NDakota, A Pipeline Leaks. Again.

Workers unload pipes for the proposed Dakota Access oil pipeline. CREDIT: AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File.

Workers unload pipes for the proposed Dakota Access oil pipeline. CREDIT: AP Photo/Nati Harnik, File.

Everyone is really surprised, right?

The next day, North Dakota’s State Health Department spill investigation team was dispatched to the western part of the state — about 200 miles from the protest camps at Standing Rock — to contain a crude oil spill from a different pipeline.

The spill, which was detected Monday, has sent an unknown volume of crude oil into the Ash Coulee Creek. The pipeline is operated by Belle Fourche Pipeline Co., which has reported 10 spills since 2010, totaling 4,848 barrels of oil and costing $2.26 million in property damage. Belle Fourche’s parent company, True Companies of Wyoming, also has a history of major pipeline spills: In 2015, a pipeline operated by Bridger Pipeline, which is owned by True Companies, spilled around 1,200 barrels of oil into the Yellowstone River in eastern Montana.

[…]

But True Companies is far from the only pipeline company with a history of spills in North Dakota. According to new analysis released by the Center for Biological Diversity, North Dakota has averaged four pipeline spills a year since 1996, costing more than $40 million in property damage.

The potential for a spill was one of the primary reasons protesters at Standing Rock — who call themselves water protectors — opposed the Dakota Access pipeline. The pipeline had originally been slated to cross the Missouri River north of Bismarck; the water protectors at Standing Rock contend that the pipeline was rerouted due to concerns that a spill could taint the water supply of communities in and around Bismarck, which is predominantly white.

Gee, big oil is just so concerned about safety, spills, and are so rigorous in regard to construction, aren’t they? Insert one ginormous eyeroll here.

Full story is at Think Progress. Also up there: The next Standing Rock: Fossil fuel battles loom across North America.

Standing Rock: We Need To Go Home.

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We’re in the midst of a blizzard here in nDakota, and sub zero temps. Chairman Archambault has put out the call to go home.

Putting people at risk in that way is something the ancestral leaders would never have done, he said.

“I don’t want anyone to be living in an unsafe environment,” Archambault said. “We need to stay in prayer, believe in our prayer, and begin our journey home in prayer. I believe in my prayers and in the Creator. Take the lessons we learned here and apply them at home—unity, peace, prayer.”

The camps’ efforts to get the NoDAPL battle to this point have been essential, but “now it is time we pivot to the next phase of this struggle,” Archambault said. “That will be lead on different fronts like in court, with the new Administration, with Congress, and with the investors.”

He said the path is being laid down “to help the world understand that what we asked for, and what we got is the right decision. The world is watching us, and our behavior will determine the final outcome.”

Archambault suggested that each resident make a plan for closing and exiting the camp, leaving the land as it was when they got there, and to get home before the bitterest part of winter sets in.

“Pass this on—let everyone know that we are thankful for their passion and commitment and we are thankful for them all standing with us,” Archambault said. “It’s time now to enjoy this winter with your families. We need all to respect the host tribe’s wishes. We are asking all tribes to pass this on to their members.”

The winter, he added, has barely begun, and the current storm is tamer than what the worst of the season will bring. Temperatures drop even lower than they already have, and the shelters at the camps would be no match for blizzard conditions.

Acknowledging that people were socked in by the storm, Archambault said it was time to take the water protection battles beyond Indian country, to the rest of the U.S. and the world.

“I understand that folks cannot go at this moment, but as soon as this current storm has passed, we must execute an exit strategy and continue our battles to protect water,” Archambault said. “These efforts are not only needed in Standing Rock, but they are needed throughout Indian Country, across America and internationally. I want you to know that Standing Rock stands with you as you return home to carry this energy and movement into the future.”

That’s just a small bit from the full article, which is at ICTMN. People are unable to leave right now, roads are closed everywhere (we’re snowed in too), but this blizzard will pass eventually, then it will be time for people to make their way to safety.

There’s a good rundown of the current ETP financial woes, and the takeover by Sunoco here.

“We’ve hurt you in so many ways. We’ve come to say we’re sorry.”

NoDAPL: It’s Not Over.

Photo by Tod Seelie for Jezebel.

Photo by Tod Seelie for Jezebel.

