A $300 million trial over Greenpeace’s role in damaging protests over the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) began on Monday, putting the eco-activist group at risk of bankruptcy.
Jury selection begins Monday in the trial that Greenpeace says has the potential to bankrupt the international environmental group. Energy Transfer Partners, the developer of the DAPL, has accused Greenpeace of defamation and inciting damaging sabotage during the pipeline’s construction in 2016 and 2017.
The environmental group has said the lawsuit is a fight over free speech.
“This case is a prime example of corporations abusing the legal system to silence critics and keep their operations secret,” Greenpeace USA interim executive director Sushma Raman said in a <a href="https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/greenpeace-organizations-go-to-trial-on-high-stakes-slapp-lawsuit-that-could-redefine-protest-rights/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">statement</a>. “It is also a critical test of the future of the First Amendment – both freedom of speech and peaceful protest – under the Trump Administration and beyond. But we are fighting back, and we are not fighting back alone.”
Energy Transfer has stayed quiet publicly ahead of the trial. Last year, the company said the lawsuit was about illegal interference in the pipeline’s construction, not “free speech.”
“Our lawsuit against Greenpeace is not about free speech as they are trying to claim. It is about them not following the law. We support the rights of all Americans to express their opinions and lawfully protest. However, when it is not done in accordance with our laws, we have a legal system to deal with that. Beyond that we will let our case speak for itself in February,” the company <a href="https://energytransferfacts.com/blog/response-to-greenpeace/">said</a> in September.
Protesters caused millions of dollars worth of damage in attacks on the pipeline and building equipment. One activist, Jessica Reznicek, was <a href="https://www.desmoinesregister.com/story/news/crime-and-courts/2022/06/06/dakota-access-pipeline-dapl-protestor-sentence-jessica-reznicek/7535555001/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">sentenced</a> to eight years in prison in 2021 for setting a bulldozer on fire and damaging portions of the pipeline with an acetylene torch.
Energy Transfer <a href="https://ir.energytransfer.com/news-releases/news-release-details/energy-transfer-files-federal-lawsuit-against-greenpeace" target="_blank" rel="noopener">accused</a> Greenpeace and others in 2017 of “directly and indirectly fund[ing] eco-terrorists on the ground in North Dakota. These groups formed their own outlaw camp among peaceful protestors gathered near Lake Oahe, and exploited the peaceful activities of these groups to further the Enterprise&#8217;s corrupt agenda by inducing and directing violent and destructive attacks against law enforcement as well as Plaintiffs’ property and personnel.”

DAPL protest

Trial Begins In $300M Suit That Threatens To Bankrupt Greenpeace

Courts

Dakota Access Pipeline

Greenpeace

North Dakota

Politics

An <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/arizona" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Arizona</a> woman who sabotaged the <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/topic/dakota-access-pipeline" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Dakota Access pipeline</a> and set fire to equipment to protest the controversial project was sentenced by a federal judge Thursday to six years in prison.
Ruby Katherine Montoya, 32, who used a cutting torch to damage the oil pipeline in Iowa in 2016 and destroyed equipment over the next year, was also ordered to pay $3.2 million in restitution, <a href="https://apnews.com/article/fires-crime-iowa-dakota-access-pipeline-11f0b30fc86fa2326d8e09fe526d9157" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Associated Press reported</a>.
“The sentence imposed today demonstrates that any crime of domestic terrorism will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted by the federal government,” U.S. Attorney Richard Westphal said in a statement.
Montoya, who conspired to damage an energy facility, worked with Jessica Reznicek to sabotage the pipeline and equipment used to work on it. In 2016, they torched a bulldozer and other heavy equipment in central Iowa, according to authorities. Reznicek was sentenced to eight years in prison in 2021 after pleading guilty to similar charges. That sentence was upheld on appeal in June.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
Woman gets six years in prison for damaging Dakota Access pipeline <a href="https://t.co/BXdZpatrdJ">https://t.co/BXdZpatrdJ</a>
&mdash; The Globe and Mail (@globeandmail) <a href="https://twitter.com/globeandmail/status/1573130923507613696?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">September 23, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Native Americans and environmentalists fought the $3.8 billion, 1,170-mile pipeline, which was completed in 2017. The opposition was similar to that faced by the Keystone XL pipeline, which President Joe Biden ordered stopped shortly after taking office.
Opponents, most of whom are against fossil fuels of any kind, claimed the pipelines pose a danger of oil spills. Some landowners also opposed the use of eminent domain to build the Dakota Access pipeline, and the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe claimed it passed over sacred lands. Even though the pipeline has been operational for five years, opponents are still demanding that the Biden administration shut it down.
Pipeline proponents say moving oil via pipelines is safer than by rail, creates jobs and boosts U.S. domestic energy production at a time when fuel prices have spiked.
The Dakota Access pipeline starts in the Bakken Formation shale oil fields in North Dakota and carries up to 750,000 barrels of oil per day south through South Dakota and Iowa and to a terminal in Illinois.

