Daily Archives: December 14, 2016
Pipeline Politics . . .
Well, I guess Verizon was listening in last night to my complaint about how slow the Internet has suddenly become out here.
Because apparently they turned the SPEED knob all the way down to the SNAIL setting, actually more like to the SLOW SNAIL setting. Yesterday I could at least stream iHeartRadio through my Amazon Dot, but not tonight.
But since I couldn’t listen to the radio, I did buckle down and finish my thoughts on the whole Dakota Access Pipeline thing. Sorry it’s so long, but there was a lot to cover.
Let me know what you think, and I’ll try to post this in a cleaned-up version under Greg’s Musings tomorrow.
The Dakota Access Pipeline
As I said yesterday, I mentioned last week that I was going to do an article on what’s really going on with the whole Dakota Access Pipeline kerfuffle. But the research was taking a little longer than I had thought because there are so many different sides to it, more than just for or against.
I’ve read everything from the Wall Street Journal and the Washington Post, through the right-wing and left-wing conspiracy blogs, down to individual bloggers in the area, and on both sides on the controversy.
In fact, going from article to article, it’s sometimes hard to tell they’re all talking about the same thing. But hopefully I’ve been able to lay it all out for you so that it makes sense.
So I started off with some of the main questions.
The Pipeline Runs Through Indian Land:
First off, and I think the most important fact that I discovered, is that the Dakota Access Pipeline DOES NOT run through Indian Reservation land, or even privately-owned Indian land. The pipeline comes no closer than two miles to the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation. At this point in the 1,172 mile pipeline, the land is either privately owned or Federal land.
It does not run through any ‘ancient Indian burial grounds’, ‘sacred lands’, or the like. In fact there already is a natural gas pipeline running through this same right of way. It’s one of the reasons this path was chosen. The route was even approved by the State of North Dakota, the State Historic Preservation Office, and a number of independent archaeologists. NO Indian cultural sites or artifacts were endangered.
The project which has been under construction for almost four years, will take crude from the Bakken Shale formation in North Dakota, through South Dakota and Iowa, to connect with already-existing pipelines in Illinois. The $3.8 billion dollar pipeline is 95% completed, lacking only this small section that will run 100 feet under the Missouri River.
So far two Federal Courts have rejected claims that the Standing Rock Sioux weren’t part of the planning. Both the pipeline developer, Energy Transfer Partners, and the Army Corps of Engineers tried to work with the tribe without success. In fact, over 50 other tribes were consulted along the pipeline’s right of way, and more than 140 adjustments were made to the route. And the Standing Rock Sioux is the only tribe that didn’t cooperate. They didn’t want any changes, they just wanted the pipeline terminated.
The Standing Rock Sioux’s Water Supply Is In Jeopardy:
Years ago, the Army Corp of Engineers and the Bureau of Land Reclamation relocated the tribe’s water intake 70 miles downriver from the pipeline river crossing site, so the tribe’s water supply is not in danger. Plus more than a dozen pipelines already cross under the river in this general area, and there’s never been a problem with any of them.
Stopping The Pipeline Will Help Stop Climate Change:
Stopping the Dakota Access Pipeline will not stop the oil from the Bakken Shale from flowing. It already is flowing. Well, not so much flowing, more like riding in 750 railroad tank cars a day. So what’s safer for the environment, long trains of oil tankers, or oil flowing underground?
Google ‘oil train accidents’ and see.
So If There Were No Problems, Then Why The Did The Corps Of Engineers Deny The Final Permit?
Well, the only thing I can find is politics. At the height of the protests, Assistant Secretary of Civil Works Jo-Ellen Darcy, ordered the Corps of Engineers to withhold the final permit. But digging a little deeper, you find that the final permit had actually already been given. That’s why all the construction workers and equipment were on site. They were already working on the last segment. So actually the permit was withdrawn.
In fact all of the initial permits were in place 4 years ago when the construction actually started. Yes, there were some changes made along the way, but what company is going to risk billions of dollars only to find out that one permit is going to cancel the project years down the road.
This is kind of like you’re building a house, getting all the necessary permits and inspections as you go along. Then when you get the final occupancy inspection signed off and you start moving in, they come back and say, “Oops. Sorry. We’re canceling your occupancy permit.” And when you asked why, they say, “Well, we want you to build the house somewhere else.”
And that’s apparently what Assistant Secretary Darcy wants. She said she wants them to find a new route that will not cross the Missouri River. Now you look at this map and tell me if that’s possible.
The big ellipse is the Bakken area, the black lines is the pipeline already in place, and the red dot is where they plan on running the pipeline under the Missouri River. You’re either going to go under the Missouri River, or over the Missouri River. But you aren’t going to go around it.
There are over 50,000 miles of pipelines in the US. Probably every river, stream, crick, and soggy ditch has a pipeline under it.
What About The Mistreatment Of The Protesters?
Note I said ‘protestors’, not Indians. Apparently even the Standing Rock Sioux tribe are sick of the protesters, who far outnumber them.
First off I refer you to the Facebook page of Louisiana Sheriff Greg Champagne, President of the National Sheriff’s Association. He traveled to the area to see the situation for himself, and found the reality completely different than what he read in the newspapers and seen on TV. I’m going to excerpt some of his observations, but I encourage to read his entire article for yourself.
This past Thursday, October 27th, steps were taken the morning before I arrived which evicted protestors from private property directly in the path of the pipeline. This “northern” camp was erected just days before and the occupants had been warned repeatedly for several days that their presence there was unlawful and that eviction was imminent. These warnings went unheeded.
