An open letter to the Redmond community:

As Pacific Northwesterners, we are fortunate to enjoy pristine lakes, snow-capped mountains and fresh air. Because our economy is rooted in high tech, we can consider our natural resources as a sort of luxury to enjoy. People in other parts of the country value their natural environment as well but are not economically powerful enough to prevent its destruction.

Dakota Access, LLC is a Texas-based company that aims to build an oil pipeline from North Dakota to an oil tank farm in Illinois, passing through South Dakota and Iowa. This oil pipeline, called the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL), is a serious environmental hazard, and it trespasses on the cultural grounds of the Standing Rock Sioux tribe. The pipeline has the potential to spill hundreds of thousands of gallons of oil into the surrounding environment.

While supporters of the pipeline downplay this risk, a local pipeline spilled more than 150,000 gallons of oil into Ash Coulee Creek — just 150 miles away from protests. A spill from the DAPL could result in poisoned water for the Native American community and other Americans living in the North Dakota area. The pipeline would be running under Lake Oahe, which is the tribe’s water source. Not only that, but the pipeline would destroy the sacred lands of a sovereign nation, including burial grounds. Additionally, while people were peacefully protesting the building of the pipeline, police have used rubber bullets, tear gas and concussion grenades, unleashed attack dogs and even used water cannons in below-freezing temperatures to combat the unarmed protesters, which violates their Constitutional right to peacefully protest.

Supporters of the pipeline will argue that it will provide 570,000 barrels of oil daily and ensure our energy independence from the Middle East. However, oil prices are at an all-time low, which suggest an overproduction of oil, which means that there is no risk of running out in the near future. They will also argue that the pipeline creates jobs, but according to the Brookings Institution, there will only be 40 permanent jobs created.

The Army recently published a Notice of Intent requiring an environmental impact statement and have opened the public scoping phase, and it is our duty as citizens to ensure that “tribal treaty rights, natural resources, cultural and sacred places, environmental justice, and the health and well being of those downstream” are all taken into consideration.

The Standing Rock tribe has published a template for the letter to the Army, and we as the Redmond High School ACLU are hoping you can take a moment to make your voice heard and raise awareness. The Standing Rock tribe is also accepting monetary donations, which go to the tribes impacted by the DAPL to help fund their fight for their rights.

The Redmond High School ACLU Club