I am a reluctant activist. I really am. My introverted nature and direct protesting are in conflict. This is why I usually write over joining a mob and raging against the machine. However, ever since I became aware of the Bakken oil fields, I knew it was a matter of time before the "nice" people of Iowa would be drawn into the fray over how to get that fracked crude oil from North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois (where it will be piped down to the Houston area for refinement and, most likely, exportation).
Which brings me to the Mississippi River. While all eyes have been trained on the Missouri River, thanks to the Native Americans at Standing Rock, a contractor of Dakota Access has been stealthily boring a tunnel beneath the Mississippi. Tomorrow, September 10th, is a protest in Montrose/Sandusky, tow microscopic barely towns in the southeast corner of the state. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a 100 people will be heading there to lodge our complaint and support a solitary person who has been the canary in the coal mine there and has been holding vigil.
We are compelled to be there because the 1,207 mile pipeline is going through 18 Iowa counties under and through rivers and aquifers that supply water to millions of people, plants, and animals. In the last several years, there have been a number of pipeline failures in which oil and gas have escaped and caused clean up problems all over the world. The Yellowstone River had somewhere in the neighborhood of 42,000 gallons leak into it from such a pipeline. In this case, fractured oil with additives such as benzene may very well end up in our water supply and that would be potentially catastrophic.
Add to that for each barrel of fracked oil, we are contributing to the warming of our planet, the reduction of options for our children and grandchildren, and putting our workforce in danger of not possessing the needed skills to join the green energy industry.
So my wife and I will protest this in person knowing that there is a remote possibility that we could be arrested. Our state utility board chose to back a number of out of state people who rallied when they held hearings here. Our Governor, who swears he has been neutral in this, also claims it was a fair process. Tell that to the private landowners whose property has been scraped back for access with no true discernible public benefit.
Wish us luck! Better yet, come join us.
Which brings me to the Mississippi River. While all eyes have been trained on the Missouri River, thanks to the Native Americans at Standing Rock, a contractor of Dakota Access has been stealthily boring a tunnel beneath the Mississippi. Tomorrow, September 10th, is a protest in Montrose/Sandusky, tow microscopic barely towns in the southeast corner of the state. Somewhere in the neighborhood of a 100 people will be heading there to lodge our complaint and support a solitary person who has been the canary in the coal mine there and has been holding vigil.
We are compelled to be there because the 1,207 mile pipeline is going through 18 Iowa counties under and through rivers and aquifers that supply water to millions of people, plants, and animals. In the last several years, there have been a number of pipeline failures in which oil and gas have escaped and caused clean up problems all over the world. The Yellowstone River had somewhere in the neighborhood of 42,000 gallons leak into it from such a pipeline. In this case, fractured oil with additives such as benzene may very well end up in our water supply and that would be potentially catastrophic.
Add to that for each barrel of fracked oil, we are contributing to the warming of our planet, the reduction of options for our children and grandchildren, and putting our workforce in danger of not possessing the needed skills to join the green energy industry.
So my wife and I will protest this in person knowing that there is a remote possibility that we could be arrested. Our state utility board chose to back a number of out of state people who rallied when they held hearings here. Our Governor, who swears he has been neutral in this, also claims it was a fair process. Tell that to the private landowners whose property has been scraped back for access with no true discernible public benefit.
Wish us luck! Better yet, come join us.
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