Trump To Go Ahead With DAPL, Keystone; Eminent Domain, Pollution To Follow But No Energy Independence

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Realistically, however, the United States and the rest of the world need energy and that, for now at least, means oil. So while acknowledging the necessity of oil to our economy and survival as it stands, we must also acknowledge that there instances in which environmental risk or the loss of citizen’s rights should prevent certain projects from moving forward. 

The Dakota Access Pipeline and the Keystone XL are two examples of projects that should be either stopped or at least restructured so as to eliminate the destruction of private property rights, of Native American (and thus American) heritage, and drinking water supplies. 

Trump’s new order has essentially reignited a controversy that need not be reignited and will serve only Big Oil in the long and short run. 

The Sioux tribe in North Dakota has long been at the forefront of the fight against DAPL, arguing that the pipeline goes through their ancestral burial ground and that they were not properly consulted when the pipeline was drawn up. The United States government is once again keeping with its tradition of refusing to honor the treaties with Native Americans. Yet the concern also lies with the fact that the pipeline is designed to travel underneath a water source, Lake Oahe, that provides drinking water to over 17 million people, non-native Americans included. One mistake – one more pipeline “leak” like we saw in 2016 on several occasions – and 17 million people are without a clean water source. 

And for what? Cheaper gas? Energy independence? Both are goals we must try to achieve as they are both vital to the American economy and even national security. But if energy independence is the goal, then why is the United States selling so much of the oil it produces in America to foreign countries? Why doesn’t that oil stay in America? The oil from DAPL is no different. It too, despite all the controversy, appears to be up for sale to other countries. If cheaper fuel prices are truly what we are after, then why is Wall Street allowed to speculate the price of oil through the roof? 

Lastly, if energy independence is our goal, then why are we killing ourselves to find new and sometimes much more dangerous ways of extracting a finite substance from finite areas of harvest? Why would we not be exploring and developing methods of clean, renewable, environmentally friendly, and free forms of energy? Do I even need to answer that question?

And what of the little-discussed issue of Eminent Domain? Both the Keystone and DAPL projects will be completed by the theft of land owned by ordinary Americans – workers, farmers, and people who have their whole family history tied to their land. Both Energy Transfer Partners and TransCanada have already tried to wrest land away from homeowners and farmers for the project. 

So, once again, Americans will have their property, history, and livelihood simply taken from them for the benefit of massive corporations and Big Oil. Half of the rest of the country will simply cheer on the corporations, however, because they believe they will pay a few cents less at the gas pump or because they feel America will finally be free of “our dependence on the Middle East” for oil. “Environmentalists” and “dirty protesters” are finally getting shown who is boss. Meanwhile, the other half of the country will be mired in futility, crying about global warming and carbon footprints, ensuring that anyone who desires reasonable living standards will totally ignore them. 

America needs energy independence. It also needs clean, free, renewable energy. It needs an environment and a culture that values individuals more than the market and business. We do not have to choose between energy austerity and our environment or our rights. We can have the energy we so desperately need, our environment, and our rights at the same time. 

We strongly encourage both the Trump administration and the Keystone/DAPL protesters to consider the following ideas as a potential solution to our current problem. For the administration, these points are a roadmap for policy. For protesters, they are a list of demands. They are as follows: