The chaotic destruction of productive farmland, beautiful badlands and people’s lives in North Dakota to exact oil is unnecessary. The oil could be extracted without destroying the place in the process.
State officials have allowed the oil industry to produce a product before the industry made sure it had transportation, disposal of its radioactive waste, safety, housing, law enforcement and most other infrastructure available. Now, to fix their poor planning, they want you and me to take the risk for their contamination, exploding trains, and other problems.
The impacts of this fast-as-possible oil extraction reaches across North America.
Wherever you live you can help by being informed, working for local changes, and asking your officials to make sure your community and state standards for oil trains and pipelines are stronger and safer.
Many North Dakotans are working hard to bring some sanity to what is happening here.
This is our third oil boom and we did much better in the first two. This time, current state leaders ignored bedrock values of stewardship of the land, air, and water and concern for future generations.
If you’d like to help our in-state efforts, please consider an online contribution to Dakota Resource Council. If you are or know of skilled, highly motivated field organizers, let us know. We have two field organizer positions open at this time.
We appreciated the opportunity to participate in the webinar, Inside the Bakken: National Impacts and How You Can Help.
Please stay tuned to Earthworks for a future webinar presentation by DRC leader Theodora Bird Bear about the impacts of the Bakken oil boom on the Mandan, Hidatsa, Arikara Nation.
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Don Morrison is director of the Dakota Resource Council. DRC is working for preservation of family farms, enforcement of corporate farming laws, soil and water conservation, regulation of coal mining and oil and gas development, protection of groundwater and clean air, renewable energy, and sound management of solid and toxic wastes.
