MAIN Coalition Spokesman Publishes Column On Medium

In a column featured on Medium by MAIN Coalition spokesman Craig Stevens, a clear pattern of ignored realities by the Obama Administration becomes readily apparent as future construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline remains halted by the federal government.

Mr. Stevens writes, “During the eight weeks since the Obama Administration put a freeze on issuing the final easement for the Dakota Access pipeline — a 1,000 foot portion of the 1,172 mile project — the emotionally charged situation on the ground in North Dakota has been fueled by rampant mischaracterizations of law enforcement activities and gross errors of fact on the pipeline itself.”

We’ve documented these mischaracterizations before, but what stands out in the Medium post is that through the vast majority of the nearly two years of review, hundreds of consultations were held with the tribes now constituting the majority of anti-pipeline protesters, and both the federal and state governments approved construction of the project.

To indicate, as the protesters do, that there was no consultation, that there was no process, and that there was no representation is a bold faced lie. The facts are out there, though they have often gone unreported. But as violence in North Dakota continues to escalate, we can only continue to urge that cooler heads prevail, that law and order is restored, and that the legal process that permitted construction is affirmed after two years of review and construction is finally completed.