‘Emergency rally’ in Seattle after Dakota Access Pipeline news
Jan 24, 2017, 3:36 PM | Updated: 11:13 pm
Demonstrators marched from Westlake Park to a nearby Wells Fargo Bank where they chanted, sang and danced. (KIRO 7)
(KIRO 7)
Update on Dakota Access Pipeline rally
After holding an emergency rally at Westlake Park Tuesday evening, a large crowd of demonstrators moved from the park to a nearby Wells Fargo Bank. Wells Fargo has invested in the Dakota Access Pipeline which has caused many groups to organize opposition to it.
The crowd chanted and sang songs in front of the building.
Original post
When Donald Trump was sworn in as President of the United States, Seattle erupted with anti-Trump protests. As Trump takes his first actions as commander in chief, the Seattle opposition continues — an emergency rally was quickly organized Tuesday after Trump moved forward a plan for the controversial Dakota Access Pipeline that same day.
Related: Washington veterans join Standing Rock opposition to pipeline
President Trump signed orders that would renegotiate the pipeline deals, and order that the materials for the pipelines would be made in America. A memorandum in the order states that both pipelines will be “subject to terms and conditions to be negotiated by us.”
A Facebook event was posted for an emergency rally at Seattle’s Westlake Park Tuesday morning, shortly after Trump signed an order advancing the Dakota and Keystone pipelines — two controversial projects. The rally is organized by the Coalition of Anti-Racist Whites and Defund DAPL: Seattle Action Coalition. It is slated for 5:30 p.m. Tuesday evening at Westlake Park.
The Facebook event states:
Join us for an emergency rally 5:30pm TONIGHT in Westlake Park, downtown Seattle, to speak out – #NoDAPL!!
First thing this morning, Trump signed an executive order to move the Dakota Access Pipeline forward. This is a devastating reversal and threatens all our efforts to protect clean water and the rights of the Standing Rock Sioux.
We must speak out against Trumps actions to help DAPL. We must come together and show that we will stand in the way of DAPL being built.
Within a few short hours of the event’s posting, more than 400 people signed on to join, and more than 2,000 indicated they were interested in attending. Another 4,100 have been invited to the rally.
Dakota Access Pipeline
The pipelines have drawn heavy criticism, partially from environmental groups that argue the pipelines are a step in the wrong direction for addressing climate change. President Barack Obama halted construction of the Keystone pipeline in 2015, which aims to transport oil from Canada to Nebraska. The Dakota Access Pipeline would ship oil from North Dakota to South Dakota and Iowa.
One issue with the Dakota Access Pipeline is that it would pass under Lake Oahe, threatening drinking water for the Standing Rock Sioux tribe should any accidents happen. Such spills are not uncommon. Once such accident happened at a separate, nearby pipeline while the tribe was protesting Dakota Access Pipeline through its land. That spill dumped 176,000 gallons of oil into a creek. In fact, another such pipeline spill happened in Canada last weekend, spilling 52,834 gallons onto aboriginal land.
The Army Corps of Engineers previously denied the route under Lake Oahe in late 2016 and sought alternative routes.
The City of Seattle is currently moving toward severing any ties with Wells Fargo Bank for its investments in the Dakota Access Pipeline.
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