Environmental Activists Call On Biden Administration To Cancel Oil Pipeline Projects

Woman Who Sabotaged Dakota Access Pipeline Gets 6 Years In Prison, $3M Fine

Woman Who Sabotaged Dakota Access Pipeline Gets 6 Years In Prison

Environmentalism

Fracking

Iowa

During a congressional hearing, Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) attempted to tie “fossil fuel extraction” to the kidnapping, rape, and murder of American Indian women. She intimated that local police officers helped facilitate this violence by protecting the safety of pipeline workers from violent environmentalist activists. And she seemed to blame the Keystone XL pipeline for crimes that took place in areas where it had not been built.
AOC, who blames fossil fuels for climate change and has <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/watch-ocasio-cortez-tries-grill-wells-fargos-ceo-ryan-saavedra">asked</a> bank executives if they should be held responsible for climate change because of their services to the energy industry, said she found a “very meaningful connection” between “fossil fuel extraction sites and abductions and murders of indigenous women.”
Ocasio-Cortez said “ruthless” oil companies encourage violence, and she accused unnamed state legislatures of “authorizing and almost legalizing the use of violence against fossil fuel protesters.” In fact, environmentalist protesters have frequently threatened — or perpetrated —  violence against oil and gas industry workers, especially at pipeline worksites. For instance:
<ul>
<li>A team of 20 environmentalist extremists attacked a pipeline worksite with <a href="https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10528525/Trudeau-ignores-violent-terrorism-20-eco-terrorists-axes-surround-Gaslink-pipeline-workers.html">axes and shot flare guns</a> at workers in British Columbia. They felled trees across roadways and threw torches at the Royal Canadian Mounted Police officers who responded. A policeman called the February 17 assault on the Coastal Gaslink pipeline “a calculated and organized violent attack that left its victims shaken and a multimillion dollar path of destruction.” No arrests were made;</li>
<li>In September 2016, a group of protesters <a href="https://www.breitbart.com/border/2016/09/05/militant-native-american-protesters-attack-pipeline-crew/">attacked</a> pipeline workers near the Standing Rock reservation, injuring four security officers and <a href="https://www.foxnews.com/us/oil-pipeline-protest-turns-violent-after-american-indian-burial-sites-destroyed">two dogs</a>; and</li>
<li>One protester against the Dakota Access Pipeline <a href="https://www.nationalreview.com/2016/12/dakota-access-pipeline-violence-rules/">shot at police three times</a> with a .38 caliber pistol. Other demonstrators threatened cops with Molotov cocktails and hurled feces at them. Security guards also say the Green activists attacked them, flashing a handgun and a knife.</li>
</ul>
Ocasio-Cortez seemed outraged that local police officers would “protect their extraction sites” from such protests, “even when workers are raping and killing indigenous women.”
AOC seemed to say that proposing a pipeline caused murders to increase. The congresswoman reported that 10% of indigenous murders or kidnappings that took place in “states affiliated with pipeline projects” had “occurred in counties where the Keystone Pipeline alone is proposed to be built.” Ocasio-Cortez did not explain how the future construction of the pipeline retroactively caused deaths and kidnappings to occur in the past.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="500" data-dnt="true">
.<a href="https://twitter.com/AOC?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@AOC</a>: &quot;Fossil Fuel extraction&quot; is correlated with &quot;abduction and murders of indigenous women across the United States&quot; <a href="https://t.co/eUXYcNaJmQ">pic.twitter.com/eUXYcNaJmQ</a>
&mdash; Tom Elliott (@tomselliott) <a href="https://twitter.com/tomselliott/status/1504566064084094986?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">March 17, 2022</a></blockquote>
<script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The hearing drew attention to the tangled, overlapping web of police jurisdictions that come into play at a reservation; unfortunately, not all of its conclusions were accurate.
