Indian People’s Action and 350 Montana will host a #noDAPL Day of Action Rally at the Missoula Army Corps of Engineers office, 1600 North Ave. W., on Tuesday, November 15th at 1:00 PM. This event will occur in conjunction with actions at Army Corps locations all over the country. Other events will be occurring internationally. See www.actionnetwork.org/event_campaigns/nov-15-nodapl-day-of-action-at-army-corps-of-engineers?referrer=350-org A large turnout is expected in Missoula and worldwide. Speakers will include water protectors who have participated on the frontlines at Standing Rock as well as other people with expert knowledge of the issues
The most significant Native American gathering intertribal alliance since the founding of the National Congress of American Indians back in 1944 has assembled just north of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation in North Dakota. Indigenous peoples from all over the world have joined in support of the Standing Rock Sioux. The goal of the Water Protectors at Standing Rock is to prevent installation of a fracked crude oil pipeline passing under the Missouri River immediately above the tribe’s water source. It also impacts Native American archeological sites and sacred ground. The original pipeline route was to cross the Missouri River north of the city of Bismarck, the state capital, and the Army Corps of Engineers, in its environmental assessment, considered this route too dangerous because of its potential to affect the water supply of mostly white Bismarck, ND. Instead, the pipeline was re-routed to cross the Missouri just upstream of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, which is a clear instance of environmental racism. A large oil spill under the Missouri would also dangerously impact millions of other American citizens besides those citizens at Standing Rock, in the three other states that the Missouri river passes through, as well as the Mississippi River and the Ogallala Aquifer, sources of water for much of U.S. agriculture.
The pipeline route at the head of the Standing Rock Reservation lacks the necessary easement from the Army Corps for the river crossing. President Obama has also asked the Army Corps to explore alternative routes. The goal of the #noDAPL Day of Action Rally is to make clear to the Army Corps of Engineers that approval of this project is unacceptable. Climate change demands we stop investment in dirty fossil fuel infrastructure.
Our climate is warming with every new month setting new temperature records and further degrading the support system we all depend on. Every dollar we spend building new fossil fuel infrastructure takes that dollar away from an energy system powered by pollution-free, renewable wind, water and solar. renewable energy.