Oceti Sakowin Camp Closes: But the Struggle Continues

 Water protectors march out of Oceti Sakowin camp

The was a sense of poignancy, defiance and nobility as the last remaining residents of the Oceti Sakowin protest camp in North Dakota departed yesterday in advance of a 2pm deadline-to-vacate order signed by Governor Doug Burgum.

The thousands of native peoples from around the world who joined the protests represented the vanguard of a much broader grassroots protest movement.

Opposition not just to oil, but to the increasingly soul-less coalition of extremist political and social conservatives whose rigid ideology now serves the interests of the massive corporate monarchies that rule over the various fiefdoms of banking, fossil fuel and petrochemical production, agriculture, manufacturing, mining and telecommunications.  

The 150 or so protesters who walked arm-in-arm out of the snow and mud covered grounds of the Oceti Sakowin camp Wednesday afternoon ( under the eyes of over a hundred law enforcement officers from different states) were still singing, chanting and most importantly - standing.

With a federal court having ruled that drilling to run pipelines that will carry crude oil directly beneath a fresh water source the Sioux share with 20 million other people can proceed, this particular battle is done for now.

But the war of non-violent resistance is not over.

Hundreds of other protesters who defiantly stuck out the freezing temperatures of the winter in support of the sovereign rights of the Standing Rock Sioux are reportedly moving on to other protest camps in the area that have been set up on private land where government officials cannot order them off.

New EPA administrator Scott Pruitt

Others will take the next stage of the fight to court rooms and legislative chambers.

Even if many of those too are stacked with conservative Republicans who've shown a willingness to bend the law to the will of the alliance of oil companies, pipeline manufacturers and banks behind the DAPL regardless of the cost to human and environmental health.

Republicans like the climate change denying lackey of the oil industry Scott Pruitt.


After being sworn in last Friday as the administrator of the same federal agency he repeatedly sued as the attorney general of Oklahoma, the new head of the Environmental Protection Agency, Scott Pruitt, addressed members of his staff for the first time on Tuesday.

As Rebecca Leber reported for Mother Jones on Tuesday, Pruitt delivered a generic 11-minute speech that was short on policy specifics and gave no indication of what the Trump administration has in mind for the EPA's role in addressing climate change.

As America comes to grip with the reality of a man who denies the existence of climate change heading up the government agency charged with protecting the environment, his confirmation doesn't bode well for grassroots environmental groups opposing oil and natural gas pipeline projects around the nation.

In the same way that an executive order issued by the White House has tasked members of Immigration Customs and Enforcement (ICE) to begin an unprecedented roundup of illegal immigrants in the United States, regardless of how long they've been here or whether they've committed a criminal offense, in the wake of the inauguration on January 20th, efforts to remove the Standing Rock protesters increased in some unsettling ways.

   CLDC attorney Lauren Regan

According to an article posted on The Guardian back on February 10th, Lauren Regan, the executive director of the Civil Liberties Defense Center in Oregon reported that at least three different DAPL protesters were contacted directly by agents from the FBI's Joint Terrorism Task Force (JTTF) to ask them for information about the Standing Rock protests.

As she told The Guardian, "From the very beginning, law enforcement has attempted to justify it's militarized presence...by making false allegations that somehow these water protectors were violent." 

Rumors about FBI surveillance of Standing Rock protesters had been swirling on social media just days after Trump's inauguration.



An interview on the Tuesday February 7th episode of The Leonard Lopate Show on WNYC with Cora Currier and Trevor Arronson, contributing writers to The Intercept, offered some chilling perspective and insight on the kinds of tactics the FBI likely used in Standing Rock to monitor protesters and undermine demonstrators.

Click the link above if you have a few minutes, it's definitely worth a listen.

Currier's and Arronson's contribution to an Intercept series called 'The FBI's Secret Rules', uncovered some fascinating details on the scope of FBI surveillance.

For example, they noted that in the late 60's and early 70's, the FBI employed approximately 1,600 informants as part of their notorious COINTELPRO program of domestic surveillance of groups they deemed subversive; including Civil Rights activists, Black Panther Party members, Vietnam War protesters, feminist organizations and the KKK.

By the post-911 era when the U.S. government was appropriating billions to anti-terrorism and homeland security efforts, the number of FBI informants had soared to over 15,000 - so it's fair to assume that the FBI had informants in place at the Standing Rock protests.

Oceti Sakowin camp structures burning on Wednesday

Members of local law enforcement were engaged in the same kinds of harassment tactics too.

