The 1,179 mile-long Keystone XL Pipeline dominated politics and media coverage while it was being proposed and built. Environmentalists passionately opposed the pipeline, arguing that the destruction caused from the oil production and the potential for a leak were too great of a risk to take.
The Dakota Access Pipeline, which was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers without a comprehensive environmental review, will be nearly as long at 1,168 miles long. Environmentalists have many of the same concerns as they did with Keystone XL, but there’s been very little mainstream news coverage.
That becomes even more shocking when you hear about the many newsworthy actions of those protesting it.
Thirty-eight Native Americans ran about 2,000 miles from Standing Rock reservation in North Dakota all the way to Washington, D.C., to protest in front of the White House.
They chanted things such as, “Respect our land! Respect our water! Respect our treaties!” in reference to how the pipeline could poison their water and land, including sacred tribal sites. Another common chant, “No more oil, keep it in the soil” shows their dissatisfaction with the environmental destruction oil causes, regardless of a pipeline bursting.
After stopping by New York City’s Union Square to inform more people, they returned home for their most significant protest yet: blocking construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Hundreds of protesters are occupying a construction entrance, requiring pipeline workers to build a new path to the site. The majority are doing so legally, building plastic tepees and hanging their tribal flags on a gate, but more than 30 have been arrested for disorderly conduct or criminal trespassing.
Morton County Sheriff Kyle Kirchmeier believes they’re doing it on-purpose, saying, “I think their biggest concern is they want to make a point and get arrested.”
Sometimes getting arrested standing up for righteousness is necessary. When an oil pipeline is being built over your family’s land, water and sacred grounds, with the potential for all of it being poisoned, getting arrested is the morally right thing to do.
Despite the many brave men and women risking arrest, most major news sources are barely covering the protests. Maybe we need some star power to get attention, right?
Wrong.
“Divergent” Actress Shailene Woodley joined the protest outside of the White House and has followed to North Dakota where she was joined by Rosario Dawson. In May, Leonardo DiCaprio tweeted a Change.org petition created by a Native American teenager to stop the pipeline.
Apparently CNN, MSNBC, and other major news sources still don’t think this protest is newsworthy enough to even write an article about.
We must be living in a parallel universe though, because Fox News actually does.
Even though some networks have written articles, the Dakota Access Pipeline is still not nearly as debated as Keystone XL was. America is just beginning to become aware and it’s the brave Native American men and women who ran thousands of miles who deserve the credit.
They have inspired hundreds of people to come and stand in solidarity with them against the pipeline, and hundreds more are anticipated.
On August 24, there will be a hearing in D.C. for a temporary federal injunction of the pipeline, but Woodley said that the plan is to continue protesting until the pipeline is completely stopped.
“I’ll be here until we win, a week or a year,” Woodley said. “The end is when they (the pipeline) pack up and leave. I stand in solidarity with these people.”
It is important for us all to do what we can to spread awareness about the Dakota Access Pipeline and help out the protesters so that the media can no longer ignore it. Share articles about it, donate supplies or money to the protesters, write to your local politicians and tell everyone you know.
It’s time to stand up, not just for our Native American brothers and sisters who are most directly impacted by this pipeline, but for Mother Earth, who is responsible for all of us being here in the first place.
