By the time President Biden took office in 2021, ready to fulfill his campaign promise to revoke the cross-border permit, the dirty energy pipeline had become one of the foremost climate controversies of our time. Once they are gone and depleted, they are gone. What is missing is an appreciation of the long-term effects of an oil pipeline going through our sacred land. The Keystone XL Pipeline Is Dead, but TC Energy Still Owns Hundreds of Miles of Rights of Way Many landowners who opposed the pipeline have begun a new fight, trying to regain control of the land . The Keystone XL pipeline was proposed by the energy infrastructure company TC Energy. The construction of the Keystone XL Pipeline would strengthen the United States economy, provide energy security and have minimal environmental impact. Opposition outside the courts was swift and strong as well. NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth praised the decision, The courts decision means that ALL of the tribes claims on the current permits will proceed. On November 17, 2020, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community, represented by the Native American Rights Fund and co-counsel, filed a federal lawsuit against the United States Department of Interior (DOI) and the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) over their issuing of the KXL permit. The United States District Court for the District of Montana recently accepted an amended complaint in what will now be known as Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Trump (formerly Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. US Dept of State). NARF is honored to represent the Rosebud Sioux and Fort Belknap Tribes to fully enforce the laws and fight this illegal pipeline.. September: Canadas National Energy Board approves the Canadian section. Therefore, on Monday March 2, 2020, the Fort Belknap Indian Community and Rosebud Sioux Tribe filed a motion for preliminary injunction and asked the court to not allow TransCanada to begin construction of the pipeline while the case is under review. Since 2015, CAMP has worked with Indigenous and environmental organizations to build interactive maps that tell stories about climate justice across the Americas. ), It would also have led to greater greenhouse gas emissionswhich, the latest scientific reports makes clear, we simply cant afford if were to avoid the most catastrophic climate impacts. The court also noted that the Tribes could file a new suit against the Bureau of Land Management given it has approved the pipeline in the remainder of the United States. update email soon. Tribes and the United States government sign Treaties of Fort Laramie establishing respective territories. It was a blatant attempt to prioritize corporate interests over the health and well-being of the regions citizens and tribes authority to govern their lands and protect their citizens. We were not willing to sacrifice our water or safety for the financial benefit of a trans-national corporation. June 25, 2020 (Bemidji, MN) The Indigenous Environmental Network, in collaboration with the Climate Alliance Mapping Project and the Keystone XL Mapping Project, have just launched the KXL Pipeline Map, an interactive tool that highlights the route of the Keystone XL (KXL) pipeline, a tar sands project of the TC Energy corporation. A two-week delay in the face of a pandemic would seem like the obvious course of action. Even worse, building Keystone XL would have meant enduring those risks just to send the fuel to our overseas rivalsand the profits to Big Oil. Five years ago, a pipeline spilled a million gallons of tar sands crude into a Michigan riverand were still cleaning it up. The KXL phase of the pipeline cuts directly through the traditional homelands of our client tribes. But immediately after taking office, President Donald Trump brought the zombie project back to life, along with the legal battles against it. Of course, TransCanada claims that KXL will be safe, that it will be state of the art. On his fourth day in office, Trump signed an executive order to allow Keystone XL to move forward. However, maps now reveal that the pipeline will cross tribal lands and water suppliesso the pipeline and the president MUST comply with tribal laws and treaties. President Trump also issued a cross-border permit to the pipeline developer, a permit that had been long sought after for the developers. Despite all of these facts, throughout the permitting process, there was no analysis of trust obligations, no analysis of treaty rights, no analysis of the potential impact on hunting and fishing rights, no analysis of potential impacts on the Rosebud Sioux Tribes unique water system, no analysis of the potential impact of spills on tribal citizens, and no analysis of the potential impact on cultural sites in the path of the pipeline, which is in violation of the NEPA and the NHPA. Based on the current status of indigenous peoples within the United States, it is evident that these treaties and those that followed were either never fulfilled or were manipulated to provide leverage for the United States government. It has also been determined that tar sands oil emits 17 percent more carbon than other forms of crude oil. January: The Cushing MarketLink Phase 3a pipeline goes online. So this is a complete win for the tribes on the motions to dismiss. According to a 2015 personal public financial disclosure report filed with the Federal Election