A Monday February 13th article posted on the Website of
 The Guardian chronicled claims by several members of the veterans activist group VeteransRespond that local police stopped their vehicles simply for having out of state plates and conducted bogus searches.




Flagrantly illegal police searches that turned up small amounts of weed that some of the vets take for medical reasons to alleviate symptoms of PTSD which were used to arrest and detain the protesters.

As my friend James, who lives on the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, reminded me the other night, Native Americans have been viewed as terrorist suspects by the U.S. government since long before the highly-publicized 1973 occupation of the town of Wounded Knee, South Dakota by some 200 Oglala Lakota and members of the American Indian Movement (AIM).

As I write this late Wednesday night, there are reports that at least 50 to 75 protesters remain inside the Standing Rock protest camp, though local law enforcement have made no efforts to forcefully remove them even though the governor's order to evacuate expired at 2pm on Wednesday.

Despite the outcome, the Standing Rock protests brought global attention to both the sovereignty of indigenous peoples as well as the environmental dangers posed by the slew of oil and natural gas  pipeline projects being constructed across the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The intentional burning of temporary wooden structures at the Oceti Sakowin protest camp by departing protesters yesterday is symbolic.

Protesters claimed the burning of those structures was an "ending prayer", maybe it's meant to symbolize the end of this latest chapter of the ongoing war for Native American sovereignty.

The global support that the Standing Rock Sioux garnered raised awareness of the struggle for the rights of indigenous peoples in America and around the globe - but it also helped to galvanize a much broader protest movement that made its presence known on January 21st.

What happened in Cannon Ball, North Dakota reaffirms the power of peaceful protest, civil disobedience and non-violent resistance at a time when millions of Americans are gearing up to oppose the policies of the Trump administration and the Republican-controlled Congress.

A chapter may have ended in the Sakowin camp with the assistance of the corpratocracy, federal and state entities including the FBI, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, federal courts and local law enforcement from multiple states.

But this story is far from over.

As one of the camp's leaders Phyllis Young noted in an interview, "The camps will continue, freedom is in our DNA, and we have no choice but to continue the struggle."

From Romans to Republicans - Has the GOP Downfall Begun?

English politician Sir John Dalberg-Acton

In a now-famous letter to Bishop Mandell Creighton in 1887, the English historian, writer and moralist Lord Acton famously observed:

"Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely."

He was essentially paraphrasing an idea previously expressed by other thinkers and writers for centuries, reflecting on the Roman Empire, the Papacy and countless monarchies.


But his oft-quoted observation, written 130 years ago, could well have been a prescient warning about the state of the Republican Party in 21st century America.

In the wake of the November 8th elections, a number of elated Republicans, from spine-challenged House Speaker Paul Ryan to average conservative Joe's calling into NPR to share their thoughts on the shocking presidential election results, publicly expressed concerns that the GOP, with both houses of Congress, the presidency and a majority of state legislatures in their hands, would end up going too far.

But as we've seen time and again, the collective memory of the Republican establishment is shockingly short when it comes to learning from their past political mistakes.

Ever since 45's shaky first day in office a little over two weeks ago, the new leaders of the executive branch and their reluctant Republican allies in Congress seem almost obsessed with dismantling America's imperfect Democracy and reshaping it to reflect some kind of twisted conservative-Utopian worldview.

By doing so, they are ironically sewing the seeds of an unprecedented nationwide backlash movement that poses a direct threat to their Congressional majority with all 435 seats in the House and 33 seats in the Senate up for reelection in 2018.  

Protestors outside Rep. Chaffetz's town hall in Utah

If this past week is any indicator, the Republican establishment seems almost catastrophically tone deaf to the values and priorities of the vast majority of the American people.

Take Utah Republican Congressman Jason Chaffetz's town hall on Thursday evening for example.

Like other Republican members of the House, Chaffetz was home taking the post-election political temperature directly from his constituents.

It was not a warm reception, and Chaffetz is probably itching to scurry back to the safety of the isolated political bubble in Washington where he and other Republicans are content to dwell in a distorted ideological reality.

The House Oversight Committee Chairman, whose continuing obsession with Hillary Clinton's emails borders on partisan political lunacy, was greeted with a chorus of boos and jeers in Brighton High School in a Salt Lake City suburb as he faced an onslaught of questions from angry members of his Congressional district.  

It was pretty brutal.

A young girl asked him if he believed in science.

In response to expressions of outrage over Republican efforts to allow the extraction of fossil fuels from the nation's National Parks, Chaffetz actually told the crowd that solar energy can harm animals and wildlife.

