, making 374.3 million gallons of gasoline per day.
Unfortunately, the pipeline runs through the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's land, and it threatens their environmental and economic well-being, and would damage/destroy their sites of historic, religious, and cultural significance.
Many opponents of the pipeline argue that Americans should look for an alternative and renewable source of energy. They also argue that the Dakota Access Pipeline would spurge on climate change, cause a staggering amount of damage to the environment, and disturb the divine lands of the Native Americans significantly. Not to mention, the pipeline would go under the Missouri river, and if it ruptured, it will pollute the water supply.
However, the pipeline can impact our economy greatly. It was estimated by the Energy Transfer Partners, that $156 million in sales and income taxes would be brought to state and local governments. It will also add around 8,000 to 12,000 construction jobs.
The chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Archambault, claimed "We're not opposed to energy independence. We're not opposed to economic development. The problem we have--and this is a long history of problems that evolved over time--where the federal government and corporations take advantage of indigenous lands and indigenous rights."
Overall, the pipeline would result in an economic boom and it would decrease US reliance on foreign oil. Despite this, the construction will destroy Native American lands (and only history will tell how many times America has done this in the past), and can lead to serious environmental issues.
