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| Ruby Montoya protesting in Iowa in 2016. |
For the past few years, the Dakota Access Oil Pipeline’s construction has been criticized and been under massive amounts of scrutiny as conservationists defending the environment and Native American reservations have butted heads with oil tycoons. Why all this conflict? The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,172 mile-long oil pipeline spanning through North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois and became commercially operational in June of 2017. However, this pipeline cuts through the Standing Rock Indian Reservation, home to thousands of Sioux and Plains Indian tribes, and puts many ecosystems and water sources at risk. The construction of the oil pipeline has already destroyed many sacred lands and burial sites.
Ruby Montoya and Jessica Reznicek are two women who joined the thousands protesting the construction of the pipeline three years ago. Now, they face up to 110 years of prison and hundreds of thousands of dollars of fines after they were indicted for vandalism meant to halt construction. Montoya and Reznicek publicly took responsibility for their acts of vandalism claiming it was necessary to protect the rivers and waterways.
“We are speaking publicly to empower others to act boldly, with purity of heart, to dismantle the infrastructures which deny us our rights to water, land, and liberty,” stated Montoya and Reznicek.
When asked about their actions, Kelcy Warren, CEO and board chair of Energy Transfer (the company behind the pipeline), responded, “I think you’re talking about somebody who needs to be removed from the gene pool.” Since the construction, the pipeline has had at least 10 oil spills into ecosystems according to federal reports. Maybe it’s time to clean those pools instead.
To worsen the situation, this past June, Energy Transfer announced their plans to double the capacity of the pipeline putting ecosystems, sources of water, and Native Americans more at risk to spills and overall increasing American dependence on oil.
We are going in the wrong direction, and we need more people like Ruby Montoya and Jessica Reznicek to step up.
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I really liked the fact that this post was about a current event , and happens to be related to our learning of the past through the oil industry. I also noticed that this connects to a huge societal flaw in today's world, not just in history, which is the issue of huge companies and organizations benefiting at the expense of others. I agree that we need more people like Montoya and Reznicek to help make a change and speak for the people, which applies to a variety of other topics, not just this one.
ReplyDeleteI thought your post was really interesting and eye-opening. I agree that it is important to raise awareness about this issue in order to save the reservations and environment from pollution. Upon further research, I found out that there were steps being made to stop construction under the Obama administration, but the Trump administration has allowed the companies to continue building. This shows how the government has a lot of power over the project and therefore, activists should continue to petition their cause in the hopes that construction of the pipeline will cease.
ReplyDeletehttps://www.npr.org/2018/11/29/671701019/2-years-after-standing-rock-protests-north-dakota-oil-business-is-booming
I really liked the detail you included in this post it really helped to paint the picture and tone of the protesters struggle. Along with their reasoning and thought behind their actions. I also really appreciated that you included the response of the oil company and how severe their emotions were behind the their response even though they represent a whole cooperation and not just an individual.
ReplyDeleteIt was super interesting how we can see the similarities between then and now, and how we can still see the power struggle between the people in positions of authority and the general public fighting for what they believe. This is really impactful to see the American tradition of protesting, especially since we just learned today about the first March on Washington.
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