Behind all the recent talks of the election and the anticipating new President of the United States lies the national issue dealing with Dakota’s Access Pipeline. The Dakota Access Pipeline is supposedly planned to be almost 1,200 miles long and will be able to transport roughly 470,000 barrels of crude oil a day from North Dakota to a terminal in Illinois to be shipped to oil refineries. The Dakota Access Pipeline is estimated to cost $3.7 billion dollars. The Pipeline is supposed to be less costly for oil companies and more efficient for transporting crude oil than shipping the crude oil by train. The Pipeline is built by a subsidiary of the Energy Transport Partners, a Texas-based energy company. The Energy Transport Partners will benefit from the Dakota Access Pipeline by increasing profits for the energy company and all oil companies involved while crude oil prices will be at a low.
However, there are many against the Dakota Pipeline and activists around the globe have begun to speak out in support of protesters against the Pipeline. The Sioux Native American people of Standing Rock argue that the pipeline has unearthed and will continue to disturb multiple ancestral sites, including ancient sacred ground and stone circles. The Energy Transport Partners have argued that they are not disturbing ancient Native American land, but the Sioux Native American people disagree. These ancient ancestral sites are technically just north of the Sioux’s Native American reservation, but the Sioux say that the government took this land with all their ancestral sites illegally by a series of treaties in the mid-1800s. This is not the only argument for the Sioux not wanting the Dakota Pipeline, the tribe believes that the Pipeline could possibly leak and contaminate their drinking water. This is due to the Dakota Pipeline running under the Missouri River, just north of the Sioux’s reservation. This has caused an uproar between the Native American community and the American government because the government approved the Dakota Pipeline’s construction without consulting the Native American community involved, a requirement under United States law. Thus, the Sioux begun protesting in April by setting up Sacred Stone spiritual camp near the river.
Many are in support of the Sioux Native Americans so many have joined their protests against the Energy Transport Partners and the Dakota Pipeline. These protesters include environmental activists, citizens who support the cause, celebrities and senators who support the cause, the Sioux and other native tribes. These famous celebrities and senators who are supporting the Sioux’s protest against the Dakota Pipeline include, Shailene Woodley, Mark Ruffalo, the Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein and former democratic presidential candidate Bernie Sanders. Plus, over 200 Native American tribes have pledged their support for the movement. However, with all this support for the Sioux’s movement against the Dakota Pipeline, there are those who have taken the peaceful demonstrations out of hand and some have demonstrated aggressive tactics, such as starting fires and throwing debris at officers.
Even with the chances of local government officers getting hurt by these aggressive actions and having to use excessive force against the protesters, they have been severely criticized. These actions of excessive force include spraying crowds with pepper spray and firing sound cannons and rubber bullets. Officers have arrested hundreds of individuals protesting against the Dakota Pipeline and have accused activists and journalists of criminal trespassing and other felonies. According to BBC News, mass arrests by police have taken place and protesters were being held in temporary cages made of chain-mail, which supporters referred to as “dog kennels."
In my opinion, the Sioux Native Americans do have a right to be upset about their land being taken by the government and now being transformed into an Access Pipeline by the Energy Transport Partners. They have both cultural and humanitarian reasons why the pipeline should not be built. Even if the Dakota Access Pipeline may benefit the oil companies and energy corporation involved, there are many drawbacks because of it. For instance, if the pipeline burst and polluted the Missouri River, the entire United States would be in an uproar about how the Sioux were right about the Pipeline being a mistake. It will be the same repercussions to the Energy Transport Company and those oil companies involved, as BP oil company had back when Deepwater Horizon leaked oil into the Gulf of Mexico. So, be forewarned Energy Transport Partners and other oil companies involved in the creation of the Dakota Access Pipeline, there is a ton of support against the creation of the Pipeline and those in support of the Sioux’s cause will only continue to build so be prepared for the environmental community and Native American joint forces against you.
