The recent events in North Dakota regarding the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline have drawn national attention and stark criticism from citizens, environmental groups and elected officials alike. On September 3, a fever pitch was reached when Dakota Access guards moved in with vicious attack dogs, which injured at least six protesters while approximately 30 others were pepper-sprayed on site.
When immoral and illegal intimidation tactics of this sort are employed against peaceful protestors demonstrating their constitutional rights, the companies at fault must be taken to task and held responsible for their decisions. It can be difficult at times, however, to unravel the twisted web of ownership in the energy world.
Luckily for us, the company responsible for the atrocities in North Dakota is the same company attempting to implement eminent domain right here in Pennsylvania in an effort to install yet another pipeline without much regard for the constitutional rights of Pennsylvania citizens.
Energy Transfer is a Texas-based company made up of four publicly traded partnerships: Energy Transfer Partners (ETP), Energy Transfer Equity (ETE), Sunoco Logistics Partners, and Sunoco LP. They are the owners of the proposed Dakota Access Pipeline as well as the proposed Mariner East 2 pipeline, also known as the Pennsylvania Pipeline Project. If both pipelines are eventually built, Sunoco Logistics will be the operators while Energy Transfer will remain the owners.
It was announced earlier this month that Energy Transfer agreed to sell nearly 37 percent of their holdings in the Bakken pipeline project, but will remain majority owners despite the intense wave of protests. Marathon Petroleum Company and Enbridge Energy Partners became minority holders in the deal. Enbridge, a Canadian-based company, also recently announced the purchase of Spectra Energy, the owner of the Texas Eastern pipeline that exploded in Salem Township on April 26.
The connection does not stop at simple ownership. Strong arm tactics were also employed against the Gerhart family in Huntingdon County. Armed guards — resembling mercenaries — employed by Sunoco arrested both Ellen and Elise Gerhart who now face jail time for simply being on their property as tree-cutting crews attempted to fell trees without all the necessary permits in place to do so.
For a company that claims to be “committed to working with individual landowners to make accommodations, minimize disruptions, and achieve full restoration of impacted land,” it’s extremely difficult to understand how the use of attack dogs and armed guards fits into their motto.
Another layer that was just revealed last week is the fact that the PA Public School Employees’ Retirement System (PSERS) has nearly $200 million invested in ETP. This means that the pension funds for a high school science teacher, educating his or her students about the dangerous of greenhouse gases to our environment, is funding the expansion of a company responsible for massive amounts of methane leakage into our atmosphere.
The Commonwealth of Pennsylvania serves as the largest public shareholder of Energy Transfer stock. Therefore, the police who arrest people for standing on their own land and the judges who render decisions on cases regarding Sunoco’s right to eminent domain are being funded by a government that has a clear, vested interest in Sunoco’s profits over its citizen’s rights. In short the Commonwealth is using your money to fund these tactics.
Calls for divestment have been made but in a statement released by PSERS shortly after the story broke, they appear unwilling to consider a path away from a near 10% annual return on investment.
In summary, it’s no coincidence that Energy Transfer, owner of both the Dakota Access and Mariner East 2 proposed pipelines, have done their very best to ensure that citizens concerned about landowner rights are unaware of their inherent connection. When we see the events happening to native peoples in the Dakotas, we must keep in mind that their enemy is a shared one.
It’s time we pull back the veil and let the people know.
Do you want to take action? The Pennsylvania Chapter of the Sierra Club has a petition calling on PSERS to divest. Please sign and share!