Commission, then-candidate Trump held between $250,000 and $500,000 worth of stock in TransCanada Pipelines, Ltd. NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth explains, President Trump permitted the Keystone XL pipeline because he wanted to. Many had hoped that the disastrous project was finally done for in November 2015, when the Obama administration vetoed the pipelineacknowledging its pervasive threats to climate, ecosystems, drinking water sources, and public health. amended complaint in what will now be known as, an amended complaint against TransCanada and President Trump. They have laws protecting their water and those laws must be respected. The first, a southern leg, had already been completed and now runs between Cushing, Oklahoma,. The Keystone XL Pipeline was an oil pipeline system planned to run throughout the northern United States and southern Canada. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe will take any and all necessary steps, up to and including litigation, to protect our people, our land and water, and our cultural and historic resources., As we have seen, spills from such projects can be catastrophic, said NARF Staff Attorney Matt Campbell. The protests were primarily peaceful, with camps and prayer circles set up on the land where construction was to take place. With President Trumps illegal permit revoked, the Tribes plan to continue their efforts to ensure that TransCanada, and its proposed Keystone XL project, follows all applicable laws that are in place to protect tribal people and ancestral lands. The Keystone XL pipeline was proposed by the energy infrastructure company TC Energy. But, the President must comply with the Treaties, and TC Energy must comply with Rosebud law. But environmental reviews by both the Obama and Trump administrations concluded that the Keystone XL pipeline would not have lowered gasoline prices. Once resubmitted, the U.S. State Department did not bother to seek any new information or public comment, but instead quickly granted TC Energy a permit. All construction was stopped. Despite a court order to reassess the Dakota Access Pipelines environmental impact, the agency wont share the results of its new study. This interactive tool is a powerful visual for Indigenous communities and our allies along the KXL route. The Pros And Cons Of Trans Alaska Pipeline. Construction has begun despite the fact that there are three lawsuits currently going on. According to NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth, What we have seen in these recent filings is that TransCanadas Keystone XL pipeline route crosses Rosebud-controlled lands. The proposed Keystone XL extension actually comprised two segments. U.S. President Joe Biden speaks in the East Room of the White House on March 18, 2021 in Washington, DC. Keystone XL was a terrible idea from the start, Swift said. During this time of uncertainty and crisis, NARF is committed to protecting the health, safety, and rights of Native Americans. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe has retained the NARF to represent its interests with regard to the Keystone XL pipeline. The activities described in the projects Environmental Impact Statement, namely rock ripping, blasting, trenching, top soil removal, and replacement of removed materials as backfill would adversely affect Rosebuds mineral estate. On Thursday, April 16, NARF attorneys appeared before Judge Brian Morris of the United States District Court of Montana for oral arguments in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Trump. A spill would have been devastating to the farms, ranches, and communities that depend on these crucial ecosystems. Only until November 18, 2019, you can comment on the KXL Supplementary Environmental Impact Statement (SEIS). On March 28, 2017, his State Department illegally approved a cross-border permit for the pipeline, reversing the Obama administrations prior determination that KXL would not serve the national interest. The decision echoed a seven-year State Department review process with EPA input that concluded the pipeline would fail to serve national interests. President Bidens executive order was a landmark achievement and a sigh of relief for indigenous and environmental activists alike. It also endangers the Ogallala Aquifer, which supplies water for Native and non-Native users residential and agricultural needs on the High Plains in eight states. And these exports are more than 10 times the capacity of the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. The only claims dismissed are the ones that the Tribes conceded should be dismissed because they were based on an old permit. Over the years, the United States government willingly made very specific promises to tribal nations. These lands are well within the area of impact for even a small rupture and spill. January: Obama rejects the Keystone Pipeline, saying the December bill did not allow enough time to review the new route. Goldtooth called Bidens decision a vindication of the hard work and struggle many indigenous communities have put forth in protest of the pipeline. January: Nebraska Gov. DAPL may be underway, but the water protectors at Standing Rock taught us a lot about going up against the fossil fuel industry. On March 23, 2017, the U.S. Department of State granted TransCanadas permit application and issued it a presidential permit to construct and operate the Keystone XL Pipeline. Today, the United