美国国家公共电台 NPR 2 Years After Standing Rock Protests, Tensions Remain But Oil Business Booms

 

STEVE INSKEEP, HOST:

One of the first things President Trump¹ did when he took office was reverse President Obama's decision on the Dakota Access Pipeline². President Obama had effectively blocked it. President Trump effectively allowed it to move forward. That was an early win for the fossil fuel industry and a blow to protesters against the pipeline.

So what's happened since that moment? NPR's Jeff Brady reports.

JEFF BRADY, BYLINE³: This was the chant heard often as demonstrations⁴ began to attract attention in August of 2016.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

UNIDENTIFIED PROTESTERS: (Chanting) Mni wiconi. Water is life. Mni wiconi. Water is life.

BRADY: Protesters borrowed from the Lakota language to express their concern that a spill from the Dakota Access Pipeline would pollute drinking water for the nearby Standing⁵ Rock Sioux reservation.

MIKE FAITH: It turned out to be a massive gathering⁶ - a world-wide gathering.

BRADY: Mike Faith is the current chairman of the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe and says the protests sent a message to the world that Native Americans were standing up for themselves. Many Indigenous⁷ people from around the world joined the demonstrations. Among them, Leoyla Cowboy, who left her job and home in New Mexico.

LEOYLA COWBOY: I'm still here (laughter). I haven't really left.

BRADY: At the protest camp, she met and married her partner. Michael Giron, also known as Little Feather, is among the hundreds of protesters arrested. He pled guilty to civil disorder⁸ charges. Prosecutors⁹ say he was seen pouring fuel on a barricade¹⁰ that was set on fire. Giron is scheduled for release from federal prison next October.

Meanwhile, Cowboy landed a job in North Dakota as an organizer with the Water Protector Legal Collective.

COWBOY: What's been really great and a blessing¹¹ is being an Indigenous woman learning how to maneuver¹² through the legal system. I didn't know anything before I got here.

BRADY: The legal system in North Dakota is still busy processing the protesters who were arrested. Many have had their charges reduced or dismissed.

There is also a string of active civil suits, one filed by protesters who police sprayed with water in freezing temperatures. In another case, the company that built the pipeline, Energy Transfer, is suing Greenpeace and other environmental groups for inspiring the protest.

And yet another case - tribal¹³ members and others seek damages over the shutdown of a local highway near the protest for five months. That shutdown hurt business on the Standing Rock Sioux reservation.

(SOUNDBITE OF SLOT MACHINE)

BRADY: At the tribe's casino, business was down. The tribe won't say how much, but the Bismarck Tribune reported the tribe suffered a $6 million budget shortfall largely because less money was coming in from the casino. Tribal Chairman Mike Faith says business has improved since then.

FAITH: I feel the economy is coming back slow, but it is coming back. I think we're trying to mend fences now. We - some of them may never get repaired.

BRADY: Divisions between the tribe and local residents, who are mostly white, intensified¹⁴ because of the protests. Most people on the street an hour away in Bismarck don't want to talk about that. Craig Keller (ph) is an exception.

CRAIG KELLER: People weren't happy about what was going on and the way the protesters were treating other people.

BRADY: Demonstrators even clashed with police at the state capitol and a local shopping center, and many here saw that as rude. But fewer than 6 percent of those arrested were from North Dakota, says Morton County Commissioner¹⁵ Cody Schulz.

CODY SCHULZ: A lot of the troublesome problems that happened were created by people that are no longer here, so there is no reason for anger, you know, at our neighbors and friends. And I think that's part of the healing process as well.

BRADY: Schulz says the protests cost his county nearly $40 million for police, fire, repairing damaged infrastructure¹⁶, cleaning up protest camps and prosecutions¹⁷. That dwarfed¹⁸ the county's half-million-dollar emergency fund, so the state legislature picked up most of the tab. It can afford to do that because North Dakota's oil business is booming. The Dakota Access Pipeline is moving more than a half million barrels of oil a day.

And Ron Ness with the North Dakota Petroleum¹⁹ Council says despite the protests two years ago, the oil industry is expanding.

