Portside

An open letter to Obama, penned by US attorney involved in the case against the Native American activist, is a stunning development in his bid for freedom. A senior US attorney who was involved in the prosecution of Native American activist Leonard Peltier has requested that Barack Obama grant clemency, with a rare plea that has energized the campaign to free the high-profile indigenous prisoner.

Why did so many veterans take up the cause of the Native Americans and environmentalists at Standing Rock? My own reasons are rooted in western Pennsylvania’s coal country, where I grew up.

This decision is everything we had asked for: a non-granting of the easement, initiating an Environmental Impact Study, and suggestive of a reroute, Standing Rock Sioux Chairman David Archambault II said. 'We got it! Energy Transfer Partners will face an uphill battle in trying to dismantle the process initiated by this decision.' And, if the camp stays where it is currently located, people are risking their lives. The current weather is severe, making travel impossible.

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Kayla DeVault writes, Standing Rock requires us not to forget cultural identity. Conversations about climate, loss and damage, must include loss and damage done to a way of life, to the sustainability of an entire identity of people. Is devastating policy brutality against water protectors in North Dakota a harbinger of what's to come? Interview with Sophia Wilansky's father, who was injured Tuesday by a concussion grenade after police assault on water protectors.

It is not too late for President Obama to grant clemency to Leonard Peltier, imprisoned for past forty years. Peltier was a member of the American Indian Movement (AIM), which promotes Native American rights. In 1975, during a confrontation involving AIM members, two FBI agents were shot dead. Peltier was convicted of their murders, but has always denied killing the agents. The judge who authored the decision denying a new trial, has since voiced support for his release.

Indigenous leaders are calling on us to take to the streets and disrupt "business-as-usual" one week after the election to demand that President Obama's Army Corps of Engineers and the incoming administration stop the Dakota Access Pipeline -- and all those after it. As of now, there are 102 events planned (see map). It's time for the Administration to take immediate action to stop this pipeline.

If the United States lived up to its own ideals there would be no stolen water, land, and dams on the Missouri River and the Army Corps of Engineers would have a long history of real negotiation with the tribes instead of a pretend consultation.

NoDAPL - No Dakota Access Pipeline - Stand with the Native Peoples at Standing Rock. You have seen the stories, the posts on Facebook, Twitter and other social media. What can you do? Can you go to Standing Rock? Why not contribute or send needed supplies. Can you host a solidarity house party? Here's how you can help, how your solidarity can be expressed.

The people who are camped at Standing Rock are giving President Obama the opportunity to show how a managed decline in the use of fossil fuels is possible. And, if done right, inspiring. As the president said, “This gives us the best possible shot to save the one planet we’ve got.”