By Catelyn Fitzgerald ’23
Environmental Reporter
Recent weeks have seen a major victory for environmentalists and activists across the country, as the construction of three major fossil fuel pipelines came to a halt. For many Americans, this news came unexpectedly, as much of the public discussion about these controversial pipelines had been completely forgotten in the wake of other recent crises. The Dakota Access Pipeline, Keystone XL Pipeline and Atlantic Coast Pipeline were shut down as a result of organized action and court rulings, and by the companies themselves as the projects faced a loss of economic viability.
Fossil fuel pipelines pose a serious threat to the environment as well as to the communities they cross through. They lead to an increased fuel supply which causes emissions to rise and climate change to accelerate. Pipelines also expand the reach of the fossil fuel industry, giving them more economic and political power, while undermining clean energy efforts. In the communities that pipelines pass through, leaks pose a major threat to the local air and water supply. Even the planning and construction of pipelines displaces people from their homes and permanently destroys the natural environment.
Arguably the most well known of these projects is the Dakota Access Pipeline. The construction of this pipeline was resisted in 2016 during the Standing Rock protests, which were closely followed by news outlets and environmentalists across the country. The protests were in opposition to the placement of the pipeline route under a Missouri River reservoir which is relied upon by the Standing Rock Sioux reservation as a water source. Construction of the pipeline also put historical and cultural importance to the tribe at risk. Members of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe reported that several historical sites had been destroyed in the early stages of construction. Protests grew from less than 20 people to hundreds. In the winter of 2016, increasingly violent responses from law enforcement were reported. The pipeline was halted in a recent District Court decision which determined that construction could not continue without an extensive environmental evaluation. The pipeline had previously been under construction while an environmental assessment by the Army Corps of Engineers was still in progress.
The Keystone XL Pipeline was planned to serve as an extension of the Keystone Pipeline System which transports tar sands, a form of crude oil. Tar sands are one of the dirtiest fossil fuels, emitting more greenhouse gases than regular crude oil. They are also known to be corrosive, causing a high risk of leaks during transportation through pipelines. Protests against the pipeline repeatedly occurred during the early 2010s, including a sit-in at the White House that lasted several days in 2011. The pipeline was stalled by a Supreme Court decision in early July 2020, which blocked an environmental permit from being obtained by the construction company. In the shadow of this victory, President Donald Trump authorized a 29 percent increase in the volume of crude oil transported through the Keystone Pipeline System, a change which is expected to be implemented starting next year.
The Atlantic Coast Pipeline was intended to transport natural gas through the Appalachian Trail. It is the only pipeline of the three that has been canceled outright, rather than simply stalled, due to the mounting costs of lawsuits from environmental groups that made the project economically infeasible. The pipeline’s parent companies announced the cancellation of the project on July 5, 2020.
These three pipelines show the range of action that can successfully be employed to protect the environment. Protests, legal action and the existence of strong regulatory environmental policies have halted, even if for a brief time, the seemingly unstoppable oil industry. These victories set a precedent of power to the environmental movement centered around native leadership and togetherness, creating overall a message of hope for other efforts to defend the environment.