AOC’s witness — Angel Charley, executive director of the Coalition to Stop Violence Against Native Women — testified that oil and natural gas companies set up “man camps” for pipeline workers, who abuse American Indians with impunity, because “many tribes do not have tribal jurisdiction over non-Native workers.”
Ocasio-Cortez asked whether this means criminals “essentially escape jurisdiction from having a clear path to accountability because of where these sites are happening.” Charley agreed.
In fact, all crimes that take place on reservations are punishable — and some law enforcement officers say giving reservations more jurisdiction may reduce the number of prosecutions. “The FBI has exclusive jurisdiction for about 20 serious crimes on Indian land such as murder, rape, robbery, etc., and will come in and take over any investigation when and if those crimes occur,” Tim Dees, a former tribal law officer, <a href="https://www.huffpost.com/entry/if-you-commit-a-crime-can_b_1507190">explained</a>. Some tribes allow local police departments to make arrests and bring charges on their land, while others entrust this exclusively to tribal law enforcement officers.
Reservations are a frequent haven for American Indian fugitives. “Tribal governments are notoriously political, and taking enforcement action against a favored person, such as the tribal chairman&#8217;s nephew, could be fatal to one&#8217;s career,” Dees wrote. South Dakota reservations sheltered <a href="https://www.indianz.com/News/2018/07/17/native-sun-news-today-county-looks-at-fu.asp">22%</a> of all active felony warrants issued by the Pennington County Sheriff’s Office in 2018.
For her final question, Ocasio-Cortez asked Charley to explain “how this collaboration between law enforcement and fossil fuel companies puts indigenous women, in particular, at heightened risk of abduction and murder.”
Charley cited no facts and replied with only one sentence: “This is a continuation of state violence against indigenous women.”
“I think what we see here is that the data speaks [sic] for itself,” Ocasio-Cortez replied.
The Bronx socialist’s comments came during a March 3 congressional hearing on “The Neglected Epidemic of Missing BIPOC Women and Girls.” The Democrat-controlled House Oversight and Reform Committee echoed MSNBC’s <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/joy-reid-goes-off-on-missing-white-woman-syndrome-candace-owens-has-a-question">Joy Reid</a> in <a href="https://oversight.house.gov/legislation/hearings/the-neglected-epidemic-of-missing-bipoc-women-and-girls">bemoaning</a> “missing white woman syndrome.” While the committee asserted without proof that “white women are given vastly higher levels of media attention than women of color,” it admitted “the problem is impossible to measure” due to a lack of data.
In <a href="https://docs.house.gov/meetings/GO/GO02/20220303/114460/HHRG-117-GO02-Wstate-CharleyA-20220303.pdf">written testimony</a>, Charley blamed the murder rate on “systemic racism” that is “rooted in the devaluation of [i]ndigenous lives since the onset of colonization.” But the committee said, “The disproportionate rate of missing Black and Indigenous women and girls can be attributed to … higher rates of intimate partner violence against BIPOC women than white women.” In 2016, the National Institute of Justice, a U.S. government institution, found American Indian and Alaska Native women were <a href="https://nij.ojp.gov/topics/articles/violence-against-american-indian-and-alaska-native-women-and-men">1.6 times</a> as likely as non-Hispanic white women to suffer domestic violence. The difference in the rate of sexual assaults was not statistically significant.
Critics of the hearing suggested that AOC should spend more time focusing on her own district’s surging crime rate. “Are they drilling in NYC?” <a href="https://twitter.com/paul02663276/status/1504648185712500739">asked</a> one Twitter user. New York City experienced <a href="https://abc7ny.com/nyc-crime-causes-shootings-murders/11505549/">485 murders</a> in 2021, and the number of major crimes committed in the Big Apple — such as homicide, rape, robbery, felonious assault, and burglary/grand theft — reached its <a href="https://nypost.com/2022/01/03/nyc-wiped-out-five-years-of-policing-progress-in-2021/">highest level in five years</a>.

