Mason letter: Pipeline

So, so much transpired in the week that the avenging Lord of Darkness, Mr. Trump, assumed the presidency. Edict after edict issued like the commands of a tsar, so many that the din may be deafening: the muzzling of the EPA, the antipathy to science and the press, the alternative facts. Less noted was a threat to the planet and to Native people, an edict issued to complete the ill-named Dakota Access Pipeline — an action that galvanized over 250 people on Jan. 28 to closely pack the Idaho Capitol’s steps. People of diverse backgrounds, old, young, Latino, Native, black and white, grandmothers and veterans, gathered on the steps of the Idaho Capitol to express solidarity with the Standing Rock protest, with signs emblazoned: “Water is Life.” The Trumpist threat is willful ignorance of the interconnectedness of life and the consequences of carbon emissions on global warming. Local activists, articulate and inspired, carried the message home, the threats to Treasure Valley water supplies, the expansion of fracking and oil/gas leasing into Idaho. We, the people, must be vigilant or our public lands will be sold or “lent” as cheap leases to the highest bidders, our lands polluted for private profit.

This story was originally published February 14, 2017 at 4:49 PM with the headline "Mason letter: Pipeline."