What the Dakota & Keystone Access Pipeline mean for you

Today in Trump news…Trump signs permits unblocking the Dakota and Keystone XL Access Pipeline Project. What does this mean for you? Well, it depends on your politics.

First, what is it?

⌾ The Dakota Access Pipeline is a 1,172-mile underground pipeline extending from North Dakota to Illinois.

⌾ The goal is to transport domestically-produced crude oil from North Dakota to major refining markets in a more direct manner than other modes of transportation, including rail or truck.

⌾ The pipeline is underground, and 99.98% of the pipeline is installed on privately owned property in North Dakota, South Dakota, Iowa and Illinois. The remaining 0.02% is owned by the Federal Government.

Those against it say:

⌾ It poses a “high risk that culturally and historically significant sites will be damaged or destroyed” and potential safety concerns of the drinking water supply. {source}

⌾ Should the pipeline leak or burst, the impact could be devastating. (Since 1995, more than 2,000 significant accidents involving oil and petroleum pipelines have occurred) {source}

⌾ An in-depth 2010 report from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, which looked at the effects of three major oil spills, found increased incidences of cancer and digestive problems in people who had ingested the oil directly (in drinking water) or indirectly (through eating the meat of livestock exposed to the oil). {source}

⌾ Environmental activists say the pipeline would contribute man-made climate change by building up the country’s oil infrastructure. They insist that fossil fuels—including the vast reserves in the Bakken Shale—need to be kept in the ground to protect the world from the worst effects of climate change. {source}

What the protestors say they want:

⌾ The protesters want to see construction of the pipeline halted entirely and its route changed. {source}

Those for it say:

⌾ The Dakota Access Pipeline has created roughly 12,000 jobs during construction and is a critical link from the Bakken formation, which supports more than 80,000 North Dakota jobs. {source}

⌾ Supporters say the pipeline is a more direct, cost-effective, safer and more environmentally responsible manner than other modes of transportation, including rail or truck. {source}

⌾ The project will result in an estimated $156 million in sales and income taxes during construction, and $55 million in property taxes annually.

⌾ The Dakota Access Pipeline does not endanger water; the Standing Rock Sioux water inlet by early 2017 will be moved to a location more than 70 miles away from the pipeline. {source}

⌾ The pipeline does not encroach or cross any land owned by the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. {source}

What the Dakota Pipeline backers says about protestors:

⌾ The majority of protesters are not there to protect water, as they claim, but are actually extremists opposed to any and all use of fossil fuels. {source}

So, there you go. That’s what the Dakota Pipeline is, and what it means. Where do you stand? For or against?