Earthjustice

Indigenous environmental activists demonstrate near Black Lives Matter Plaza in Washington, D.C.

Dear Friend,

Speaking before a federal judge today, representatives from the Biden administration’s U.S. Army Corps of Engineers indicated that the agency will not take immediate action to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline, despite the ongoing threats it poses to the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and the fact that it is operating without a federal permit. Although President Joe Biden recently announced intentions to improve Tribal consultation and take bold action to tackle climate change, his administration took a stance today that is identical to that of former President Trump.

This fight is not over — an Environmental Impact Statement is still in the works, after which the pipeline will either receive or be denied permits to continue operating. We need to rally support now to tell the Biden administration that the decision they made today jeopardizes the health and safety of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, and that they must permanently shut the pipeline down after the Environmental Impact Statement is completed.

It’ll be impossible to transition away from fossil fuels or show the rest of the world that the United States is serious about tackling climate change if we are just going to shrug and look away when the fossil fuel industry brazenly ignores Tribal concerns and tramples our federal environmental laws and safety regulations. We cannot restore U.S. climate leadership if we allow for longstanding environmental injustices to continue at home.

The Biden administration’s refusal to hold the fossil fuel industry accountable for threatening the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe’s water is deeply troubling, but the Tribe is going to continue fighting this. Act in solidarity with the Tribe by learning more about this fight and telling the Biden administration that the pipeline still needs to be shut down.

TAKE ACTION

Sincerely,
Jan Hasselman
Staff Attorney

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Photo Credits: Indigenous environmental activists demonstrate near Black Lives Matter Plaza on the north side of the White House as part of a protest against oil pipelines on April 1, 2021, in Washington, D.C. Organized by the Indigenous Environmental Network, the demonstrators called on President Joe Biden to 'Build Back Fossil Free' by stopping the Dakota Access and Line 3 pipelines. (Chip Somodevilla / Getty Images).