Between the boos and chants of "Do your job!", others demanded to know why the House Oversight Committee he chairs isn't investigating 45's ties to Russia and the role Putin played in manipulating the November 8th election results - or why the American people haven't yet seen the beleaguered POTUS's tax returns.

A woman questions Tennesse Rep Diane Black at a
packed town hall on Thursday

And this wasn't an isolated incident either, other Republican House members in traditionally conservative-leaning "red" states faced similar questions from their constituents.

Take a couple minutes to watch a woman from Tennessee ask Republican Congresswoman Diane Black about Republican efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care Act.




Things didn't fare much better for the Republican-majority Senate this week either.

Republican Senators had the gall to dredge up the obscure Senate 'Rule 19' to block Democratic Senator Elizabeth Warren from reading a letter from Coretta Scott King on the floor of the U.S. Senate.

As Politifact.com reported, Rule 19 was added by the Senate on February 28, 1902 after the junior senator from South Carolina John McLaurin rushed into the Senate chamber, denounced the senior South Carolina senator Ben Tillman as being guilty of a "willful, malicious, and deliberate lie" before getting punched in the jaw by Tillman.

If Republican senators thought that invoking a rule historians suggest has only been invoked twice since 1902 would somehow shield the American public from hearing the truth about newly-appointed Attorney General Jeff Sessions' legacy of opposing voting rights for African-Americans in the south and civil rights, they were way off base.

The recording of Warren reading King's nine-page letter (originally sent to former Republican North Carolina Senator Strom Thurmond, a notorious opponent of civil rights) went viral and was listened to millions of times by people around the globe.

Senator Ted Cruz reads 'Green Eggs & Ham'
on the floor of the U.S. Senate in 2013

As TheHill.com reported, Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders took the floor on Wednesday and angrily announced, "The idea that a letter and a statement by Coretta Scott King, the widow of Martin Luther King, Jr...could not be presented and spoken about here on the floor of the Senate, is to me, incomprehensible." 

He then defiantly read the letter in it's entirety as Democratic Senators Tom Udall and Sherrod Brown had done earlier that day.

The episode didn't just reinforce the perception of the Republican Party as contemptuous of women.

This is the same party that cheered as a self-righteous hypocrite like Republican Texas Senator Ted Cruz spent 21 straight hours on the floor of the Senate in opposition of enacting healthcare reform (during which he also read from Dr. Seuss' 'Green Eggs and Ham' and talked about poker) but silenced Senator Warren while she was reading a letter that was sent to the Senate in 1986 by the deceased wife of a civil rights icon.

During Black History Month no less.

With each day, it seems as if the Republican party puts itself further and further out of touch with mainstream American citizens and the values they uphold.

Just days into this new Republican-dominated government, Congress has already moved quickly to eradicate legislation that protects consumers from banks being allowed to charge predatory overdraft fees, permit mining companies to dump toxic coal sludge into rivers and streams, and further curb the right to vote for people of color, the poor, students and legal immigrants.

Protesters block Betsy DeVoss from entering a
Washington, D.C. school on Friday morning

To say nothing of approving a known bigot and opponent of civil rights like Jeff Sessions as the attorney general.

Or  billionaire Betsy DeVos, (who donated money to every Senator who approved her) with no experience working in education, as Secretary of Education.

These kinds of actions have sparked a nationwide grassroots protest movement.

One that began with millions of people around the globe coming out to protest 45 the day after his inauguration, and has since grown exponentially.

Both online and in person.

As CommonDreams.com reported earlier today, protestors chanting "Shame! Shame!" briefly blocked Betsy DeVos from entering Jefferson Academy in Washington, D.C, this morning as protestors hounded her for buying her way into 45's cabinet and chided her for having no experience as an educator.

The other night protesters stood outside the home of Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell protesting his invoking the aforementioned rarely used Senate 'Rule 19' to block Elizabeth Warren from reading Coretta Scott King's letter on the floor of the Senate.

For example, the March for Science scheduled to take place in Washington, D.C. on April 22nd (Earth Day) is already sparking regional marches in cities and communities all over the world in what looks to be a truly global backlash to Republicans who dismiss scientific research on issues like climate change, fuel efficiency standards and the effects of pollution, toxic waste and pesticides on the environment.

These aren't flash-in-the-pan protests as some conservatives have dismissively suggested.

They are parts of a much larger and sustained organized campaign built on a broad coalition that opposes 45 and the current manifestation of the Republican party.

As the nation reacts to the news that 45's national security adviser Michael Flynn had private conversations with the Russian ambassador to the U.S. at least a month before the compulsive authoritarian liar 45 took office - violations of ethics and the law which both Flynn and VP Mike Pence have lied about in front of the press - the protest movement grows.