Yes, there was a celebration over having some breathing room at last. But if anyone knows not to trust government, it’s Indians. There’s even less reason to trust oil companies who are already bursting with billions of dollars. All that money means power, and they do not like being thwarted. They have engaged in an ongoing smear campaign, spreading lies and propaganda, openly purchasing the Morton County Sheriff’s department, with the approval of long ago purchased Governor Jack Dalrymple. The Army Corps of Engineers has asked ETP to stop digging before, and what happened? They went out on a holiday weekend and kept working, destroying sacred sites. ETP does not care what anyone says, they do not think they are obligated to listen or obey in any sense. Their sense of 1% entitlement is even bigger than their pockets. Their hatred of the Indians attempting to protect the land and water, for all peoples, has infuriated them from the start, and that start was in 2012.

It didn’t take long for them to lash out in absolute fury and defiance, in a lie and propaganda filled piece of bile, and their insistence they will indeed complete DAPL as planned. The people at the Oceti Sakowin camp aren’t going anywhere yet.

The White House’s directive today to the Corps for further delay is just the latest in a series of overt and transparent political actions by an administration which has abandoned the rule of law in favor of currying favor with a narrow and extreme political constituency.

As stated all along, ETP and SXL are fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way.

So, keep those donations coming, people, and help in any way you can, because this is far from over. Those of us here in nDakota have already seen what ETP is willing to do, and it’s not pretty. All the veterans pouring into camp helped beyond measure, because even Kirchmeier can figure out that assaulting veterans is likely to result in much media coverage, and negative coverage at that, so they’ve stood down for now, but that won’t last. No one at the camps can afford to leave until ETP leaves, completely.

“We don’t trust anything they say,” Castaneda explained pleasantly. He first arrived at Standing Rock in October, and stayed through most of November before returning home for a spell. He returned this week. Cunningham and a friend, social worker Kyla Ferguson, had been here since mid-November. All three noticed a sudden absence of law enforcement drones hovering over the camp on Sunday. The peace and quiet, they pointed out, coincided with an influx of media and celebrity supporters, not to mention thousands of veterans who arrived to support and defend the water protectors. All three worried that ETP and law enforcement were merely behaving themselves for now.

“Once the media and the vets leave, they’ll start acting out,” Cunningham said. That’s what happened in late October, when seven different police agencies converged on the 1851 Treaty Camp, which stood in the pipeline’s path. The three friends watched as tipis and tents were destroyed. People were sprayed with rubber bullets or dragged from where they were praying in a sweat lodge and arrested. Some 140 people were taken into custody in all. It was a scene he found hard to forget.

“Native Americans have been sold a bill of goods a million times,” he added. “There’s a lot of mistrust.”

Via Jezebel. * #NoDAPL. * The Verge has covered the ETP response. * Then there’s this.

To every single person who has supported us and helped, whether spreading the word, getting the signal boosted, donations of any kind, lila wopila – very many thanks. Thank you all so much. Thank you for standing up for what is right, for standing up for a healthy planet, healthy water, for the wealth that truly matters, family, friends, and a sustainable, healthy ecosystem. The fight for these things is going to get much harder, all over the planet. Let’s keep that love going, and keep standing up.

Facebook: Stealing from Standing Rock.

https://www.facebook.com/ntvsclothing/photos/a.248774832000321.1073741828.245852668959204/527999037411231/?type=3

People being what they are, there are many who are more than willing to steal and scam from actual Native artists, and using the good-heartedness of people who want to do something to show their support for Standing Rock. Indigenous artists have a difficult enough time, there are always a host of people trying to rip off what they do, but this is not only out of control, but once again, FB won’t do shit about it. So, it’s up to you. The people doing the scamming are mostly based outside the U.S., and they have enough money to buy sponsored ads on FB, which are resulting in millions upon millions of views, and worse, shares. Most Native artists and small business owners cannot afford the same amount of sponsored ads, their attempts to alert people don’t get very far, and as Aaron Silva noted in comments in the above post, FB was not allowing him to boost it.

We all know how lax FB is about such matters, in spite of what they might say. If you’re someone who wants to support Standing Rock, and thinks doing a donation by way of getting a cool shirt is a good way to do things, then do that, but do everyone a big favor by putting on your thinking cap, and keeping those eyes sharp. Verify, verify, verify, because money you think is going to Standing Rock isn’t, it’s going into the pocket of a thief. Aaron Silva has some helpful tips on what to look for at NTVS Clothing.

BuzzFeed has an extensive article about the problem. If you see a fake site, please, report them. Warn others, all the things you do on FB when you know something is bad. Native artists and all those at Standing Rock thank you for doing whatever you can to combat this ongoing problem.