Boston Mayor, Activists Rally To Ask Jeff Flake To Reject Kavanaugh Nomination

AOC Links ‘Fossil Fuel Extraction’ To The Murder Of Indigenous Women. Here’s Why It Doesn’t Work.

Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez

Energy

Environmentalists

Keystone XL

I started pipelining in 2008 during one of the worst economic recessions our country has ever witnessed. I’ve seen disaster after disaster, both natural and policy-related, devastate our oil and gas supply over the past 13 years of my pipelining career. Yet through all of this, I have never been more concerned for our nation and its energy security than I am right now, watching the Biden administration minimize the progress we have made over the past decade.
I began my career as a welder’s helper before realizing that I had all of the necessary skills to be a pipeline welder myself. I’ve become passionate about doing my part to bring reliable, affordable, safe energy to the American people. Being married to someone in the pipeline industry as well, we’ve seen the industry change over the years— sometimes for the better and lately, for the worst.
After working 10 to 12 hour shifts on projects across the country and making a good living, I was instantly out of a job when President Biden decided to <a href="https://www.realclearenergy.org/articles/2021/07/28/why_is_the_biden_administration_attacking_americas_energy_independence_787549.html">favor foreign pipelines</a> over critical infrastructure projects like the Keystone XL pipeline here at home. Not only was I immediately out of a job during a struggling, post-pandemic job market, but I was pregnant with my first child. This past year and a half was supposed to be the most joyful year of my life— not the most stressful. However, President Biden seemed to have other plans for pipeliners like myself.
When you have a child, your entire mindset changes. I instantly went into “provider mode,” yet I no longer had a job and paycheck to help provide for my family. I’ve now been laid off for over a year and disadvantaged because of the effective halt on new pipeline projects in our country. At this point, I see very little hope for the future of American energy. I’m disappointed in President Biden’s failing leadership, which has impacted my husband, my newborn son, and the course of our nation.
Pipeline welding is all I’ve ever known. And I don’t just believe in it because it’s my job, I believe in it for the sake of my son’s future – our nation’s future. Hardworking families like mine need <a href="https://news.bloomberglaw.com/securities-law/the-natural-gas-reality-check-a-96-billion-price-tag">affordable gas</a> for our vehicles and cheap energy to heat our homes, dry our clothes, and cook dinner. I can’t imagine how bad it will be if these rising gas prices continue.
Prioritizing pipeline infrastructure in America is the best path forward from an environmental perspective. A <a href="https://www.fraserinstitute.org/article/pipelines-are-safest-way-transport-oil-and-gas">recent study</a> reaffirms that pipelines are 4.5 times safer than transporting oil and gas by rail or truck. If the Biden administration is trying to be environmentally conscious, they better look at the facts before trying to threaten viable pipelines like Dakota Access. Pipelines are the most climate-friendly, effective option; far more “green” and safe compared to the alternatives.
One missed paycheck at a time, I lose more hope in the current state of our country. During his campaign, Joe Biden promised to be an advocate for middle class families. However, he has instead <a href="https://www.foxbusiness.com/energy/keystone-xl-cancellation-has-ripple-effect-on-pipeline-workers-native-americans">killed thousands of family-sustaining pipeline jobs</a>. I will most likely have to settle for an entry-level job with entry-level pay here in Tennessee now that there seems to be no realistic options. John Kerry’s <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2021/01/29/kerrys-misleading-framing-potential-solar-wind-jobs/">empty promise</a> of employing us in solar panel jobs has so far not come to fruition. The Biden administration is putting people like myself out of jobs that are needed now more than ever as we try to recover post-pandemic.
I found purpose in working on projects like the Keystone pipeline, Mountaineer Express, and the Buckeye Express over the past thirteen years. My hope is that one day I’ll get to do the job I love again, in order to provide for my family and provide reliable energy to Americans.
The views expressed in this opinion piece are the author’s own and do not necessarily represent those of The Daily Wire.
Suzanne Walker is a pipeline welder based in Reagan, Tennessee, who lost her job after President Biden canceled Keystone XL. She is affiliated with Pipeliners Local Union 798.

Joe Biden

Joe Biden’s Energy Policies Hurt My Family

Following President Joe Biden’s decision to kill the Keystone XL pipeline by way of an executive order, more than 200 environmentally-conscious celebrities have called upon the president to kill the Dakota Access Pipeline.
&#8220;More than 200 people have signed a letter addressed to Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris urging them to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline after a court ruled that President Donald Trump’s administration broke the law when it pushed forward with construction during his tenure in the White House,&#8221; reports <a href="https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/rambling-reporter/leonardo-dicaprio-ava-duvernay-and-more-stars-call-on-biden-to-shut-down-dakota-access-pipeline">The Hollywood Reporter</a> (THR).
&#8220;Some of those include Leonardo DiCaprio, Cher, Ava DuVernay, Jane Fonda, Robert Downey Jr., Chris Evans, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Don Cheadle, Jason Momoa, Kerry Washington, Sarah Silverman, Amy Schumer, Chelsea Handler, Jennifer Connelly and Paul Bettany, Joaquin Phoenix and Rooney Mara,&#8221; the report continued. In the lengthy letter, the signatories call upon Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris to stop the Dakota Access Pipeline, arguing that it violated the sovereignty rights of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and was not given an Environmental Impact Statement.&#8221; In 2016, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe became the epicenter of a global climate justice movement to stop the illegal construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline,&#8221; the letter states. &#8220;The pipeline had originally been slated to cross the Missouri River north of Bismarck, ND, yet the risk of an oil spill on the city’s 90% white inhabitants was deemed too great. The new crossing site shifted the risk to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, in a location of key religious and cultural importance, including the burial grounds of their ancestors. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved several of the required permits without conducting an Environmental Impact Statement or adequately consulting with the Tribe.&#8221;
&#8220;After several months of peaceful demonstrations and the advocacy of tens of millions of Americans, President Obama listened to the demands of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe,&#8221; it continues. &#8220;He declined to issue the final pipeline permit. Then the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers announced they would conduct a full environmental review, which would focus on the Tribe’s treaty rights. However, Trump stopped the review and fast-tracked the pipeline hours after he took office, further violating tribal sovereignty.&#8221;
The letter goes on to explain that the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and others fought the Trump administration in court over the next five years on until the U.S. District Court ruled in March of last year that the &#8220;pipeline was operating without the proper permits and needed to have a full environmental review under the National Environmental Policy Act.&#8221;
&#8220;The Court ordered the U.S. Army Corps to prepare an Environmental Impact Statement. In July 2020, the Court ordered the pipeline be shut down. After an appeal, on January 27th, days after your Inauguration, the U.S. Court of Appeals ruled that the pipeline is operating illegally and gave your Administration the authority to shut down the pipeline,&#8221; it argues.
As reported by <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-union-leader-slams-bidens-job-killing-order-cost-us-jobs-needs-to-consider-future-of-country">The Daily Wire</a>, Joe Biden’s decision to shut down the Keystone XL Pipeline cost thousands of jobs, prompting ire from several union leaders that backed him during the 2020 election.
RELATED: <a href="https://www.dailywire.com/news/top-union-leader-slams-bidens-job-killing-order-cost-us-jobs-needs-to-consider-future-of-country">Top Union Leader Slams Biden’s Job-Killing Order: ‘Cost Us Jobs,’ Needs To Consider ‘Future Of Country’</a>

