<p>Hollywood celebrities have come together to urge the United States President Joe Biden to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline after a court recently ruled that the former president Donald Trump’s administration had broken the law when it pushed forward with the construction of the same during his tenure.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The letter dates February 8 and is signed by all the whos-who of Hollywood including<a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/leonardo-dicaprio"> Leonardo Di Caprio</a>, Cher, Robert Downey Jr., Joaquin Phoenix, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and the list goes on.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On the day of his inauguration, <a href="https://www.wionews.com/topics/joe-biden">Joe Biden</a> issued an executive order that revoked the permit for the long-disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline. He had then said, “The world must be put on a sustainable climate pathway to protect Americans and the domestic economy from harmful climate impacts, and to create well-paying union jobs as part of the climate solution. Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my administration’s economic and climate imperatives.”</p>

<p>The letter recaps the battle over the Dakota Access Pipeline and details how, over the previous four years, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Yankton Sioux Tribe and Oglala Sioux Tribe have fought to keep it from being completed.</p>

<p>The pipeline carries oil from North Dakota underground through South Dakota and Iowa, ending in Patoka, Illinois, and has long been protested by activists, including celebrities like Shailene Woodley, who was once arrested during such an event.</p>

<p>“We urge you to remedy this historic injustice and direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to immediately shut down the illegal Dakota Access Pipeline while the Environmental Impact Statement process is conducted, consistent with the D.C. District Court’s decision and order,” reads the letter. “Additionally, the U.S. Army Corps must ensure a robust environmental review with significant tribal consultation, tribal consent, and a thorough risk analysis. With your leadership, we have a momentous opportunity to protect our water and respect our environmental laws and the rights of Indigenous people. This is our moment.”</p>


Hollywood celebrities have come together to urge the United States President Joe Biden to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline after a court recently ruled that the former president Donald Trump’s administration had broken the law when it pushed forward with the construction of the same during his tenure.

Hollywood celebrities have come together to urge the United States President Joe Biden to shut down the Dakota Access Pipeline after a court recently ruled that the former president Donald Trump’s administration had broken the law when it pushed forward with the construction of the same during his tenure. The letter dates February 8 and is signed by all the whos-who of Hollywood including Leonardo Di Caprio, Cher, Robert Downey Jr., Joaquin Phoenix, Chris Hemsworth, Scarlett Johansson, Mark Ruffalo and the list goes on. On the day of his inauguration, Joe Biden issued an executive order that revoked the permit for the long-disputed Keystone XL oil pipeline. He had then said, “The world must be put on a sustainable climate pathway to protect Americans and the domestic economy from harmful climate impacts, and to create well-paying union jobs as part of the climate solution. Leaving the Keystone XL pipeline permit in place would not be consistent with my administration’s economic and climate imperatives.” The letter recaps the battle over the Dakota Access Pipeline and details how, over the previous four years, the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe, Yankton Sioux Tribe and Oglala Sioux Tribe have fought to keep it from being completed. The pipeline carries oil from North Dakota underground through South Dakota and Iowa, ending in Patoka, Illinois, and has long been protested by activists, including celebrities like Shailene Woodley, who was once arrested during such an event. “We urge you to remedy this historic injustice and direct the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to immediately shut down the illegal Dakota Access Pipeline while the Environmental Impact Statement process is conducted, consistent with the D.C. District Court’s decision and order,” reads the letter. “Additionally, the U.S. Army Corps must ensure a robust environmental review with significant tribal consultation, tribal consent, and a thorough risk analysis. With your leadership, we have a momentous opportunity to protect our water and respect our environmental laws and the rights of Indigenous people. This is our moment.”

