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Pipeline Project: The Dakota Access Pipeline

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For the most part, everyone is pretty familiar with the Dakota Access Pipeline and the protests that surround it. A 1,172 mile pipeline project running from North Dakota to Illinois. The proposed pipeline will run directly through the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe's land, threatening the water source as well as desecrating sacred lands. Mainstream media has downplayed the concerns of the Sioux Tribe, calling them merely "anti-energy protesters"- however, the issues at hand are far greater.

The DAPL project was approved by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (that's our military, people) using the Nationwide 12 permit process. The Nationwide
12 permit process is a part of the fast-track process (that's the TPP if anyone missed it), that breaks …show more content…

It should scare us all because it is a complete infringement on our rights and liberties. While the light of corrupt land grabs by Big Oil is being shed due to the DAPL, this is not an isolated incident. Big oil companies such as Kinder Morgan use eminent domain to sue landowners who refuse to leave their land.
Recently in Bowling Green, OH- Judge Robert Pollex ruled in the favor of Ohioan farmers who were being sued by Kinder Morgan, attempting to forcibly take their land under the guise of eminent domain.
While this group of farmers were fortunate, not every lawsuit ends so favorably and often time familes and communities are uprooted and have everything taken from them so that Big Oil can turn their land into a profit margin. No one is immune or exempt from attacks by Big Oil. If they refuse to give up their land, like in the case of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, the oil companies simply utilize their money and power to complete their projects. But who exactly funds these types of projects? Big Banks such as Wells Fargo, Citibank, Chase, JP Morgan, Bank of America, PNC bank and a slew of about 12 other banks have all invested in the $3.75 billion …show more content…

So while mainstream still claims that the police and military are not causing harm, that is simply not true. Actually, several officers have turned in their badge, joining the Natives, saying that they refuse to attack Americans on their own soil in the name of Big Oil and WallStreet.

The DAPL should be a wake up call to everyone, Native or not that this country is not ran in the best interest of the people anymore but rather in the interests of corporations. The United States is no longer a country for the people, by the people. It is a corporate oligarchy that is using our military and police as their own personal protectors. While the issue at hand is to stop the construction of this pipeline that is threating the Natives and their sacred land, we should worry about the amount of power Big Oil and Big Banks have. Although everything that is being done by Energy Transfer Partners, in
North Dakota is entirely illegal, politicans are supporting and protecting these companies regardless of what constitutinal rights are being trampled on and that, is a threat to the American people. If we do

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