A crowd numbering more than one hundred agreed. It involves climate change, tribal rights, the energy economy and jobs. It has also opened a wider national debate on corporations’ ability to encroach on Native American lands. One of them was a girl who joined about a dozen people from the reservation in running from North Dakota to Washington to deliver a 140,000-signature petition this summer.
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“In absence of the pipeline company’s compliance, further administration action is needed”, Sanders told protesters gathered in Lafayette Square.
When fully connected to existing lines, the 1,770km, US$3.7 billion (RM15.30 billion) pipeline would be the first to carry crude oil from the Bakken shale directly to the US Gulf.
Who is opposed to the pipeline?
He said the group wants to encourage the use of renewable energy sources instead of fossil fuels.
In Iowa, property owners fighting the taking of land for the pipeline by eminent domain have protested.
The pipeline is being built near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation next to Cannon Ball in the state of North Dakota.
In a memo to employees, the CEO of Energy Transfer Partners vowed to finish building the controversial Dakota Access pipeline, which the Standing Rock Sioux tribe says will disturb sacred ground in North Dakota and impact drinking water. However, the statement continues, the company met with the Standing Rock Sioux multiple times in the past two years.
Tribes and activists say the project was pushed through the regulatory process without any input from American Indians who live along the route.
“People are still coming down here and are committed to stopping the project”, he told AP. “That cost is borne by tribal nations”.
But company officials said they would meet with government administrators.
What is the current status of the pipeline?
The almost 1,200-mile pipeline would carry almost a half-million barrels of crude oil daily from oil fields in North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to an existing pipeline in IL. But after a dizzying set of developments late Friday, construction of the section in North Dakota met a major setback.
Protesters held up posters featuring messages such as “Stand In Solidarity with Standing Rock”.
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Standing Rock Sioux chairman, Dave Archambault II, responded to the statement, saying the tribe will “continue to explore all legal, legislative and administrative options to stop construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline”. Although a federal judge sided with the Corps and denied the tribe’s request for an injunction on Friday, the federal agencies said the Corps is now determining whether it needs to reconsider any of its previous decisions regarding the permit. The pipeline company, Energy Transfer Partners sent out an internal memo to employees on Tuesday, reasserting its support of the pipeline project.
