The Dakota Access Pipeline Project is a new, 1,172 mile pipeline that is projected to connect production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois, and has recently gained heavy national attention. The pipeline is proposed to enable domestically produced light crude oil to reach refining markets in a more direct, cost effective, and environmentally friendly manner. The project will cost a whopping $3.7 million dollars and will change the landscape of crude oil supply while apparently strengthening this country’s economy. Those implementing the pipeline have continuously preached its benefits, but some people disagree. In fact, many will disagree, as the implementation of the pipeline will destroy sacred Native American sites and will tear people from their homes, creating vast environmental issues and displacement problems.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has sued the US Army Corps of Engineers, the group that approved the project, stating that the pipeline, “threatens the Tribe’s environmental and economic well-being, and would damage and destroy sites of great historic, religious, and cultural significance to the Tribe.” (CNN). There is possibility of contamination due to breaches and green house gas emissions, as well as the means to fuel climate change through untold damage to the environment in general. The pipeline is also expected to run under the Missouri River, which would leave the possibility for rupture and contamination of the water supply.
Protests have been taking place in North Dakota for months now, and law enforcement has not been afraid to arrest said anti-pipeline supporters. Ben Affleck, Shailene Woodley, Pharrell Williams, Leonardo DiCaprio, and many other celebrities have expressed their disapproval with the implementation of the pipeline, with some of them even participating in the protests. Law enforcement officials have been reported using pepper spray gas, rubber bullets, and high-pitched sirens to disperse the protesters. The pipeline has a number of different groups that are objecting for various reasons, but Native Americans have been most commonly seen at the center of the opposition. The pipeline would run through sacred burial ground and tribal leaders have argued that the Standing Rock Sioux tribe was not adequately engaged during the permitting process for the project which is a requirement under federal law. Environmentalists say that the pipeline will contribute to climate change by building up oil infrastructure and will mess with fossil fuels in the reserves that would be disrupted by the pipeline.
If you’re wondering why your Facebook friends are checking into Standing Rock on October 31st, here’s why. Hundreds of thousands of people have been checking into the Standing Rock Indian reservation to confuse the law enforcement officials who are working to disrupt the peace and prayer camps. With an overwhelming amount of people all around the world checking into the reservation on Monday, law enforcement will be confused on who is actually at the site versus who is simply in support of the anti-pipeline movement. The Facebook movement has allowed people from all over the nation to stand in solidarity with the protestors in North Dakota.
So why, should you too, care about the Dakota Access Pipeline? First off, any unrest in this country is upsetting, especially when large groups of people are affected by the actions of the government with no regard to the sacred grounds that would be disrupted by the construction. The Dakota Access Pipeline could create vast climate change in this country and worldwide as fossil fuels that are essential to our survival as a planet are messed with. Clashes have led to arrests of many protestors and more unrest with law enforcement, as protests have become violent in an effort to ward off conflict in the area. Even if you are on the other side of the country, or the other side of the world, the creation of the Dakota Access Pipeline can have an effect on you too. So stay informed, updated, and interested, so that change can come for the people of North Dakota and for the environment.
