NoDAPL Goes to Washington, DC

About a month ago the Army Corps of Engineers reversed the decision made under the Obama administration to prevent completion of the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). They scrapped their Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) and issued the easement for the pipeline to be completed under Lake Oahe near the Standing Rock Sioux Indian Reservation. The decision to issue the easement came after an Executive Order was issued by newly inaugurated President, Donald Trump.

The protests near Standing Rock were not only lengthy, but oftentimes contentious and even violent. Leading up to the Corps reversal, Standing Rock Sioux Tribal Chairman David Archambault II had repeatedly asked that protesters go home. When word hit that the pipeline would be completed, the call went out for protesters to go to state capitols and Washington, DC.

It was just this last Tuesday that U.S. District Judge James Boasberg (an Obama appointee) rejected the Tribe’s request for an injunction against the DAPL. This was the second time Boasberg had denied a request to halt the pipeline. Only last time the Obama administration overrode his decision just minutes after he issued it.

Well, as planned, the protesters took to Washington today in what was, for all practical reasons, a pointless effort to protest the Dakota Access Pipeline. To be honest, I think the protesters themselves realize that the pipeline will not be stopped. However, they view this as a much bigger issue.

It’s no surprise that protesters in Washington view this as bigger than DAPL. Any North Dakotan paying attention knew that Standing Rock’s protest had been largely hijacked by environmental extremists. A fact that took a bit longer for some folks on Standing Rock to admit themselves.

The March on Washington mirrored much of the propaganda we saw here in North Dakota. For example, this sign:

And then there was this one that speaks volumes about how Donald Trump and his administration is viewed in the NoDAPL camp:

It’s one thing that the NoDAPL folks utilize such falsehoods and imagery, but the unfortunate thing is that many sympathetic organizations utilize them to help further the eco-extremist cause. It was this very thing that helped grow the NoDAPL movement, that as of today has cost the state nearly $35 million.

And, of course, in the footage I watched of the March on Washington there was absolutely no mention of the hypocritical disaster that protesters left back in North Dakota. A disaster that sits in a flood zone that feeds into the same river they are allegedly so worried about being polluted by oil.

Today’s protest activity in the nation’s Capitol was, for all intents and purposes, a pointless exercise of futility. Within days now, there will be oil flowing through the Dakota Access Pipeline and these protesters will be just a footnote in the history of North Dakota.

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About T. Arthur Mason 874 Articles
T. Arthur Mason is a native North Dakotan who has spent nearly all of his life in the Peace Garden State. As the third of four children in Western North Dakota, Mason grew to appreciate family and the outdoors. Some of his fondest memories are annual deer hunts with family and friends. In his early teenage years, faith became a central part of T. Arthur Mason's life. He and the majority of his family attend church together on a weekly basis and find this a fulfilling aspect of their lives. Through the influence of his father, T. Arthur Mason became intrigued with politics. As a boy, he attended political events with his father and enjoyed the friendships that resulted as a byproduct of those political associations. As Mason grew older, he became convinced that the quote often attributed to Thomas Jefferson was true, "That government is best which governs least." Today, T. Arthur Mason enjoys time with his wife and children, an occasional hunt, and an increasingly active life on the political scene. This blog is the fulfillment of a dream to design a web site in the realm of politics and to advocate for the principles of Liberty and constitutionally limited government. On behalf of all those that contribute to The Minuteman, we hope you enjoy your time on the site and will share the message with others.