Transcripts For LINKTV Democracy Now 20161103

Billion Dakota Access pipeline, the crackdown on peaceful land and water protectors continues as Police Fire Tear gas and pepper spray in north dakota. We will speak to the chairman of the Standing Rock sioux tribe dave archambault. Then we look at the billionaire behind the pipeline, kelcy warren. In addition to Running Energy transfer partners, warren is a major supporter of the folk music scene, running a rub heard record label and a festival in texas. Now a number of major musical acts are speaking out against the pipeline, including kelcy idol, Jackson Browne, who will hold a concert at Standing Rock against the pipeline thanksgiving weekend. We will eat to the indigo girls who will talk abobout the recent trip to Standing Rock. It is an amazing convergence it is open to everyone. People who live here do so much work. It is for all of us. Amy y plus, we will go to alaba where at least one worker has died and five have b been hospitalized a after a section f the colonial pipelinines bloatd pipeline explododed. In september, a leaked really 340,000 gallons of g gasoline, leading six governors to declare states of emergencies as gas prices rose to out the region. All of that and more, coming up. Welcome to democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. In news from the campaign trail, president obama has criticized fbi director james comey for announcing an investigation into a new batcofof hilry c clion ails. They werdiscovered as part of a probintoto fmer cocoress member Anthony Weine t the esestrged huhuand of top clionon aide huma abin, who under investatatioafter he sent illicisext messas to a derage gl. Comeys announcementnly days befofo electn day hajolted the race and narrowed llary clintons leadver dona trp. This is esident ama. Pr. Oba and i think tt , when there are investigatio, you nt operate onnnuendo bring mplete information. We do not operaton leaks we orate bas o oconcre decisions that are made. When ts was instigated thorough the lt te, the conclusionf the fbi, th conclusion of the justice depapament, e conclusion of repeat congresonal vestigatio was that she had ma somthe stakes but there wasnt anythinghere tha w w prosecable. Amy psident oma is mpaigninfor clinn every day is week inorth carolin as wl as ohio anflorid in more eltion ns, a wan who hasued dond trump e algedly bbery raping h two dedesgo wheshe was 13 year o canced a news , cments weesday. The lawsuit e lawsuialleges trump raped her at aarty hosd by llionairjeffres dn who habeen jaid on crges of soliciti sex from a nor. E wan who h remaine anonous was heduled come forward dnesday but cceled the confence aft herawyeyer, lisa bloomsaidid s hadad receiviv multipldeath reats. Oom said he has dided shes too afraido show h face. She isn terrib fear. Trus laer has died all the legatis sayinghey are not oy categorilly false, but disgustg. In loc election ws, in louisiana, Police Attacked protesters with pepper spray as the group demonstrated against u. S. Senate candidate, former ku klux klan leader david duke outside a candidate debate wednesday night held at the historically African American College Dillard university in new orleans. At least one protester was detained by police and others were forced out of the venue. The six candidate debate was closed to the public and occurred inside an empty auditorium. In mississippi authorities are , investigating the burning and vandalism of a historic African American church in greenville on tuesday night. The 111yearold Hopewell Missionary Baptist Church was torched and then spray painted with the words vote trump. Authorities say they are investigating the attack as a hate crime. Greenville mayor errick simmons called the incident as an attack on the black church and the black community. This happened in the 50s and the 60s. This should not happen in 2016. In iraq, hundreds of families are fleeing the fighting in eastern mosul amid the u. S. Backed iraqi ararmys offensive to retake the city from isis. Amnesty international is accusing some of the militias fighting against isis of revenge attacks against local villagers. The group says some militia members have engaged in torture tying suspected isis sympathizers t to cars and drivg them through villages, beating peoples faces with c cables, ad holding them inside poultry cages in public. The pentagon says two u. S. Soldiers have been killed in kunduz, afghanistan. U. S. Soldiers have been backing the Afghan Forces battling the taliban, which took control of the city of kunduz in october. Kunduz is also the site of the deadly u. S. Bombing of a Doctors Without Borders hospital in october, 2015, which killed 42 people, including patients and staff. Ththis comes as the united natis is a warning of new wave of displacement in afghanistan amid the ongoing violence. At least one millionfgfghans have been upupoted from m their homes by thehe violence