Beyond Standing Rock: As Pipelines Proliferate Across the U.S., So Do Protests
“Hundreds of miles from the North Dakota pipeline protests that garnered headlines this fall, a woman in Iowa stood in her soy bean field, trying to block industrial mowers about to cut down her crops.
In North Dakota, the Standing Rock Sioux argued that a portion of the Dakota Access oil pipeline would threaten their drinking water and their sacred lands, and their protests prompted the federal government in December to prohibit construction on that segment. In Iowa, Cyndy Coppola and other residents sued their state government for allowing Dakota Access to seize their farmland for the pipeline, which would cut through Iowa on its way from North Dakota to Illinois.
Pipelines are the safest and most efficient way to transport oil and gas, and it isn’t possible to meet the nation’s demand for fuel using rail or road alone. But as more oil and gas pipelines crisscross the country, environmental and energy lawyers say protests against them are becoming increasingly common.
“I just stood in front of them,” said Coppola, 68. “I was so angry. I was like, ‘Run over me, I don’t care.’ ”
Landowners like Coppola are challenging pipeline companies’ use of eminent domain to take their land. Environmental advocates worried about pipeline leaks have been putting more pressure on state officials to put restrictions on the projects, or block them entirely. And state lawmakers have gotten involved, with Republicans saying they want to protect personal property rights and Democrats saying they want to protect water sources and the environment.”
Fifield, Jen. Alternet 15 January 2017.