RON NESS: We're building pipelines²⁰ here every day. And they may not all be the size and magnitude of the Dakota Access Pipeline, but there are various construction projects, pipeline projects happening in North Dakota on a daily basis.

BRADY: North Dakota's oil production is growing so fast the state likely will run out of pipeline capacity next year, which is one reason Energy Transfer recently announced it plans to expand its Dakota Access Pipeline so that it can transport even more oil. Jeff Brady, NPR News, Bismarck, N.D.

1 trump   

n.王牌，法宝；v.打出王牌，吹喇叭

参考例句：

• He was never able to trump up the courage to have a showdown.他始终鼓不起勇气摊牌。
• The coach saved his star player for a trump card.教练保留他的明星选手，作为他的王牌。

2 pipeline   

n.管道，管线

参考例句：

• The pipeline supplies Jordan with 15 per cent of its crude oil.该管道供给约旦15%的原油。
• A single pipeline serves all the houses with water.一条单管路给所有的房子供水。

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

5 standing   

n.持续，地位；adj.永久的，不动的，直立的，不流动的

参考例句：

• After the earthquake only a few houses were left standing.地震过后只有几幢房屋还立着。
• They're standing out against any change in the law.他们坚决反对对法律做任何修改。

6 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

7 indigenous   

adj.土产的，土生土长的，本地的

参考例句：

• Each country has its own indigenous cultural tradition.每个国家都有自己本土的文化传统。
• Indians were the indigenous inhabitants of America.印第安人是美洲的土著居民。

8 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

9 prosecutors   

检举人( prosecutor的名词复数 )； 告发人； 起诉人； 公诉人

参考例句：

• In some places,public prosecutors are elected rather than appointed. 在有些地方，检察官是经选举而非任命产生的。 来自口语例句
• You've been summoned to the Prosecutors' Office, 2 days later. 你在两天以后被宣到了检察官的办公室。

10 barricade   

n.路障，栅栏，障碍；vt.设路障挡住

参考例句：

• The soldiers make a barricade across the road.士兵在路上设路障。
• It is difficult to break through a steel barricade.冲破钢铁障碍很难。

11 blessing   

n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿

参考例句：

• The blessing was said in Hebrew.祷告用了希伯来语。
• A double blessing has descended upon the house.双喜临门。

12 maneuver   

n.策略[pl.]演习；v.(巧妙)控制；用策略

参考例句：

• All the fighters landed safely on the airport after the military maneuver.在军事演习后，所有战斗机都安全降落在机场上。
• I did get her attention with this maneuver.我用这个策略确实引起了她的注意。

13 tribal   

adj.部族的，种族的

参考例句：

• He became skilled in several tribal lingoes.他精通几种部族的语言。
• The country was torn apart by fierce tribal hostilities.那个国家被部落间的激烈冲突弄得四分五裂。

14 intensified   

v.（使）增强， （使）加剧( intensify的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Violence intensified during the night. 在夜间暴力活动加剧了。
• The drought has intensified. 旱情加剧了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

16 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

17 prosecutions   

起诉( prosecution的名词复数 )； 原告； 实施； 从事

参考例句：

• It is the duty of the Attorney-General to institute prosecutions. 检察总长负责提起公诉。
• Since World War II, the government has been active in its antitrust prosecutions. 第二次世界大战以来，政府积极地进行着反对托拉斯的检举活动。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件

18 dwarfed   

vt.（使）显得矮小（dwarf的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• The old houses were dwarfed by the huge new tower blocks. 这些旧房子在新建的高楼大厦的映衬下显得十分矮小。
• The elephant dwarfed the tortoise. 那只乌龟跟那头象相比就显得很小。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 petroleum   

n.原油，石油

参考例句：

• The Government of Iran advanced the price of petroleum last week.上星期伊朗政府提高了石油价格。
• The purpose of oil refinery is to refine crude petroleum.炼油厂的主要工作是提炼原油。

20 pipelines   

管道( pipeline的名词复数 )； 输油管道； 在考虑（或规划、准备） 中； 在酿中

参考例句：

• The oil is carried to the oil refinery by pipelines. 石油通过输油管输送到炼油厂。
• The oil carried in pipelines. 石油用管道输送。