A movement that could culminate with the 2018 Congressional elections when 468 members of Congress and the Senate will be forced to face the reality of exactly what American voters think about them and the job they've done.

Remarkably, and perhaps predictably, Republican politician's stubborn inability to reach across the aisle, listen to the overwhelming majority of voters who did not vote for 45, or govern outside of a narrow-minded extremist ideology could very well mark the beginning of the downfall of the GOP.

After all, we're not even a month into 45's administration, and as Lord Acton observed, absolute power has already corrupted absolutely.  

Chickasaw Artist Kristen Dorsey Advocates for Native American Representation

Members of the Crow Nation arrive at Standing Rock

As most of you know, last November hundreds of Native American Water Protectors were gathered with members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe near the Cannonball River in North Dakota where they attracted global media attention for bravely facing off against authorities and contractors to oppose the construction of a section of the Dakota Access Pipeline that would encroach on sacred tribal lands and threaten the fresh water supply for thousands of people in the region.



It is recognized by many as the largest gathering of Native American protesters in U.S. history.

And in many ways it was an awakening of both conscience and spirit.

Not just for the 566 different tribes recognized by the federal government, but for thousands of indigenous peoples around the world and millions of non-indigenous people in America and in other nations around the globe.

Set against the backdrop of the collective shock of the election of Donald Trump, the Standing Rock protests were also a timely reminder of the immense power of peaceful protest, non-violent resistance and the freedom of expression - principles enshrined in the bedrock of American values.

For young and old alike it was a lesson in the importance of standing up for what's right, even in the face of seemingly overwhelming odds - especially in a nation where the power of financial institutions, corporations, conservative political interests and the 1% seems to have grown exponentially.

While there was extensive media coverage of the Standing Rock protests, particularly the unforgettable images of members of law enforcement and private security using dogs, rubber bullets, water from hoses and other means to try and subdue peaceful unarmed protesters, too often it seemed as if the actual voices of indigenous peoples were lost or even somehow secondary to those images.

Now obviously there was media coverage of what the protesters wanted in terms of stopping the pipeline construction, but from my perspective, in many instances the mainstream media rarely dug under the surface into what brought those protests into being.

Chickasaw Artist Kristen Dorsey

Or what it was that drew hundreds of people from other tribes in different parts of the U.S. (and from tribes in other countries too) to travel hundreds or even thousands of miles to a remote stretch of North Dakota to stand side by side with the Standing Rock Sioux.

For those interested in understanding more about the broader protest movement taking place in indigenous communities across America, the critically-acclaimed Viceland recently premiered a new series airing Fridays at 9pm called Rise.

Just go to the Viceland Website to see clips or watch episodes for free online.

The first two episodes probe deeper into the Standing Rock Protests and offer insight mainstream media didn't take the time to cover.


That said, I thought it would be appropriate to follow up my previous blog about the environmental impact of new pipeline construction in America and switch gears by sharing the powerful words of the renowned Chickasaw metalsmith, jewelry designer, business owner, feminist, activist (and surfer!) Kristen Dorsey.

She's a really interesting and multifaceted artist and entrepreneur who designs and sells custom jewelry based on the themes, traditions, customs and imagery of traditional southeastern American indigenous culture where the Chickasaw once lived and thrived until being forcibly removed from their ancestral lands and moved hundreds of miles west by the U.S. government in the 1830's during what is commonly known as the "Trail of Tears."

Take a couple minutes to read an interesting interview Kristen did with author and blogger Kate Hart; it offers some insight into her work, life and advocacy for indigenous peoples and feminist empowerment.

And for you ladies out there, or guys looking for a gift for Valentine's Day, check out her Website to see some of the really cool jewelry she designs and sells.

She's got a few videos about her work on the Chickasaw Nation Video Network too if you want to learn more about what she does.

Oklahoma Rep. Tom Cole 

Last week my friend James shared a letter Kristen wrote to the Republican Deputy Majority Whip, Oklahoma Congressman Tom Cole, just over a week after Trump was elected president.

Cole is also a member of the Chickasaw Nation, one of only two Native Americans currently serving in Congress, and James felt strongly that Kristen's letter eloquently voiced the concerns and hopes of indigenous peoples across America.

People who understand that strong representation in this divided Congress is more critical than ever in the face of the threats posed to the environment, the welfare of indigenous peoples, Native American rights and tribal sovereignty by the Trump administration.

That said, here's the text of Kristen Dorsey's letter, I hope you'll take some time to read it as it offers insight into the goals and aspirations of the emerging indigenous protest movement in America and beyond.

