Politics January 25, 2017
Via @shailenewoodley InstagramActress Shailene Woodley has issued a call to action now that President Trump has signed executive orders approving the previously halted construction of the Dakota Access and Keystone XL pipelines.
The activist star of the “Divergent” films, who was arrested during a pipeline protest last year, is encouraging fellow protesters to rise up and stand firm against the project.
“We mobilize,” Woodley said. “What we can do now as a population, and as a society, is hold our corporations accountable, hold our banks accountable,” she told MSNBC.
Woodley made global headlines in 2016 for her headstrong commitment to fighting for indigenous rights online and on site in North Dakota. While protesting alongside the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and other members of the Native American community last October, she was arrested and charged with criminal trespassing and engaging in a riot.
This, however, didn’t deter her because she continued to use her influential social media platforms to advocate for the Native American community and to raise awareness.
READ MORE: #NoDAPL: Meet the Women Fighting to Protect Standing Rock Indian Reservation (VIDEO)
Now, she’s speaking out once more to remind people of the damages the two pipelines could cause.
“I was on the ground at Standing Rock starting from September last year,” Woodley said. “We saw all these protests, we saw people being shot with rubber bullets, I was arrested – hundreds were arrested. People being sprayed with water cannons in sub-zero degree temperatures, trying to protect not only our earth, but also indigenous sovereignty, and indigenous rights.”
The Keystone XL project is a 1,179-mile pipeline that will transport 800,000 barrels a day of carbon-heavy petroleum. The pipeline will travel from the Canadian oil sands to the Gulf Coast. The North Dakota Access Pipeline, on the other hand, is a 1,172-mile pipeline what will connect the Bakken and Three Forks production areas from North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. The pipeline will transport 470,000 barrels of oil through an underground pipeline, which risks polluting the water that the Great Sioux Nation uses.
Woodley has reminded people that “it’s not a matter of if pipelines leak, it’s a matter of when pipelines leak.”
If the Dakota Access Pipeline alone were to leak, it would affect the drinking water of 18 million people. “Drinking water is not something that should be a luxury. It is not something that should be limited to privilege. It’s a human right,” she added.
READ MORE: Standing Rock Sioux Tribe: ‘Water is Life’
And since the approval of the two pipeline projects, some people have already begun to rally together. On Twitter, the hashtags #NoDAPL and #NoKXL are trending in order to call attention to Trump’s executive orders.
If this President does not respect the rule of law-treaties, consultation, court orders-we have an obligation to become ungovernable #NoDAPL
— BigIndianGyasi (@BigIndianGyasi) January 25, 2017
my heart is with standing rock #NoDAPL #NoKXL and all the other land that weeps to breathe.
— rupi kaur (@rupikaur_) January 24, 2017
The original Keystone pipeline leaked and spilled oil on my reservation & to this day it hasn’t been properly cleaned up. #NOKXL
— Ruth Hopkins (@RuthHHopkins) January 24, 2017
Black Eyed Peas member Taboo joined some of the people protesting the Dakota pipeline in Park City, Utah at the Sundance Film Festival. Other protests are also happening in other parts of the nation, including New York City.
The #NoDAPL rally in NYC last night. Pics by Noel Altaha pic.twitter.com/WhzAbVkz2A
— Ruth Hopkins (@RuthHHopkins) January 25, 2017
“We knew the war wasn’t over,” Taboo told TMZ. “It’s never over, especially when we’re dealing with somebody like this man that just came into office, [who] is unpredictable. You have to always be on your guard, but you got to do it the right way. Right now it’s time to go back to strategizing. Make sure that we do it right and not jump the gun and get aggressive and start using violence as a way to lash back.”
#nativebrothers standing in solidarity with #standingrock @martinsensmeier
A photo posted by Taboo Nawasha (@officialtaboo) on
Other activists, on the other hand, have taken their protests directly to Washington.
On Jan. 25, seven activists from Greenpeace climbed a 270-foot crane in order to unveil a banner that reads “resist.” According Karen Topakian, chair of the Greenpeace Board, the sign is meant to be a clear message in opposition to the president’s actions against human rights and climate change.
“Greenpeace has used nonviolence to resist tyrannical bullies since 1971, and we’re not going to stop now,” Topakian said in a statement. And in a live Facebook video posted from the crane, she added, “We’re out here today with a message of resistance for our folks who are fighting for human rights, fighting for climate change, fighting for a better world.”
The resistance begins now. Are you ready to RISE UP? Take action and sign the petition >> https://t.co/cBWyW0tm69 #ResistOften pic.twitter.com/F39ekqLQAm
— Greenpeace USA (@greenpeaceusa) January 25, 2017
Although President Trump and other pipeline proponents argue that the construction will bring more jobs to America, Woodley has said that the pipelines are a temporary solution to a larger problem.
“I agree that it’s time to bring more jobs to this country, but that’s why I think we need to start investing in renewable energy,” she explained. “That’s not a a temporary job situation. That’s something that would be permanent.”
READ MORE: 5 Facts About Standing Rock and Progress to Stop the Pipeline
Even Dave Archambault II, chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe understands the need to create new jobs. However, he does not agree with the method the government has chosen to do it.
“By granting the easement, Trump is risking our treaty rights and water supply to benefit his wealthy contributors and friends at DAPL,” he said in a statement. “We are not opposed to energy independence. We are opposed to reckless and politically motivated development projects, like DAPL, that ignore our treaty rights and risk our water. Creating a second Flint does not make America great again.”
A photo posted by Turning Green (@turninggreenorg) on
This is just one of the controversial projects on Trump’s recent agenda.
Since stepping into office on Jan. 20, Trump has frozen new grants and contracts issued by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and has reversed Obama’s policies on health care. Trump also has signed an anti-abortion executive order that prevents international non-governmental organizations that perform or promote abortions from receiving U.S. government funding. And as of Jan. 25, Trump has taken the first steps to fulfilling his plans to build a border wall and to deport undocumented immigrants.
As Trump speeds through his plans to “make America great again,” a slogan coined for his presidential campaign, it looks like all his opponents don’t intend to slow down either.
