The North Dakota Access Pipeline has sparked protests that have gained support across the country and social media. Cartoon by Ashley Lawrence.
By MACKENZIE CAUDILL – Staff Writer
Protests against the North Dakota Access Pipeline which crosses over the Standing Rock reservation have erupted on social media and gained a tremendous amount of support.
Three point seven billion dollars, four states, 1,172 miles long, 30 inches in diameter, buried in 12 to 48 inches of soil, transporting 470,000 barrels of domestic light sweet crude oil a day. The only thing in their way was the Standing Rock Sioux tribe.
The North Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) is an underground oil transportation pipeline stretching from Illinois to North Dakota from a limited liability company (LLC) subsidiary of the company Energy Transfer. It also planned to stretch over the Standing Rock Indian reservation in Cannon Ball, North Dakota.
That was until construction started in spring and protests objecting to the pipeline being built from the Standing Rock Sioux tribe and other indigenous groups gained support. Thousands of people camped in the way of construction, protesting for the rights of Native Americans and for fear of a pipeline rupture, which happened to another pipeline a couple hours away from Standing Rock.
“(The pipeline is) by all accounts going to cause terrible environmental destruction and damage, most of all to their water resources,” Clarke Central High School alumna Claire Dennis, who works in international affairs and is a supporter of the cause, said. “Also, it’s going to invade or cross over their sacred burial grounds. It’s just one of many oil pipelines that are being developed in the U.S. currently that need to be protested.”
The Army Corps announced its decision to search for alternative routes for the pipeline on Dec. 4. Social media played a big role in gaining support for the protests, ultimately resulting in the halt of construction and the search for a new route.
“Grassroots movements grow when people are engaged, first just by being informed,” Dennis said. “The fact that we’re seeing all this solidarity across the country, especially through social media, people posting ‘I’m with Standing Rock’ — that kind of solidarity is how you strengthen these grassroots movements.”
After the story built up on social media, war veterans starting showing up at the protest in support of the Sioux. At first it was hundreds, but soon the numbers reached over 2,000.
“They rallied really quickly because they saw how the military was going to be used against its own people and these veterans who served and fought in war knew that that’s not what they fought for,” Matthew Duffy said. “I think honestly that those veterans could be saving the day.”
Duffy supports those who launched an online campaign against the pipeline.
“The obvious thing that’s happening is the pipeline has heavily influenced our government, heavily influenced the police of North Dakota the governor and the police,” Duffy said. “Our government has sided with the special interests of oil instead of the people’s.”
Although his campaign only launched three days before the Army Corps decided to look for alternative routes on Dec. 4, he is proud of the support gathered in the short time frame. Duffy gathered videos of supporters if the cause to create a video. They raised $500 in the three days before the Army Corps made the decision.
“It’s not all a waste. We’ll just use it again, once the fight picks back up and we’ll do another thing,” Duffy said.
According to Clarke Central High School English department co-chair Ian Altman, the Army Corps’ decision is a good thing that should be celebrated.
“If they do in fact decide to reroute the pipeline so that it doesn’t go under the Missouri River and doesn’t risk contaminating millions of people’s drinking water, then that can’t but be a good thing,” Altman said. “So I hope that that’s the impact it has.”
On the other hand, people like Bethany Helbreich, who protested at Standing Rock, believe that people should stay paying attention.
“I believe it’s far from over. The Army Corps has stated it will explore alternative routes and, under a Trump administration, anything can happen,” Helbreich said. “This doesn’t mean the battle is won – the issue is larger than Standing Rock; it’s a human rights issue, and the people who have put their hearts and souls into this movement have not yet received anything close to justice.”
Some protesters are not too comfortable with the decision and are considering staying for fear of the company continuing with construction.
“In this day and age you never really know, but if they’ve been ordered at the executive level to end through the Army Corps not giving that final permit, they have to go through an environmental impact statement, I mean the company would have to break the law,” Duffy said. “I don’t think that they’re gonna do that.”
Moving forward, protests in the future are believed to be most effective when they come from a nonviolent source.
“(Nonviolence) has to be the heart and soul of any sort of social movement,” Duffy said. “Really just us humans, as our being we should strive for nonviolence. It’s a very difficult strategy but it’s proven to work.”
Specifically in the Standing Rock protests, it is important that their support is nonviolent. Whether Trump decides to intervene on the pipeline or not, the protests are expected to carry on in the spring.
“I firmly believe in nonviolence as a form of protest and in this country when we try to protest nonviolently, we’re often met with violence in return. From the police, from the military and this is a clear example of what’s happening today and we need to talk about this more,” Dennis said. “We need to protest this violence that they’re receiving. And I hope that everyone stays watching what’s happening with this protest and engages and really stands with standing rock throughout this process because they need all the support they can get.”
