We the Resilient Ernesto Yerena Amplifier Foundation Offset, 2016 Los Angeles, CA 47863
On Monday, July 6th, a federal judge ruled to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) and empty it of all oil, pending an environmental review. This victory for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other environmentalists followed years of protests against the project.
The Dakota Access Pipeline was a $3.8 billion dollar project to build an underground oil pipeline that stretched 1,172 miles across the United States and crosses underneath the Standing Rock Reservation. The pipeline was proposed in 2014 and immediately received push back from tribes and environmentalists. The Standing Rock tribe opposed the project because it threatened the cultural, spiritual, and environmentally significant lands and waterways.
In 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe sued the Federal District Court in Washington to stop construction and won an early victory. Soon after coming into office in 2017, Trump signed a presidential memorandum that directed federal agencies to expedite reviews in order to start the construction of the pipeline. The pipeline was fully functioning by June 2017.
“Today is a historic day for the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the many people who have supported us in the fight against the pipeline,” Chairman Mike Faith said on behalf of the lead plaintiff in the lawsuit. “This pipeline should have never been built here. We told them that from the beginning.”
CSPG's Poster of the Week is by Ernesto Yerena and honors Helen Red Feather of the Lakota tribe during her bravery and resilience at the Standing Rock reservation in 2016. The original image was taken at a protest against the Dakota Access Pipeline by Ayşe Gürsöz.
This post was written by Haley Vallejo