Page 17 - the Noise February 2017

NEWSBRIEFS
DAKOTA PIPELINE UPDATE
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Although Republicans in Congress repeatedly criticized former President Barack Obama’s use of executive orders and mem- oranda as an overreach of his authority, Donald Trump is already paced to exceed Mr. Obama’s career total.
In his first week, President Trump issued four executive orders and eight Presidential Memoranda. A key difference between the two types of mandates is that orders are required to be published in the Federal Register while memoranda are not. Orders have slightly more legal weight than memoranda, but both have sig- nificant power to guide public policy.
Among the most troubling, President Trump issued an execu- tive order “Expediting Environmental Reviews and Approvals For High Priority Infrastructure Projects.” This order directs those re- sponsible for evaluating the environmental impact of infrastruc- ture projects to complete those assessments more quickly. On its own, the order may seem innocuous but, coupled with memoran- da that followed, it takes on a more onerous role.
President Trump signed memoranda advancing the construc- tion of both the Keystone and Dakota Access pipelines. The Key- stone Pipeline is still a long way from moving forward. But the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is close to being completed and has been the subject of a months-long protest by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe of North Dakota. The Tribe’s dispute has gar- nered international attention and thousands of people gathered at the pipeline construction site where DAPL workers were pre- paring to install the pipeline under the Missouri River.
Protestors, calling themselves water protectors, blocked con- struction workers by peacefully gathering with drums, songs, and prayers. Mniwiconi—Lakotafor“waterislife”—becamethebat- tle cry of those at the frontlines; a battle cry that echoed around the world through social media and live video streaming. The wa- ter protectors were met by militarized police forces that memora- bly battered them with rubber bullets, concussion grenades, tear gas, pepper spray and water cannons the week of Thanksgiving 2016, in below freezing temperatures.
At its height, the NoDAPL camp held as many as 10,000. In De- cember 2016, the Army Corps of Engineers denied an easement to Energy Transfer Partners preventing them from completing construction of the pipeline. The Corps promised to do a thorough Environmental Impact Study and look for alternate routes for the pipeline. As winter came to North Dakota, the leaders of Stand- ing Rock told the water protectors to go home, claiming victory. But many knew that the battle may have been won but the war was definitely not over. The camp’s numbers have dwindled, but close to 1,000 have remained, through freezing temperatures, bliz-
zards, and primitive living conditions, ready to continue to protect the river that provides water for the Sioux Nation and surrounding communities. They knew better than to simply go home.
On January 24, President Trump signed a Presidential memo- randum “Regarding Construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline.” It begins by stating “The Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) under development by Dakota Access, LLC, represents a substantial, multi-billion-dollar private investment in our Nation’s energy in- frastructure. This approximately 1,100-mile pipeline is designed to carry approximately 500,000 barrels per day of crude oil from the Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North Dakota to oil markets in the United States. At this time, the DAPL is more than 90% complete across its entire route. Only a limited portion remains to be constructed.”
The order instructs the US Army and the Army Corps of Engi- neers to “review and approve in an expedited manner, to the extent permitted by law and as warranted, and with such condi- tions as are necessary or appropriate, requests for approvals to construct and operate the DAPL, including easements or rights- of-way to cross Federal areas.”
It also directs the Army to “consider, to the extent permitted by law and as warranted, whether to rescind or modify” the order is- sued in December under the Obama administration that stalled construction. It also asks to consider dropping the Environmental Impact Statement altogether.
The President’s claims that the pipeline will provide thousands of jobs and reduce American dependence on foreign oil have been highly disputed. In fact, most sources show that only 40 perma- nent jobs will be created by DAPL once construction is completed.
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe responded immediately to the Presidential Memorandum. “President Donald Trump’s executive action towards an approval of an easement for the Dakota Ac- cess Pipeline,” reads a statement from the tribe, “risks contaminat- ing tribal and American water supplies while disregarding treaty rights. The Trump administration’s politically motivated decision violates the law and the Tribe will take legal action to fight it.”
Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, stated: “By granting the easement, Trump is risking our treaty rights and water supply to benefit his wealthy contributors and friends at DAPL. We are not opposed to energy indepen- dence. We are opposed to reckless and politically motivated de- velopment projects, like DAPL, that ignore our treaty rights and risk our water. Creating a second Flint does not make America great again.”
BY CINDY COLE
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