10 REASONS TO SIGN THE PETITION TO STOP THE DAKOTA ACCESS PIPELINE (DAPL)
If you haven't already done so, please consider signing the petition to halt the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL). Here's why:
- Water is greater than oil. Without water, we die.
- The land the pipeline cuts through was granted to the Sioux People in 1851 via the Fort Laramie Treaty. This is their land.
- The U.S. Government has failed to make good on that treaty, and claims the Sioux People are trespassing. Let's say the land doesn't belong to them (though it does). One leak from the pipeline could destroy their only water source.
- Think that will never happen? It just did.
- Think the government wouldn't approve anything that could potentially harm its citizens? Remember Flint, MI (where, by the way, residents still don't have clean water).
- Police departments from around the country have been dispatched to "defend" the pipeline. Many have refused to go. And U.S. military veterans have announced they will be joining the protestors in the coming days. In sum: This isn't a battle between police and civilians; it's a battle between right and wrong.
- The abuse must stop. On November 20, tear gas, water cannons (in freezing temperatures), concussion grenades and rubber bullets were used for hours against peaceful water protectors. Hundreds were injured, some severely. (Tear gas, by the way, has been classified as a chemical weapon and banned from international conflict - and police departments around the world - since 1993).
- Time is running out. The day after Thanksgiving - the most ironic of days - the Army Corps of Engineers used this senseless act of violence as an excuse to issue a statement telling the Sioux People to vacate their camp by December 5 for their own safety. Those who refuse to leave will be held liable for any injury inflicted upon them. In other words: we've given you a taste of what we can do; leave your own land, or we will hurt you.
- There have been two petitions. If you signed the first one - which successfully prompted President Obama to temporarily halt the pipeline - that doesn't mean you've signed this one (whose purpose is to permanently stop construction). If you aren't sure which petition you signed, check this one out to see.
- The cliché is true: Those who fail to remember the past are doomed to repeat it.
Still aren't comfortable signing the petition? Want more information before you do? Here's some history on the pipeline. Check it out, digest it, and determine which side of history you will be on: those defending clean water, those defending the pipeline, or those who do nothing.