ththis. The pentagon says a u. S. Drone strike killed an al qaeda leader in syria last month. Navy captain jeff davis says the strike on october 17 killed haydar kirkan, whom allegedly had ties to osama bin laden. In france, authorities have forced the remaining 1600 refugees out of the calais refugee camp known as the jungle. Authorities have been in the process of demolishing the camp for more than a week and bussing the camps approximately 7000 residentnts to refugee Intake Centers across france. The final refugees removed wednesday were predominately children and teenagers, mostly from afghanistan and south sudan. They had been rerefusing to leae the refugegee camp, hoping to wn asylum in britain, where many say they have family members. Meanwhile, in breaking news from britain, the plan for the country to leave the European Union has been thrown into turmoil after a court ruled today that the British Parliament has to vote on whether to in fact begin the formal exit proceedings. In june, britain stunned the world by voting to leave the European Union during a nationwide referendum, leading to the resignation of Prime Minister david cameron. German chancellor Angela Merkel has spoken out against the crackdown on press freedom in turkey, where 170 news outlets have been forced to close since the failed military coup attempt in july. Earlier this week, police raided the Istanbul Office of a prominent newspaper, detaining at least 12 journalists and administrators on terrorisism charges. The newspaper won the 2016 right livelihood award. This is Angela Merkel. Is strewn with alarming to me in the federal government the freedom of the press is think retail time and again. The latest example of these already very unfortunate development is what is happening. O the editors and journalists were serious doubts as is allowed under the principles of the constitutional state. Amy in iowa, a man has been arrested following this the fatal l shootings of two police officers. Suspect Scott Michael greene, who is white, is accused of killing the two o White Police Officers in amambushstyle attas early wednesday morning. The shootings come a few weeks after greene brought a confederate battle flag to a Football Game at Urbandale High School and waived it in front of people of color. He was thrown out of the stadium by police. He hasas also been accused of multiple instances of Domestic Violence. A few days after he brought a Confederate Flag to the Football Game, he was arrrrested and charged with elderly abuse after he reportedly attacked his mother. He was also charged for Domestic Violence in 2001. The charges were later dropped. In north dakota, Police Deployed pepper spray and teargas against dozens of native American Water protectors during a standoff at cantapeta creek, north of the main Oceti Sakowin camp where thousands have been resisting the construction of the 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline. At least twowo people were shot with nonlethal projectiles. Video and photos show Police Firing the pepper spray and tear gas at the water protectors who were peacefully standing in the creek. The u. S. Army corps of engineers had ordered police to arrest the native americans and destroy a bridge that members of the camp had constructed over the creek in order to protect a sacred Burial Ground they say are being destroyed by construction and Law Enforcement activity. This comes after president obama said the army corp of engineers is considering plans to reroute the pipeline. Well have more on the latest standoff and president obamas comments after headlines with Standing Rock sioux tribal chairman dave archambault. In alabama, the Colonial Pipeline remains shut down following the fatal explosion of a section of the pipeline on monday in shelelby county, one worker died and five were hospitalized after columns of fire burst from the punctured alabama pipeline a and shot up o 150 fefeet in ththe air. Colonial Pipeline Company has said as much as 168,000 gallons of gasoline could have burned, spspilled, evaporated, or r remd in thehe pipeline following the blast. Democrats on the house energy and Commerce Committee arere seeking g an investigationon ofe georgiabased cocompany. This comes after the same pipeline leaked nearly 340,000 gallons of gasoline in Central Alabama in september, forcing the line to shut down for 12 days and leadiding six governors to declare s states of emergency as gas prices rose throughout the region. The Colonial Pipeline carries 1. 