#NODAPLby Yvonne Wabai | 18-12-2016 08:52 |
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 As 2016 is coming to a close, many people are celebrating that the war against the Dakota Access Pipeline has been won. However, the question is, has it really been won?  WHAT IS THE DAPL? The DAPL, also known as the Bakken pipeline, is owned by a Houston, Texas, based corporation called Energy Transfer Partners, L.P. , which created the subsidiary Dakota Access LLC. The pipeline is proposed to transport 450,000 barrels of crude oil per day (which is fracked and highly volatile) from the Bakken fields of North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois.
Despite pressure from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI) and the Advisory Council on Historic Preservation, Dakota Access failed to consult tribes and conduct a full environmental impact statement. Additionally, there has been 292 oil spills in North Dakota alone in the last 2 years. This led to a number of Native Americans in Iowa and the Dakotas opposing the pipeline, including the Meskwaki and several Sioux tribal nations. In August 2016, ReZpect Our Water, a group organized on the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, brought a petition to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in Washington, D.C. and the tribe sued for an injunction. A protest at the pipeline site in North Dakota near the Standing Rock Indian Reservation caught international attention, leading to thousands of people across all nations joining the protest. WHY THE UNFOLDING OF EVENTS DUE TO THE DAPL IS IMPORTANT.  #NODAPL brought together thousands of people of different nationalities, all working towards the same goal: stopping the construction of the pipeline. Granted, the hashtag gathered speed a bit late because 87% of the pipeline was already completed and granted, most of the protestors were protesting the passage of the pipeline through native tribal land and had no problem with the pipeline passing elsewhere, but at least now we know that a lot of people know that the usage of fossil fuels is not good for the environment. Additionally, it is now clear to the world that a government can be in bed with big corporations and that the citizens can do something about it. We all saw how the protestors at Standing Rock failed to budge even though the U.S government gave an armed response. However, it was not really a win because the construction of the pipeline will continue. On December 4, 2016, under President Barack Obama's administration, the Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement through Lake Oahe and will begin "undertaking an environmental impact statement to look at possible alternative routes". Furthermore, the president-elect of the U.S., Donald Trump, believes that climate change/global warning is a hoax orchestrated by the Chinese and has sworn that his country will be backing out of the Paris Agreement and any other such agreements. Did I mention that he's in support of the DAPL and is invested in it? However, not all hope is lost as many world leaders have publicly condemned Trump for his ignorance on environmental issues. All in all, on environmental issues, it's been a bittersweet year, with the DAPL being at the height of it all. |
