A good day

I heard the good news late last night. Yesterday, the Obama administration denied Energy Transfer Partners (ETP) the easement needed to complete the last piece of their oil pipeline, that section supposed to pass under the Missouri River. 

This unusual intervention from the administration is an historic victory, a huge relief for all those who have been courageously protecting the water each day over the last months, as well as for millions supporting them all over the world. It's a cause for celebration, for singing, for hugs and for prayers of thanks. The water remains clean. For now.

Several friends of mine have asked, will you still be travelling out to Standing Rock? I have been considering this question today, along with the recent news.

As a young child, watching films with my older cousins, I was regularly laughed at for asking, 'who are the Goodies and who are the Baddies?' I needed to know who to back. There is a part of me that wants to see this latest development as that victorious moment in a film; that moment when justice prevails, when the score turns epic and stirs the emotions, the sweet moment when the Goodies have won and now the credits are rolling to joyous violins and expansive scenery.

It absolutely is a time to celebrate. It's a moment to celebrate the power of people peacefully coming together to protect the water and the earth. It's a good day for the water of the Missouri River. It's a good day for the sacred burial grounds of Standing Rock. It's a good day, long in coming, in terms of making a start in respecting the sovereignty of Native Americans on their land. It's a good day for Mama Earth.

However, it is clear that the story is not over. The army corps have said they will undertake an environmental impact statement, a lengthy process which could halt construction for years. Assistant secretary for civil works, Jo-Ellen Darcy said the order to halt the pipeline was based on "a need to explore alternative routes" for the crossing. There is no guarantee that DAPL will respect the order to stop works, after all, the prospect of paying fines has not restrained them until now. So many promises and treaties have been broken before, that Native American people have every reason to be distrustful.

Even if DAPL do respect the call to halt the works, a re-routing of the pipeline does not constitute a happy ending. It is not just land on Native American territory that is sacred. All land is sacred. The difference is that the tribes living on those reservations know that land is sacred and treat it as such. The ultimate goal must be to stop the pipeline altogether, to make good as far as possible the damage done by digging, to leave the oil in the ground and to break our addiction to fossil fuels and switch to renewable energy. Perhaps then I will hear the violins.

The time immediately following a victory can be delicate. On January 20th there will be a new president, one who has strong allegiances to fossil fuels. Not only does Trump intend to further invest in fossil fuels and their infrastructures, not only does he have a stake in ETP, having personally invested money in the company, but ETP has paid money towards electing Trump. They are bound up with one another. Very likely there will be appeals.

There are some at Standing Rock who will be returning home to be with their families, to rest and to recover. Others intend to stay and continue to protect the water and the land. On December 10th, I will be joining the water protectors, to celebrate together, to hear their stories, to write about what I see, to help out, and to touch the sacred water of the Missouri river and to pray for the purity of the water, there and everywhere.