What does clean water mean to you? For the community and allies of Standing Rock, North Dakota it means staying up day and night, fighting and protesting for the basic right to preserve their water and land, to take a stand against the fossil fuel industry, and to take an even fiercer stand for the climate. On the eve of celebrating Thanksgiving, police deployed water hoses and tear gas against unarmed protesters, as a means of “crowd control”. Protests have been going on for some time now, due to the potential the DAPL has to threatening the reservation’s main water supply and cultural land. Proponents of the pipeline seem optimistic that under a Trump presidency, the nearly-complete pipeline will be built in North Dakota. So, the right to energy or the right to clean water?
Unsurprisingly, Trump has recently come out in favor of the pipeline. The company behind the pipeline, Energy Transfer Partners, donated $100,00 to Trump Victory Fund (though Trump praises himself on running a “self funded campaign” but that is beside this point…). Following the money further, Trumps ties to the project cannot be overlooked. Vox found that Trump himself is likely to have invested around $300,000 to the project. Additionally, disclosure forms dating back to 2015, showed that Trump owned stocks worth between $500,000 and $1 million in the ETP. More connections can be found in this fascinating article by Vox.
What to expect from the DAPL conflict? The ETP is waiting for permission to cross the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, which is currently managed by the Army Corps of Engineers. The Standing Rock Sioux have opposed this pipeline crossing. In truth, the next step is up to Obama to expedite the process of finding an alternative route by placing more pressure on the Army Corp. In addition, Obama could make a radical move and designate the land on either side of lake Oahe as a national monument, preventing any pipeline from being built.
As the holiday approaches, it seems strange to be curled up by the fire while Native Americans are being sprayed with freezing water on the eve of “Thanksgiving”, whatever that means anyway…
Agora: Watching the World Turn 