US-ENTERTAINMENT-FILM-OSCARS-RED CARPET

Leo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo, Cher Call On Joe Biden To Kill Dakota Access Pipeline

Hollywood

It was incredibly nasty when protesters at the Dakota Access Pipeline<a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/13219/lol-standing-rock-protesters-leave-behind-enough-frank-camp"> trashed the environment </a>by leaving their tons of garbage strewn so widely thousands of trucks will be needed to haul it away before it pollutes the area&#8217;s water supply. Gov. Doug Burgum (R) told KFGO, &#8220;This is probably the biggest ecological mess on the entire Missouri River system from top to bottom in this country.&#8221;
But the protesters went beyond nasty; they were also heartless, leaving behind puppies to fend for themselves in the cold.
As The Washington Free Beacon <a href="http://freebeacon.com/issues/dakota-access-pipeline-protesters-leave-their-dogs-behind/">reports</a>, Furry Friends Rockin Rescue, a local animal rescue in Bismarck, North Dakota, found and rescued two abandoned dogs and six puppies that were left behind. Julie Schirado, founder of Furry Friends, said some of the dogs have frostbite, wounded paws, and signs of hypothermia, as well as other issues. She told <a href="http://www.kfyrtv.com/content/news/Furry-Friends-Rockin-Rescue-helps-dogs-left-behind-at-DAPL-protest-camp-414793233.html">KFYR</a>, &#8220;It&#8217;s a mess down there, so it&#8217;s really, really hard to find these animals and get them. She told <a href="http://www.myndnow.com/news/bismarck-news/dapl-protesters-dogs-taken-in-by-local-shelters/663108153">MyNDNow.com</a>, &#8220;We don&#8217;t know if they have parvo distemper from what they might be eating or feeding if they don&#8217;t get fed properly.&#8221;
Over one dozen abandoned dogs left the protest site have no permanent homes; roughly 20 dogs have been left there.
Tiffany Hardy, a Furry Friends volunteer, told KFYR:
<blockquote>
We have a couple cases of mange, we might have had some, I know we&#8217;ve had some problems with claws that haven&#8217;t been clipped before . . . Extremely sad being these guys were left behind. But we offer, Furry Friends offers hope. I mean there&#8217;s so much hope within Furry Friends as far as these puppies finding homes. If we can offer them luck and offer them a home, we&#8217;re going to try and find that for them.
</blockquote>
<blockquote>
&#8220;We don&#8217;t know if they have parvo distemper from what they might be eating or feeding if they don&#8217;t get fed properly.&#8221;
Julie Schirado, founder of Furry Friends
</blockquote>
Schirado concluded, &#8220;It&#8217;s a collaborative effort for everybody. We thank our law enforcement and all the people helping clean the site up.&#8221;
Furry Friends is seeking food, blankets, and money to offset the cost of veterinarian bills. Their website is <a href="http://www.furryfriendsrockinrescue.org/">furryfriendsrockinrescue.org</a>.

DESPICABLE: Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Left Behind Trash . . . And Puppies

