Media

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Jan. 20, 2021

Press Contacts:

Rebecca Terk, Senior Organizer & Lobbyist, Dakota Rural Action, (605) 697-5204 x260, rebeccat@dakotarural.org
Jennifer K. Falcon, Indigenous Environmental Network, (218) 760-9958, jennifer@ienearth.org
Denali Nalamalapu, US Communications Specialist, 350.org, (347) 504-1057, denali.nalamalapu@350.org

People-powered victory: Biden to stop Keystone XL on Day One

On Day 1 in office, President Joe Biden will fulfill his promise to cancel the Keystone XL pipeline permit by executive action. This is a massive movement victory of a 10+ year fight thanks to millions of people demanding an end to fossil fuels, and a signal that Biden is following through on his promises to protect people and planet. In late-2015, former President Obama rejected the permit for the project on the grounds that it would undermine the nation’s leadership to tackle the climate crisis. Donald Trump reversed this decision in early 2017. Construction on the 1,200 mile pipeline has continued to hit economic and legal obstacles since then.

Quotes from the Promise to Protect coalition members:

“For over a decade, Indigenous peoples and our allies have prayed, cried, and demonstrated to stop this evil zombie pipeline. We look forward to hearing President Biden take further action by stopping DAPL and Line 3. Nothing less than stopping these attacks by guaranteeing free, prior and informed consent and establishing a climate test will we consider to call this a complete victory. However, today is a great day. And I thank all that helped us get here,” said Joye Braun, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal member, Frontline Community Organizer with Indigenous Environmental Network.

“On behalf of the Ponca Tribe, we thank President-Elect Biden on his commitment to listen to the tribal nations and all of those involved in fighting this effort. We thank all the pipeline fighters, land owners, and all involved that have fought against this for so long and made this a priority for this new administration,” said Larry Wright Jr., Chairman Ponca Tribe of Nebraska.

“We stand together at this historic moment when the climate change conflict tide is turning to carry the thousands of prayers from the heart of the Oceti Sakowin. After thirteen years of family sacrifice, court and permit hearings, driving in snowstorms, endless testimonies and denials from federal agencies as well as institutional racism, predatory economics, land grabs and many more obstacles; we can take a breath. Now we begin the serious business of changing these violent systems to address climate change, environmental justice, and social inequity in our lifetimes. Our children thank you Mr. Biden for canceling the KXL Pipeline permit. Let’s get to work! We thank you for joining us to protect our water, the oyate (the people), sacred sites and for the wamakamskan (animal relatives) who have no voice but can now be heard. Our Native prophecies tell us that one day we will once again be able to hear the voices of the animals…that day is now. The grandmothers and the grassroots of Turtle Island welcome you to learn about Indigenous wisdom and knowledge of these locations of power and place. Wopida!!” said Faith Spotted Eagle, Ihanktonwan Dakota, Brave Heart Society founder.

“The climate crisis reaches our most vulnerable communities first. As a mother and grandmother of our Lakota, Dakota, Nakota Nations, I’m grateful you have honored your promise of NO KXL which will support a greener economy and impact more than the United States. A promise that coming generations will hear across Mother Earth. Pilamiya President Biden,” said Paula Antoine, Dakota Rural Action Board Member, Rosebud Sioux Tribal Member.

“President-Elect Biden is showing courage and empathy to the farmers, ranchers and Tribal Nations who have dealt with an ongoing threat that disrupted their lives for over a decade. Today marks healing, hope and a path for the clean energy that builds America back better,” said Jane Kleeb, Bold Nebraska Founder

“We applaud President Biden for keeping his promise to stop Keystone XL, putting the health of our climate above corporate balance sheets. Alongside farmers, ranchers, indigenous communities, and countless others, we have stood strong for over a decade. We’ve worked to protect not just our air, land, water, and climate, but also the democratic processes, tribal rights, and property rights that have been trampled throughout this fight,” said Dena Hoff, Glendive, MT farmer and member of Northern Plains Resource Council.