Edited to add: If you fell for one of these scams, don’t feel bad, but do get mad, and help take them down!

Kirchmeier: I wanna be a star! Gimme money!

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Goodness. It’s rather clear just why Kirchmeier insisted on millions more on top of the 10 mil already provided, which bought him all kinds of white cowboy military tough guy Rambo goodies, most of which have been brought to bear on unarmed protectors. Hundreds of people have been badly injured by Kirchmeier’s tough dude fantasies, given reality by the unreal amount of money handed over by KKKJack Dalrymple, and we know who is backing him. (When you have invested all your money in oil, made sure there is no oversight and no accountability, why, so surprising oil would have his greedy backside, right?)

Now that millions more have been handed to him, Kirchmeier, after jerking around with the Morton County Sheriff’s fb, posting lies, getting caught, taking them down, lather rinse repeat a zillion times, yanking the whole account down, and now rebooting it, with Kyle the star of his dreams in “truth videos”. Sigh. This man is a flagrant criminal, and he’s never met a lie he doesn’t like. But he knows the truth, you betcha, and of course, he’s a bloody saint, and all those evil Indians and allies, well, we’re savages. And criminals. And liars. I’ve been out to the Oceti Sakowin camp, many times. Kirchmeier is a liar. He lies at every opportunity. I’ve witnessed his actions, I’ve heard his lies, and I’ve documented plenty, along with many others. Anyone with a conscience would be permanently bright red with embarrassment and shame right about now, but it looks like those are two things which do not exist in Kirchmeier.

Story at Medium, via #RuthHopkins.

In the meantime, this fucking thug of an asshole couldn’t even manage a proper thank you to those who fulfilled his Morton County and Burleigh County Cops’ wishlist:

On Friday December 2nd at approximately 2pm CST Water Protectors from Oceti Sakowin camp will fulfill a donation list that the Morton County Sheriff’s Department released on November 22, 2016.

The Oceti Sakowin headsman will join veterans, youth, and women leaders and stand with Leonard Crow Dog who will offer a prayer as Protectors deliver the supplies to the Sheriff’s Department in Mandan, ND.

Water Protectors offer these donations to the Morton County officers in generosity and compassion, despite the aggression and hostility they have shown innocent unarmed Protectors of this camp.

The following is a join statement from the Indigenous Environmental Network and the Indigenous Peoples Power Project :

“North Dakota taxpayers have already bankrolled the Morton County Sheriff Department with approximately 10 million dollars for the suppression of peaceful water protectors. Despite this excessive financial support, Morton County officers are asking taxpayers to donate supplies.

The Oceti Sakowin camp is a prayer camp, and a resilient, self-sufficient community. The camp is full of abundance– in spirit, in humanity, and in resources. Oceti Sakowin has enough to share. Generosity is an original teaching for the Lakota.”

Via Common Dreams.

internationalindigenousyouthcouncilgivespeaceofferingtolawenforcement

Several weeks ago, law enforcement dealing with DAPL protests sent out a list of goods they could use if the community would like to donate them.

The International Indigenous Youth Council saw that list and decided to use it as an opportunity for de-escalation. Lead by the council, demonstrators dropped off Gatorade, water, batteries, breakfast bars and more.

The teens said they wanted the police to know they have compassion for all people and all walks of life.

“As American citizens, as the good American citizens that we are, we went ahead and we supplied them with that. We gave them water because water is life,” says Thomas Lopez Jr., IIYC member.

We reached out to the Morton County Sheriff’s Department who declined to comment on camera. Instead, they directed us to a Facebook post that read:

“Thank you to the members of the International Indigenous Youth Council who stopped by with gifts of supplies and snacks for our employees. Your kindness and support is very much appreciated!”

Via KFYR. Wow, aren’t you just blown away by the thanks? How about how much it has been completely underplayed? You’d almost think Kirchmeier didn’t want anyone to know about this, and given the fact that it isn’t being shouted by the cops, or covered by anyone else, well, I guess that means he keeps getting to paint us as nasty, evil, savages. Look in a fucking mirror, Kirchmeier, and you’ll see the evil.

Fuck Work.

fw

Work means everything to us Americans. For centuries – since, say, 1650 – we’ve believed that it builds character (punctuality, initiative, honesty, self-discipline, and so forth). We’ve also believed that the market in labour, where we go to find work, has been relatively efficient in allocating opportunities and incomes. And we’ve believed that, even if it sucks, a job gives meaning, purpose and structure to our everyday lives – at any rate, we’re pretty sure that it gets us out of bed, pays the bills, makes us feel responsible, and keeps us away from daytime TV.

