The "Black Snake", a beast that lies in wait only showing concern for its life and no other. The first quarter of the 2016 year commenced with the construction of the DAPL(Dakota Access Pipe Line), a crude oil pipeline set to transfer oil from North Dakota all the way to Illinois. An 1'172 mile pipeline traversing through both the Missouri and Cannonball rivers along with many sacred sites to the indigenous people of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. Crude oil a fuel we as a nation have been using long past its due date despite its ability to damage our environment. A controversial path for an outdated energy source motivated by big business whose only argument is the value it presents to our economy.
Here we are with a line of credit between Energy Transfer Partners L.P.(the guys proposing the plan) and 26 other banks investing a whopping 3.75 billion dollars into this pipeline. A subsidiary of ETP(Energy Transfer Partners) called Sunoco Logistics is also receiving funding from a majority of those very same banks adding another 2.5 billion dollars to current investments in the DAPL. Among these banks is none other then our best friends Morgan Stanley, Citibank, JP Morgan Chase, Wells Fargo, Goldman Sachs, and Bank of America. Which some of are the very same Wall street banks that created our latest recession the housing market bubble in 2007-2008 with their abuse of the working people. Creating construction jobs and trying to lessen our dependence on foreign oil. Nothing but temporary work and an energy source we must move away from just for profit. Never has there been concern for the common person.
People at this very moment of all walks of life make there way to protest the construction of the DAPL. The center of all these individuals, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe making its voice heard for all the injustice that is currently happening. Asking that the pipeline be stopped due to the potential dangers it may bring to their water source and culture. Working for the Dakota Access is the U.S Army Corps of Engineers(USACE) to evaluate the proposition of this very subject. Claiming that it has gone through all the necessary channels to abide the law. Making a "good faith effort" with the tribe that is has considered all tribal comments. Fact is they have already destroyed grave and specific prayer sites that had been surveyed by Tim Mentz a previous tribal historic preservation officer. Merely a week away from a conclusion on the legal issues the DAPL came in and destroyed the site on a holiday weekend. If it's not enough protesters are being pepper sprayed and mangled by attack dogs of their private security. December 19th, 2009 Obama signed the Native American Apology Resolution in an effort to make up for what had been done in the past6. Thus far it seems that was just a farce, America a place where our words mean nothing.
Further more here we sit an environment getting worse by the moment, refusing to let go of old ways that have been surpassed by clean renewable energy. The proposed pipeline will pass through the Missouri, Cannonball rivers and Lake Oahe. Not to mention many other smaller sources of water. Only two years ago in 2014 the Columbia Riverkeeper reached a settlement against USACE to end uncontrolled toxic oil leakage at eight Columbia and Snake river dams finally bringing them in accordance with the Clean Water Act(CWA). They may not be pipelines, but a good look at how the USACE handles oil and their concern for the public. We now have wind, solar, hydro power, and electricity. We have the ability and the responsibility to change our dependence on this harmful energy source.
Somehow one of our most important moments as a modern nation is going by unreported by the mainstream media. People getting hurt and lives about to be destroyed. All to scar our beautiful earth in the name of the all mighty dollar bill. For something we truly no longer need at what could be the price of one resource we truly cant survive without. We can't sit idly by as greed destroys what's truly important. This is one snake I have no problem cutting the head off #NODAPL.