Election years generally create more political awareness than non-election years. This awareness, however, is centralized around the potential candidates’ personas (particularly in regards to this year) as opposed to current events occurring within our country. Coupling this with the Bucknell bubble, students may find themselves unaware of the multitude of issues surrounding our nation, one of which involves the Dakota Access pipeline protests.
Over the past few months, thousands of Native Americans representing tribes from all over the country have traveled to central North Dakota to protest the Dakota Access pipeline construction. The Dakota Access pipeline is a $3.7 billion project that would carry 470,000 barrels of oil a day from the oil fields of western North Dakota to Illinois, where it would be linked with other pipelines. The project developer, Dakota Access, a subsidiary of Energy Transfer Crude Oil, says the pipeline would pump millions of dollars into local economies and create 8,000 to 12,000 construction jobs. The company also claims the pipeline is the safest, most cost-effective and environmentally responsible way to move crude oil, removing dependency on rails and trucks.
Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe see the pipeline as a major environmental and cultural threat. The Tribe filed a complaint in federal court alleging that, “the construction and operation of the pipeline… threatens the Tribe’s environmental and economic well-being… would damage and destroy sites of great historic, religious, and cultural significance to the Tribe.” There are also concerns that digging the pipeline under the Missouri River would affect the tribe’s drinking water. This river is the source of water for the reservation’s 8,000 residents. Any leak, tribal leaders argue, would cause immediate and irreparable harm.
In a two-page ruling, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit rejected the tribe’s request for a permanent injunction to block the $3.7 billion 1,170-mile pipeline construction. The ruling allows Energy Transfer Partners to move forward with construction of the pipeline. Protests and clashes with police are continuing in North Dakota, where 123 people have been arrested since August. Tribal Chairman Dave Archambault II called the ruling, “disappointing,” but said, “We aren’t done with this fight.”
This article is not an attempt to claim that this issue is more important than others in the United States. It is, however, an effort to remind students that there are other issues that are still worthy of our attention, besides the few we may hear about in our bubble.
If you’re looking for more information on this topic check out these articles:
http://www.nytimes.com/2016/08/27/us/north-dakota-oil-pipeline-battle-whos-fighting-and-why.html
http://www.wsj.com/articles/fight-over-dakota-access-pipeline-intensifies-1476234035