“Indigenous people have been at the forefront of the fight for environmental justice and protection. Tribal Nations and communities are battling every day for the protection of their homelands and survival of ecosystems and ways of life. That’s why the ACLU of South Dakota supported water protectors, our Indigenous partners and their right to protest the proposed pipeline. It’s why we challenged the “riot boosting act” in court in 2019 and opposed similar legislation in 2020 – both unnecessary efforts to legislative peaceful protest in South Dakota that were sparked by a desire to suppress protests around the Keystone XL pipeline. The right to join with fellow citizens in protest or peaceful assembly is critical to a functioning democracy and at the core of the First Amendment. Wopila Tanka president Biden for fulfilling your commitment to rescind the Keystone XL permit,” said Candi Brings Plenty, Indigenous Justice Organizer, American Civil Liberties South Dakota.

“In the spring of 2020, then Presidential Candidate Biden, promised to stop the KXL Pipeline, amongst other actions to protect the climate – this was one of the reasons why we committed to mobilize the Native vote in the lead up to elections because not only would this action be significant for climate justice but also for advancing Indigenous rights. It is affirming that the Biden/Harris Administration have kept this promise, especially after four years of broken promises, attacks, and lies from #45. We look forward to continuing to work with the Biden Administration to strengthen Nation to Nation relationships and to combat climate change with bold action and Indigenous led solutions,” said Jade Begay, Climate Justice Campaign Director, NDN Collective.

“The KXL pipeline was set to go through the heart of the Oceti Sakowin Territory. The people came together, resisted the fossil fuel industry and stood up for our lands, water and rights. We will continue to resist and fight. We look forward to collaborating with the Biden administration in closing the DAPL pipeline and stopping the Enbridge Line 3 pipeline. These are Indigenous lands and we need to return them to Indigenous hands to protect them, combat climate change and build a better tomorrow,” said Nick Tilsen, President & CEO NDN Collective.

Today is the result of years of dedication from grassroots organizers who not only made the cancellation of the KXL Pipeline possible, but whose votes made the difference in electing President Biden,” said Judith Le Blanc (Caddo), director of Native Organizers Alliance. “We are grateful for President Biden’s decision to move so quickly on environmental issues and uphold tribal sovereignty,” says Judith LeBlanc Director, Native Organizers Alliance.

“When my granddaughter Riot Jennifer Rose first learned to speak, she would yell “you can’t drink oil, keep it in the soil”. Shame on us if we leave behind a world for our children that chooses profit margin over the health of people, community and planet. We have no choice but to continue to defend, develop and decolonize as these are responsibilities that build the power of our resiliency. The power of this day is ours. Take action” said Andrew Catt-Iron Shell, Organizer, NDN Collective.

“We stand in reverence to the decades of organizing by First Nations, farmers, and the climate justice movement that secured this major victory. The fight to stop Keystone XL was never just about one pipeline. Stopping this zombie pipeline means stopping Line 3, Dakota Access, and all fossil fuel projects. Coal, oil, and gas projects, without a doubt, catalyze climate change and fail a meaningful climate test. The stakes are higher than ever, and that’s why we’re escalating the urgent demand that Biden move America off fossil fuels and ensure fossil fuel corporations pay for the damage they’ve caused. Let this victory show: when we organize, we win,” said Kendall Mackey, 350.org Keep It In the Ground Campaign Manager.

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: Dec. 9, 2020

Contact:
Faith Spotted Eagle, 605-481-0416, eagletrax@hotmail.com
Jennifer Falcon, jennifer@ienearth.org
Mark Hefflinger, 323-972-5192, mark@boldnebraska.org

Indigenous Women’s Groups Host Livestream from “Tiny Home Warriors” at Nation’s Oldest Native Women’s Shelter to Raise Awareness on Increased Missing & Murdered Associated with Pipeline Construction

Livestream from White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society in Mission, S.D. on Dec. 10 will include masked and socially-distanced participants at the solar-powered “Tiny Home of the Ihanktonwan Homelands”

Mission, S.D. and Rosebud Reservation — The dangers of increased crime and sexual violence deriving from the influx of thousands of pipeline and oil industry workers to “mancamps” and temporary housing in rural and Tribal communities, will be the focus of a livestream event on Thursday, Dec. 10 hosted by a coalition of local Indigenous women’s societies, including Brave Heart Society and White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society.