-->

November 15, 2016

Congressman Tom Cole
4th District of Oklahoma
2467 Rayburn HOB
Washington, DC 20515

Dear Congressman Cole,

I would like to congratulate you on your many years of dedicated public service. Today I write to call on you to advocate for Native America within Congress. I understand that you are obligated to the general population of Oklahoma citizens, and not just your Native American constituents; however, it is the unfair burden of the few to represent the many when they are members of an underserved and underrepresented population.

I know that you are proud of your Chickasaw heritage and citizenship, and I know that a strong Chickasaw woman raised you to be so. I applaud and celebrate your political achievements, which give me hope that one-day more Native American voices will cry out within the walls of government. I know that we are mutually related through the bloodlines of Te Ata, who herself was an ambassador for Native People.

I call on you to hear me now. We are fighting for this land and our struggles are woefully underreported in mainstream media. Many Americans see us as extinct, absent, and conquered. Throughout history Chickasaw people have fought for our right to exist. Today our tribal Nation is thriving but my deep fear is for our future generations. They will inherit an Earth that is sick. It is sick with climate change, which is already resulting in massive ecological destruction, and increasingly dangerous natural disasters. The fossil fuel industry has left so many irreparable scars on our earth. Take for example the effects of fracking in Oklahoma. Man-made earthquakes are displacing your citizens. Take for example the Exxon oil spill, our elders cried that day because they saw our ancestral homelands in the southeast devastated by impending environmental effects that we don't even fully comprehend.

I fear for my unborn children. As I write this, thousands of Native People around the country are led by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in demonstrations against the completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline. In the past few months, despite peaceful demonstrations at the construction site near the Cannonball river, our Native American brothers and sisters have been under assault by militarized police as they do everything in their power to protect sacred burial sites and a sensitive watershed from destruction. I urge you to view the on the ground footage of the violence waged against our water protectors by the North Dakota police. I also urge you to contact the Standing Rock tribal leadership to hear their perspective and gain a deeper understanding about the lack of tribal consultation over this project.

Your website states that you support pipelines because they are a safer way to transport crude oil. I hear your arguments, however, according to the Pipeline and Hazardous Materials Safety Administration in 2015 alone there were 715 pipeline incidents. I do understand that much of our economy is built on oil. I also understand that my children and children's children cannot drink contaminated water, or breath polluted air, or live in an ecosystem eroded by massive species die-offs due to rising temperatures. I believe that there are solutions and clean energy technologies which need research, development, and implementation. I also know that our Chickasaw Nation believes the same or Governor Anoatubby wouldn't have sent monetary support along with an official statement of support to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe.

I urge you to re-evaluate your policies and set your political course to move away from the fossil fuel industry. Please actively consult the scientific and tribal communities and reach across the aisle to develop a sustainable energy plan with goals of reducing emissions and dependency on oil, both foreign AND domestic. I also urge you to advocate for the United States to honor our commitment to the Paris Climate Agreement. Every country must work together to save our planet for future generations. Our Chickasaw ancestors sacrificed so much for us. We must now make our own sacrifices for the sake of future generations. Leaders are the people who sacrifice the most and I understand that I am calling on you to make fundamental changes to your political platform, which has undoubtedly contributed to your political success thus far. I do not ask these sacrifices of you lightly. Our future generations need your voice now more than ever.

Chokma’shki,

Kristen Dorsey (Chickasaw Nation)

Polarization In the Pipeline

Opposition to DAPL in Oklahoma on Tuesday

Critics of America's divisive new POTUS have pointed to his unpredictability as one of the numerous flaws in his shaky leadership style.

But on the first Tuesday of this fledgling administration Trump was anything but unpredictable as he signed a slew of executive orders that read like the start of an all-out assault on the environmental protections that keep our air, water and soil safe.



It's probably safe to say that those executive orders were, in part, a reaction to the fact his fragile ego is likely still bruised from all the Women's Marches that took place across America (and the world) on Saturday.

Trump's latest political boasting includes pledges to kickstart the stalled Keystone XL and Dakota Access Pipelines, but if he had even a remote interest in reuniting a country left divided by his toxic presidential campaign, this was clearly not the move. But he did it anyway.

As a brief snapshot-reminder of just how divisive these pipeline projects are, my good friend and former high school classmate James sent me the above photo his wife took yesterday afternoon.

Now some of you may recall that James is a resident of the Chickasaw Nation in Oklahoma, a state where rampant natural gas fracking has already caused an exponential increase in earthquake activity - and yes, the state where Scott Pruitt, Trump's nominee to head the Environmental Protection Agency served as attorney general.

