On a more serious note, however, you might have heard of Standing Rock... But are you aware of what is going on?
A brief overview of the facts:
- The Dakota Access Pipeline is an approximately 1,172 mile-long underground oil pipeline project that seeks to take oil from the Bakken field in North Dakota to the Patoka, Illinois oil tank
- The pipeline would originally cross under the Missouri river, but was redirected to avoid a greater impact to the Sioux water supply
- The original route was assessed as posing "great concern" to the local water supply by the U.S Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) in 2016, and needed to be redirected
- There is a massive Native American undertaking at Standing Rock- mostly by the Sioux tribe, but also Lakȟóta, Mayan and Pipil representatives
- The other projected pipeline construction, Pipeline XL, is undergoing similar backlash from Native American groups in both Alberta, Canada and North Dakota, as it threatens both fragile ecosystems and sacred burial ground.
Why push ahead with it?
It was projected that between the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Pipeline XL projects, there would be over 28,000 jobs created. However, one of the principal reasons why the Obama administration didn't go ahead was because around 80% of these jobs would be short-term only: construction workers, early-stage project developers, etc. The Trump administration, on the other hand, has just signed an executive order (as of January 25th, 2017) to "expedite the completion of the Keystone XL project" and a Presidential Memorandum to push ahead with the drilling required for the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The Protest
Along with the critical threat to the environment, protesters have mentioned the desecration of heritage sites, unjust cultural appropriation of land, and contamination of water sources as the main reason of the protest. Mass arrests and overuse of force by the authorities has been reported to various local and international Human Rights advocacy groups.
As of January 20, 2017, there was a consensus about the Standing Rock camp: it was to be dismantled in the next 30 days (by February 19), after the local community manifested discontent by "the rampant use of drugs and alcohol at the camp", as well as blockage of roads and disorderly conduct.
It is yet to be seen if the order will be actually executed for the construction to go underway.
My take
Historically, Native American and First Nation citizens' rights have been trampled on; their religion stripped, their language defiled, their lands re-appropriated. Both the Dakota Access Pipeline and Pipeline XL projects continue with this historical campaign which threatens the livelihood of thousands of people. Culturally and environmentally, the projects make no sense-- aren't we trying to move away from using fossil fuels? Shouldn't there be a heightened awareness for others' cultures? In this day and age, it is still very hard to believe that the Indigenous American populations aren't recognized as the true first owners of the land, and given the respect they deserve.
From an economic point of view, it's a mixed reaction: with increased supply from Canada (approximately 380,000 barrels of oil would be transported per day), the United States' dependency on Middle Eastern oil would be greatly eased-- a concern of the past administration that wasn't fulfilled. Furthermore, there would be more jobs created, and the increase in supply would mean lower oil prices for the consumer.
I personally don't believe that the perpetuation of oppression (both cultural and environmental) is a fair price to pay for increased oil supply-- there are alternatives that don't include eventual resource wipeout and oppression towards minorities. Investing in clean, renewable energy would be this administration's best bet... But it's very clear that it isn't an item very close to the top of the agenda.