The livestream will be hosted on the grounds of the oldest Native women’s shelter in the U.S. — the White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society facility in Mission, S.D. — from within the solar-powered Brave Heart Solar XL “Tiny Home of the Ihanktonwan Homelands.”

The tiny home was constructed both as a physical safe space, and also an educational center to raise awareness in the community about the crisis of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIWR) that research shows accompanies the construction of large fossil fuel infrastructure projects — like interstate pipelines, such as the proposed Keystone XL pipeline, whose “man camps” currently under construction in South Dakota threaten nearby Tribal communities on the Rosebud Sioux, Cheyenne River Sioux, Yankton Sioux, Lower Brule, and other Oceti Sakowin communities.

The Brave Heart Solar XL “Tiny Home of the Ihanktonwan Homelands” grew out of the Solar XL project, which has crowdsourced funding to erect solar installations with local farmers whose land lies directly in the proposed path of Keystone XL, and is supported by a broad coalition of regional and national grassroots organizations that created the “Promise to Protect,” including Indigenous Environmental Network, Brave Heart Society, 350.org, Dakota Rural Action, Native Organizers Alliance, NDN Collective, Bold Alliance, and Wiconi Un Tipi.

The “Promise to Protect” coalition also includes 47,000 people who have made a promise to come — if asked by local communities — to the Keystone XL pipeline route and engage in actions of nonviolent civil disobedience to stop pipeline construction if it begins.

While President-elect Joe Biden has pledged to rescind the permit for Keystone XL and kill the project, TC Energy is still continuing to seek local permits, and engage in “pre-construction” activities like building several man camps, pump stations, and pipe yards, which would potentially bring the added irresponsible risk of housing thousands of out-of-state pipeline workers during the coronavirus pandemic.

WHAT: “We Do Not Consent: MMIWR, Human Trafficking and Pipelines” Webinar
WHEN: Thursday, Dec. 10, 1:00 p.m – 2:30 p.m. CT
WHERE: “Brave Heart Solar XL Tiny Home of the Ihanktonwan Homelands” at White Buffalo Calf Women’s Society, Mission, S.D. (the oldest Native women’s shelter in the U.S.)

*WATCH LIVESTREAM at 1pm CT*: Brave Heart Society Facebook Page:
LINK: https://fb.me/e/fZYWhyFjk (video will be archived after event concludes)

LIVESTREAM PARTICIPANTS:

Quotes from participants:

“The 13-year message from the Dakota women on the ground here to Keystone XL & man camps is still, “LEAVE!”,” said Faith Spotted Eagle (Ihanktonwan Dakota
), Brave Heart Society elder & member. “You bring destruction to the earth, dangerous covid threats, danger to our animal & plant relatives, and trespass on our inherent and treaty lands and water illegally.  To President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris: please remember that as a U.S. citizen, you are also a Treaty signer. Honor it in this time of a dangerous pandemic. It is no different than the smallpox blankets that were brought in the past. Join us as relatives today to end this ghost pipeline.”

“In this United States today, Native women are 10 times more likely to be murdered; and 1 out of 3 Native women have been victims of sexual violence. We call upon the Biden Administration, to comprehend the encroachment and devastation of the privatized extraction industry, and the absolute corruption, chaos, and violation of human rights on our sovereign bodies, sacred lands, Sacred Spiritual rites and access to clean water,” reads a statement issued on Dec. 10, International Treaty Day, by the Dakota Women’s Society for the Protection of Oceti Sakowin Lands, Our Sacred Women, and Mni Wiconi-Water. “We call on this United States, to recognize and uphold the Treaties, the Supreme laws of this land, to uphold our human rights to safety of our Oceti Sakowin Women and Children, clean water, protection of our lands, and Sacred Rites, as Creator intended.”

