Environment

We Can't Forget About DAPL and Standing Rock

November 16th 2016

Before President-elect Donald Trump's unexpected win, the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) proposal and correlating protests gained a lot of attention on social media, with people all over the country checking into Standing Rock on Facebook in solidarity with protestors. Pipeline opponents continued their fight on Tuesday by coming together for a national day of action against the DAPL.

Across 300 cities world-wide, protestors voiced disagreement with the DAPL, a 1,172 mile-long pipeline that would carry around 470,000 barrels of crude oil each day between North Dakota and Illinois. Texas-based energy company Energy Transfer Partners has claimed that the pipeline would boost the economy and create jobs, but opponents say it would threaten the water supply of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. People have been protesting the DAPL at Standing Rock for weeks.

"After the election results, we know that many of our communities are hurting and afraid," the #NoDAPLDayofAction group stated on its website. "Donald Trump’s presidency will threaten many of the people and things we care about most – including Indigenous rights and the climate. Now more than ever, we need to stand together and show the strength of this movement."

As noted by Fusion writer Rafi Schwartz, many of the protests were directed at Army Corps of Engineers. The Army Corps of Engineers recently said that it won't sign off on construction under a part of the Missouri river until it receives feedback from the Sioux tribe. Energy Transfer Partners needs permission from the Army Corps of Engineers to start construction underneath the Missouri river, but construction remains ongoing on both sides of the river, Mother Jones reported. Last month, the U.S. Court of Appeals denied an injunction to stop building of the pipeline.

Here are some photos of the protests all over the country:

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