{"id":11890,"date":"2021-01-29T03:22:41","date_gmt":"2021-01-29T08:22:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/biden-nixes-kxl\/"},"modified":"2021-01-29T03:22:45","modified_gmt":"2021-01-29T08:22:45","slug":"biden-nixes-kxl","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/unitedresourceconnection.org\/cannon-ball-nd-58528\/biden-nixes-kxl\/","title":{"rendered":"Biden nixes KXL"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Honor the Earth founder Winona LaDuke at Enbridge Line 3 resistance: One of dozens of women leaders telling the new Presidential Administration, \u201cThese three pipelines pose grave threats to Indigenous rights, cultural survival, sacred water and land, the global climate, and the public health crises within our communities.\u201d Photo by Justine Anderson<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

WASHINGTON \u2013 Utterances of relief and gratitude rippled through Indian country on Inaugural Day Jan. 20, at U.S. President Joe Biden\u2019s announcement of an executive order revoking the Keystone XL Pipeline\u2019s permit for construction opposed by tribes along its proposed route through unceded 1868 Ft. Laramie Treaty territory.<\/p>\n

Fulfilling his campaign promise, Biden cancelled former chief executive Donald Trump\u2019s 2019 Presidential Permit for TC Energy Corp. to build the tar-sands crude-oil pipeline\u2019s crossing at the U.S.-Canadian border in Montana.<\/p>\n

\u201cApproval of the proposed pipeline would undermine U.S. climate leadership by undercutting the credibility and influence of the United States in urging other countries to take ambitious climate action,\u201d Biden said, relying on analysis from the earlier Presidential Administration of Barack Obama, which denied a project permit in 2015.<\/p>\n

The Biden directive was part of a broad \u201cExecutive Order on Protecting Public Health and the Environment and Restoring Science to Tackle the Climate Crisis.\u201d<\/p>\n

Forewarned that Biden likely would take this stance, TC Energy Corp. did not wait for the announcement, opting instead to unilaterally suspend the project, immediately laying off an estimated 1,000 employees who were working on it despite a federal court order to stay its construction pending outcome of tribal governments\u2019 lawsuits.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs a result of the expected revocation of the Presidential Permit, advancement of the project will be suspended,\u201d the company declared Jan. 22.<\/p>\n

President Kevin Killer of the Oglala Sioux Tribe, which is a plaintiff in one of the lawsuits, noted, \u201cThe KXL Pipeline was set to take course through the original treaty lands of the Oceti Sakowin, also known as the Great Sioux Nation.<\/p>\n

\u201cAs one of President Biden\u2019s first acts in office, the cancelation of the Keystone XL Pipeline permit sends a strong message to tribal nations and symbolizes a willingness to build on government-to-government relationships established through our treaties, specifically the 1851 and 1868 Ft. Laramie treaties,\u201d he declared.<\/p>\n

Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal Chair Harold Frazier, representing another plaintiff government, addressed Biden, saying the action \u201chonors your treaty with the Lakota Oyate (Great Sioux Nation) and I hope you continue to honor our mutual treaties.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is rare that a promise to our people is kept by the United States and I appreciate your honesty,\u201d Frazier said. \u201cThis project has scarred our territorial lands with its presence and threatened our people like a dagger to our throats.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have witnessed the invasion of our land and the genocide of our families, and this project is an extension of the injustices we have suffered. When decisions to keep such projects from damaging our environment today are made, we give our children a better opportunity tomorrow.\u201d<\/p>\n

Additional plaintiffs, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe (Sicangu Lakota Oyate) and the Fort Belknap Indian Community (Assiniboine and Gros Ventre tribes), along with their counsel, the Native American Rights Fund (NARF), applauded the Biden action, recalling:<\/p>\n

\u201cEarly in his presidency, President Trump made it a priority to issue permits for the questionable KXL project without the required tribal consultation, environmental review, or consideration for treaty rights.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt was a blatant attempt to prioritize corporate interests over the health and well-being of the region\u2019s citizens and tribes\u2019 authority to govern their lands and protect their citizens.\u201d<\/p>\n

Rosebud Sioux Tribal President Rodney M. Bordeaux emphasized, \u201cIn approving the Keystone XL Pipeline, the federal government repeatedly ignored treaty rights, tribal sovereignty, and widespread opposition to push forward the interests of a foreign oil and gas company.<\/p>\n

\u201cRevoking the illegally issued pipeline permit is a start, but we call on the Biden Administration to do more, to go further, to respect the rights of Native peoples and improve the relationships between tribes and the federal government.\u201d<\/p>\n

For his part, Fort Belknap Indian Community President Andrew Werk Jr. explained, \u201cOur land, water, and people are under direct threat from the KXL Pipeline. It is a project that has moved forward without regard to legality or safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur water sources are threatened by the dirty tar sand crude, our ancestral homelands are in the direct path of the pipeline, and our people already are suffering the effects of nearby construction worker man camps,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

NARF Staff Attorney Matthew Campbell said the tribes have \u201cpoured tremendous effort and resources to defend their treaty rights and the safety of their tribal communities\u2019 during the last few years. President Biden\u2019s action today is an important first step in correcting the callous disregard for tribal sovereignty that has flourished in recent years.\u201d<\/p>\n

