Thank you for your recent coverage (Oct. 29 and previous) of the military-style response of the North Dakota sheriff to native tribes coming from all over North and Central America to stop another treaty violation — this time of Fort Laramie Treaties of 1851 and 1868 — by one more Texas oil billionaire. I understand that while Hillary Clinton still supports fracking, Donald Trump has a direct financial investment in this pipeline company, Energy Transfer Partners.
To those of us with long memories, these confrontations bring back how the war in Vietnam started to be challenged. As awareness spreads about another desecration of native land, the frequency of pipeline leaks, breaks and massive spills, and the amount of CO2 already in the atmosphere — the utter folly of macing, beating and strip-searching people for blocking this pipeline strikes home.
I would only suggest that Valley News articles about pipelines include the atmosphere’s massive CO2 overdose. That upward spike is reaching levels not seen since the Miocene epoch — 15 million years ago, give or take a few million. Then the seas responded by being 60 feet higher. Modern sea levels are inching up, slowly at first. That suggests to me that this pipeline confrontation is not just way overdue, but that the “other side of the story” is less about enforcing the dreams of billionaires and more about trees.
Trees absorb and store CO2. When we read about pipeline confrontations also tell us about how we can plant trees at such a rate, it’s as if our grandchildren depended on it.
By the way, we in Vermont have our own invasive pipeline, up in Geprags Park in Hinesburg — no thanks to our pulseless Department of Public Service. The arrestees so far include several Upper Valley folks, with more actions in the works. Interested readers can check out the community website at protectgeprags.org.
Robert Spottswood Norwich