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The peace group CODEPINK stands in solidarity with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in its just opposition to the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline across sacred and ancestral lands. The United States government has failed to properly consult with the Tribe to obtain its free, prior, and informed consent for the construction of the pipeline, as stipulated by international law.

We stand with the original defenders and protectors of ancestral lands, water, and spiritual, historic, and cultural resources at the Camp of the Sacred Stones currently blocking construction of the pipeline across the Missouri River near the Tribe’s territory. We applaud the indigenous youth who ran 2,200 miles to Washington, DC to deliver a petition signed by 160,000 people in opposition to the pipeline’s construction. We applaud the people at the encampment, which started with 35 people and has now grown to hundreds.

The 1,172-mile pipeline proposed by Dakota Access, LLC to transport of crude oil from the Bakken oil fields crosses ancestral lands as well as the Missouri River, a major source of water for the Tribe. The Bakken oil fields are also emitting about 250,000 tons of ethane per year into the air, directly affecting air quality across North America. These emissions, combined with combustion of Bakken oil, are major contributors to the climate crisis that threatens the future of our planet.

We call for the immediate and permanent halt of the construction of the Dakota Access Pipeline. In light of the severe climate crisis we are already experiencing, we call for the Bakken oil to be left in the ground.