Legislation meant to criminalize protest rallies targeting “critical infrastructure” such as pipelines are pending in half a dozen US states following long-held protest actions against the Dakota Access Pipeline.
The protest events under hashtag #NODAPL that spilled from Standing Rock Indian reservation nationwide and lasted for several months in 2016 have reportedly prompted local lawmakers to propose legislation that would “protect” some “critical infrastructure,” specifically oil and gas pipelines, from that sort of actions, RT reported Saturday.
Such bills have gone through the final stages of the legislative process in the states of Minnesota and Louisiana without any hurdles or much public debates or attention. The states host parts of the Bakken system, which includes both the Dakota Access Pipeline and the Energy Transfer Crude Oil Pipeline linking oil fields in North Dakota and the Mexican Gulf Coast.
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