Dakota pipeline issue: Leonardo DiCaprio, Mark Ruffalo & other celebs write to Joe Biden

<p>Daniel Martin is fourteen, plays basketball, fishes in the Missouri River that winds past his village. His placid life, like many others of the area, suddenly got ruffled by the decision of Energy Transfer&mdash;the &ldquo;Big Oil&rdquo; company&mdash;to build a huge oil pipeline in the area. As people flocked in from all parts of the US protesting the construction of the pipeline in the Missouri riverbed, Daniel wrote an <a href="http://rezpectourwater.com/daniel/">open letter</a> to the Army Corps of Engineers and Jo-Ellen Darcy, the US assistant secretary of the army from the civil works department. Daniel&rsquo;s letter, along with those of other local kids, conveys a deep sense of anguish at the dangers a leakage in the oil pipeline will pose to their home, to the environment, and to the planet. The letters contribute to the political exchanges that have developed around the pipeline; they bring to light the complicated relationship development shares with the notion of a &ldquo;living community&rdquo; of humans and nonhumans.&nbsp;</p>

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<h5>Daniel&rsquo;s letter, along with those of other local kids, conveys a deep sense of anguish at the dangers a leakage in the oil pipeline will pose to their home, to the environment, and to the planet.</h5>
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<p>The pipeline, which will be approximately <a href="http://daplpipelinefacts.com/about/route.html">1,172-miles long</a>, is designed to connect Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. Once built, the pipeline will enable domestically produced light sweet crude oil from North Dakota to reach major refining markets across the Midwest, East coast as well as the Gulf Coast. Designed to travel through 50 counties in four US states, the pipeline has triggered a huge democratic protest movement, involving the Native Indian tribes, such as the Meskwaki and Sioux, farming communities, landowners associations, as well as various conservation groups.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The movement has closely braided multiple issues related to environmental safety, property rights, and natives&rsquo; ways of life. In response to the growing movement, Energy Transfer has come up with an equally forceful argument in support of the construction project. Use of numbers has become a forceful tool to justify the project. The official documents published by Energy Transfer is replete with <a href="http://daplpipelinefacts.com/resources/faq.html">enticing figures</a>, such as how much oil the pipeline will be able to carry: 470,000 barrels of crude oil/day; how many work opportunities it will create: 40 permanent jobs; how far-reaching will be the tertiary economic impact: 8,200-12,000 temporary jobs; how will it impact the agricultural sector: by bringing down tariffs on transported crops which has shot up from $50 to $1400 per car. The march of numbers continues in different official sites. This quantitative rationale has understandably outshone protests of the people who are, primarily, relying on a subjective and personal interpretation of the world around them.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Thus, when <a href="http://rezpectourwater.com/anna-lee-mni-wiconi-water-is-life/">Anna Lee</a>, 13-year-old from Standing Rock Middle School critiqued the pipeline project, fearing what it might do to the garden, chickens and horses that her grandparents have raised in their farms along the banks of the Missouri River, it does not sound as pertaining to the national interests as does the energy needs of the American citizens; a point which Energy Partners have consistently emphasised. The purpose of the Dakota pipeline, evidently, is to act as the &ldquo;<a href="http://daplpipelinefacts.com/resources/faq.html">critical link</a>&rdquo;; to help close the gap between production of oil in the USA and what the country actually consumes. This independence will not simply be economic in nature, it implies that the US will be now &ldquo;truly&rdquo; independent from the &ldquo;unstable&rdquo; region of the world. It is not difficult to assume how much political economic leverage the US will gain from the successful completion of this project.</p>

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<h5>Water is important to me and everyone else. The animals could die because of oil spills. We need our water and animals to help us live.</h5>
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<p>In talking about the danger of oil seepage, the letters of the school students exhibit an enormous power of inclusion. Rather than talking exclusively in terms of dangers to humans, the letters include &ldquo;horses&rdquo; and &ldquo;fishes&rdquo;, &ldquo;dogs&rdquo; and &ldquo;birds&rdquo;, who are considered to be equally at peril by the possibility of oil seepage. <a href="http://rezpectourwater.com/lannelle/">Lannelle</a>, a 13-year-old from Cannon Ball, North Dakota, refers to the web of life that human and nonhumans have woven through evolution. She writes, &ldquo;Water is important to me and everyone else. The animals could die because of oil spills. We need our water and animals to help us live.&rdquo; Missouri, just like any major rivers of the world, is a strong yet supple thread, which binds different regions and life forms together. The pipelines, on being passed through the river channel, carry the threat of puncturing these valuable linkages.&nbsp;</p>