Garbage in, garbage out.
On Wednesday, ten protesters who had refused to leave a Standing Rock camp site near the Dakota Access Pipeline <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/02/22/us/dakota-access-pipeline-evacuation-order/">were arrested</a> after the deadline for leaving had passed. When the protesters refused to leave after they had been commanded to do so, authorities closed the camp and banned vehicles from entering.
100 protesters left voluntarily, but there were still between 25 to 50 protesters remaining in the Oceti Sakowin camp site; if they refuse to leave they will also be arrested. Oceti Sakowin was the camp closest to where the Dakota pipeline will plunge underneath the Missouri River. 10,000 people were gathered at the camp at one point. Protesters burned wooden structures at the camp before they left.
<a href="http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/ct-dakota-access-pipeline-20170223-story.html">The Chicago Tribune</a> reported, &#8220;Eighteen National Guardsmen and dozens of law officers entered the camp from two directions shortly before midday Thursday, along with several law enforcement and military vehicles. A helicopter and airplane flew overhead.&#8221;
North Dakota Gov. Doug Burgum stated, &#8220;Anybody that&#8217;s there is trespassing, so anybody that&#8217;s there is breaking the law. Anyone who obstructs our ability to do cleanup will be subject to arrest. You know that our big ask for tomorrow is anyone remaining in the camp, we want to make sure that they know they have an opportunity to voluntarily leave. Take your belongings, remove anything that may be culturally significant and we&#8217;ll help you get on your way if you need to do that.&#8221;
North Dakota Highway Patrol spokesman Lt. Tom Iverson said that the protesters were given two extra hours to leave on Wednesday; he added that law enforcement officials were approached by &#8220;agitators&#8221; who approached the law enforcement line &#8220;provoking them.&#8221; North Dakota officials even offered to bus protesters to a travel assistance center, where they could stay and be fed.
<a href="http://www.seattletimes.com/business/north-dakota-officials-plead-with-last-protesters-to-leave/">The Seattle Times</a> reported, &#8220;Police also had a SWAT vehicle on hand Thursday in case of what Highway Patrol Lt. Tom Iverson described as a worst-case &#8220;SWAT scenario&#8221; &#8212; an armed person barricading themselves in a structure in the camp.&#8221;
Iverson stated, &#8220;We knew this day was going to come.&#8221;
The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe has been asking protesters to leave. The massive detritus left by the protesters has been delineated <a href="http://www.dailywire.com/news/13570/outrage-new-pictures-gargantuan-garbage-heap-left-hank-berrien">here</a>.

LOL: Police Arresting Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Who Won’t Leave

Want to know the damage environmentalists can wreak on an area? Check out these new pictures from North Dakota, where environmentalists protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline left behind such a gargantuan mess near the Cannonball River that <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/US/wireStory/corps-accelerate-cleanup-oil-pipeline-protest-camp-45518425">ABC News</a> reported, &#8220;Local and federal officials estimate there&#8217;s enough trash and debris in the camp to fill about 2,500 pickup trucks.&#8221; Those trucks will have to haul the trash away before the spring thaw, when it will pollute the Missouri River and other waterways.
On Wednesday, Morton County Emergency Manager Tom Doering <a href="http://www.spokesman.com/stories/2017/feb/15/north-dakota-feds-address-garbage-left-at-pipeline/">admitted</a>, &#8220;We&#8217;re really fighting the clock. There&#8217;s more garbage down there than anybody anticipated.&#8221; George Kuntz, vice president of the North Dakota Towing Association, told <a href="http://westernwire.net/abandoned-vehicles-pose-new-pollution-threat-at-dapl-protest-site/">Western Wire</a>:
<blockquote>
There are roughly 200 vehicles down there at last count, ranging from cars and pickups to rental trucks. We&#8217;re going to have a very drastic situation trying to keep these vehicles from getting into the river &#8211; what everybody&#8217;s been trying to protect from day one. We can&#8217;t leave them there. We don&#8217;t know what kind of biohazard is going to be produced with all the fluids or any other garbage that&#8217;s inside the vehicle.
</blockquote>
Sanitation crews are genuinely worried that dead bodies will be found:
<div class="embed video fluid-video"><iframe loading="lazy" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/4sdbcXt6m90" width="560"></iframe></div>
Here some pictures of the unbelievable mess the conscience-free environmentalists left behind:
<div class="embed tweet">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Good lord, this photo of the <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoDAPL?src=hash">#NoDAPL</a> protest site <a href="https://t.co/2AMHHehQVe">https://t.co/2AMHHehQVe</a> <a href="https://t.co/MWvRbo7Rav">pic.twitter.com/MWvRbo7Rav</a>
&#8212; Lachlan Markay (@lachlan) <a href="https://twitter.com/lachlan/status/832247907348799489">February 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
Look at the mess you made: Garbage left at pipeline protest camp <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/energy?src=hash">#energy</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/sustainability?src=hash">#sustainability</a> <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/DAPL?src=hash">#DAPL</a> <a href="https://t.co/Fnu6SNecoA">https://t.co/Fnu6SNecoA</a>
&#8212; Sid Trant (@sidtrant) <a href="https://twitter.com/sidtrant/status/832255613782589440">February 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
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<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en">
&#8220;Environmentalists&#8221; abandoned hundreds of cars at <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/NoDAPL?src=hash">#NoDAPL</a>&#8211;site of protests against the N. Dakota Access pipeline 
<a href="https://t.co/Yr7QzURKjM">https://t.co/Yr7QzURKjM</a>
&#8212; Grover Norquist (@GroverNorquist) <a href="https://twitter.com/GroverNorquist/status/832065588281356288">February 16, 2017</a></blockquote>
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OUTRAGE: New Pictures Of The Gargantuan Garbage Heap Left Behind By Environmentalists In North Dakota

