Protesters have camped illegally on federal land in North Dakota for more than three months.
They are protesting the construction of an oil pipeline that is now nearly
complete. The protesters include celebrities, political activists, and anti-oil
extremists, and most of them come from out of state. The protesters appear to
be ignoring facts about the project and relying only on emotions.
The pipeline is not on tribal
property, but the protesters fear it will be too close to the Missouri River,
which provides the tribe’s water. Fear is a powerful emotion that usually leads
to anger. It causes people to take actions that they would not normally take.
People with agendas tend to say and do things that increase fear and anger. It
is anger that causes riots and destruction of property as seen at the protest
site.
The completed pipeline will run
from the Bakken oil fields in northwestern North Dakota and connect to an existing
pipeline in Illinois. The 1,172-mile Dakota Access pipeline will be a safer
method to transport oil than transporting it by rail cars as is currently being
done.
The Obama administration handed the protesters a victory on Sunday, December 4, 2016, with the announcement
that the pipeline – now 85% complete – will be re-routed. Energy Transfer
Partners can either find another route or prepare an appeal for the Trump
administration.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe
had adequate opportunities to be part of the planning stage for the pipeline.
Instead, they waited to mount a protest until the pipeline was nearly complete.
The protesters are supposed to evacuate their camp this week, but
Representative Kevin Cramer (R-ND) believes the protest will continue.
The protesters claim that they
want to protect the environment. Representative Cramer rejected that idea.
“This
oil is being produced today. It’s being moved now. It’s just not being moved by
this efficient, safe means of transportation…. So the idea that some of this is
about the environment is bogus. This oil is going to be produced. So I just
think that many of the arguments against it are ironic at best and hypocritical
most likely.”
“This oil is being produced today. It’s being
moved now. It’s just not being moved by this efficient, safe means of
transportation,” Cramer said. “So the idea that some of this is about the
environment is bogus. This oil is going to be produced. So I just think that
many of the arguments against it are ironic at best and hypocritical most
likely.”
The
Congressman said that the protest began as “prayerful, peaceful,” but it “turned
into a very violent and aggressive riot in many cases.” “The blending of
agitators and out-of-state people with a different agenda than just protection
of water for the tribe has created a lot of chaos.”
Where
does the truth lie? Is Representative Cramer correct in his assessment of the
situation? What is the real agenda for the protesters? Can the pipeline be
built in such a way that the tribe’s water source will be protected? Will the
protest end now that the government has halted construction of the pipeline?
Only
time will give us the answers to these and other questions. One thing we should
learn from this experience is to “come to the table” when first invited. All
concerned parties should be a part of the discussion and planning from the very
start of a project. I believe the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe was wrong to
postpone their involvement.
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