“White Buffalo Calf Woman’s Society strengthens and protects the lives, memories, families, and spirits of Missing Murdered Indigenous Relatives (MMIR),” said Lindsey Crazy Bull Compton (Sicangu Lakota na Ihanktowan Dakota), Executive Director, White Buffalo Calf Woman’s Society. “Through daily acts of service and reverence our Societies’ theory and action honors our beloved MMIR. WBCWS protects through infinite acts of compassion; strengthens through developing and applying gynocratic systems of governance, and of upmost importance; a continuance of supernatural protocols within and through our Omaskekiciye, Woman’s Society. WBCWS serves the most vulnerable and marginalized women of Turtle Island; Native women and families who have been displaced victims/survivors of extreme violence. In the same role, White Buffalo Calf Woman’s Society seeks to protect the Land, as the land and our Woman are one in the same – to be respected, cherished, and protected. Stay Strong, Stand Strong, Be Strong, In The Spirit of Pte San Win.”

“Our call to action: We must restore balance. Demand justice. Demand action. No more stolen sisters. No more violence against women. We will not be silenced,” said Lily Mendoza (Cheyenne River Lakota Nation), co-founder of The Red Ribbon Skirt Society, a society founded by and led by Indigenous women that works globally to educate communities across the world on the epidemic of Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women, children and Two-spirit.

“Empowering the voice and visibility of Indigenous women. Strengthening sisterhood, building community. Raising awareness about injustices faced by Indigenous people. We stand against the Keystone XL pipeline and man camps,” said Marcella Gilbert of The NAZO Society, a woman-based campaign of mothers and grandmothers that focuses on bringing awareness to human trafficking, MMIP, and violence in our communities on the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation within the Oceti Sakowin Treaty Territory.

“MMIWR is an Indian country tragedy and an epidemic international crisis. Mancamps target and victimize women creating victim blaming. We need to create meaningful legislation surrounding mancamps and laws to include non-members in our jurisdiction. Lack of collaboration of federal and state jurisdictions creates a barrier to protection of our people,” said Darla Black (Oglala Lakota), member of Brave Heart Society and Red Ribbon Skirt Society.

“Many of us are veterans and motorcycle riders who did a 12,000-mile ride in the shape of a medicine wheel, carrying the names of MMIWR on a spiritual emotional ride, and donated to MMIWR sister society, Red Ribbon Skirt Society, said Lorna Cuny (Oglala Lakota), Medicine Wheel Rider’s Society. “We empower the voice and visibility of Indigenous women, strengthening sisterhood, building community and raising awareness about injustices faced by our people.”

Background on MMIWR issues and Keystone XL pipeline worker man camps:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

November 8, 2018
Contact: Dani Heffernan, dani@nokxlpromise.org,  +1 (305) 992-1544

Federal Judge Throws Out Trump’s ‘Presidential Permit’ for Keystone XL Pipeline

Today, U.S. District Court Judge Brian Morris ruled to vacate the crossborder permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, ordering TransCanada to cease all pre-construction for the project. The ruling states that the dismissal of President Obama’s previous decision against the Keystone XL pipeline by the Trump administration was unfounded, and that a new environmental review is required. Since Trump first issued a ‘Presidential permit’ for the pipeline and Nebraska commissioners granted a statewide permit for an alternate route, several lawsuits have been filed in opposition by Indigenous leaders, rural landowners, and environmental organizations. Additionally, more than 17,000 people have pledged to take future action along the Keystone XL pipeline route if construction begins.

QUOTES:

Faith Spotted Eagle, member of the Yankton Sioux Nation and Brave Heart Society:

“Heartfelt thanks for the thousands of prayers in the last 11 years that traveled to Montana to bring good news to stop Keystone XL pipeline construction. I heard the news sitting at the site where our powerful alliance signed the International Treaty Against KXL Pipeline and Tarsands, and that is no accident. We sleep well tonight and tomorrow we continue to keep our guard up, working stronger as good relatives until Keystone XL vanishes, and it will.”

Joye Braun, Cheyenne River Sioux Tribal member and Indigenous Environmental Network community organizer:

“This is the best news we could have gotten today. To have the judge affirm that what Trump did was illegal and that this pipeline would affect climate change and destroy cultural sites of my people, and that water, our first medicine, is threatened. It’s not over yet, but we are a step closer to stopping this zombie pipeline.”

