BOLD IOWA
— building rural-urban coalitions to impact the climate crisis —
April 15, 2021
To Iowa Utilities Board members Huser, Lozier, and Byrnes —
I write on behalf of Bold Iowa in response to the letter you received on April 2, 2021, from Dakota Access stating it “intends to begin construction of the Cambridge Pump Station on or about April 5, 2021.” This construction would allow Dakota Access to double the flow of oil through the pipeline from 570,000 to 1.2 million barrels per day.
For two reasons, we ask the IUB reverse its earlier decision and immediately stop Dakota Access from continuing its work at the Cambridge pumping station.
First, in response to repeated questioning from Bold Iowa activists in 2019, President Biden and Vice President Harris spoke clearly and strongly against the Dakota Access Pipeline, specifically indicating their opposition to doubling the flow of oil. As Harris said toward the end of the following video, “the harm will be irreversible.”
WATCH BIDEN AND HARRIS SPEAK OUT AGAINST DAPL
Second, the climate emergency is worsening at a rapid and frightening pace. As The Guardian reported on January 8, 2021, “The climate crisis continued unabated in 2020, with the joint highest global temperatures on record, alarming heat and record wildfires in the Arctic, and a record 29 tropical storms in the Atlantic.”
Given the acceleration of the climate emergency and the new administration’s opposition to DAPL, we call on the IUB to reverse its earlier decision and stop Dakota Access from working to expand its capacity to double the flow of oil through the pipeline. Thank you.
Ed Fallon, director
Bold Iowa
735 19th Street
Des Moines, IA 50314
(515) 238-6404
[email protected]