The nearly year-long Standing Rock protest, which gained steam in the final months of 2016, as thousands of protesters traveled to the site from across the country, achieved its ends when the Army Corps of Engineers denied Energy Transfer Products (ETP) a permit to build a portion of the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The Standing Rock Sioux allegedly feared the pipeline had the potential to contaminate the Missouri River, the source of the tribe&#8217;s drinking water. Now they fear a new problem. The garbage left behind by the activists.
Bulldozers are pushing massive piles of garbage and snow into containment units at the former Standing Rock protest site, which will be taken to a landfill for proper disposal. Volunteers are also helping with the cleanup.
According to <a href="http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2017/feb/5/massive-cleanup-underway-after-dakota-access-prote/">The Washington Times</a>:
<blockquote>
Those involved in the clean-up effort, led by the Standing Rock Sioux, say it could take weeks for private sanitation companies and volunteers to clear the expanse of abandoned tents, teepees, sleeping bags, blankets, canned food, supplies and just plain garbage littering the Oceti Sakowin camp.
</blockquote>
Some protesters have remained to help with the cleanup, but not enough. Standing Rock Sioux tribal chairman Dave Archambault II urged activists to lend a hand:
<blockquote>
&#8220;Please, once again, we ask that people do not return to camp&#8230;The fight is no longer here, but in the halls and courts of the federal government. Here at the camp, those who remain should be working together to help clean and restore the land.&#8221;
</blockquote>
<iframe loading="lazy" allowfullscreen frameborder="0" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XJiEu6VB-II" width="560"></iframe>
This is a sterling example of the progressive thought process. Leonardo DiCaprio preaches about the cataclysmic dangers of climate change, then flies a private jet. Thousands of activists traveled to Standing Rock to protest about an oil pipeline they claimed would contaminate the Missouri River, then left a garbage wasteland behind, which, if not cleaned up in time, will contaminate Cannonball River and Lake Oahe.
Aside from the minute band of activists who are helping with the cleanup, where is everyone else? It doesn&#8217;t matter. They proudly displayed their virtue, and so little details like cleaning up their own filth in the aftermath are irrelevant.
Above all else, progressives value being seen as virtuous. Whatever cause they promote or defend always comes second to everyone seeing them promote or defend said cause. Virtue signaling feels good&#8211;protests, blockades, signs, chants. Doing the real work is too hard for most.
The Standing Rock garbage mountain is a perfect portrait of that hypocrisy.

LOL: Standing Rock Protesters Leave Behind Enough Trash to Create Environmental Crisis

Liberalism

On Monday, Barack Obama&#8217;s 18-year-old daughter Malia decided to join activists at the Sundance Film Festival protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline.
Actress Shailene Woodley, who was <a href="http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/gossip/la-et-mg-shailene-woodley-arrested-dapl-20161010-snap-htmlstory.html">arrested</a> for criminal trespassing in Saint Anthony, North Dakota last October and is on the board of Our Revolution, crowed to <a href="https://www.democracynow.org/2017/1/25/shailene_woodley_on_malia_obamas_presence">Democracy Now</a>:
<blockquote>
It was amazing to see Malia . . . to witness a human being and a woman coming into her own outside of her family and outside of the attachments that this country has on her but someone who&#8217;s willing to participate in democracy because she chooses to, because she recognizes, regardless of her last name, that if she doesn&#8217;t participate in democracy, there will be no world for her future children.
</blockquote>
Malia Obama is expected to <a href="http://www.glamour.com/story/malia-obama-is-going-to-harvardbut-first-shes-taking-a-gap-year">attend Harvard University</a> in fall of 2017; she is reportedly scheduled to <a href="http://www.vanityfair.com/hollywood/2017/01/malia-obama-harvey-weinstein-internship">work as an intern</a> for film producer Harvey Weinstein in February. She already assisted crew members on the set of <a href="http://www.vogue.com/13278630/malia-obama-girls-set-famous-internships/">HBO&#8217;s Girls</a> in the summer of 2015.
On Tuesday, President Trump revived construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline, which had been halted in December. The pipeline will run 1,172-miles transporting 400,000 barrels of crude oil per day from production regions in North Dakota through South Dakota and Iowa to end in Patoka, Ill.

