From Mean Read, North Dakota Media and Politics News.                   Posted By: The Editor December 9, 2016

It’s become apparent to everyone that North Dakota Gov. Jack Dalrymple’s leadership was nonexistent during the Dakota Access pipeline fiasco.

Even the conservative commentator Chris Berg of Valley News Live couldn’t help but ridicule the governor’s inability to reach a negotiation with pipeline protesters.

The Fargo Forum revealed that Jack has sent and received a total of zero (0) emails regarding the pipeline protest, despite it being the most significant issue in the state over the past few months. How is that possible?

Under his watch, the state has become a symbol of bullying to audiences worldwide for the ham-handed law enforcement response to the pipeline protests. And at the end of it all, the federal government decided to deny a necessary easement where the pipeline hoped to cross Lake Oahe.

In short, Dalrymple failed on every imaginable front.

Yesterday the lame-duck governor, who resembles less a duck and more a naked mole rat, met with the Forum Editorial Board to make a big announcement: It’s social media’s fault.

“There’s a new paradigm,” he said, referring to social media. “I try to do what I can, but I’m not match for that organization.”

So the governor, with all the authority of the state behind him, says he’s powerless in the face of Facebook shares. Very weak.

Obviously grasping for straws, Dalrymple also blamed the Dakota Access pipeline company for “abdicating” its role to publicly defend the project.

“It’s as safe a pipe as you can build,” Dalrymple pointed out, oblivious that pipelines have been leaking all over the state, including one just this week.

Lt. Gov. Drew Wrigley, also in attendance at the editorial board meeting, came up with a unique scapegoat of his own: Native Americans!

“The Native Americans are being used, absolutely being used, by these outside agitators,” he said.

Speaking of “being used,” Dalrymple has received hundreds of thousands of dollars in  campaign contributions from the oil industry.

December 9, 2016, John Hanno, www.tarbabys.com

North Dakota is the poster child for the past; fossil fuel extraction at whatever cost to the environment. The future Trump Administration and the Republi-con controlled Congress should take notice. If they insist on rolling back progress made by the Obama Administration on climate change and the transition from dirty and toxic fossil fuel to sustainable energy, they will garner the same determined opposition. Native Americans, environmentalists, American Veterans and other protectors are the future, and they are becoming expert at exploiting social media. The evildoers like Gov. Dalrymple, as he stated himself, are no match for this new social media juggernaut because they are on the wrong side of the issue. The earth destroyers have on their side, fossil fuel interests, the uber banks, multi-millionaire and billionaire investors, and the red state political panderers, but the Earth Protectors have their God, their prayers and everyone else, with a modicum of common sense, standing with them.  It’s really no contest.

The Dakota Access bank funding map is shown at, http://www.commondreams.org/views/2016/09/07/whos-banking-dakota-access-pipeline

That’s great news, but as soon as the Trump Administration takes over, they will try to order the Corps to issue the easement. President Obama must permanently protect this land and water by ceding the land at Lakes Oahe and Sakakawea back to the Standing Rock Sioux Nation, or in the alternative, to designate it a National Park or National Monument. The Rez will surely take care of the land better than a corporation interested only in financial profit and extracting every ounce of fossil fuel asset for export to China. The Sioux Nations will make decisions based on what’s best for the next seven generations, not on the bottom line of the next quarter. Sign one of the Change.org petitions that asks President Obama to permanently protect this land. John Hanno

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers statement

Posted: Sun 4:48 PM, Dec 04, 2016

The Department of the Army will not approve an easement that would allow the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline to cross under Lake Oahe in North Dakota, the Army’s Assistant Secretary for Civil Works announced Sunday.

Jo-Ellen Darcy said she based her decision on a need to explore alternate routes for the Dakota Access Pipeline crossing. Her office had announced on November 14, 2016 that it was delaying the decision on the easement to allow for discussions with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, whose reservation lies 0.5 miles south of the proposed crossing. Tribal officials have expressed repeated concerns over the risk that a pipeline rupture or spill could pose to its water supply and treaty rights.

“Although we have had continuing discussion and exchanges of new information with the Standing Rock Sioux and Dakota Access, it’s clear that there’s more work to do,” Darcy said. “The best way to complete that work responsibly and expeditiously is to explore alternate routes for the pipeline crossing.”