Larry Wright, Jr., chair of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska thanked Biden \u201con his commitment to listen to the tribal nations and all of those involved in fighting this effort\u201d as well as \u201call the pipeline fighters, landowners, and all involved that have fought against this for so long and made this a priority for this new Administration.\u201d<\/p>\n

Six days earlier on Jan. 16, indigenous women leaders from across Turtle Island sent a letter to Biden, charging him with the burden of shutting down, not only the KXL, but also the Dakota Access Pipeline, (DAPL) across the Missouri River and Enbridge Line 3 construction across the Mississippi River.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese three pipelines pose grave threats to Indigenous rights, cultural survival, sacred water and land, the global climate, and the public health crises within our communities, which have been greatly exacerbated by Covid-19,\u201d said the missive from Ponca Nation Environmental Ambassador Casey Camp-Horinek and many more pipeline resistance stalwarts, among them:<\/p>\n

Joye Braun, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe community organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network; Faith Spotted Eagle, Ihanktonwan Dakota, Oceti Sakowin, Brave Heart Society elder; LaDonna Brave Bull Allard, Lakota historian of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and founder of Sacred Stone Camp; Winona LaDuke, White Earth Nation and executive director of Honor the Earth; Tara Houska, Couchiching First Nation Anishinaabe founder of Giniw Collective; Kandi White, Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Native Energy & Climate Campaign coordinator with Indigenous Environmental Network; and Cherri Foytlin,\u00a0 L\u2019eau Est La Vie Camp founder.<\/p>\n

While all three private hazardous infrastructure projects are contested in court, grassroots pressure on the jobsites and in the streets has kept the issue in politicians\u2019 line of sight.<\/p>\n

Biden\u2019s action \u201cis the result of the relentless work and dedication from tribes and grassroots organizers,\u201d said Judith Le Blanc (Caddo), executive director of Native Organizers Alliance.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor years, Native grassroots organizers have joined with the traditional leaders and sovereign nations like Rosebud Sioux Tribe, Lower Brule Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Oglala Lakota Nation, and Yankton Sioux Tribe, to stop this project,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

\u201cFarmers, tribal councils, ranchers, and Native non-profit organizations have been instrumental in raising awareness around the significant threats to the health and resources of Native peoples living in the path of the pipeline. And sovereign tribes have taken the issue to court to protect their territories and the Missouri River bioregion for all.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is a violation of the Constitution to fail to properly consult with sovereign nations before approving projects like the Keystone XL Pipeline. Tribes are too often forced to take legal action just to get the federal government to uphold the promises made to our ancestors. We urge President Biden and federal agencies to uphold their Constitutional duty to secure prior and informed consent from U.S. tribes.<\/p>\n

\u201cToday\u2019s cancellation of the pipeline permit is a critical first step, but there is more to be done. Not just on Keystone, but in the protection and stewardship of the sites we as Native peoples hold sacred like Bears Ears, the Black Hills, and Chaco Canyon.\u201d<\/p>\n

Indigenous Environmental Network invited the public to join frontline leaders fighting toxic fossil fuel projects at a Jan. 26 digital rally<\/a> called Build Back Fossil Free, pressuring Biden to take bold executive action to steer the country toward a renewable energy future.<\/p>\n

In a statement from NDN Collective, Climate Justice Director Jade Begay spoke \u201cto honor decades of work led by Indigenous grassroots organizers,\u201d saying, \u201cBecause of them, KXL has been defeated not once but twice, and future generations will have a safer planet because of their determination.\u201d<\/p>\n

The South Dakota Congressional delegation in a Jan. 19 letter to Biden, tried to head off the KXL kibosh, noting TC Energy Corp.\u2019s last-ditch bids to operate with net-zero emissions and invest $1.7 billion to produce renewable energy.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis would rank TC Energy among the highest corporate backers of renewable energy purchases, directly supporting your agenda to bolster green energy investments in the U.S.,\u201d said the letter signed by Sen. John Thune, Sen. M. Michael Rounds, and Rep. Dusty Johnson.<\/p>\n

They noted that Canada\u2019s Prime Minister Justin Trudeau supports the pipeline \u2014 as does Alberta Province Premier Jason Kenney, who sunk more than a billion dollars of public money into KXL.<\/p>\n

Canada\u2019s only indigenous-led climate justice organization, Indigenous Climate Action, said the KXL cancellation is \u201ca step in the right direction, but governments of both the United States and Canada must do more. Climate change will not wait. The impacts of this crisis are already being felt by Indigenous communities and further exacerbated by the global pandemic,\u201d it said.<\/p>\n

South Dakota Gov. Kristi Noem, speaking at a media conference, remarked, \u201cI\u2019m very disappointed that President Biden has used his executive order privilege to cancel the Keystone XL Pipeline. I think it\u2019s the wrong policy on energy, it\u2019s the wrong policy on the environment, and it\u2019s the wrong policy on safety.\u201d<\/p>\n

(Contact Talli Nauman at talli.nauman@gmail.net<\/a>)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

The post Biden nixes KXL<\/a> first appeared on Native Sun News Today<\/a>.<\/p>\n

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Honor the Earth founder Winona LaDuke at Enbridge Line 3 resistance: One of dozens of women leaders telling the new Presidential Administration, \u201cThese three pipelines pose grave threats to Indigenous rights, cultural survival, sacred water and land, the global climate, and the public health crises within our communities.\u201d Photo by <\/p>\n

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Shared by Native Sun News Today<\/a> January 29, 2021<\/p>\n

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