<p>On the other hand, Energy Partners&rsquo; response to the potential threat of an oil disaster is a very technocratic one. For instance, the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) authority understands environmental safety in terms of design, construction, operation, and maintenance. They talk about inspection with x-rays, installing pressure and temperature sensors, conducting hydro-tests, having provisions for a&nbsp;remote controlled emergency shutdown, so on and so forth. It is clear from their <a href="http://daplpipelinefacts.com/resources/faq.html">statement</a> that the company is satisfied with their safety standards, having implemented all state and federal standards. In some instances, the claim is, they have &ldquo;exceed(ed)&rdquo; government safety standards to &ldquo;ensure a long-term, safe and reliable pipeline&quot;. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Having said that, it is equally clear from the company&rsquo;s action of physically countering the protestors&mdash;in injuring and intimidating them&mdash;that DAPL not only disregards the people&rsquo;s right to dissent but have shown complete contempt to the environmental ideas of the protesters too.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The bank of the Missouri River has, therefore, become the contesting ground where the technocratic developmentalist vision plays out against the worldview that champions the intricacies of ecosystems, deeper social factors, and ethical issues. The letter of&nbsp; <a href="http://rezpectourwater.com/ethan/">Ethan</a> Thunder Hawk embodies the latter position; his concern for &ldquo;the environment&rdquo; as a whole, how &ldquo;the air will turn brown&rdquo; and &ldquo;no birds will fly in sky and other animals will die&rdquo; reflects a holistic worldview. Such an outlook is, however, not peculiar of the Native Indian environmental discourse, but significantly overlaps with recent developments in environmental science.</p>

<p>Since the 1960s, the scientific discipline of ecology branched out into an in-depth study of the ecosystem. The principles of ecosystem do not acknowledge the distinctions among the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms: an idea that all letters from the school children of North Dakota have alluded too. Ecology talks about innumerable ecosystems, comprising of the microscopic as well as the planetary. Moreover, this branch of scientific study emphasises that all elements&mdash;living or nonliving&mdash;are essential for the continuation of webs of life. Thus, the care and reverence for the environment that we commonly adjudicate to the realm of metaphysical is actually upheld and practised by the scientific communities worldwide, and not exclusively by Native Indians.&nbsp;</p>

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<p>An oil pipeline is an uber expensive project; it is meant to serve generations. But oil being an exhaustible resource, an oil pipeline always stands the chance of being abandoned. Between 2015-16, the Royal Dutch Shell Company abandoned <a href="http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-05-10/big-oil-abandons-2-5-billion-in-u-s-arctic-drilling-rights">two</a> <a href="http://www.ibtimes.com/royal-dutch-shell-abandon-canadian-oil-sands-project-just-weeks-after-dropping-arctic-2160250">drilling</a> ventures on economic grounds.&nbsp; The environment, on the other hand, is not a dispensable commodity. Soil and water, air and light are shared across generations. Damaging these elements causes death, dislocation, misery and impoverishment, as have been evident in the Great Smog of 1952 in London, Amoco Cadiz oil spill in 1978, Bhopal gas tragedy and Ok Tedi disaster in 1984, among others.</p>

<p>For ages, humans have been trying hard to fit the earth&rsquo;s contour to its development goals. Environmental historian <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Changes-Land-Indians-Colonists-Ecology/dp/0809016346/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&amp;ie=UTF8&amp;qid=1474545353&amp;sr=1-1&amp;keywords=william+cronon+changes+in+the+land+indians+colonists+and+the+ecology+of+new+england">William Cronon </a>writes that when the Europeans first reached North America, they wanted to transform the &ldquo;remote, rocky, barren, bushy, wild-woody wilderness&rdquo; into &ldquo;a second England for fertileness&rdquo; in matter of a generation. Time has passed, and we still continue to aspire to bring industrial development to all corners of the world. It continues to be seen as a civilisation act: a progressive movement from savagery to ever more sophisticated living. It is that mindset again which is driving companies, such as the Energy Partners to teach, however, forcefully, the essentials of modern living to a group of recalcitrant people.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The project at North Dakota reveals that developmental objectives of the nation-state have taken precedence, again. The people&rsquo;s voices are stifled in the very name of bringing development to the people of the country.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&nbsp;</p>