James and his wife were just outside of Ada, Oklahoma on Tuesday when they saw the car pictured above with hand-drawn letters covering the back windshield spelling out the widely-shared Twitter hashtag,  #NoDAPL and the words "Water Is Life."

Major Canadian & U.S. pipelines 

It was encouraging to see that kind of grass roots resistance popping up so quickly after Trump's announcement about moving forward on both controversial pipeline projects.

The White House announcements also sparked quick reactions from environmental groups and politicians in Washington as well.

Including Vermont Senator Bernie Sanders.

The feisty former Democratic candidate, who made opposition to the Keystone XL pipeline a plank of his presidential campaign, defiantly Tweeted that "I will do everything I can to stop Keystone XL and DAPL."

Native American activists who spent months protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline quickly announced plans to oppose it in court if necessary, but the larger trend is troubling for America's natural, political and ethical environments.

Remember, Trump stands to reap massive personal windfalls as a direct result of his using his executive powers to push to approve these pipelines.

Most reasonable-minded folks would call that conflict of interest...on steroids.

Not only has the unpopular POTUS disclosed large personal investments in some of the major oil companies that have partnered to invest in building the DAPL, as Greenpeace.org reported he's accepted large campaign contributions from the CEO of the largest fracking company in America Harold Hamm.

Kelcy Warren, CEO of Energy Transfer Partners

Kelcy Warren, the CEO of Energy Transfer Partners, the company building the DAPL, donated $100,300 in campaign contributions to Trump's presidential campaign.

Trump is already facing a potential lawsuit filed on Monday by a team of legal and Constitutional scholars and experts who argue that his tangled secretive web of foreign investments represents a clear violation of the Emoluments Clause of the U.S. Constitution.

We should all familiarize ourselves with the Emoluments Clause by the way, the way Trump's transition is going, odds are good that we'll be hearing about it again soon.

The massive grassroots opposition to the DAPL and Keystone XL isn't just about those two specific projects, it's also about the larger threat to America's environmental protections that are now in the hands of a Republican president who thinks climate change is a "hoax" cooked up by the Chinese, and a Republican Congress largely bought and paid for the nations largest oil and gas companies.

There are other large-scale pipeline projects in the works that have received far less national media attention which also pose grave potential threats to the natural environment.

Like the Bayou Bridge Pipeline in Louisiana.

As New Orleans reporter Aviva Shen reported in an article posted on ThinkProgress.org back on January 14th, the Bayou Bridge Pipeline would form the final leg of the Dakota Access Route, forming a "bridge" pipeline that would link to an existing pipeline that stretches from Nederaland, Texas to Lake Charles, Louisiana.

Section of swamp in the Atchafalaya Basin

As Shen notes:

"The Bayou Bridge Pipeline would carry 480,000 barrels of oil a day a final 162 miles across the state to refineries and ports, through eight watersheds and long stretches of fragile wetlands."

That includes parts of the Atchafalaya Basin, a fragile system of rivers, swamps, bayous and wetlands covering 1.4 million acres that stretches 140 miles across central Louisiana.

Not only is it a National Heritage site, it's the largest area of wetlands and swamp in the United States teeming with wildlife where the Atchafalaya River meets the Gulf of Mexico.

The idea of a pipeline that carries 480,000 barrels of crude oil a day rupturing in a remote section of the Atchafalaya Basin is like imagining an environmental crime of incalculable proportions.

And remember that's oil we (Americans) don't actually need - the bulk of the tar sands crude extracted from North Dakota will be transported south to refineries and ports along the Gulf of Mexico where it will be loaded on to tankers and exported to other countries.

In the long term that has little to do with America's "energy independence", it only makes sense to the profit margins of the web of companies that will extract the oil, build the pipelines, refine the oil and ship it overseas to make a profit.

Trans-Pecos Pipeline cuts through Texas 

Profit (for a relative few) that comes at a cost to the environment that will be passed on to human, wildlife and plant life in the form of increased toxins in the soil, more carbon dioxide in the atmosphere and contaminated fresh water from pipeline leaks.

There are real consequences to this fury of pipeline expansion, for example an Aljazeera.com article in 2015 reported an 87% increase in pipeline accidents between 2009 and 2014.

Not just oil pipelines either.

With America's untested Twitter-happy POTUS intentionally releasing outlandish headline-grabbing statements via his social media account on a daily basis to distract the media and public from all the real crazy shit Republicans are doing, it's pretty unlikely the words Trans-Pecos Pipeline will splash across the headlines of mainstream media anytime soon.