These beliefs are no longer plausible. In fact, they’ve become ridiculous, because there’s not enough work to go around, and what there is of it won’t pay the bills – unless of course you’ve landed a job as a drug dealer or a Wall Street banker, becoming a gangster either way.

These days, everybody from Left to Right – from the economist Dean Baker to the social scientist Arthur C Brooks, from Bernie Sanders to Donald Trump – addresses this breakdown of the labour market by advocating ‘full employment’, as if having a job is self-evidently a good thing, no matter how dangerous, demanding or demeaning it is. But ‘full employment’ is not the way to restore our faith in hard work, or in playing by the rules, or in whatever else sounds good. The official unemployment rate in the United States is already below 6 per cent, which is pretty close to what economists used to call ‘full employment’, but income inequality hasn’t changed a bit. Shitty jobs for everyone won’t solve any social problems we now face.

Don’t take my word for it, look at the numbers. Already a fourth of the adults actually employed in the US are paid wages lower than would lift them above the official poverty line – and so a fifth of American children live in poverty (edit Charly 17.06.2023 – new link). Almost half of employed adults in this country are eligible for food stamps (most of those who are eligible don’t apply). The market in labour has broken down, along with most others.

[…]

But, wait, isn’t our present dilemma just a passing phase of the business cycle? What about the job market of the future? Haven’t the doomsayers, those damn Malthusians, always been proved wrong by rising productivity, new fields of enterprise, new economic opportunities? Well, yeah – until now, these times. The measurable trends of the past half-century, and the plausible projections for the next half-century, are just too empirically grounded to dismiss as dismal science or ideological hokum. They look like the data on climate change – you can deny them if you like, but you’ll sound like a moron when you do.

For example, the Oxford economists who study employment trends tell us that almost half of existing jobs, including those involving ‘non-routine cognitive tasks’ – you know, like thinking – are at risk of death by computerisation within 20 years. They’re elaborating on conclusions reached by two MIT economists in the bookRace Against the Machine (2011). Meanwhile, the Silicon Valley types who give TED talks have started speaking of ‘surplus humans’ as a result of the same process – cybernated production. Rise of the Robots, a new book that cites these very sources, is social science, not science fiction.

So this Great Recession of ours – don’t kid yourself, it ain’t over – is a moral crisis as well as an economic catastrophe. You might even say it’s a spiritual impasse, because it makes us ask what social scaffolding other than work will permit the construction of character – or whether character itself is something we must aspire to. But that is why it’s also an intellectual opportunity: it forces us to imagine a world in which the job no longer builds our character, determines our incomes or dominates our daily lives.

This splendid article is at Aeon, and the whole thing is well worth reading. There are hundreds of comments, too, if you feel like reading more. The questions posed by the loss of “what do you do” don’t puzzle me, or pose any problems. Well, they wouldn’t pose problems if we hadn’t been so busy getting much too big for our collective britches. The answer is what Indigenous people keep pointing to, and being ignored by the populations at large: community. When there is a community, all the people in it are invested, and everyone works, they all work to to sustain one another, to make their community a good one. Chores are shared, as are burdens, which makes them lighter. In our current societal pattern, when a person is unduly burdened, the general response of those around is to mutter some half-assed proverbial solace, then flee. There’s always a constant fear too, that if we extend ourselves by helping, we may not keep enough for ourselves, and soon find ourselves in a similar unduly burdened state, with nowhere to turn.

We came up with cities to accommodate industry, and their need for workers. Once the workers showed up, those with capital at their disposal began instilling a lust for goods, and propagating the ‘great story’ – if you just work hard enough, you can climb that social ladder! Too many people spend their lives in a state of unthinking misery, constantly on a treadmill of never being quite satisfied with what they have, it’s important to have more. To have better. What will the neighbours think? There’s gentrification, which does not embrace the richness of an area and find a way to make it work for everyone, no, it’s a way to drive all those people away, so it can be properly upscale, for the right sort of people.

A lot of people have enough – they have shelter, clothing, they can put food on the table, they can get around, they have books, internet access, television, all that. And yet, we are taught to not be content. Everything around us screams “if you can’t afford this, you suck!” If we are content with what we have, but don’t have x amount of income, and all the toys to show it off, we’re dumped into the “lower class” box and dismissed. We need community. We need to learn to share, we need to learn to care about the things which matter, not stuff which advertisers and manufacturers insist we must care about. It’s past time we figure out how to care for one another again, on more than one level.

