Protests regarding the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline have intensified over the past month. The project, being completed by Energy Transfer Partners, is about 60% finished.
In September, the Obama Administration requested the company halt construction of the project on federal land. The federal land mentioned consists of the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, home to the Standing Rock Sioux.   The Standing Rock Sioux began a small protest camp in April on the route of the proposed pipeline. The camp is now populated by more than 1,000 protesters.  They have opposed the pipeline since before its approval, and filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers in July. A statement on their website reads, “First, the pipeline would pass under the Missouri River (at Lake Oahe) just a half a mile upstream of the Tribe’s reservation boundary, where a spill would be culturally and economically catastrophic. Second, the pipeline would pass through areas
of great cultural significance, such as sacred sites and burials that federal law seeks to protect.” On the other hand, Energy Transfer Partners insists the pipeline will “enable domestically produced light sweet crude oil from North Dakota to reach major refining markets in a more direct, cost-effective, safer and environmentally respobsible manner.”
The judge in the case denied the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s request to halt construction. Six days before the ruling, Dakota Access bulldozers plowed a two-mile long, 150-foot wide path on grounds that were included in the lawsuit. The same day, protests continued on the anniversary of the Whitestone massacre, a day in 1863 when the US Army killed more than 300 of the Standing Rock Sioux.
Since the court ruling, the Departments of Justice, the Interior, and Army have refused to authorize construction permits on federal land and requested that construction be voluntarily paused within 20 miles of Lake Oahe, a main source of water for the Standing Rock Sioux. On October 10, ETP went ahead with its construction anyway.
On October 13, Bernie Sanders and four Democrat senators wrote a letter to President Barack Obama, calling on him to suspend permits and have the Army Corps of Engineers complete a full environmental impact statement for the entire pipeline proposal.
In the past couple of weeks, the protests have gotten more coverage thanks to some prominent participants. Green Party presidential candidate Jill Stein was seen spray-painting a Dakota Access bulldozer in a video. Morton County, North Dakota currently has a warrant out for her arrest.  Documentary filmmaker Deia Schlosberg was charged with felony conspiracy for her reporting on the protests. The charges levied against her carry a maximum sentence of up to 45 years. Journalist Amy Goodman was also charged with inciting a riot as a result of her reporting, but the case was dismissed.
Actress Shailene Woodley was arrested on charges of criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot while protesting the pipeline. She shared a video on Facebook regarding the protest, which now has over 4 million views. She followed up with an essay in TIME, titled “The Truth about My Arrest.”  In her reaction, she states her strong case for the anti-pipeline protests. She wrote, “We grow up romanticizing native culture, native art, native history… without knowing native
reality. Somehow, we’ve allowed 200-plus years to go by without questioning the truth we have been told to believe about Native Americans. Now, in 2016, in the day and age of exciting technology, which empowers revolution and curiosity, we are still blindly (or maybe not) allowing 200 years of unjust history to continue.”
I fully agree with Woodley’s remarks. The project should have never been approved in the first place, but it is not too late to fix the situation. It would be a monumental stride in the right direction, considering the possible environmental impact and destruction of sacred Standing Rock Sioux lands. It is time that we stand in solidarity with Native Americans and our government keeps promises they made to protect their land.