Tens of thousands of us have stood with the Great Sioux Nation against the Dakota Access Pipeline (DAPL).  In December, President Obama declared that a full Environmental Impact Statement is required to test the safety of a pipeline that crosses the biggest river on our continent. 

Now, President Trump has reversed that decision and signed a memorandum ordering the Secretary of the Army to expedite approval of the Dakota Access Pipeline.  Our indigenous neighbors have asked people of faith to speak on behalf of native sovereignty and care for God’s creation and

·         Tell Department of the Interior to support the full environmental review currently underway for DAPL because your faith calls you to protect Creation, care for future generations, and justice for Indigenous peoples:  202-208-3100 or submit a comment at:  www.doi.gpv

·         Submit an electronic comment to the White House (White House comment line is down)  www.whitehouse.gov or FAX:202-456-2461

·         Call your senators at the United State Capitol switchboard and ask to leave a message for your senators:  202-224-3121

Building on a long history of General Assembly policy related to the environment, the 222nd General Assembly (2016) of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) approved an action empowering the Presbyterian Mission Agency to witness against environmental degradation and to affirm public policy that supports good stewardship of natural resources.” Among the environmental concerns identified were threats from “all modes of fossil fuel extraction, processing, transport, and storage.”

The Rev. Dr. J. Herbert Nelson III, Stated Clerk of the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.), in conjunction with the Rev. Irvin Porter, associate in the Office of Native American Intercultural Congregational Support, issued a statement in support of the Standing Rock Sioux on August 29, 2016.