Fuck Work.

Standing Rock: The Veterans Are Coming In.

Veteran Matthew Crane says soldiers like him have skills and training that could be useful in the Oceti Sakowin Camp. (Angela Johnston/CBC).

Veteran Matthew Crane says soldiers like him have skills and training that could be useful in the Oceti Sakowin Camp. (Angela Johnston/CBC).

American veteran Matthew Crane has been to Iraq and Kuwait, and has led disaster relief teams in the U.S. Now he says he’s found a new mission at the Oceti Sakowin Camp in North Dakota, supporting those opposing the Dakota Access pipeline.

The 32-year-old navy veteran is one of a growing number of ex-military members heading to the centre of the pipeline fight as part of a group called Veterans Stand for Standing Rock.

Naturally, Kirchmeier has been moaning about the veterans, saying they will bring violence. Right, because you damn piggish thugs haven’t been indulging in criminal violence at all, right? And shame on all the nDakota veterans* who are standing around tsking, and attempting to pour shame on these veterans who are standing up and doing the right thing. You can all go shut up and hide, and pretend you have morals somewhere in your back pocket. Doing whatever authority tells you, swallowing a gallon of oil and propaganda about us horrible savages, that’s easy. Standing up, thinking for yourself, recognizing evil, and having the courage to stand against it, that’s what the veterans at Standing Rock are doing, and everyone should be proud of them.

My thanks to those cops who have finally seen the light, and have refused to send people here. There aren’t enough of you, but it’s good there are some.

*Also, that cowardly lump of paste has the fucking nerve to say that the protectors have cost ND $10 million dollars. NO, THEY HAVE NOT. That criminal bigot, KKKJack Dalrymple cost the people of nDakota 10 million dollars, and has dumped another 7 million on that, for what? Oh, more piggish thugs! More shiny military equipment with which to brutalize the unarmed protectors. Fuck every single nDakotan who is such a fucking idiot that they buy this garbage. *spits*

Full article is here.

As for KKJack Dalrymple’s supposed “concern”:

The Standing Rock Sioux, in a statement on Wednesday, said that because “the Governor of North Dakota and Sheriff of Morton County are relative newcomers” to the land, “it is understandable they would be concerned about severe winter weather.”

They said the camp has adequate shelter to handle the cold weather, adding that the Great Sioux Nation has survived “in this region for millennia without the concerns of state or county governments.”

And KKKJack says he’s worried about all us Indians in winter. Yeah. Let’s see you walk 250 miles, Jack.

And for all those fucking idiots who keep claiming this is what we deserve, because hey, Standing Rock didn’t show to meetings, once again, yes we did. In 2012 and 2014, along with 2016. Stop spreading that damn lie.

Cool Stuff Friday.

Song Peilun is a hermit, an artist, a former professor, and now can be called the father of Yelang Valley.

After spending almost 20 years trying to build a wonderland-like place, Song’s vision has finally materialized.

It all started in 1996 when he quit his teaching position and spent his lifelong investment to buy a 200,000 square meters’ of land in an isolated mountainous forest area in Huaxi, southwest China’s Guizhou Province, and decided to stay there – just to pursue his quest of building a utopia-like community that resembles characteristics from the Middle Ages, or Winterfell from the hit TV series Game of Thrones.

But Yelang Valley’s civilization is believed to be older than the Middle Ages, before the area was part of modern-day China. Here, experts say, multiple ancient cultures were rooted, which have prospered for tens of thousands of years.

Song, now 76, has been studying the colorful minority cultures that have existed in the Guizhou region for years. After visiting the United States, he was particularly touched by the parallels between the ethnic minorities in Guizhou and the Native Americans – he was deeply saddened to see cultural infiltration had contributed to the loss of age-old traditions and heritage.

But the retired professor and cultural enthusiast wanted to restore that heritage in Huaxi, if not entirely then at least a part of it. He was inspired by the Crazy Horse, a mountain monument dedicated to a Native American warrior, in the US state of South Dakota. Song wanted to create something similar in the mountains of Guizhou.

Before he arrived, some of the villagers living in the area were working as masons, mining in the mountain and selling the stones to make a living.

“It is not fun selling them,” Song remembers suggesting them.

“Let’s build blocks,” he told them.

And the villagers agreed. They later became the architects of the valley that Song was visualized.