The Dakota pipeline project reveals that developmental objectives of the nation-state take precedence over people's choice

Daniel Martin is fourteen, plays basketball, fishes in the Missouri River that winds past his village. His placid life, like many others of the area, suddenly got ruffled by the decision of Energy Transfer—the “Big Oil” company—to build a huge oil pipeline in the area. As people flocked in from all parts of the US protesting the construction of the pipeline in the Missouri riverbed, Daniel wrote an open letter to the Army Corps of Engineers and Jo-Ellen Darcy, the US assistant secretary of the army from the civil works department. Daniel’s letter, along with those of other local kids, conveys a deep sense of anguish at the dangers a leakage in the oil pipeline will pose to their home, to the environment, and to the planet. The letters contribute to the political exchanges that have developed around the pipeline; they bring to light the complicated relationship development shares with the notion of a “living community” of humans and nonhumans. Daniel’s letter, along with those of other local kids, conveys a deep sense of anguish at the dangers a leakage in the oil pipeline will pose to their home, to the environment, and to the planet. × The pipeline, which will be approximately 1,172-miles long, is designed to connect Bakken and Three Forks production areas in North Dakota to Patoka, Illinois. Once built, the pipeline will enable domestically produced light sweet crude oil from North Dakota to reach major refining markets across the Midwest, East coast as well as the Gulf Coast. Designed to travel through 50 counties in four US states, the pipeline has triggered a huge democratic protest movement, involving the Native Indian tribes, such as the Meskwaki and Sioux, farming communities, landowners associations, as well as various conservation groups. The movement has closely braided multiple issues related to environmental safety, property rights, and natives’ ways of life. In response to the growing movement, Energy Transfer has come up with an equally forceful argument in support of the construction project. Use of numbers has become a forceful tool to justify the project. The official documents published by Energy Transfer is replete with enticing figures, such as how much oil the pipeline will be able to carry: 470,000 barrels of crude oil/day; how many work opportunities it will create: 40 permanent jobs; how far-reaching will be the tertiary economic impact: 8,200-12,000 temporary jobs; how will it impact the agricultural sector: by bringing down tariffs on transported crops which has shot up from $50 to $1400 per car. The march of numbers continues in different official sites. This quantitative rationale has understandably outshone protests of the people who are, primarily, relying on a subjective and personal interpretation of the world around them. Thus, when Anna Lee, 13-year-old from Standing Rock Middle School critiqued the pipeline project, fearing what it might do to the garden, chickens and horses that her grandparents have raised in their farms along the banks of the Missouri River, it does not sound as pertaining to the national interests as does the energy needs of the American citizens; a point which Energy Partners have consistently emphasised. The purpose of the Dakota pipeline, evidently, is to act as the “critical link”; to help close the gap between production of oil in the USA and what the country actually consumes. This independence will not simply be economic in nature, it implies that the US will be now “truly” independent from the “unstable” region of the world. It is not difficult to assume how much political economic leverage the US will gain from the successful completion of this project. Water is important to me and everyone else. The animals could die because of oil spills. We need our water and animals to help us live. × In talking about the danger of oil seepage, the letters of the school students exhibit an enormous power of inclusion. Rather than talking exclusively in terms of dangers to humans, the letters include “horses” and “fishes”, “dogs” and “birds”, who are considered to be equally at peril by the possibility of oil seepage. Lannelle, a 13-year-old from Cannon Ball, North Dakota, refers to the web of life that human and nonhumans have woven through evolution. She writes, “Water is important to me and everyone else. The animals could die because of oil spills. We need our water and animals