States District Court for the District of Montana, Great Falls Division, heard arguments in Rosebud Sioux Tribe v. Trump. By that point, Keystone XL faced an unfriendly administration, numerous legal challenges, declining oil prices, worsening climate impacts, and a growing movement of climate organizersalong the pipelines route and around the worldunwilling to look the other way. UAB also encourages applications from individuals with disabilities and veterans. It celebrated its 40th Anniversary last year, and, even after all this time, is still facing controversy. In 2017, the Trump administration reversed Obamas veto, signing an executive order to advance the Keystone pipeline as well as a similar crude oil project, the Dakota Access Pipeline despite the many valid arguments made against the two pipelines. The US did not adequately review the pipelines proposed route and whether it crosses tribal territory. Revoking the illegally issued pipeline permit is a start, but we call on the Biden administration to do more, to go further, to respect the rights of Native peoples and improve the relationships between tribes and the federal government.. The 2019 supplemental environmental impact statement has numerous issues and shortcomings. Between the threat of sexual violence and contraction of the coronoavirus, arrival of KXL construction workers in our homelands poses deadlier risks than ever before and must be stopped. Later, fossil fuel companies funnelled millions into Trumps 2017 inauguration ceremony, days after which he brought the Keystone XL project back from the dead, and ramped up federal lobbying efforts in the first months of his administration. However, for the Tribes, the KXL fight is just beginning. NARF will not allow the US government to ignore or forget the agreements made with tribal nations. February: TransCanada announces it will build Phase 3 of the Keystone Pipeline as a separate project that is not subject to presidential permission, since it does not cross an international border. How an unlikely coalition of environmental activists stopped the destructive tar sands oil pipeline. WASHINGTON (AP) President Donald Trump greenlighted the long-delayed Keystone XL pipeline on Friday, declaring it a "great day for American jobs" and siding with energy advocates over environmental groups in a heated debate over climate change. The pipeline is certain to leak (it already has). Indeed, moving crude by rail to the Gulf costs substantially more than moving it by pipe. The mining depletes and pollutes freshwater resources, creates massive ponds of toxic waste, and threatens the health and livelihood of the First Nations people who live near them. The one filed by Rosebud Sioux last week cites the fact that the Trump Administration has not undertaken any analysis of: trust obligations, the potential impact on tribal hunting and fishing rights, the potential impacts on the Rosebud Sioux Tribes unique water system, the potential impact of spills on tribal citizens, or the potential impact on cultural sites in the path of the pipeline. The agencies have not considered the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on either health and safety or the global oil markets. Our water sources are threatened by the dirty tar sand crude, our ancestral homelands are in the direct path of the pipeline, and our people already are suffering the effects of nearby construction worker man camps. The U.S. Senate approves a bill to build Keystone XL. GIS allows for the creation of maps that display specific information related to the City. The Keystone XL pipeline extension, proposed by TC Energy (then TransCanada) in 2008, was initially designed to transport the planets dirtiest fossil fuel, tar sands oil, to marketand fast. Read the memo in support of preliminary injunction. The projects corporate backerthe Canadian energy infrastructure company TC Energyofficially abandoned the project in June 2021 following President Joe Bidens denial of a key permit on his first day in office. This is great news for the tribes, people, and sacred places in the path of the proposed pipeline. The city was named after its founder, Harry Culver. Our land, water, and people are under direct threat from the KXL pipeline. In their permit application, TransCanada agreed to abide by tribal laws and regulation, which they have failed to do. The climate impact of a complete and fully operational Keystone XL would be drastic. It is mostly surrounded by the city of Los Angeles, but also shares . Court Pulls Key Permit for Massive (and Dirty) Atlantic Coast Pipeline, Hey, Army Corps of EngineersShow Us Your Work in Your DAPL Report, Week 88: Trumps Runaway Train of Deregulation. Tracey Osborne, Climate Alliance Mapping Project Watch on Keystone XL 329 miles (529 km) in Canada (Hardisty, Alta., to Monchy, Sask.) The goal was to transport 830,000 barrels of crude, tar sand oil to refineries on the American Gulf Coast each day. Listen to more voices from the community on the NARF YouTube channel. TransCanada's plan to dig a trench and bury part of its $7 billion, 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline right through this land has unearthed a host of Native American opposition, resentments and . The takedown of the notorious Keystone XL (KXL) tar sands pipeline will go down as one of this generations most monumental environmental victories. The online map can be found here: https://climatealliancemap.org/kxl-map March: The U.S. Department of State issues a Presidential Permit authorizing Keystone facilities at the U.S.