Judith Le Blanc (Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma), Director, Native Organizers Alliance:

“This court decision affirms science-based decision making as the proper way to make public policy. As caretakers of Mother Earth, Native communities are organizing alternatives to fossil fuels because the future of the planet depends on it. We applaud the decision and recommit to promoting a fossil-free future.”

Lewis Grassrope, Wiconi un Tipi Camp in Lower Brule, South Dakota:

“Through our prayers we stood for the greater good of our people. Today one of those prayers has been answered with this decision on Keystone XL, but we must still stay the course to keep our people safe from any atrocious acts that affect our lives and livelihoods.”

John Harter, a South Dakota Landowner potentially crossed by the pipeline and Chair of Dakota Rural Action:

“We’re pleased and surprised by this decision. It’s nice to have a federal judge agree with the common sense analysis we’ve done. Basically you just can’t reverse a decision based on environmental and scientific facts just because you feel like it. We’re incredibly thankful for our Sister organization in Montana, the Northern Plains Resource Council, for taking an active role in this case. We are also thankful for the strong allies we’ve built in South Dakota with Tribes and Native Grassroots leaders. There hard work and dedication made this possible. Finally we are thankful for those national allies like 350.org who were willing to work with the grassroots and often defer to the wisdom found locally.”

May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director:

“This momentous ruling is a major victory that sends the Trump administration and TransCanada back to the drawing board on Keystone XL. For over a decade, Indigenous peoples, farmers and ranchers, and their allies around the world have been fighting to stop this pipeline. Despite every obstacle thrown our way, the movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground has kept Keystone XL from being built. This latest decision confirms what we’ve known all along — that Trump’s ‘Presidential Permit’ and environmental review process were a sham. Big Oil may have the money to push policy and politicians in favor of their profits, but we have morality, science, and common sense on our side. From the plains of Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota to Capitol Hill, we won’t stop until Keystone XL is gone forever.”

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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
November 20, 2017

Contact:

Dani Heffernan, dani@nokxlpromise.org, +1 (305) 992-1544
Judith LeBlanc, judithleblanc1@gmail.com, +1 (917) 806-8775

Pipeline Fighters Call for Future Commitment to Resist Along Keystone XL Route

The ‘Promise to Protect’, endorsed by dozens of groups, activists and celebrities, urges all who can to sign up for future mass resistance along the pipeline route

Lower Brule, SD — In response to today’s decision by the Nebraska Public Service Commission opening the door for construction on the Keystone XL pipeline, Indigenous peoples, farmers and ranchers living along the pipeline route, with the larger climate movement behind them, are calling for peaceful resistance against the project. The decision comes only days after more than 200,000 gallons spilled from the first Keystone pipeline in South Dakota.

A letter published today outlines the “Promise to Protect,” which urges everyone who can to commit to join peaceful creative resistance along the pipeline route when the call is put out by leaders on the ground. Indigenous peoples, farmers, ranchers, and local and national organizations are leading the charge in this renewed fight against Keystone XL. Dozens of grassroots leaders, organizations, and celebrities are endorsing the call to action. This letter was released alongside a treaty signed by Native leaders, tribal council members, rural landowners, non-Native supporters and allies in a shared commitment to stop the expansion of the Canadian tar sands.

Endorsers of the “Promise to Protect” include:

Dave Flute, Chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe

Morgan LittleSun, Kitkahaki Chief of the Pawnee Nation

Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe

Faith Spotted Eagle, a member of the Yankton Sioux Nation and the Brave Heart Society

Joye Braun of the Wakpa Waste Camp in Cheyenne River

Lewis Grassrope of the Wiconi un Tipi Camp in Lower Brule

Judith LeBlanc, with the Native Organizers Alliance

Dallas Goldtooth with the Indigenous Environmental Network

Thomas Tonatiuh Lopez Jr., International Indigenous Youth Council

Nick Tilsen, Oglala Lakota, Organizer Indigenous Peoples Power Project

Mark Ruffalo, climate advocate and actor

Naomi Klein, author and activist

Reverend Lennox Yearwood Jr. from the Hip Hop Caucus

Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org

Murshed Zaheed, Political Director at CREDO

Annie Leonard, Greenpeace USA

and many more.

