Premier Rock Forum

Quite a thing.

Yeah, the new announcement appears to be legit but I am still holding my breath for something directly from the the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers.

Good views of the camp in this on location broadcast. Reportedly 10,000 people there right now. http://www.msnbc.com/msnbc-news/watch/c ... 4491587812

JohnnySomersett wrote:Jesus. This entire thing is like something you expect from a capitalist country.fyp

Finally some good fucking news!http://www.thedailybeast.com/cheats/201 ... eline.html

Jesus. This entire thing is like something you expect from a third world country.

Yeah, they'll do a 'survey', eventually say it'll be fine and then carry on. By that point the news will have moved onto something else - along with most of the protesters.

Overview and analysis of the situation from Andy Pearson ARMY CORPS DECISION: WHAT DOES IT MEAN?On Sunday afternoon, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers denied the easement for the Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under the Missouri River at Lake Oahe, just north of the encampments at Standing Rock. This is amazing, virtually unprecedented, and a movement victory -- and the water protectors who have led the fight are right to claim it as such. It's also likely temporary and by no means the end of this fight. Here's some context and paths forward as best I understand right now.WHAT HAPPENED: The Corps denied the easement and ordered an Environmental Impact Statement, which is a formal study which will compare various route alternatives. Denying the easement was a stepping stone to getting to an EIS here for the Corps, and doesn't mean that the pipeline won't be built in its current alignment near Standing Rock eventually. The Corps is essentially hitting the pause button and initiating further study.HOW DOES AN EIS GO? There are usually three phases to conducting an EIS: Scoping, Draft, and Final. The public can generally comment during each phase. The purpose of scoping is to identify what should be studied in the EIS -- the scope. Then the Corps and their EIS contractor prepare and release a draft, which the public is invited to comment on. They then rework the draft in light of public input and release a final version, which the public can generally also comment on. The process usually takes several months, and can last for years depending on the project's complexity. A generic timeline would be about nine months, but we don't have any actual guidance yet on the timeline for this particular EIS.WILL THIS ACTUALLY STOP CONSTRUCTION? Debatable. It would be illegal for Energy Transfer Partners to drill under the Missouri, but that's not to say they won't do it and opt to pay whatever legal penalties they incur. That would be a fairly shocking move on their part but they've hinted they may be open to doing it. It's easy to imagine that an incoming Trump administration would do their best to make the penalties as minimal as possible.WHY IS IT IMPORTANT FOR ETP TO DRILL RIGHT NOW? Contracts with oil shippers. These contracts, called take-or-pay contracts, obligate shippers to pay money to the pipeline company over a long, committed period of time regardless of whether they have oil to actually send or not. It's a great deal for DAPL but not so good for the oil shippers, especially now that the Bakken oil boom isn't so hot. These contracts expire if the pipeline isn't substantially complete by January 1, and there's somewhat of a chance that some shippers will choose to drop out at that point due to changing economics in the industry if the pipeline isn't complete. Sunday's decision by the Corps means that the pipeline won't be complete by January 1 unless ETP breaks the law and drills anyway.WHAT ABOUT TRUMP? Oh, you had to ask. He's a problem here. Once he's president, he'll be able to stack the deck at the Army Corps so that the EIS is weak or biased in favor of DAPL, and he might be able to stop the EIS process altogether and reinstate the permit, though I don't know the legal specifics here yet. It's very doubtful that we'll see a full and robust EIS with him taking office. The upshot of Sunday's decision as I see it, assuming that ETP chooses to follow the law, is that it delays approval of the line until after Trump takes office, giving time for the contracts to expire and letting the worst of winter slide by without the need for full forces at the encampments.WHAT CAN WE DO IN THE MEANTIME? We can continue the work we've been doing, because it's all still relevant and helpful, and will become quite urgent again in at most a few months. We can go after the banks harder than ever to cut off funding to DAPL. We can continue to spread information, lobby elected officials, lobby the Corps, hold events, train for direct action. We can engage in the EIS process once it begins. This isn't the end of the fight by a long shot, but it's a brief respite between battles and a sign of how far we've come thanks to the indigenous leadership and water protectors at Standing Rock. Let's celebrate and reflect and keep fighting. #NoDAPL

Still processing what I saw yesterday at Standing Rock. It's very, very overwhelming, and I'm at a loss for how to properly contextualize a few things (and a few things would be outright wrong to share, frankly). I'll try to put a few thoughts in line soon here, but for now, these people are risking their lives, their health, their families, their everything's for the safety of this water reserve (the 4th largest in the US), and for future generations. I saw old, young, everything in between laying it on the line. Complete harmony at times, utter chaos on other fronts. The vets rolling in was a shot of adrenaline, and it energized the camp. It was amazing to see unfold. I do not believe they'll be routing the pipeline through Lake Oahe.

JohnnySomersett wrote:Yeah, they'll do a 'survey', eventually say it'll be fine and then carry on. By that point the news will have moved onto something else - along with most of the protesters.At this point the permit has been denied for the current route easement, so there's a lengthy review process that has to happen - they have to look at different routes, go through a full environmental impact analysis for those routes, and then go through the permitting an public review process for whatever route the pipeline is supposed to follow. The Trump administration can eventually pick the route through Standing Rock as the final route but since the permit has been denied, it will require going back through the permitting process to get approved. Meaning updated environmental impact analysis, new permit, new public review period with a hell of a lot more public visibility. Assuming after all that the easement is approved (likely considering who will be in charge), it will be followed up with appeals and legal challenges from all sides that could delay the project until after the Trump administration gets fucked off on the syphilitic pack-mule it rode in on. The battle's been won, but the war ain't over.