-Canada border. Heres everything you need to know about the historic KXL fightand why the pipelines cancellation has had no impact on current oil prices. April: The State Department suspends the regulatory process indefinitely, citing uncertainty about the court case in Nebraska. Public documents about extractive projects are often difficult to find and hard to read. September: TransCanada and ConocoPhillips file an application for the Keystone XL Phase 4 extension. In 2017, the US State Department released a study which proved that carbon emissions could be between 5 and 20 percent higher than the original 17 percent estimation. (For evidence, note the 2010 tar sands oil spill in Kalamazoo River, Michigan, a disaster that cost Enbridge more than a billion dollars in cleanup fees and took six years to settle in court.) The spill, more than 400,000 gallons of unprocessed crude, is the seventh largest on-shore spill since 2002. Consenting to these technologies will allow us to process data such as browsing behavior or unique IDs on this site. The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user. In creating this version of the map, we were grateful to build on the substantial efforts of the Keystone Mapping Project to determine an accurate pipeline route. The pipelines proposed route crosses through traditional Lakota homelands and treaty territories, and will affect not only the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, but also Native Nations in Montana, South Dakota, and Nebraska. We look forward to holding the Trump Administration and TransCanada accountable to the Tribes and the applicable laws that must be followed., NARF Staff Attorney Matthew Campbell also reacted to the news, Of course, the treaties were agreed to by the president of the United States and ratified by the Senate, so the treaties clearly apply. To that end, the government must examine the potential impact of pipeline construction and man-camps on Native people, especially women and children. The notorious tar sands pipeline was a lightning rod in the fight against climate change and the seemingly unstoppable oil industry. Elections turn control of the U.S. Congress over to Republicans, who pledge to move forward on Keystone XL. Meanwhile, major new tar sands projects stopped moving forward, despite investments from the government of Alberta, Canada. (That effort failed.) But Keystone XL . The pipeline would have stretched 1,179 . February : The Keystone-Cushing Phase 2 of the pipeline goes online. The Rosebud Sioux Tribealso known as the Siangu Lakota Oyateis one of the seven tribes that make up the Oeti Sakowin (the Seven Council Fires of the Lakota people). To that end, the Rosebud Sioux Tribal Utility Commission will be holding a public hearing on Tuesday, May 28, 2019, and Wednesday, May 29, 2019, to address the Keystone XL pipeline and its impacts on our territory and people. The injunction blocking KXL construction has now been lifted. NARF will help the Tribe make sure it has considered all of its options for ensuring the safety of the Tribes citizens, territory, and resources., This is their land, their water, said NARF Staff Attorney Natalie Landreth. The biggest concern with the Keystone XL Pipeline would be a spill in an environmentally sensitive area, such as the . (Indeed, Keystone XL was viewed as an essential ingredient in the oil industrys plans to triple tar sands production by 2030. We hope the Keystone XL Map will add a visual resource that supports the education and advocacy efforts of social movements working for Indigenous sovereignty and a just transition to renewable energy.. We cannot allow another pipeline to be constructed, dangerously close to yet another tribal community, for the benefit of a foreign energy company.. Digital maps are a powerful way to educate the public about connections between oil and gas extraction, climate change, social justice, and Indigenous rights. Additionally, the Rosebud Sioux Tribe operates its own water delivery system, which is part of the Mni Wiconi Rural Water Supply Project. EPA staff perform oil and sediment sampling near Battle Creek, Michigan, after the Kalamazoo spill. The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, Take action today. TransCanada's plan to dig a trench and bury part of its $7 billion, 1,700-mile Keystone XL pipeline right through this land has unearthed a host of Native American opposition, resentments and ghosts of the past. April: TransCanada submits a new route to officials in Nebraska for approval. Because it crosses the U.S.