Call to Action- Dapl

Dear Mr. Burgum-
A call to action. That’s what the world needs. It’s what the US needs. We, as a country, need to stand up for what is right, and save our future generations. The Dakota Access Pipeline, or DAPL, represents the greed of the fossil-fuel industry, and the belief of Manifest Destiny; that it’s inevitable that all Native American lands will eventually belong to white people. DAPL, along with all other pipeline and fossil fuel projects, needs to be stopped.
	Through DAPL, the government is taking Iowa farmers’ and Native American land. ETP, a private Texas Oil company, is also taking advantage of the limited power that Native Americans have, and destroying their sacred sites, taking their land, as well as poisoning their water. If the government only cares for itself, the people will overthrow it. Pipelines, since 2010, have caused over 3,300 accidents, with 80 people being killed, 389 more injured, and over $2.8 Billion dollars in damages. DAPL will only make this worse.
	As DAPL transports oil throughout the US, it has already leaked. This means that the surrounding area will be destroyed, as oil is toxic to everything. Pipelines are never environmentally friendly, and the Army Corps of Engineers proved that by cheating on the environmental checks. If DAPL was environmentally friendly, the Army Corps of Engineers wouldn’t have used Nationwide Permit 12, which is the lowest environmental check, and is used for small scale projects such as boat ramps. Your land is being poisoned; you need to act!
	Even today, some people think Native Americans don’t exist. This is what undermines their power, and makes their voice unable to be heard. You, as the protector of your state, and its inhabitants, need to support the Sioux nation and your people. Wowacintanka and Wascantognaka- two extremely important Lakota values: respect and generosity. As a governor, you need to respect the Native American people, and be generous person, helping them achieve an equal voice and place in society.
	This isn’t the first time the Sioux’s land has been taken. The government first took the Black Hills, which was stipulated in the 1851 treaty of Fort Laramie to be part of the Sioux’s land. In 1948, the Army Corps of Engineers dammed the Missouri river to create Lake Oahe, which destroyed thousands of homes and acres of orchards and forests. Boarding schools during the 1960s were also used to harm Native Americans, taking children from their homes and making them forget who they are, what their history is, what their culture is, and who their family is. The US government still believes it has the right to take Native American land; it believes in Manifest Destiny.
	Throughout history, the Sioux have had no voice. ETP is taking advantage of that, using eminent domain to take their land. They also hired security officers, the national guard, and police officers to take care of the protestors. Now, some of the protestors did get violent, but most of the arrests were unlawful and wrong. The ETP has spun the story in its favor, claiming the protesters were actually the ones torturing the police. However, the security guards and other law enforcement officials they hired used water hoses in sub-zero temperatures, snarling attack dogs, rifles, sound cannons,  flash grenades, and rubber bullets to attack peaceful protesters. This has to end; there shouldn’t even be a debate about whether the pipeline should be allowed to continue. It’s immoral and harms the future of our society.

	If we want our world to survive, we need to stop poisoning it with the greed of the government and fossil-fuel industries. Using projects that are not environmentally friendly hinders our progress towards a better world, and by letting the project stand, we are saying it’s ok to completely ignore the rights of Native Americans, and everything they hold dear. We, as a nation, love getting our voice heard, don’t we? We value our natural rights. So why do you, along with the government, keep denying Native Americans theirs?