*cautious optimism*
Well, here's some good news for a change: the Dakota Access Pipeline is halted for now. The Army Corps of Engineers has denied the builders the permit, and the Army has agreed to "explore alternate routes."
All my respect and gratitude goes to the Standing Rock Sioux and to those who assisted them. I understand they've been dancing and singing in the camp, in celebration of the victory today. If anyone deserves to celebrate, it's them.
I hope that everyone with concern for the matter will monitor the situation in the coming months and years, because I don't trust the next regime not to railroad the Army Corps of Engineers into granting building permits, trashing Native land, and building the pipeline anyway. However, that's a problem for another day. Today, the water protectors have achieved their most immediate goal.
I hope this will set a precedent. I hope this is the effective protest that makes the rest of the country look up and say, "Wow! Look what they did! Our resistance can make a difference in the threats that face us!" I hope everyone learns about these protests now and understands their heroism. I hope fifty or a hundred years from now, this is in the history books as the moment that turned the tide on fossil fuel dependency.
Well, that's less "cautious optimism" and more "joy and hope." I don't care. We all deserve to feel some. The water protectors took one for the team, and now I hope they can rejoice, enjoy their victory, use the positive national attention to educate the rest of the country further if they wish, and resume the parts of their lives they've had to place on hold.
All my respect and gratitude goes to the Standing Rock Sioux and to those who assisted them. I understand they've been dancing and singing in the camp, in celebration of the victory today. If anyone deserves to celebrate, it's them.
I hope that everyone with concern for the matter will monitor the situation in the coming months and years, because I don't trust the next regime not to railroad the Army Corps of Engineers into granting building permits, trashing Native land, and building the pipeline anyway. However, that's a problem for another day. Today, the water protectors have achieved their most immediate goal.
I hope this will set a precedent. I hope this is the effective protest that makes the rest of the country look up and say, "Wow! Look what they did! Our resistance can make a difference in the threats that face us!" I hope everyone learns about these protests now and understands their heroism. I hope fifty or a hundred years from now, this is in the history books as the moment that turned the tide on fossil fuel dependency.
Well, that's less "cautious optimism" and more "joy and hope." I don't care. We all deserve to feel some. The water protectors took one for the team, and now I hope they can rejoice, enjoy their victory, use the positive national attention to educate the rest of the country further if they wish, and resume the parts of their lives they've had to place on hold.