Dear Al: Letter to Enbridge "..we expect you to clean up your old mess... "

This is my annual letter to you, but it’s been a long time coming. For the past two months, I have been asking you to use your influence to stop the violence on Standing Rock, and in North Dakota, but while hundreds of people were arrested and injured, Enbridge, and you, said nothing.  I think this is a very bad decision for you." by Winona LaDuke, Executive Director - Honor the Earth

This 30 minute video from Al Jazeera offers insight into the battle for Native American land rights as protests continue against the Dakota Access oil pipeline.

A must see, and follow: "One woman’s quest to keep crude oil pipelines out of her Ojibwe communities’ sacred wild rice beds." A film and documentary of history by the First Daughter and the Black Snake 

We are a coalition of grassroots Native groups living and working in the Dakota Access resistance camps along the Cannon Ball River in Oceti Sakowin treaty lands: Honor the Earth, Indigenous Environmental Network, Sacred Stone Camp, and the International Indigenous Youth Council.  The following is our coalition statement on the next steps for the #NoDAPL fight and the water protectors at Standing Rock:

Today, the US Army announced that it would not grant Dakota Access LLC the last remaining easement it needs to drill under the Mni Sose (Missouri River) at Lake Oahe and complete construction of the pipeline.  The statement implies that the Army Corps will conduct a limited Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) on the river crossing and explore possibilities for alternative routes.

The decision comes as thousands of veterans are arriving from across the country to stand with the water protectors and join the frontlines of resistance in the face of extreme and escalating violence at the hands of law enforcement.  

This is an enormous victory for our movement to protect the water.  It shows what is possible when we come together and take action.  We have fought this battle with all of our hearts.  We have been maced, tased, demeaned, beaten, and hit with water cannons in below freezing temperatures.  We have drawn on the strength of our ancestors and refused to back down.  Today our courage and determination were finally rewarded.   

But the battle is not over.  Many questions remain about the Army decision and the path forward....

Once we defeat the Dakota Access pipeline, it is essential that we carry the energy from this fight forward, to the many other places where Indigenous people are resisting fossil fuel infrastructure projects that threaten our lands and water.  We are not fighting a pipeline, we are building a movement.  The black snake has many heads.  We ask you to continue standing with us.

On November 29, Canada's federal government officially approved two major pipeline projects - Kinder Morgan's Trans Mountain expansion and Enbridge's Line 3 pipeline.  They also rejected Enbridge's Northern Gateway pipeline, after years of opposition from west coast First Nations and their allies. 

Once the last piece of Dakota Access pipe is removed from the ground, we at Honor the Earth will turn our focus back to Line 3.  Similar in size and purpose to the recently defeated Keystone XL pipeline, Enbridge’s Line 3 is proposed to transport tar sands oil over 1000 miles, from Hardisty, Alberta to Superior, Wisconsin, right through the heart of Anishinaabe territory and some of the best lakes and wild rice beds in the world.  The proposed route endangers three of the continent’s major watersheds including the Great Lakes, home to one fifth of the world’s fresh water.  It would also pierce the heart of Ojibwe treaty lands, where members of signatory bands retain the rights to hunt, fish, gather, hold ceremony, and travel.  It is our responsibility as water protectors to prevent this.   We will not allow Line 3 to desecrate our lands, violate our treaty rights, or poison our water....

Honor the Earth is part of a coalition of grassroots Native groups on the ground at Standing Rock calling on all people of conscience, from all Nations, to join the encampments and stand with us as we put our bodies in front of the machines.   We are also calling for a month of solidarity actions to stop construction of the Dakota Access pipeline.  Let’s make December an international month of action, with bold and courageous actions every single day, all over the world. beginning with a Global Day of Action on December 1st.  We are asking people to target the 17 banks funding the pipeline and demand they divest from the project, which is already financially vulnerable.     

Take action today to cut off investment for the pipeline.   Join or host local actions all over the world to shut down banks - find a target using the NoDAPLSolidarity page, and find or register an action on the ActionNetwork page, which you can also access via this amazing calendar.   Close your accounts and move your money to credit unions that have no fossil fuel investments, and show the world you're doing it.  

Also, if you live in a jurisdiction currently sending law enforcement to Standing Rock, use the contact info below to demand their removal.   

And keep up the pressure on the Obama administration.  Sign the petition, call the White House, and write to President Obama demanding that he immediately deny the last outstanding easement, revoke the permits, and order a full Environmental Impact Statement.  

On Friday, November 25, after the turkey was pardoned, the Obama Administration issued an eviction notice to the Oceti Sakowin encampments at Standing Rock.  We are a coalition of grassroots groups living and working at the encampments, and we will not be moved.  We stand united in defiance of the black snake and are committed to defense of water, our Mother Earth, and our rights as Indigenous people.  We call on all people of conscience, from all Nations, to join the encampments and stand with us as we put our bodies on the line....

Despite the obvious public safety risk, and despite promises from Morton County that they would clear the road, law enforcement has insisted on keeping the vehicles on the bridge for weeks.  This obstruction of Highway 1806 threatens the lives of the water protectors and residents of the Standing Rock Sioux Reservation, as emergency services have been needed but unable to reach camp quickly....

On Wednesday, November 16, 2016, just hours after the arrival of the drill at Standing Rock, Dakota Access LLC filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Army Corp of Engineers for delaying its decision on the last required easement.  This desperation comes from the company’s January 1, 2017 deadline for completing the project.  Dakota Access has previously told the District Court that if they are not delivering oil by January 1, their shipper contracts will expire and the project will be in jeopardy.  A new report by the Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis, and issued just as the company’s lawsuit was being filed on Wednesday, confirmed these weaknesses in the financing of the project and questioned its entire economic rationale. 

On Thursday, November 17, the largest bank in Norway, DNB Bank, announced that it would sell its assets in the project, in response to a groundswell of popular pressure asking them to divest.   They have yet to withdraw their loans from the project, which make up a substantial portion of the overall project financing, but have said they are considering doing so.

The project is clearly in financial jeopardy...