to help us live.” Missouri, just like any major rivers of the world, is a strong yet supple thread, which binds different regions and life forms together. The pipelines, on being passed through the river channel, carry the threat of puncturing these valuable linkages. On the other hand, Energy Partners’ response to the potential threat of an oil disaster is a very technocratic one. For instance, the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL) authority understands environmental safety in terms of design, construction, operation, and maintenance. They talk about inspection with x-rays, installing pressure and temperature sensors, conducting hydro-tests, having provisions for a remote controlled emergency shutdown, so on and so forth. It is clear from their statement that the company is satisfied with their safety standards, having implemented all state and federal standards. In some instances, the claim is, they have “exceed(ed)” government safety standards to “ensure a long-term, safe and reliable pipeline". Having said that, it is equally clear from the company’s action of physically countering the protestors—in injuring and intimidating them—that DAPL not only disregards the people’s right to dissent but have shown complete contempt to the environmental ideas of the protesters too. The bank of the Missouri River has, therefore, become the contesting ground where the technocratic developmentalist vision plays out against the worldview that champions the intricacies of ecosystems, deeper social factors, and ethical issues. The letter of Ethan Thunder Hawk embodies the latter position; his concern for “the environment” as a whole, how “the air will turn brown” and “no birds will fly in sky and other animals will die” reflects a holistic worldview. Such an outlook is, however, not peculiar of the Native Indian environmental discourse, but significantly overlaps with recent developments in environmental science. Since the 1960s, the scientific discipline of ecology branched out into an in-depth study of the ecosystem. The principles of ecosystem do not acknowledge the distinctions among the mineral, plant and animal kingdoms: an idea that all letters from the school children of North Dakota have alluded too. Ecology talks about innumerable ecosystems, comprising of the microscopic as well as the planetary. Moreover, this branch of scientific study emphasises that all elements—living or nonliving—are essential for the continuation of webs of life. Thus, the care and reverence for the environment that we commonly adjudicate to the realm of metaphysical is actually upheld and practised by the scientific communities worldwide, and not exclusively by Native Indians. The care and reverence for the environment that we commonly adjudicate to the realm of metaphysical is actually upheld and practised by the scientific communities worldwide, and not exclusively by Native Indians. × An oil pipeline is an uber expensive project; it is meant to serve generations. But oil being an exhaustible resource, an oil pipeline always stands the chance of being abandoned. Between 2015-16, the Royal Dutch Shell Company abandoned two drilling ventures on economic grounds. The environment, on the other hand, is not a dispensable commodity. Soil and water, air and light are shared across generations. Damaging these elements causes death, dislocation, misery and impoverishment, as have been evident in the Great Smog of 1952 in London, Amoco Cadiz oil spill in 1978, Bhopal gas tragedy and Ok Tedi disaster in 1984, among others. For ages, humans have been trying hard to fit the earth’s contour to its development goals. Environmental historian William Cronon writes that when the Europeans first reached North America, they wanted to transform the “remote, rocky, barren, bushy, wild-woody wilderness” into “a second England for fertileness” in matter of a generation. Time has passed, and we still continue to aspire to bring industrial development to all corners of the world. It continues to be seen as a civilisation act: a progressive movement from savagery to ever more sophisticated living. It is that mindset again which is driving companies, such as the Energy Partners to teach, however, forcefully, the essentials of modern living to a group of recalcitrant people. The project at North Dakota reveals that developmental objectives of the nation-state have taken precedence, again. The people’s voices are stifled in the very name of bringing development to the people of the country.