Malia Obama Attends Protest Of Dakota Access Pipeline

Malia Obama

On Tuesday, President Trump restarted the efforts to complete the Keystone XL and Dakota Access oil pipelines by <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/politics/articles/2017-01-24/trump-advances-keystone-and-dakota-pipelines-fulfilling-pledge">imposing a deadline</a> on the government&#8217;s environmental review of the pipelines.
<a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/TRP:CN">TransCanada Corp.</a>&#8217;s proposed Keystone XL would transport Alberta oil sands to U.S. refineries.
Trump also continued his protectionist policies; demanding that pipelines built in the United States should use American-made products. He asserted, &#8220;If we&#8217;re going to build pipelines in the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/3352Z:US">United States</a>, the pipes should be made in the United States.&#8221; Roughly half of Keystone XL was going to use American steel, with one-quarter from Canada, and Italy and India providing the rest.
The Obama administration rejected the Keystone proposal in 2015 and had blocked Dakota Access since September. Reuters reported, &#8220;TransCanada Corp said it would resubmit an application for a permit for Keystone XL after Trump signed an order saying the company could re-apply. The application will be reviewed by the U.S. State Department, which has 60 days to reach a decision.&#8221;
White House spokesman Sean Spicer asserted, &#8220;If we&#8217;re going to do all these things to expedite these projects that go over or under American soil,&#8221; then Trump wants to guarantee American taxpayers get &#8220;the best deal possible.&#8221;
The documents Trump signed include an executive order designed to expedite &#8220;high-priority infrastructure projects.&#8221; If a project is designated as such, it will earn swifter reviews, under &#8220;expedited procedures and deadlines for completion&#8221; of necessary environmental analysis.
Jack Gerard, head of the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/quote/9886069Z:US">American Petroleum Institute</a>, celebrated, saying, he was &#8220;pleased to see the new direction being taken by this administration to recognize the importance of our nation&#8217;s energy infrastructure by restoring the rule of law in the permitting process that&#8217;s critical to pipelines and other infrastructure projects.&#8221;
Sen. Joe Manchin, (D) West Virginia, <a href="http://www.cnn.com/2017/01/24/politics/trump-keystone-xl-dakota-access-pipelines-executive-actions/">echoed</a>, &#8220;What this country needs is more jobs, and that is why I have always been a proponent of the Keystone XL Pipeline and was an original cosponsor of legislation approving the Keystone XL Pipeline project. With a majority of Americans in support of the Keystone XL pipeline&#8217;s construction, I&#8217;m glad we are finally moving forward with this important project.&#8221;

Trump Clears Path For Keystone XL And Dakota Access Pipelines

Donald Trump

From Hanoi to North Dakota to Los Angeles, actress Jane Fonda has never been able to keep her mouth shut when it comes to leftist causes.
On Wednesday in Los Angeles, to celebrate her 79th birthday, Fonda pulled her considerable money out of the Wells Fargo bank to <a href="http://abc7.com/news/jane-fonda-protests-dakota-access-pipeline-on-79th-birthday/1668139/">protest the Dakota Access Pipeline</a>.
Playing to an adoring crowd surrounding her, the woman who craves attention pontificated, &#8220;As a customer of your bank, I reject the notion of my money helping to support your investment in the Dakota Access Pipeline.&#8221; She continued by bloviating, &#8220;Well, I found out my bank, Wells Fargo, is invested in the North Dakota pipeline. The two companies that own it and run it, Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco. And given the realities of the pipeline and what it represents, which includes some pretty serious risks of disaster, I am withdrawing my money from Wells Fargo.&#8221;
Reaching the zenith of her peroration, she concluded with a flourish: &#8220;We have broken all our treaties with the Native Americans, the first people on this land, and enough already.&#8221;
Fonda was following the lead of her friend, actress Lily Tomlin, whop yanked her money from Wells Fargo two weeks ago, Tomlin said, &#8220;I hope they&#8217;ll get their money out. That&#8217;s one of the surest ways to cut them off at the knees.&#8221;
Wells Fargo and 16 other financial institutions have invested in the $3.8 billion, four-state pipeline. Wells Fargo reportedly has invested $120 million in a $2.5 billion credit agreement. Sixteen other financial institutions are also funding the project.
In late November, Fonda flew to North Dakota to <a href="http://www.nydailynews.com/news/national/dakota-access-pipeline-protesters-gain-support-jane-fonda-article-1.2886594">serve Thanksgiving dinner</a> to the protesters.
<blockquote>
&#8220;We have broken all our treaties with the Native Americans, the first people on this land, and enough already.&#8221;
Jane Fonda
</blockquote>
Fonda&#8217;s record of activism shows how easily she is manipulated by others. As <a href="https://patriotpost.us/pages/80">The Patriot Post</a> has reported of her actions during the Vietnam war:
<blockquote>
Fonda called returning POWs &#8220;hypocrites and liars,&#8221; adding, &#8220;These were not men who had been tortured. These were not men who had been starved. These were not men who had been brainwashed. &#8230; Pilots were saying it was the policy of the Vietnamese and that it was systematic. I believe that&#8217;s a lie.&#8221;
</blockquote>
The U.S. Army has refused a permit to bury the pipeline under the Missouri River, but president-elect Donald Trump <a href="http://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-trump-pipeline-idUSKBN13U15I">supports the pipeline.</a>

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