What’s going on in North Dakota? The short version is that there is a raging environmental, and human rights debate accompanied by protests in Standing Rock, ND. This is in opposition to Energy Transfer Partners attempt to build a pipeline that will carry crude oil from North Dakota, through South Dakota, Iowa, and into Illinois. The pipeline will pass through 50 counties along way. The project has been dubbed the North Dakota Access Pipeline but is also known as DAPL, or Dakota Access Pipeline. Proponents for the pipeline argue that it is an efficient, safe way to transport as many as 570,000 barrels of crude oil per day. A pipeline is an alternative to rail or road transport, which have their own drawbacks, and dangers.

What’s the big deal? The pipeline would run underneath the Missouri river, the only source of water for the Standing Rock Sioux people. If the pipeline leaks or breaks, the tribe’s only source of clean water will be compromised. With over 2.5 million miles of pipeline already built throughout the U.S. hundreds of leaks are reported every year. Furthermore, the Sioux claim that construction of the pipeline will destroy Native burial grounds and other sacred sites. In addition to these problems, environmentalists argue that investing billions of dollars in fossil fuel infrastructure places the country at odds with alternative energy efforts.

The Sioux’s best chance of defeating the crude oil project is to call into question the action of The Army Corps of Engineers, the federal body who approved the pipeline, who failed to consult with local tribes on the impact of such a project. The keystone XL pipeline was blocked using the same argument in 2015 when President Obama vetoed the bill. If the Sioux are successful, the court could find the Corps in violation of the Clean Water Act and the National Environmental Policy Act. Legislation that requires the involvement of Native tribes in issues that could affect them or their land dates back to The Federal Indian Consultation Right, signed by President Lyndon B. Johnson in 1968.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. of Waterkeeper Alliance spoke Tuesday at Standing Rock stating, “Across the nation, communities of color face environmental and public health threats most communities don’t have to think about.” This protest represents a historic gathering of tribes coming together for a common cause. Waterkeeper Alliance has called the project “one of the nation’s most egregious environmental injustices.” Kennedy’s words also bring to light the fact that this is a human rights issue as much as it is an environmental one.

I spoke with San Diego Mesa College student, and environmental activist, Sierra Hudson late Thursday about her plans to join the protest in Standing Rock. Ms. Hudson stated, “If we’re spending billions of dollars on oil infrastructure then we’re not going to be navigating toward renewable energy.” Her personal goal is to support human rights by helping to increase awareness of the issue. “This fight against the Dakota Access Pipeline has gone beyond North Dakota, it’s come to the point where it’s government versus environment, and it’s whether we’re going to move toward renewable energy or not, and the DAPL is the battleground.” Despite talk of fighting and battlegrounds, Hudson assures me that this is a metaphor and that she is dedicated to peaceful protest. Hudson will depart on Sunday and stay for five days, throughout Thanksgiving, raising awareness of the issue in support of the Sioux people. Hudson concluded by stating, “Social, racial, economic, and environmental justice is what I want, what I demand.”

If you want to get involved, visit standingrock.org to learn how you can help. You can connect with Ms. Hudson and others, and view her live stream from the protest via her Facebook page.