Less than 200 miles away from Standing Rock, another pipeline has broken and is dumping oil into someone's water (my bold in quote below)

A leak from a six-inch pipeline prompted the shutdown. The 783-mile pipeline transports crude oil in the Williston Basin of western North Dakota and eastern Montana, according to the company website.
It is not the first time the Bell Fourche Pipeline has had a spill.
According to records from US Department of Transportation, the company has had 10 reported spills over the past five years. Those spills accounted for the loss of nearly 5,000 barrels of oil and caused $2.26 million in property damage.

No mention of the inevitable damage to people or wildlife, because money and property are what's important. But at least they're reporting the spill. Here's more coverage of the same incident.

In Montana, thousands of snow geese have died because they landed on contaminated water.

a snowstorm forced large flocks to take refuge in the acidic, metal-laden waters of an old open pit mine in Montana. . . . Along with Atlantic Richfield, Montana Resources is responsible for Berkeley Pit in Butte.

The next time some pro-oil person tells you that "wind farms kill birds," you can remind them of this completely unnecessary destruction. My heart aches.

Meanwhile, here in Arizona, the Navajo Nation is suing the EPA. The pic below the block quote is the Animas River before and after the spill. People depend on this river's water for themselves, their crops, and their livestock.

The Navajo Nation has filed a $160 million lawsuit against the US government for damages and ongoing injuries caused by an August 2015 mine spill which released millions of gallons of toxic waste near the tribe’s territory.
The filing, announced in a Monday press release, claims that the Gold King Mine spill negatively impacted communities along the San Juan River on Navajo Nation territory when it released millions of gallons of toxic waste – including lead, arsenic, and mercury – into the nearby Animas River, ultimately transforming the connecting San Juan River from a “life-giver and protector” to a “threat” to the Navajo people, crops, and animals.

The Army Corps of Engineers made a minimal gesture by delaying the drilling under Lake Oahe in Standing Rock. But a different construction crew -- working on the same DAPL project -- has managed to drill under a different body of water (my bold in quotes below).

Last Friday, while the media focused on the thousands of protestors at Standing Rock, a construction crew working on the same under-protest project finished drilling through rock under the Des Moines River in Iowa—another major source of drinking water.
Protestors in Iowa fought against the pipeline construction for months, as they have in North Dakota, with some of the same protestors going back and forth between locations. "The resistance in Iowa has been as ferocious, in some ways," says [Carolyn] Raffensberger, who was also the first attorney on the ground at Standing Rock. "Not as visible. We've had well over 400 arrestees. Between Standing Rock and Iowa, we've had over 1,000 arrestees."
Beginning on December 1, continuing early into the morning on December 2, construction workers drilled through the river three times, after hitting the wrong spot twice. "Finally they got it done, and pulled the pipe through," says Raffensberger. "I think it took about 12 hours to pull the pipe through. And we stood there in the rain and protested, and defended water, and cried."

These are environmental issues, but even more so they are -- at their foundation -- tribal sovereignty issues. The US government, and before that the settlers/colonists, have always treated the indigenous people as an obstacle and as less-than-human. It looks like a war because it is a war. We invaded this land then, and we continue to invade Native land now. We treat US citizens as if they were enemies, we disrespect their homes, we attack them verbally, physically, and spiritually, and we steal and lie to accomplish what is falsely considered "progress."

We must stop this now. Today. It has gone on for far too long, and all of us must stand up and say "not in my name." We must stop walking the path of destruction of the land, the water, and the air. We must find new ways -- combined with a return to old ways. We must stop tearing up the fabric of the earth to fund the obscene lifestyles of the wealthiest 1 percent at the expense of the rest of us.

Now that I've completely depressed you, here's a great video from Kandi Mossett of the Indigenous Environmental Network, who is much more optimistic than I am right now. https://www.facebook.com/kandi.mossett/videos/vb.660421843/1015496066797... It's 16 minutes, and you should watch at least the first 10 minutes. Among other things, she reminds us that there's a court hearing on Friday, December 9, and she also says

We’re fighting back against capitalism and we’re winning.

We seek divestment from the fossil fuel economy and reinvestment in a just economy.

Link to the links: How to Help Standing Rock: Links for Donations, Phone Numbers to Call, Talking Points