“Elections have consequences.” That’s the Told Ya So of 2017: annoying and yet valid. Among the consequences: the AP reports that the acting US Army Corp chief has authorized resumption of the Dakota Access Pipeline project. Construction is moving forward yet again, over the objections of the Standing Rock Tribe and coalitions like the Indigenous […]
A little money, a little power
I’ve been reflecting on the story of the money behind the Dakota Access Pipeline. More than 17 major national banks are funding construction and credit lines for the companies building it across the Dakotas and the Midwest: $2.5 billion to Sunoco Partners $3.75 billion to Energy Trading Partners $1.5 billion to Energy Trading Equity; and […]
From encampment to divestment
As winter sets in the Dakotas and the government begins an environmental impact study of the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline, a coalition of Native people at and around Standing Rock is weighing its options. Should non-Natives leave the area or stay, ready to intervene? Should activists focus on Energy Transfer Partners and its ongoing construction […]
The latest from Standing Rock
The story of the Dakota Access Pipeline continues: The pipeline is planned from Bakken oil fields of North Dakota to Illinois, where it would tie in with an existing pipeline to refineries in the Midwest and on the Gulf coast. The project was never examined under an environmental impact review but instead was approved under […]
Read: #NoDAPL, Sea levels, Organizing
On #NoDAPL: the movement against the Dakota Access Pipeline “What the Trump victory means for Standing Rock.” (Jenni Monet for Common Dreams) Now that Trump has won the election and has said he would steer energy policy toward more oil production rather than less, [Energy Transfer Partner’s] plans to ignore the Obama administration and advance the […]
Take action: An update on #NODAPL
Kandi Mossett of the Indigenous Earth Network shared a live update from Standing Rock today. She describes the way the National Guard, police from five states, Energy Transfer Partners, and the Dakota Access corporation have corralled indigenous people in camps near DA Pipeline construction. And she calls for trans-ethnic solidarity. [These states are] sending their […]