Consider the following situation: The United States government wants to put down an oil pipeline through American Indian land. The land includes rivers, lakes, marshes, and is generally undeveloped. These include lots of vegetation and animals, including a very rare salamander. Parts of this land is deeply historically and spiritually important to the Sioux people. Building the pipeline will mean the outright destruction of much of that land, alteration to much more, and the pipeline will certainly spill, as all pipelines do.
What are some moral reasons in favor of building the pipeline?
What are some moral reasons against building the pipeline?
What might an indigenous perspective add to this evaluation of the projected pipeline?
Instructions:
We expect this essay to be between 350 and 500 words. No formal introduction is required. The essay should respond to the prompt completely, and engage this module’s primary texts (note: not the overview, video(s), or annotations) by including at least two relevant quotations. All quotes must be in quotation marks and cited (author, page number), and all paraphrased passages must be cited (author, page number). Be sure to define key terms, and explain in your own words why the quotes are relevant to your essay. Note that plagiarism will be subject to the most severe penalties set out in the course syllabus and university policy.