Why does a babyboomer or a babyboomers kid or grandkid --- have to have a "DIRECT BENEFIT". Why not do something good as a whole -- that's the whole problem with our society. My dad's generation born in early 30s and my Grandpa's generation looked at something they sacrificed for the benefit of the future. I believe that is what God wants too when you look at nature. Benefit - is a safer easier cheaper way of distributing crude oil. I seen Casselton (the largest ND spill to date) and I don't what some house or family getting burnt up in a firey ball. EOS
Imo I believe if this thing gets rerouted -- you just seen the end of anybody putting money into pipelines. Warren Buffett and his friends win. Price of oil and at the pump wont raise right away - but they will as a result of less supply and more demand in the future regardless of world markets. The issue will be the cost to move and refine. More accidents will happen. Bakkken as a whole will be less productive as it will not be able to effieciently move its inventory, cheaper foreign oil will be purchased, less ND jobs, more ND taxes, ....
Agree completely, anything for the benefit of many does not mean it's a direct benefit to most of the many. There is a lot of evidence that pipelines are safer and more efficient in the movement of oil than any other form of shipping. Is there a danger of a leak? Certainly, but there are dangers in other forms of shipping as well. Trains do derail more often than pipelines leak it seems to me. What happens when a pipeline leaks into a river? The pipeline leak on the Yellowstone River at Glendive a few years ago was a mess for awhile. Glendives water supply was interrupted for awhile but was quickly (dependent on your definition of quickly) cleaned up and repaired. Minimal damage to the river as cleanup was done quickly and thoroughly. From Glendive to Williston there is a lot of farmland irrigation. I don't remember reading anything about farmers not using the river water for irrigation that summer. Oil leaks are never fun to deal with but that doesn't mean we are in a position to end all use of oil in the near future.
Future pipelines? What guarantee does any company have that after following all legal steps and securing all the permits and approvals that they will be allowed to complete that project as planned. This was not a 15 minute planning session for this pipeline. The government was heavily involved in the route planning and approving.
Do people have a right to protest? Yes, however in this case I would be more sympathetic to the protesters had they been voicing their concerns from the get go. Had they attended all the hearings and presented their concerns and evidence. Had they then left those hearings feeling that nobody had listened to them, I could understand the protest now. To protest when the pipeline gets close is pretty much like shutting the barn-door after the horses have left.
Who should foot the bill for this mess? Let's see, we had a federal judge issue an order that the DAPL met all the requirements. Followed by 3 federal agencies saying "Wait a minute, I don't agree with the judge. The state did their job in the application, the pipeline did their job in the paperwork. The county gets involved to assure there is safety for all the residents of the county, including the protesters. Their is some question, at least in my mind, whether the leadership of the tribe has done their job. For me the majority of the funding should come from the federal government and the tribe. Now since quite a bit of the resources of the tribe originate with the federal government we are back to the feds. The problem with that is the feds get their money from us as does the state.
I guess the only direct benefit I'm going to get from all this is if Morton County pays all the bills. I don't live in the county so those taxpayers will suffer and since I pay taxes to the state and more than enough to the feds, Morton County paying the bill is my only benefit. Sound fair? I think not for anyone other than the protesters who have to have someone paying their bills.