Since 2014 when it was first announced, local residents who live in the Big Bend region of Texas have been standing in opposition to this project that will transport fracked natural gas 143 miles from Texas to Mexico through a 42-inch diameter pipeline that will transport up to 1.4 million cubic-feet of natural gas per day under 1,400 pounds of pressure per square-inch.

Raise your hand if you'd want to live within a mile of that.

Who won the contract to build this $770 million project designed as a way to export some of the massive glut of natural gas in America (a result of rampant over-production) to a country with the 6th largest natural gas reserves in the world?

As MotherJones.com reported, two multi-billionaires, Mexican businessman Carlos Slim, the 2nd richest man in the world and (drum roll please....) Kelcy Warren, CEO of the aforementioned Energy Transfer Partners.

Same company building the Dakota Access Pipeline.

Same guy who's in business with Trump as you read these words and gave $100,300 to his campaign.

With the profiteering POTUS announcing that his own administration officials will now censor the science presented on the Web pages of the EPA, it's a clear signal that his goal is to allow fossil fuel companies unlimited leeway to encroach on the environment to increase their profits.

It's also clear that this slew of new pipeline construction is going to contribute far more to global warming and political polarization than it will to the long-term prosperity and best interests of the American people.

We're not in Kansas anymore, and we're way beyond "drill baby drill."

And Justice For Some

Standing Rock protesters confront bulldozers
clearing land for the Dakota Access Pipeline

This morning University of North Dakota faculty member and journalist Mark Trahant and Native American activist Winona LaDuke were interviewed on The Brian Lehrer Show.

They shared updates from the front lines of the ongoing efforts to block the Dakota Access Pipeline from infringing on Native American sovereignty and land - and threatening their fresh water supply.

Something Flint, Michigan residents know a little about.

Despite efforts by the federal government, police and private interests to quash this protest, it's only growing.

This morning dozens of people were on hand inside Grand Central Terminal's cavernous main hall to chant and voice their support for the Standing Rock Sioux's quest to protect their water supply; adding to the already significant social media coverage.

In response to reports that law enforcement officials were trying to track individual protesters on Facebook, more than a million people across the globe have used Facebook's Check-In feature to falsely claim to be at the protest site in North Dakota to confuse online surveillance efforts.

The crackdown by authorities against unarmed people in North Dakota is a far cry from how police and federal agents responded to the heavily-armed militants who occupied the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge in a remote area of Oregon last January.  

Ammon Bundy & the six co-defendants
who were acquitted in federal court

As you may have heard just last Thursday a  jury in federal court acquitted anti-government zealot brothers Ammon and Ryan Bundy and five co-defendants of various charges related to their 41-day occupation.

One day later on Friday, about 1,260 miles away near the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota, heavily armed police in riot gear arrested at least 142 unarmed protesters demanding a halt to construction of a section of the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline.

The $3.8 billion pipeline is slated to carry crude oil from North Dakota to southern Illinois, and a stretch of the pipeline will pass near a dam directly underneath a section of the Missouri River just half a mile upstream from the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation.

An accident or damage to that section of the pipeline could potentially threaten the fresh water supply of not just the Sioux, but to farms and other families all along the Missouri in that part of the state.

Read through Alexander Sammon's brief timeline of the Standing Rock Sioux's efforts to block the pipeline; posted on MotherJones.com back on September 9th.

The Sioux Tribal Chairman in conjunction with the Tribal Historic Preservation Office, followed established procedure in their efforts to demand that the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) conduct an investigation to determine the archaeological significance of the section of Sioux land in question - land which the tribe considers sacred.

But repeated written requests were ignored and the USACE basically fast-tracked the permitting process for construction of the pipeline to proceed with virtually no significant environmental impact study - as Sammon reported "Permit 12" covers some 200 different sites covering four states over which the pipeline will pass.

A dog handler confronts protectors
on the weekend of Sept. 3rd

The efforts to block construction of the pipeline that began last summer eventually drew hundreds of members of indigenous tribes from all over the world, as well as thousands of people outraged over the federal government colluding with a private energy company in what some called the largest organized Native American protest in U.S. history.

They began calling themselves "protectors" instead of protestors in light of the fact that they were there to protect the drinking water supply.

But the peaceful opposition reached a violent head on the weekend of September 3rd when Dakota Access, LLC, the company building the pipeline, brought in private security contractors to protect bulldozers clearing land.

Cameras captured inexperienced handlers releasing attack dogs directly into crowds of unarmed people; a number of protectors were bitten, including a child.