Darcy said that the consideration of alternative routes would be best accomplished through an Environmental Impact Statement with full public input and analysis.

The Dakota Access Pipeline is an approximately 1,172 mile pipeline that would connect the Bakken and Three Forks oil production areas in North Dakota to an existing crude oil terminal near Pakota, Illinois. The pipeline is 30 inches in diameter and is projected to transport approximately 470,000 barrels of oil per day, with a capacity as high as 570,000 barrels. The current proposed pipeline route would cross Lake Oahe, an Army Corps of Engineers project on the Missouri River.

John Hanno response to:   http://www.resilience.org/stories/2016-10-03/standing firm at standing rock why the struggle is bigger than one pipeline

October 26, 2016

Letter to President Obama Concerning Dakota Access Pipeline

Thank you Amy for shining a light. I also wrote the White House, as did many others, including many organizations with 10’s of thousands of signers. The President has heard and is listening. That’s the reason they halted Dakota Access. It’s also the reason they decided against Keystone XL. Protests by Native Americans, farmers, landowners, activists and environmental groups have slowed tar sand extraction in Canada, stopped Keystone, stopped Sandpiper and are on the front lines fighting lines 3,5, 6B and others. If we can stall DAPL through the winter, we just may stop it. Stopping a half built pipeline will be an enormous victory for Native American sovereignty and a sustainable energy future. But we must keep up the pressure and stand up in such numbers that it will make the Presidents job of rejecting Dakota Access much easier. I also received a reply from the White House. Vote on November 8th for Earth Protectors. John Hanno

Dear John:

Thank you for writing.  As President, my greatest responsibility is ensuring the safety of the American people, including when it comes to our Nation’s energy infrastructure.  My Administration is setting the highest possible standards for oil and gas production and transportation, and each day we are working to make sure our pursuit of energy resources does not put our communities at risk.  That work includes steps the Army has committed to taking in light of important issues raised about the Dakota Access pipeline.

I understand the risks associated with the development and transportation of fossil fuels, which is why my Administration has overhauled Federal oversight and raised the bar on safety across the board.  As part of our efforts to improve Federal permitting and review processes, we are making safe pipeline infrastructure a priority in order to help ensure the health and security of our communities and the environment.

As new energy infrastructure is developed, the Federal Government will continue working with State, local, and tribal governments—which play a central role in the siting and permitting of pipelines—to address the concerns of local communities.  One of my priorities as President is upholding an honest and respectful relationship with Native American tribes, and we have made a lot of progress in restoring ancestral lands, waters, and sacred sites over the past 8 years.  My Administration also remains committed to consulting with tribes to ensure meaningful tribal input is factored into infrastructure-related decisions across the Federal Government.  In the weeks ahead, Departments and Agencies will meet with tribal leaders across the country in a series of formal consultations on this issue.

Again, thank you for writing.  I hear you, and I am optimistic that together, we can grow our economy and create new opportunities while securing a cleaner and safer future for all our people.

Sincerely,

Barack Obama

John Hanno response to:    http://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/energy/blogs/iceland-taps-into-underground-river-magma-geothermal

October 26, 2016

The first thing I think of when I hear of someone drilling deep into the earth, is how many holes can we drill before we blow the whole dam world apart. It’s not like that saying when we were kids, “if you dig down deep enough, you’ll get to China.” I picture the earth being attacked from every angle, drilled left and right, on an angle and horizontally, by oil wells, fracking wells, gas wells, deep wells drilled below the bottom of the oceans, and now by someone thinking it’s a good idea to drill into the magma core of the earth and drilling into “tectonically-active regions,” which as we know are prone to earthquakes. I mean, we know what happens when one of the world’s sleeping giants we call volcanoes decides to let off steam and magma. I’m not an expert geologist or scientist but I’m a bit skeptical. I construct buildings and understand the importance of a solid foundation. I would never drill into a foundation of anything because it’s only a matter of time before the dam building will come crashing down. We have to think long and hard before we do something that isn’t reversible. I think wind and solar are better alternatives.

Depending on who’s opinion you use; “Sunlight striking Earth’s surface in just one hour, delivers enough energy to power the world’s economy for an entire year.” or “In 14 and a half seconds, the sun provides as much energy to Earth as humanity uses in a day.” or There’s enough wind energy potential within the corridor from Texas up through Illinois to power the entire nation, if only the electrical power grid infrastructure were in place. Europe is already all in, in developing off shore wind.

