Neil Young questioned on Monday (Dec. 5) whether President Barack Obama will stand up to the corporate interests pushing for the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), following the Army Corps of Engineers’ decision to look for an alternate route for the project.
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The DAPL project has been highly controversial due to concerns it will taint local drinking water around the Standing Rock Standing Rock Indian Reservation in North Dakota, where thousands of protesters have spent weeks camped out.
In a post to Young’s Facebook page, the iconic rocker asked what Obama will do if the project developers decide to move ahead despite the Army Corps’ decree.
He cited a quote from a press release issued Sunday but DAPL operators Energy Transfer Partners and Sunoco Logistics Partners stating they remain “fully committed to ensuring that this vital project is brought to completion and fully expect to complete construction of the pipeline without any additional rerouting in and around Lake Oahe. Nothing this Administration has done today changes that in any way.”
So if nothing changes, then what will happen? According to Young, protesters expect the DAPL developers to ignore the Army Corps decision and proceed.
“The question now is whether President Obama will send in law enforcement or the military to halt DAPL from drilling without a permit,” Young wrote. “Otherwise, today’s announcement will have no enforcement. It will be seen as another US and corporate ploy to send home water protectors, and thousands of veterans, now at Standing Rock Camp, where more than 10,000 are camped.”