Oil spill in South Dakota: Why it is scary

<p>Construction has begun on the final segment of the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline in the northern United States, prompting a court challenge from a Native American tribe which says its religious rights are under threat.</p>

<p>Energy Transfer Partners, the developer of the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) oil pipeline, now expects to begin operation &quot;in approximately 83 days,&quot; spokeswoman Vicky Granado told AFP on Thursday.</p>

<p>The segment&#39;s route under the Missouri River and man-made Lake Oahe in North Dakota was the subject of months of protests, as Native Americans and their supporters argued it ran the risk of potentially polluting the water.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, whose reservation is near the waterway, asked a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order halting construction on the grounds that the pipeline would harm its ability to perform religious rites.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;The pipeline will desecrate the waters upon which Cheyenne River Sioux tribal members rely on their most important religious practices,&quot; the court filing said.&nbsp;</p>

<p>&quot;And in view of the threat to the tribe&#39;s and its members&#39; constitutional right, this court may not wait until the oil is slithering under the Tribe&#39;s sacred waters. The law entitles the Tribe to relief as soon as the government acts to threaten their rights.&quot;&nbsp;</p>

<p>The Cheyenne River Sioux want work stopped while its lawsuit filed jointly with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe proceeds through the courts.</p>

<p>The US Army Corps of Engineers -- having approval authority over the pipeline&#39;s underwater route -- cleared the way on Tuesday for the project to be completed.&nbsp;</p>

<p>Under the administration of Trump&#39;s predecessor Barack Obama, the Corps had called for further review and halted construction. But President Donald Trump ordered officials to reconsider. &nbsp;</p>

<p>Protesters began camping out near the pipeline&#39;s river crossing starting in April last year, in order to physically prevent construction, at times violently clashing with authorities and pipeline company workers.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The company has claimed the project is safe, and that there are already other pipelines operating safely under the disputed waterway. &nbsp;</p>

<p>US District Court Judge James Boasberg was expected to set a court hearing to consider arguments on the Cheyenne River Sioux&#39;s motion.</p>

<p>(AFP)</p>


Since 2016, Native Americans and environmentalists have been fighting to prevent the pipeline's completion

Construction has begun on the final segment of the controversial Dakota Access oil pipeline in the northern United States, prompting a court challenge from a Native American tribe which says its religious rights are under threat. Energy Transfer Partners, the developer of the 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometer) oil pipeline, now expects to begin operation "in approximately 83 days," spokeswoman Vicky Granado told AFP on Thursday. The segment's route under the Missouri River and man-made Lake Oahe in North Dakota was the subject of months of protests, as Native Americans and their supporters argued it ran the risk of potentially polluting the water. The Cheyenne River Sioux tribe, whose reservation is near the waterway, asked a federal judge to issue a temporary restraining order halting construction on the grounds that the pipeline would harm its ability to perform religious rites. "The pipeline will desecrate the waters upon which Cheyenne River Sioux tribal members rely on their most important religious practices," the court filing said. "And in view of the threat to the tribe's and its members' constitutional right, this court may not wait until the oil is slithering under the Tribe's sacred waters. The law entitles the Tribe to relief as soon as the government acts to threaten their rights." The Cheyenne River Sioux want work stopped while its lawsuit filed jointly with the Standing Rock Sioux tribe proceeds through the courts. The US Army Corps of Engineers -- having approval authority over the pipeline's underwater route -- cleared the way on Tuesday for the project to be completed. Under the administration of Trump's predecessor Barack Obama, the Corps had called for further review and halted construction. But President Donald Trump ordered officials to reconsider. Protesters began camping out near the pipeline's river crossing starting in April last year, in order to physically prevent construction, at times violently clashing with authorities and pipeline company workers. The company has claimed the project is safe, and that there are already other pipelines operating safely under the disputed waterway. US District Court Judge James Boasberg was expected to set a court hearing to consider arguments on the Cheyenne River Sioux's motion. (AFP)

Dakota pipeline work resumes, US tribe heads to court

<p>United States President Donald Trump has decided to unpick environmental legislation by reviving two controversial oil pipeline projects. The 70-year-old gave his nod to the projects which were stonewalled by the Obama admiistration over environmental grounds.</p>

<p>The two projects, Keystone XL and especially the Dakota Access Pipeline, were condemned by the public for the risk it carried for the local communities. In Keystone XL&#39;s case, Environment Canada found industry chemicals seeping the ground water.</p>