The fight against Keystone XL reignited in the first week of Trump’s presidency, when the president announced plans to reopen negotiations with TransCanada — the company behind the project — as part of his pro-fossil fuel agenda. In March, the Trump administration approved a Presidential permit for the Keystone XL pipeline, the same permit rejected by President Obama in 2015. Obama’s decision, in which he cited climate as his reason for rejecting Keystone XL, followed a years-long campaign against the project that included sit-ins at the White House, tens of thousands joining days of action, and millions of people engaging in this fight across the world.

The “Promise to Protect” will build on years of fierce resistance along the Keystone XL route and across the nation. Just this August, hundreds of people, including farmers and Indigenous leaders from across the midwest, marched in Nebraska ahead of the Public Service Commission (PSC) hearings on whether to grant TransCanada, the company behind Keystone XL, their final construction permit. Hundreds of thousands of written comments against Keystone XL were delivered to the PSC at that time. Beginning this past summer, pipeline fighters launched the “Solar XL” campaign to build solar arrays, a clean and renewable energy solution to climate change, directly in the route of Keystone XL.

With today’s decision, pipeline fighters will continue fighting against TransCanada’s disregard for the rights of Indigenous peoples, farmers, and ranchers in court and in the streets. Nebraskans will challenge the decision, and at the same time, new efforts have launched in Canada to shut down the tar sands mine that would feed the Keystone XL pipeline. The fight against Keystone XL is about the choice to continue to build dirty fossil fuel projects or invest in communities and the solutions needed to address the climate crisis.

Further information about the “Promise to Protect” and the many ways to get involved can be found at www.nokxlpromise.org.


Quote Sheet:

Faith Spotted Eagle, member of the Yankton Sioux Nation:

“Nothing has changed at all in our defense of land, air and water of the Oceti Sakowin Lands. If anything, it has become more focused, stronger and more adamant after Standing Rock. It’s clear that the Trump administration, through its dirty energy policies, is intent on destroying our homelands with no regard to any group; we are all seen as dispensable, taxable, and voiceless. Native and non-Natives are rising up for now, for the future and certainly for the coming elections.”

Joye Braun, leader of the Wakpa Waste Camp at the Cheyenne River Sioux Reservation in South Dakota:

“We are excited to join in the Promise to Protect. This promise is a pledge that we will rise to protect the sacred — the water, land, and people that would be affected by this black snake that’s threatening the most vulnerable. How that looks is going depend on capacity and be inline with the frontline communities most impacted. For us, this is my home, literally my home, my children, and my grandchildren, that will be affected.”

Arvol Looking Horse, Keeper of the Sacred White Buffalo Calf Pipe:

“Crazy Horse prophesized that all people would unite under the Sacred Tree of Life-it’s time all people Unite on Turtle island for all our Mni Wiconi waterways pouring down from the North through the Mississippi River into the Gulf. We work to stop this desecration. Our waterways are our Sacred Tree of Life.”

Dave Flute, Chairman of the Sisseton-Wahpeton Sioux Tribe:

“I am highly disappointed that our neighboring state of Nebraska voted to continue with the KXL pipeline. I hope our sister state of Nebraska can see what the Keystone TransCanada pipeline will bring to their communities. In Northeast, South Dakota, we have experienced a large leak of oil. INitial reports are that it was over 200,000 gallons. Now, we are hearing it is upward towards 500,000 gallons. This leak is detrimental to our environment. TransCanada has made promises and assurances to the tribes and states that this pipeline would be state of the art. We were told the probability of a spill and/or leak would be highly unlikely, yet here we are just a few short years after this pipeline was constructed. We are experiencing a massive leak.”

Morgan LittleSun, Kitkahaki Chief of the Pawnee Nation:

“I believe there’s still hope. I came up here to represent the Pawnee Nation. I’m sad to hear that it was voted the way it was, but there’s still hope. We came here to pray and support. There’s still faith it will be rejected. Our prayers are going to continue to be with the people. We’re here to do what we can to support the people and fight the pipeline. That’s why we’re here. We’re ready for battle.”

