Over the past three years, Native American tribes, indigenous rights groups, and environmental justice organizations have contested the Dakota Access Pipeline. The pipeline runs from North Dakota to Illinois, carrying oil between the two states, and in turn threatening the drinking water of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe. After years of protests, United States District Judge James E. Boasberg ordered for the pipeline’s removal.
Tom Perreault, professor and chair of geography in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University, specializes in environmental justice, indigenous politics, and critical resource geography. He says this new ruling is a long-awaited victory for various groups, but there are still ways the Dakota Access pipeline could continue to function despite the monumental ruling.
Perreault says:
“It’s rare that environmentalists and indigenous peoples can score a victory like this in struggles with the oil industry, which almost always has the full weight of the government behind it… However, there are a number of reasons for caution.
“This is only a temporary measure. The finding was that the company did not fully comply with the requirement of environmental impact assessment under the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA), and instead conducted only a shorter and less thorough environmental review. So, the company could do a full environmental impact assessment and then get approval to transport oil to the pipeline.
“While shutting down the pipeline is a positive step, especially for the Standing Rock Sioux whose water is directly threatened by the pipeline and who struggled against it for so long, the larger issue of oil production hasn’t been changed at all.
“Large infrastructure projects like pipelines are long-term, big-money investments and they have a way of resurfacing over and over again. Now that the pipeline was built and in operation for a few years before being shut down, I think it’s very unlikely that it will simply be abandoned. It’s a positive ruling for now, but I fear that ultimately it will be little more than a symbolic victory.”
To request interviews or get more information, contact Keith Kobland or Lily Datz:
Keith Kobland
Media Relations Manager
Division of Communications and Marketing
T 315.443.9038 M 315.415.8095
kkobland@syr.edu | @KeithAtSU
Lily Datz
External Communications Intern
Division of Communications and Marketing
Newhouse creative advertising students took home five Clio Awards this year, the most in school history. Their wins make Newhouse among the top five most awarded schools in the world at this year’s competition. Sam Luo ’21 won a Bronze…
Charles T. Driscoll, University Professor of Environmental Systems and Distinguished Professor of Civil and Environmental Engineering in the College of Engineering and Computer Science, co-authored an opinion piece for The Hill with his colleague, Kathy Fallon Lambert, senior advisor at…
Does “faith-based” include people without a religious faith? Mark Brockway is a faculty fellow in religion and political science at Syracuse University. Brockway wrote a research-based piece for The Washington Post’s politics blog, Monkey Cage, in which he discusses how…
As assistant dean for Washington programs in the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Mark R. Jacobson oversees year-round academic programs for the school’s D.C. headquarters at the Center for Strategic and International Studies. Dean Jacobson is a foreign…
Sean O’Keefe, University Professor and the Howard G. and S. Louise Phanstiel Chair of Strategic Management and Leadership in the Maxwell School, wrote an op-ed for The Hill titled “Richard Branson’s space flight changes the way we look at space.”…
If you need help with your subscription, contact sunews@syr.edu.