<p>According to his federal disclosures form,<a href="http://www.cbsnews.com/news/donald-trumps-stock-in-dakota-access-oil-pipeline-raises-concerns/"> Trump holds stock</a> in the company building the Dakota Access oil pipeline, CBS reports. While the amount of stock in Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners&nbsp;is modest compared to the rest of his portfolio, estimated at between $15,000 and $50,000, he also owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in Phillips 66, which has a one-quarter share of Dakota Access, CBS reports.</p>

<p>Trump has refused to place his assets in a blind trust, handing over control of his business empire to his sons.&nbsp;</p>

<p>The opposition in Dakota Access Pipeline was primarily twofold: The project would damage sacred burial sites and contaminate the water in the region. Thousands of Native Americans had camped in freezing winter temperatures to block the oleoduct&#39;s planned route last year.</p>

<p>The standoff -- which included some 2,000 military veterans who joined the protest -- prompted violent clashes with law enforcement as well as sympathetic demonstrations nationwide.</p>

<p>But Trump on Monday said: &quot;I am very insistent that if we are going to build pipelines in the United States the pipes should be made in the United States.&quot;</p>

<p>&quot;We want to build the pipe, put a lot of steel workers back to work.&quot;</p>

<p>Keystone XL 1,179-mile (1,900 kilometre)&nbsp;Alberta-Nebraska section of the project.</p>

<p>The Dakota project is a&nbsp;1,172-mile (1,886-kilometre) oil&nbsp;pipeline, which&nbsp;would snake through four US states, from North Dakota to Illinois.</p>

<p>Since being sworn in on Friday, Trump has begun rolling out an orthodox conservative agenda, despite a campaign often out of kilter with Republican party ideology.</p>

<p>He has moved to curb funding for abortions, embraced Israel, frozen government hiring and now sought to unwind environmental legislation.&nbsp;</p>

<p>(WION with inputs from AFP)</p>

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Opponents claim the Dakota pipeline will damage sacred burial sites and contaminate water. Trump holds stock in the company building it

United States President Donald Trump has decided to unpick environmental legislation by reviving two controversial oil pipeline projects. The 70-year-old gave his nod to the projects which were stonewalled by the Obama admiistration over environmental grounds. The two projects, Keystone XL and especially the Dakota Access Pipeline, were condemned by the public for the risk it carried for the local communities. In Keystone XL's case, Environment Canada found industry chemicals seeping the ground water. According to his federal disclosures form, Trump holds stock in the company building the Dakota Access oil pipeline, CBS reports. While the amount of stock in Texas-based Energy Transfer Partners is modest compared to the rest of his portfolio, estimated at between $15,000 and $50,000, he also owns between $100,000 and $250,000 in Phillips 66, which has a one-quarter share of Dakota Access, CBS reports. Trump has refused to place his assets in a blind trust, handing over control of his business empire to his sons. The opposition in Dakota Access Pipeline was primarily twofold: The project would damage sacred burial sites and contaminate the water in the region. Thousands of Native Americans had camped in freezing winter temperatures to block the oleoduct's planned route last year. The standoff -- which included some 2,000 military veterans who joined the protest -- prompted violent clashes with law enforcement as well as sympathetic demonstrations nationwide. But Trump on Monday said: "I am very insistent that if we are going to build pipelines in the United States the pipes should be made in the United States." "We want to build the pipe, put a lot of steel workers back to work." Keystone XL 1,179-mile (1,900 kilometre) Alberta-Nebraska section of the project. The Dakota project is a 1,172-mile (1,886-kilometre) oil pipeline, which would snake through four US states, from North Dakota to Illinois. Since being sworn in on Friday, Trump has begun rolling out an orthodox conservative agenda, despite a campaign often out of kilter with Republican party ideology. He has moved to curb funding for abortions, embraced Israel, frozen government hiring and now sought to unwind environmental legislation. (WION with inputs from AFP)

Donald Trump revives two controversial oil pipeline projects

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Donald Trump revives two controversial oil pipeline projects