Thomas Tonatiuh Lopez Jr., International Indigenous Youth Council (IIYC):

“The decision to permit the Keystone XL Pipeline comes to no surprise to us.  A year ago the IIYC was founded and vowed to protect all land, water and treaty rights.  Through prayer and non-violent direct action to the IIYC stands behind our elders, clan mothers and chiefs to ensure the safety of the next seven generations.  Indigenous youth around the world have united and will continue to be the change we expect to see in the world.”

Lewis Grassrope, KXL veteran and leader of the Wiconi un Tipi Camp at the Lower Brule Reservation in South Dakota:

“We the oyate of Wiconi un Tipi  Camp have put up camp in kul wicasa oyate to continue living and protecting this way of life for all. Where we choose to live, we choose life! We are here to continue to restore balance and save mother earth from any atrocious acts against her. To be good relatives and stand in unity with all creation for the betterment of the generations to come.”

Dallas Goldtooth, Organizer with the Indigenous Environmental Network:

“We are facing some challenging times in our struggle to protect the sacred integrity of mother earth, but we remain committed to peaceful action. The Promise is a part of that commitment. We call on our allies to join this promise, plan to take action and stand with us, if called upon. Water is life and we, it’s protectors, will rise to the occasion as needed.”

Judith LeBlanc, Caddo Tribe of Oklahoma, Executive Director of Native Organizers Alliance:

“For Native peoples, to be a good relative means that we stand together. We understand that the past and the future come together in the present whenever we all, Native and non-Native, stand together. Native Organizers Alliance will put our heart into all that our relatives in Nebraska and South Dakota ask of us to prevent the KXL Pipeline from ever being built. Leading with love of the land, love of community and love for the planet will be the power needed to win.”

Nick Tilsen, Oglala Lakota, Organizer Indigenous Peoples Power Project:

“We support the continued resistance of the KXL and all Tar Sands pipelines through Indigenous Lands. We ask for our allies to support the self-determination of Indigenous peoples. We believe in a wide variety of tactics including the use of non-violent direct action. Our network of Indigenous Trainers will continue to train communities.”

Bill McKibben, co-founder of 350.org:

“This is dark news, but we haven’t given up. For seven years now public pressure has kept 800,000 barrels a day of tar sands oil underground, and in the process helped spawn a worldwide fight against fossil fuel infrastructure. We will work with our colleagues in the upper Midwest on the next steps to defend their land and our climate.”

May Boeve, 350.org Executive Director:

“Today’s approval of Keystone XL is an outrage — even more so after Keystone 1 just leaked at least 210,000 gallons of oil in South Dakota — but it’s far from over. Indigenous peoples, farmers, ranchers, and their allies have been stopping this pipeline for years, and with our support, they’re ready to double down with renewed resolve. Fighting Keystone has always been about more than one pipeline; it’s been a tipping point for the movement to keep fossil fuels in the ground. Obama’s rejection of Keystone XL was a historic blow to the fossil fuel industry, and it’s exactly why Trump championed this project from day one. To build the fossil free world we need, it will take everyone’s help to stop Keystone, and all fossil fuel projects, that threaten our communities and climate.”

Mark Ruffalo, climate advocate and actor:

“The Keystone XL pipeline permit was just approved in Nebraska. Pushed through by oil companies, Trump and people who have had their senses made dumb by money. Today the the cost of wind and solar is cheaper than oil and coal and nuclear. We will win, but we have to fight.”

Annie Leonard, Greenpeace USA Executive Director:

“The climate can’t handle another tar sands pipeline. We won’t stand idly by while a new fossil fuel infrastructure projects, like the Keystone XL pipeline, threaten communities and puts drinking water at risk. TransCanada and the other companies trying to build new tar sands pipelines will continue to face a wall of resistance until each and every one of these projects is cancelled.”

Lydia D. Avila, Executive Director, Power Shift Network:

“The momentum to end the control of oil over our country is undeniable. Young people all over the world are standing up to Trump and his fossil fuel lackies- from the halls of COP23; to the courtrooms of Minnesota’s PUC, going head-to-head with Enbridge; to state capitals just this past Saturday, November 18th. Now, we promise to continue to stand with tribes, landowners, and other leaders in the #NoKXL fight until we win. And we will. It’s only a matter of time.”

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