Gore slams ‘dangerous’ Dakota pipeline project

Former Vice President Al Gore on Tuesday praised demonstrators protesting the Dakota Access Pipeline project in North Dakota, calling the project “dangerous.”

Gore said he is opposed to the $3.8 billion pipeline project and supports the fight to stop it in North Dakota, where the pipeline has become a rallying point for American Indian rights and anti-fossil fuel activists alike. 

{mosads}“The non-violent resistance to the Dakota Access Pipeline is also one of the frontline struggles that collectively mark a turning point in the decision by humanity to turn away from the destructive path we have been following and aim instead toward a clean energy future for all,” Gore said in a statement on his website Tuesday.

“The courage and eloquence of the Standing Rock Sioux in calling all of us to recognize that in their words, ‘Water is Life,’ should be applauded, not silenced by those who are driven by their business model to continue spewing harmful global warming pollution into our Earth’s atmosphere.”

Gore’s denouncement of Dakota Access adds even more political clout to the opposition over the pipeline. Several Democratic members of Congress have written to President Obama asking him to block the project — which has been approved by federal regulators. 

But Gore has also said he’s concerned with the increasingly tense protests over the pipeline in North Dakota, where 269 people have been arrested since August. 

Law enforcement officials say protest camps near the pipeline route are disruptive and a threat to the region’s economy. They say they want to negotiate with demonstrators there, but pipeline opponents, including the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe, have criticized what they consider heavy-handed policing tactics. 

“I stand with the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe in their opposition to the Dakota Access Pipeline,” Gore said in his statement. 

“We have witnessed inspiring and brave acts by Native Americans and their allies who are defending and trying to protect their sacred sites and the safety of their sole source of water.”