November 22, 2016 10:52 AM UTC

Joe Salazar Joins Dakota Access Pipeline Protest

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• by: Colorado Pols

A local angle on a story making headlines across the country, after police in North Dakota used water cannons in freezing weather on protesters sending many to the hospital. CBS4 Denver reports:

Protesters are trying to block the construction of the 1,100-mile oil pipeline. They say it threatens drinking water on the nearby American-Indian reservation. Some Coloradans are part of the protest, and one Colorado state lawmaker plans to join them.

The Dakota Access Pipeline stretches from oil fields in North Dakota to Illinois. It’s largely complete except for a section that runs under a Missouri River reservoir near the Standing Rock Sioux reservation. The tribe went to court to stop it, but lost. Protesters aren’t giving up and police are cracking down.

“It’s 10 degrees outside and they’re spraying people down with water,” said Rep. Joe Salazar, D-Thornton.

After watching the standoff in North Dakota unfold for months, Salazar says he can no longer stand by.

As CBS reports, Rep. Salazar played a key role in killing legislation that would have granted oil companies eminent domain rights to construct pipelines, so his interest in the fight over the Dakota Access Pipeline makes sense. Supporters of the pipeline argue that it’s a much safer and cheaper transportation method than oil trains, but the Standing Rock Sioux cite both treaties and environmental threats in their determined protest.

Wherever you stand on the issue, water cannons in the bitter North Dakota cold don’t seem like a good idea.