Our energy department has invested in tidal research but we haven’t scratched the surface of that energy potential. Although our U.S government and military have put more than $330 million into marine energy research over the past decade, Britain and Europe have invested more than $1 billion. We need to do better. The DOE believes 20 to 30 % of America’s energy could come from wave energy. They just announced our first wave generated energy went online this week in Hawaii. The power travels by undersea cable to a military base, where it feeds into Oahu’s power grid. America’s first off shore wind farm came online recently and will produce enough power for 17,000 homes.

The main problem we have with energy today is not the solutions, it’s the political will. The will to put the enormous amount spent, drilling the earth apart and blanketing the globe in leaking pipelines, into proven alternative sustainable energy. Too many in our Congress (Republicans) are beholden to fossil fuel. Complacent lackeys who have, shirked their duty to craft comprehensive energy legislation favoring alt energy, by supporting companies trying to extract every once of fossil fuel asset before it becomes obsolete. Vote on November 8th for the environment. John Hanno

October 23, 2016       Standing Rock Sioux

Police beat Native American water protectors with batons and pepper spray them in unprovoked attack

By Brenda Norrell at Censored News

STANDING ROCK, North Dakota — The Morton County Sheriff and police carried out a brutal attack on Native Americans as they gathered for prayer today. Native Americans and supporters defending the water of the Missouri River from the Dakota Access Pipeline were beaten with batons by police, pepper sprayed and thrown to the ground. More than 80 water protectors were arrested today during the unprovoked attack by police on peaceful water protectors. The police are defending a private pipeline.

Tipiwizin, a young mother at Standing Rock, called out for help, urging all those who came and camped at Standing Rock to return. “The police, the military, armored vehicles, assault rifles, they are chasing our people, surrounded our people, chasing them into the river.” Watching the live stream today, she said, “I started crying, holding my baby daughter, because we come from people who were chased down, hunted down and gunned down by the military and the police. History is repeating itself. All those stories we were raised with, that we carry in our hearts, of our people, fleeing, running, racing, for our lives, just to live. We are the grandchildren and great grandchildren of those who survived the US Government federally mandated massacres on our people.”

In an unprecedented amount of lies in the media, the Morton County Sheriff has falsely accused the water protectors of being violent and being armed. The local media, revealing a long history of racism, have repeated these lies in the media. In a steady stream of misinformation, the mainstream media reported that President Obama had halted the pipeline construction. Again, this is misinformation. DAPL, owned by Kelcy Warren, who has become the face of genocide for Native Americans, is racing to complete the construction. The DAPL construction is near a burial place where water protectors were attacked with vicious dogs and pepper sprayed on Sept. 3.

The Morton County Sheriff is engaging in strip searches and false imprisonment of Native American men and women, who are jailed without credible charges. The owner of the land where the Camp of the Sacred Stones Camp is located, said her daughter was arrested without cause, while traveling in a car away from the area, strip searched and jailed naked. Dakotas, Lakotas and Nakotas here say this abuse is recreating the historical trauma, a result of their ancestors who were murdered and subjected to sexual violence by the Calvary and U.S. military.

October 23, 2016

John Hanno

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it. You would think the Governors office and these police officials might have learned lessons from the civil rights protests in the south in the 1960’s. America was jolted awake when they saw police turning fire hoses and attack dogs on our black brothers and sisters peaceful protests. That was the impetus for the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the voting rights act of 1965. America and the world is watching, and is again waking up thanks to the Standing Rock Protectors and the morally bankrupt police who think it’s OK to abuse and intimidate peaceful protestors. This should be the catalyst we need to finally address climate change, global warming, destruction of our air, water and soil. We need a bill in Congress to protect our Native American brothers and sisters and our environment. It should be called The Standing Rock Protect America Act of 2016. This pipeline insanity must be stopped. We can’t all go to Standing Rock or line up with protestors in Iowa and Illinois but we can do our part. Contribute to their legal defense funds. And vote on November 8th for progressive Earth Protectors.

Like 37

Jerilyn  So well said, Thank you.

Scott   I hope so!

Reina  What’s sad is that it happens again and again because prejudice and hate begets prejudice and hate or it goes into hiding for awhile but comes back whenever true freedom and human dignity raises it’s head

Phyllis  John Hanno – Yes!!