3 Million Barrels of gasoline a daday down to refineries in texas and louisiana, accounting for a full 40 of the regigions gasoline. Well have more on the disaster pipeline explosion later in the broadcast. General electric and baker hughes have announced plans to merge, which would create the second Largest Oilfield Service Company in the world after schlumbergerer. The merger c comes amid increaeg consolidation in the oililnd gas industry. And in northern michiganan, a nestle bottling plant that has been sucking water out of aquifers that feed Lake Michigan for free for years is now petitioning the state Regulatory Agency for permission to expand and pump even more fresh water out of the ground for free. The nestle ice mountain bottling plant in mecosta county, michchigan, is proposing a 36 million expansion of its plant. Itis asking the michihigan department of Environmental Quality for permission to more than double the amount of water it can pump out of the ground from 150 gallons per minute to 400 gallons per minute. The bobottling plant has been ne site of f a more than decadeslg struggle by local residents, who oppose the extraction n of the ground water for profit and who. This is a local activist. The water that nestle is bottling here and elsewhere in our state is coming from the great lakes basin. It is feeding here into the stream and cold creek, that into little mususkegon river, that i prefer, and eventualally, ultimatetely, into lake michiga. So it is great lakes basin wawater. It is part of the commons. It belelongs to all of us. Part of the reason the people in mecosta were upset about it is that the extraction of that water was being taken out of the watershed. It was the streams were being pumped down to the point the dead stream look like a mud hole at one point. It was bottled and shipped all over the world. Amy to see our full interview with some of these activists from when democracy now was in michigan, go to our website, democracynow. Org. And those are some of the headlines. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman. Nermeen and im nermeen shaikh. Welcome to all of our listenerss and viewewers from around the country and around the world. President obama says the u. S. Army corps of engineers is considering rerouting the 3. 8 billion Dakota Access pipeline, amid months of resistance from the Standing Rock sioux tribe and members of more than 200 other native american nations and tribes from across the americas. Obama made the comment during an interview with now this news. The candidates arent really talking about the Dakota Access pipeline. Is that something you would consider intervening in . People have calleded for your admiministration pres. Obama we are momonitoring this closely. As a general rulule, my view is that there is a way for us to accommodate sacred lands of i think americans and right now the army corps is examining whether there are ways to reroute this pipeline in a waway. Oututgoing to let it play foseseveral morere w weeks and determine whether or not this can be resolved. In a way that i think is properly attentive to the traditions of the first americans. Is there something to be done about the way protesters are being treated . Prpres. Obama i it is a challeg situation. Rule when ieneral talk to governors and state and local officials, whenever theyre dealing with protests, including during the black lives matter protest, there is an obligation for protesters to be peaceful. And there is an obligation for authorities to show restraint. , asnt to make sure everybody is exercising their Constitutional Rights to be heheard, that both sides are refraining from situations that might result in people being hurt. Nermeen president obamas comments on tuesday came on the same day that north dakota officials approved an additional 4 million for policing, bringing the total costs of the Police Crackdown on the pipeline protests to 10 million. On wednesday, Police Deployed pepper spray and teargas against against dozens of native american protesters during a standoff at cantapeta creek, north of the main Oceti Sakowin camp. At least two people were shot with nonlethal projectiles. Video and photos show Police Firing the pepper spray and tear gas at the water protectors who were peacefully standing in the creek. The u. S. Army corps of engineers had ordered police to arrest the native americans and destroy a bridge that members of the camp had constructed over the creek in order to protect sacred Burial Ground they say is being destroyed by construction and unlawful for spent activity. The protesters, or water protectors as they call themselves, had gathered to pray and protect sacred sites they believe were being disturbed by construction and Law Enforcement activity. Well, for more, were joined now by dave archambault, chairman of the Standing Rock sioux tribe. Welcome to democracy now respond first to this statement that i think surprised many. Presesident obama talking about considering rerouting the pipeline. Can you explain what is being considered right now . Hello, amy. Ist the president is doing he is starting a process that is needed. And that is to respect Indigenous Peoples rights. A reroute is something that can require new state permits, new federal permits to cross waterways, new land owner agreements, and also restart