-Canada border, Phase 4 does require a Presidential Permit; however, it has been met with opposition since its initial proposal. The Rosebud Sioux Tribe and the Fort Belknap Indian Community intend to move ahead with their claims against the United States and to demand that the United States honor its legal obligations. They prohibited any construction until the Trump Administration and TransCanada conduct the necessary review. Keystone XL Pipeline, Gas Prices, and Oil Exports, Keystone XL Pipeline Environmental Impact, Keystone XL Pipeline Controversy and False Claims, President Trump and the Keystone XL Pipeline, President Biden and the End of the Keystone XL Pipeline, officially abandoned the project in June 2021, tar sands oil spill in Kalamazoo River, Michigan, Its mines are a blight on Canadas boreal, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA, Farmers, ranchers, tribes, and conservation groups, abandoning its plans for building the pipeline, Ghost Pipelines: How Landowners Suffer, Long After a Project Gets Canceled, The Future Has Spoken: Its Time to Shut Down DAPL and Stop Line 3, Battered by Floods, Nebraskans Worry About Pipeline Spills, 2018 Wasnt a Completely Horrible Year for the Environment, A Rubber Stamp on Keystone XL? As such, they are protected by treaties as well as tribal and federal laws. Pipelines like the Keystone XL and Dakota pipelines as well as other fossil fuel projects actively pollute native land and water resources as well as consistently contribute to global warming due to their high greenhouse gas emissions. President Trump did not like these decisions. Until 2016,Canadaofficially objected to the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples. The Fort Belknap Indian Community and the Rosebud Sioux Tribe, represented by the Native American Rights Fund, have separately sued TC Energy and President TrumpRosebud Sioux Tribe v. Trump. Instead, despite the danger to tribal citizens and all of the people living in the area, TransCanada is pushing to quickly build as much of the pipeline as possible. harm to the political integrity, economic stability, and health and welfare of the Tribes. The case is now up to the Tribes, and they will not allow a foreign company to break American law, take land that does not belong to them, ignore the voices and laws of the tribal citizens, and destroy an aquifer that feeds millions of Americans. Less than two years before the project was finally pulled, the Keystone tar sands pipeline was temporarily shut down after a spill in North Dakota of reportedly more than 378,000 gallons in late October 2019. 6210 Bristol Pkwy. In issuing the Keystone XL permit with shoddy and superficial analysis, the federal government not only didnt do its job, it did not follow the law.. Finally, massive fossil fuel infrastructure investments like KXL undermine efforts to minimize global warming and prioritize clean energy like wind and solar. Back in 2017, the mainline of the Keystone pipeline ruptured in South Dakota outside of the Lake Traverse Reservation, home to the Sisseton Wahpeton Oyate. The pipeline, designed to run from Alberta, Canada, to Nebraska, had faced opposition from environmental groups, land use groups and Native American tribal entities for years. For example, in 2020, Teck Resources withdrew its 10-year application to build the largest tar sands mine in history, citing growing concern surrounding climate change in global markets. This is one of the reasons for the lawsuit. 6210 Bristol Pkwy Culver City CA 90230-6924. Rosebud has land use, environmental, and utilities codes that apply, and TransCanada must comply with Rosebud law on Rosebud land. Thanks for signing up. One was Nebraskas Ogallala Aquifer, which provides drinking water for millions as well as 30 percent of Americas irrigation water. The government failed to even evaluate an alternate route to avoids tribal treaty lands. The Tribes are asking the court to put a short hold on construction until a hearing scheduled later this month. If you are worried about the KXL pipeline, take action now. The proposed Keystone XL (KXL) Pipeline would cross Nebraska, Montana, and South Dakota, including tribal lands. With this construction, workers will descend on the communities along the pipelines proposed path. BILLINGS, Mont. The XL stands for export limited. If completed, KXL would add another 510,000 barrels of capacity. But the groundswell of public protest was up against a formidable opponenthundreds of millions spent on lobbying by the fossil fuel industry. The pipeline would cross the two sources of water for the Mni Wiconi Project. It is the largest underground water source in the United States. On his first day in office, President Joe Biden signed an executive order canceling the Keystone XL Pipeline Project. The permitting process was completed only 56 days after TransCanada submitted its application for the third time. TransCanada failed to comply with Rosebud and Fort Belknap law. When the Tribes negotiated their treaties, they gave millions of acres of land to the United Statesincluding, ironically, the land on which the courthouse now stands. For tribal lands, the treaties absolutely require this sort of review. The State Department provided no explanation in the 2017 decision for its contradictory factual finding; instead, it simply disregarded its previous factual findings and replaced them with a new one. How a single pipeline project became the epicenter of an enormous environmental, public health, and civil rights battle. The water delivery system for the Rosebud Sioux Tribe is called the Mni Wiconi, which translates to Water is Life. On February 11, 2019, an 1,800-gallon spill was detected in Missouri on the main Keystone line, and last year more than 400,000 gallons were spilled from the main Keystone line in South Dakota near a tribal community. Its a threat to our climate, our drinking water, and our safety. In addition to extensive violations of law outlined in the original complaint, the new complaint raises the following issues: Maps released by TransCanada show the pipeline corridor and access roads crossing Rosebud territory, some of which is held in trust, as well as Rosebuds Mni Wiconi Water system.
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