"Pipeline protesters may have a tight grip on media coverage of the pipeline, but they have a demonstrably loose grip on the facts. The truth — as documented not by the company but
by the federal court system is that pipeline approvals were not rushed, permits were not granted illegally, and tribal leaders were not excluded. These are proven facts upheld by two federal courts.
If only this side of the story were getting the same attention as the other side. Perhaps judges should start announcing their rulings by megaphone while standing beside a few media-attracting celebrities."
What the Dakota Access Pipeline Protesters Aren’t Telling You – InsideSources
"But these protests and lawsuits have a deeper agenda. Whether they succeed or fail, what these actions are really about is raising the cost of doing business in fossil fuels (which, after all, remains heavily subsidized by the government). If you’re going to do this, environmentalists are effectively saying, you’d better factor in the costs of lawsuits and law enforcement. By effectively making fossil fuel development more expensive, environmentalists shift the calculations in favor of the fuels they prefer, while at the same time making political waves that might turn against the pipeline.At a certain point, renewables begin to look like a bargain.
Unfortunately, there are some serious drawbacks to this strategy.
First are false consciousness and the specter of exploitation. Are environmentalists in coalition with Native Americans, or are they using them for their own purposes? What about when those purposes are crossed? For example, the short-term alternative to pipelines like DAPL is to put oil on trains and trucks. That’s worse for the climate, but better for the Native American lands. Would environmentalists support it? And if not, is their current solidarity with the Sioux real?
Second, protests aren’t pretty. People (cops, protesters, others) get angry. Tensions flare. And then the story becomes about the protest itself, rather than the underlying issue. This has already happened at Standing Rock, with more stories in circulation about attack dogs, crowd dispersal, and states of emergency than about Native American relics and land claims. In terms of tactics, there’s not much difference between Standing Rock and the Bundy clan’s silly protests at an Oregon wildlife refuge.
Except this isn’t a game. Real people—in this case, Native Americans who have endured centuries of oppression—are put in harm’s way and are, in a sense, pawns in a larger conflict. That’s already happened here, with 29 arrests and counting.
Third, what are the cops supposed to do? Allow the “occupation” to take place? Of course not; they have to do their jobs. And the costs of doing so aren’t picked up by Embridge Energy but by
localities like the Morton County Sheriff’s Department in North Dakota. The police have thus far worked with protest leaders to minimize tensions. But ultimately, they have to do their jobs, which includes keeping roads open and allowing construction equipment to enter construction sites. It’s unreasonable to expect police simply to disobey court orders.
Finally, while “Shut It Down” has an appealing, Occupy-style flare to it, it’s an adolescent form of political action, achieving emotionally gratifying temporary victories that are quickly erased once attentions move on. (Once again, consider the parallels to the Bundys.) The point should be to shut down a
system of petro-dependency and environmental insanity, not shut down construction sites for a few days."
More......
Are Environmentalists Using Native Americans, and Does It Matter? - The Daily Beast