Through the years, Song trained them to become landscape architects – he had previously tried building an artist community in another area aiming to bring economic benefits to protect their culture but had failed. In Yelang Valley, he was continuing his pursuit. During the years, many locals aged, some died too, but their collective dream only thrived. And when Song ran out of money, the villagers even volunteered to contribute.

After all, Yelang Valley would become their spiritual home.

After two decades, Song says they have attracted visitors. Many locals, including him, now live in wooden houses perched in trees and the place looks like a settled community, but it is still an ongoing project, the creator adds.

However, along these years, Song’s wish of creating, and then retaining a village far from the hustle and bustles of city life has been hit hard by signs of modernization that are slowly seeping into the community.

But Song says he is not worried – if destroyed, he says, he will spend another 20 years to build another community in the other end of the valley.

This is so wonderful. I’d live in such a place, and happily so. We could use communities like this everywhere. Via CCTV News, Alfalfa Studio, and Great Big Story.

Canada: Trudeau Okays Two Pipeline Projects.

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On Tuesday, Canada’s Liberal government approved two major oil pipelines that, if constructed, would send one million more barrels of oil a day from Alberta’s tar sands — known in Canada as oil sands — to markets overseas. The move brought a chorus of criticism from environmentalists and indigenous communities, which have fought hard against the pipeline projects.

The move could be a major setback for Prime Minister Justin Trudeau, who came into power on a progressive platform that included strong climate action. He has spoken out in favor of the Paris climate agreement, and, under his leadership, Canada has announced plans to enact a nationwide carbon tax. But approving two pipeline projects — even while rejecting the Northern Gateway pipeline — will certainly damage his credibility with environmentalists who had hoped Trudeau’s leadership would signal a clean break from the policies of his predecessor, climate-denier Stephen Harper.

During the announcement, Trudeau acknowledged that the decision was bound to upset many across Canada, but argued that the projects were in the best interest of the country and the economy.

[…]

“Today’s announcement may as well have said that Canada is pulling out of the Paris climate agreement,” Aurore Fauret, Tar Sands Campaign Coordinator with 350.org, said in a statement. “By approving the Kinder Morgan and Line 3 pipelines, there is no way Canada can meet those commitments. Justin Trudeau has broken his promises for real climate leadership, and broken his promise to respect the rights of Indigenous peoples.”

[…]

Vancouver residents — as well as residents of Washington state, which shares waters with the Port of Vancouver — worry that increased oil traffic will raise the risk of a major spill off the Vancouver coast. The product from Alberta’s tar sands is a particularly heavy type of oil known as bitumen, which sinks when released in water, instead of rising to the surface like other oils. That makes cleaning up bitumen spills incredibly difficult and costly — instead of skimming oil off the top of the water, cleaning up bitumen usually requires dredging, which can have serious detrimental effects on ecosystems. Indigenous communities along the Vancouver coast are worried that such a spill could devastate important species like salmon and orcas.

“This issue is as black and white as the killer whales they endanger,” Charlene Aleck, a spokeswoman for the Tsleil-Waututh Nation, said in a statement. “This is about our survival and the protection of our home, this inlet and the planet. They are making a big mistake, we will not allow this pipeline to be built.”

[…]

Local environmental activist groups, however, voiced their disapproval of Trudeau’s decision.

“As thousands of water protectors continue to make camp in winter conditions at Standing Rock, more crude oil pipelines are the last thing the Midwest needs,” Andy Pearson, Midwest tar sands coordinator with MN350, said in a statement. “The Canadian approval of Line 3 is a slap in the face to the landowners and indigenous community members of North Dakota, Minnesota, and Wisconsin, who will work harder than ever to make sure this dirty tar sands pipeline does not cross into the United States.”

[…]

On Tuesday, hours before Trudeau’s decision to approve the two pipeline expansion projects, news broke that Kellyanne Conway, President-elect Trump’s campaign manager and senior transition adviser, would be traveling to Canada before the inauguration to tour Alberta’s tar sands.

The move has lead to speculation that the incoming Trump administration might renew the Keystone XL project, something that Trump promised during his campaign. Following Trump’s Electoral College win on November 8, TransCanada — the company behind Keystone — released a statement saying it was eager to work with a Trump administration.

“TransCanada remains fully committed to building Keystone XL,” company spokesman Mark Cooper said.

We can all thank Prime Minister Trudeau for jumping on the oil wagon, and guaranteeing that Indigenous peoples in Canada and uStates will be endangered and royally screwed over. Thanks ever.

Full story here.