The private security personnel also used mace on protesters who were upset over the bulldozers having plowed up swaths of what tribal members claim is a Sioux burial ground.

That scene was repeated last week when large numbers of police in body armor and helmets holding shields wielding long batons, supported by police in armored vehicles, helicopters and ATV's began trying to clear Native Americans from a large campground area; some of whom were on horseback.

Over the course of the Standing Rock protests over 400 people have been arrested.

Hundreds of unarmed indigenous people
engaged in non-violent opposition

Now if you compare the protests by the unarmed members of the Standing Rock Sioux and their indigenous brethren trying to block an oil pipeline from infringing on a natural water supply with Ammon Bundy's group of heavily armed militia members occupation of a federal wildlife refuge facility, there are some similarities.

Both groups were seeking rulings from the federal government related to the oversight of land.


The Sioux initially followed established legal procedure in their written response to the Corps of Engineers and requests for an independent environmental impact study and an investigation to determine if sections of land slated for pipeline construction were burial grounds.

Bundy and his heavily-armed posse of sovereign citizen militia members (most of whom don't even live in the remote Oregon community they occupied) took over a federal wildlife refuge based on a separate court case that had nothing to do with them, their own anti-government grievances and obscure interpretations of law and federal jurisdiction.

But the way in which law enforcement officials responded to the protests by both groups is a troubling example of the inherent bias within the the U.S. justice system based on race and ethnicity.

Ammon Bundy addresses the press during the
Oregon occupation 

Ammon Bundy, a hero of the sovereign citizen movement, has a history of violent confrontation with the federal government stretching back to his father's anti-government confrontations.

Nevada Rancher Cliven Bundy's years of refusal to pay the government grazing fees for the large numbers of his cattle that he kept on federally owned land culminated in a standoff in April, 2014 that garnered national media attention.

In a move that reinforces the old adage "like father like son", on January 2, 2016 after speaking at a rally held in a Safeway parking lot in Burns, Oregon in support of Dwight and Steven Hammond, two men convicted and jailed for setting fire to federal land, Ammon Bundy and a group of armed militants drove to the Malheur National Wildlife Refuge and occupied a collection of buildings.

Their goal was to try to force the federal government to release the Hammonds from jail and also turn over the 187,757 acres of the wildlife refuge established by President Teddy Roosevelt in 1908 to private citizens for "logging and recreational activities".

By the way the Hammonds had accepted their federal sentences for arson and voluntarily showed up to serve their time in jail - they also told the Bundys they didn't want their militia using their court case to justify the illegal occupation of the Malheur Refuge, but that didn't deter the Bundys.

One of Bundy's armed followers during the 
January occupation in Oregon

Their standoff generated global media attention and lasted for 41 days until Bundy and his brother were stopped by Oregon State Police while driving to speak at a local senior center and taken into custody.

But not before one of their followers, Robert "LaVoy" Finicum was shot and killed by police while reaching for a pistol after trying to flee the police stop.




So again, you compare the Bundy's occupation with the peaceful protests by the Sioux and the thousands of followers who've traveled to North Dakota to join them.

One group was heavily armed, the other brandish only signs in a show of nonviolence resistance.

Not only did Bundy's followers openly brandish their weapons in a manner that could be interpreted as threatening and hostile, they actually invited more people to bring their weapons and travel there to join them in an illegal occupation of a federal wildlife facility.

Bundy and his armed posse not only occupied federal property with demands that it be turned over to private citizens, they openly used language suggesting they were prepared for some kind of apocalyptic shoot-out with federal agents and also called for other armed individuals from around the country to bring weapons to the site and join the armed siege.

What did law enforcement do to move Bundy off the wildlife refuge?

Nothing.

Native American activist Winona LaDuke

They never stormed the buildings, they even let Bundy and some of his followers come and go as they pleased for much of the siege.

Meanwhile in North Dakota, unarmed protesters (including old women and children) have been maced, had attack dogs set on them, been beaten with batons, shot at with bean bag guns and been subjected to deafening noise designed to disperse crowds.


Over 400 have been arrested and jailed - some of them held in cages in a parking lot.

As Winona LaDuke said this morning during her interview, the efforts to protect the fresh water supply and prevent a large company from laying a crude oil pipeline over land granted to the Standing Rock Sioux by federal treaty isn't over.

Bundy and his armed followers have been acquitted of all charges, reinforcing the widely-held belief that the way law enforcement deals with Americans who occupy land depends less on whether they're armed and acting legally, or unarmed and acting peacefully - and more on their race and ethnicity.

In America some get justice, some get the business end of the stick.