"The EPA and North Dakota"

Who would have “thunk” it? As the United States makes an extreme pendulum swing, the state that has attracted the highest amount of protesters is one of the least thought about states in the union, North Dakota. Of course, it is an energy rich state. Both in terms of oil production and nuclear weapons energy this lesser known state has great resources and an important role to play in terms of the future of the United States. This is because there is a strong military presence in this state, as there is in the cabinet that is developing in the new Trump presidency. And surprisingly perhaps one of these military men has been tapped to be head of the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and may play a role in squelching this protest against a pipeline going across Indian Reservation land, possibly polluting the waters as it does.

There are numerous ethical issues in play here. The first is the obvious one. Should we not honor the people on native America lands (where we put them) who do not want the pipeline to go through their home? Second, shouldn’t energy policy always value environmental protection and not just maximize profits above all things? Third, how can a president-elect put someone who has a lawsuit against the EPA in charge of the EPA? It does sound like some kind of a cruel joke. It would be like putting a brain surgeon in charge of NFL policy concussion management.

Above all I am thankful that American democracy still works. Among all of the rights of the people, is the freedom of speech. These protesters are exercising that right when at least half of the American people is to quote the movie Network: “mad as hell and can’t take it anymore.” How good it is that in our country we can turn anger into nonviolent action. It is timely for so many reasons. One is that at the coldest time of the year many people around the world will be drawn to an area where native Americans have so many needs. Second, this happens at the time when America has elected a self-promoted billionaire president who has appointed many of his billionaire friends to the same cabinet that includes more than one member of the military. Third, if the military is to play such an important role in our next administration nonviolent action will be necessary to show that there is more power than that of military might.

I got a feeling that this confluence of opposites is going to come up very often in the next four years. There is some value perhaps in changing power structures from time to time. Maybe those who are not in power have just as important role as those who are in power to keep them honest and thinking about those who are so easy to forget. So what a good place to start-- with the native Americans in North Dakota!