Despite the statements coming from the media and protesters that they were completely peaceful and prayerful, it has been a fact that more militant protestors (terrorists) have destroyed property and physically beaten employees of the company in recent weeks. I personally witnessed and photographed what I estimate to be at least a half of a million dollars in damage to bulldozers and excavators. I further learned that many protestors other than Native American groups have descended upon the area such as anarchists and eco-terrorists who are hell bent on committing violence and damage. The police presence in the area to protect farmers, ranchers and other private property interests have been costing the state of North Dakota millions of dollars.
… law enforcement evicted the trespassers form the north camp on private property about three miles north of the Cannonball River. While pleading with the trespassers for a peaceful move, law enforcement officers were met with Molotov cocktails and various missiles such as rocks and logs being thrown at them causing numerous injuries to the officers. The only discharge of a firearm occurred when a protestor fired at the line of officers. Miraculously, none were hit by the bullets. When the protestors were moved south of the bridge, two trucks used to blockade the roadway were set on fire by the protestors. This action now has very possibly jeopardized the integrity of that bridge. News accounts ironically then decried the use of defensive equipment such as “riot gear” and armored vehicles by law enforcement.
Many media sites reported only that “heavy handed” police tactics were used upon the protestors who were only praying and “peacefully” protesting. These same outlets failed to mention the shooting, Molotov cocktails, and extensive property and equipment damage produced by some of the protestors. The protestors even cut fences and attempted to induce a domesticated buffalo herd to stampede through the area. The owners of the herd, whom I spoke with personally indicated that at least of dozen of their buffalo were killed by protestors.
I saw several articles on Facebook talking about how the ‘peaceful protesters’ were being sprayed by fire hoses in freezing weather. These articles failed to mention that the fire hoses were being used to put out the burning vehicles that had been set on fire on the Blackwater Bridge dividing the area, and were only used against the ‘peaceful protesters’ when they tried to charge across the bridge.
There was also an article about the police using grenades and concussion ‘bomb’s against the ‘peaceful protesters’ and a young women being so severely injured that she might lose her arm. This story was really big in the news for a day or so and then quietly disappeared.
And the reason it disappeared was not only the fact that the police didn’t have grenades or anything of the sort, but also that the ‘peaceful protesters’ may have been doing a little ‘bombing’ of their own.
According to reports, about 3am, November 21st, two males and a female were observed by the North Dakota Highway Patrol using one of the barricades on Blackwater Bridge to hid some activity. When they were told to retreat, several protesters, still ‘peaceful’ of course, were seen rolling large metal cylinders toward the police lines. At this point an explosion was heard, and several people ran over and pulled an injured female out from under a vehicle and fled.
The ‘large metal cylinders’ turned out to be 1 lb. Propane cylinders, rigged up as IED’s (Improvised Explosive Devices) and it seems like one of them went off early. If you want to learn how to make one of your very own, Google it.
The FBI supposedly confiscated the clothes from the young women at the hospital, and also the ‘shrapnel’ removed from her arm to compare it with the blood and tissue on one of the cylinders.
If they match up with the canister, she could be charged with attempted murder and domestic terrorism.
So much for ‘peaceful protesting’, I guess. Note all of this was taking place on either private land or Federal land. Not Indian land.
Now for the ‘fun’ part – The Conspiracy Theories.
So who’s behind all this, the Knights Templar, the Illuminati, or The Tri-Lateral Commission?
Take your pick. But the two big names that keep coming up are George Soros and Warren Buffett.
George Soros?
Well, he seems to have his fingers in a lot of chaotic pies. He supposedly backs Black Lives Matter and funded the whole Occupy Wall Street thing. It has been said that a lot of the pipeline protesters are being paid, and he’s the Daddy Warbucks behind the whole thing. Several North Dakota news outlets found Craigslist ads offering to pay for pipeline protesters.
And why is he doing this? That’s where it all gets a little fuzzy.
Apparently, just because he likes to stir up trouble.
OK, what’s up with Warren Buffett?
Well, this one, although still far-fetched, actually makes a little sense.
Warren Buffett owns BNSF (Burlington Northern Santa Fe) railroad, the 2nd largest freight railroad in the US, with only UP (Union Pacific) being bigger. But BNSF hauls more oil, you know, like the 750 cars a day I mentioned earlier, than the UP does. So every new pipeline that goes online means less money for him. And just to sweeten the pot, ole Warren is supposedly behind the Keystone XL cancellation as well.
Now, one last, well, not actually a conspiracy theory, but maybe just a theory theory that’s going around.
Why, out of over 50 tribes, are the Standing Rock Sioux so against the path of the pipeline when it’s not even going through their land?
Well, the theory is, because it’s not going through their land!
The Stand Rock tribe is broke. They received a $48 million settlement from the Federal Government in 2012, but spent it all. They had a $6 million deficit in their 2015 budget. So now the tribe is playing hardball.
Stay with me here. It’ll all make sense in a minute.
The pipeline took the path it did, following an already-existing pipeline, because that’s where the Corps of Engineers said it should go. It would be the least disturbance to the environment, and bypass the Indian lands completely.
But remember those 50 other tribes? Many of them got millions of dollars because the pipeline right of way went through their land. But because of the Corps of Engineers’ decision, the Standing Rock Sioux got left out. So the theory goes that when enough zeros show up on a check, suddenly they’ll be perfectly fine with the pipeline.
After all, the Standing Rock Tribal Chairman, Dave Archambault, owns a convenience store and gasoline station on the reservation and is happy to sell gas to both protesters and police alike.
Of course the more cynical among us might say that the entire problem with the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL Pipeline will be made moot sometime during the afternoon of January 20th.
Thought for the Day:
“We must respect the other fellow’s religion, but only in the sense and to the extent that we respect his theory that his wife is beautiful and his children smart.” ― H.L. Mencken
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