Photos Protest of Keystone Pipeline in South Dakota 2015

Photos by Gary Dorr Photos: Protests  as South Dakota Public Utility Commission considers Keystone Pipeline permit. (Middle photo) Prayer circle at South Dakota Capitol on Jan. 6, 2015, during two days of protests.

Thank you to Gary Dorr for sharing your photos with Censored News!

By Censored News
Photos by Gary Dorr

PIERRE, SD, - A grassroots coalition of landowners, native leaders, and allied supporters are taking action across South Dakota this week to protest the proposed Keystone XL pipeline and raise awareness of the unified opposition to the project. These actions will precede the South Dakota Public Utilities Commission meeting on and an US Congress KXL bill vote expected to take place on Friday, the coalition said in a statement.

The No KXL Dakota coalition is pushing back against renewing pipeline developer TransCanada's permit for the section of the $8 billion oil sands project that goes through the state.

The South Dakota Public Utilities Commission will meet on Tuesday to hear a motion to dismiss the permit renewal application filed by the Yankton Sioux Tribe.

“The movement to stop the Keystone pipeline is growing in South Dakota,” said Joye Braun, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribe member and activist. “We will continue in our efforts to build resistance to this project knowing that we will succeed.”
This grassroots coalition is called NO KXL DAKOTA and is comprised of South Dakota ranchers, farmers, citizens of Lakota/Dakota nations, the Indigenous Environmental Network, Dakota Rural Action, and other South Dakotans. Many of these coalition members are among the 40 parties that have filed to intervene in Transcanada’s application for a Keystone XL South Dakota permit re-approval.
“One of the great things about South Dakotans is that we pride ourselves on common sense, and resiliency,” says Vermillion resident Alice Alexandrescu. “Both of these traits are dishonored by the proposed Keystone XL pipeline. We are turning away from hydrocarbons, the oil tycoons are growing desperate and they are trying to make us feel desperate too. We're smarter than that."
TransCanada filed for certification on September 15, 2014. The PUC will hear a motion to dismiss the application outright, filed on behalf of the Yankton Sioux Tribe.