the process where environmental studies can happen. That is a huge step. I think this whole press process was flawed from the beginning. Reflect whato weve been saying all along, Indigenous Peoples rights continue to give violated. We have all been protecting water. In 2010, theres a study. There is a hole in the map. Step is, starting to take a look at what was it that we have to do around the world as people. We have to start changing our dependency on fossil fuels and we have to start investing in renewable energies. Until we Start Building cars that use fossil fuels, this is going to be a force that continues to exist. Waysve to start to look at we can be selfsustaining without fossil fuels and force investmements, force corporatios to look atat h how we cacan savs woworld. , ourht now, Standing Rock sovereigign lands,s, our sovoven righghts, were asking stop infringing on those who have we have said it repeatedly. I think the president s statement is starting to be heard. Amy can you explainin exactly what the process is, the consultation that is going on for the rerouting and when will they stop building where they are worth will it involve stopping doing what theyre doing, for example, yesterdrday and last week an earlier this week . I dont have a timeline i have not been consulted on this. This is just something that comes from what the president has stated in his comments. The Company Continues to ignore federal government. Something they just destroyed some more sacred sites. They knew about these sites in october 17, but they did not inform anyone until october 27. They plowed through it. That is caused the state to ask the company to cease work, cause for the army corps of engineers to say, shut down now, youre not going to get this permit because you continue to violate Indigenous Peoples rights. But the company is not going to do that because they feel they have every legal right and assist riven by money and greed. It only comes from the continued dependency that we all have on fossil fuels. Nermeen do you think the Obama Administration can do something more now as the army cororps considers rerouting the pipeline . , right now they need to say no easement. Youre not going to get the easement. The obama ministry nor army corps of engineeeers can release that Statement Today and construction will stop. The cocompany is driven with g d and money, but it is also o drin by i investors. People who invest in pipeleline companies are asking for timelines be met. But ifif they know t they wiwilt get the easesement, they can stp tractition. Amy i was interested president obama said, we are going to look at this for a few more weeks. I was wondering what it was they are waiting on as people are shot with pepper spray, rubber bullets . The concern of what will happen, finding and infiltrator that had an ar15 gun who put a bandanna over his race who his face that actually had to cut access , what wouldurity id it take for president obama why is he waiting a few weeks . Question. A good im not the person to answer that for you. I think would be a question only the Obama Administration can answer. We were told they are going to review the whole process and so whatever that means, were hopeful and we are grateful the process stops this pipeline. And looks at protecting our indigenous rights and our land and water. Amy meanwhile, the money the north dakota sheriff is getting now, i think it is up to 10 million just requested another 4 million. When we were there, we saw the mrap, the sound cannons, the heavily militarized police. What is your response to what is happening and what are they requesting and what t about thee invovolvement ofof the note daka north Dakota Legislature and the governor . What is happening, it is unfortunate with the state government. There has been an oil boom in north dakota. Ands 2003. Since 2003. The exploitation o of fossil fus with fracking. In the Northwest Region of north dakota, there is an influx of people. Our and implement rate was 5. 0 United States and was two poinint percent inin north dakokota. What was happening, mamajor cris were being committed. Urders, rapes, sex trafficking e worst drugs you can thinkk of bebeing trafficked t thrgh ther. We did not see militarization of Law Enforcement. We did not see national art being deployed. We did not see the state call a state emergency. This has been going on for all must a decade. But as soon as Indigenous People and all of the supporters come together to stand upup against fossil fuels, ththe state says, lets throw 10 million at this and make them go away. Our commitment is not going to go away. The state has to understand that. A a lot of this forces a n necey desk force is unnecessary. A that is the way it is. It is the underlying treatment of Indigenous Peoples and we are saying enough is enough. It is starting to expose a lot of things where how do we get past this once this is over . How are we going to reestablish relationships . How are we going to move on . How are we going to handle ourselves because this is starting to create a wholele lot which h was alreadady there for r 200 yearsy ththe treatmtment of the federal government am a state governments on Indigenous Peoples. Amy finally, i want to ask you, chairman, in a moment, were going to talk more about kelcy warren who is the ceo of Energy Transfer partners that owns the Dakota Access pipeline. Also is a folk the sick folk music maven, has a record label, big in the austin music scene. Jacksonc idol is browne. We understand Jackson Browne is coming to the Standing Rock sioux reservation thanksgiving weekend on sunday night and will be having a concert. It is interesting that kelcy warren, the pipeline is called the Dakota Access pipeline, and that is Music Festival in texas, where for example our next guests, the indigo girls have performed, called ththe Cherokee Creek Music Festival. I was wonderering about yoyour thoughts on using native names Cherokee Creek and dakota the ceo of the company that is pushing this pipeline forward . You know, amy, we brought this concern up. It is not only the company Dakota Access or Cherokee Creek, but Indigenous People have a to their intellectual property. And our rights have been violated and taken from us all across the board, including our name. If you look at the state of north dakota and south dakota, those e states as well took our name. Not really understanding what it means. Dakota access pipeline . To use our name dakota which means friend, it is not right. It is intellectual property that should be owned by us, but it doesnt matter seems like no matter what are ownership, whatever is our right, it has been infringed on for the past 500 years. Amy dave archambault, thank you for being with us chairman of , the Standing Rock sioux tribe. Speaking to us from north dakota. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. When we come back, we ask, who is kelcy warren, the ceo of Energy Transfer partners. We will be speaking with the indigo girls, will the Musical Group who have played standing folkand also at warrens festival in texas bank, but are now leading a petition of singers Musical Groups to stop supporting the dakota acaccess pipeline. Stay with us. [music break] amy indigo girls singing at honor the earth. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amamy goodman with nermemeen shaikh. Nermeen we turn now to look at the texas billionaire behind the Dakota Access pipeline kelcy warren, the ceo of Energy Transfer partners. Described by bloomberg as among americas new shale tycoons warren is personally worth 4 billion. He has become a major donor to the republican party. During this election cycle he , gave over 500,000 to super pac backing former Texas Governor rick perry. He also maxed out his donations to House Speaker paul ryan, house energy chair fred upton, House Majority leader kevin mccarthy, and Senate Energy and Natural Resources chair lisa murkowski. Kelcy warren owns a small music label and recording company, and is the founder and driving force behind the Cherokee Creek Music Festival in texas. Later in the show we will be , joined by the grammy awardwinning indigo girls who have written an open letter to kelcy warren. But first, i want to turn to sue sturgis. Editorial director of facing south. Her latest piece is headlined, meet the texas billionaire and gop donor behind the north dakota pipeline controversy. Amy we also invited kelcy warren to join us on the show, but did not receive a response back. Sue sturgis, you wrote this very interesting piece in facing south. Can you talk about who kelcy warren is . Kelcy warren is a native of east texas and he studied Civil Engineering at the university of texas at arlington and went to work in the gas industry. His father, interestingly enough, had been a field hand for the sun pipeline, which kelcy warrens company owns. He worked his way up through the industry. In 1995, he cofounded Energy Transfer with ray davis, who you might know as the owner of the Texas Rangers baseball team. It was in 2007 that worn becacae the coceo and chairman of the company. Nermeen can you tell us a little bit about this company he cofounded in 1995, Energy Transfer partners . Yes, as you mentioned in the introduction, he has been called one of americas new shale tycoons but it is important to know his company is not actually drilling for the oil, but rather moving the oil around. They currently own 71,000 miles of pipelines in the United States. Nermeen can you explain what that means, moving oil around . Once we get the oil out of the ground, it becomes important to get it to where it needs to go. The pipeline is the way that kelcy warren has made his fortune doing ththat. Amy can you talk about the contributions he has made . Yes. That was the angle i was really interested in looking at. I thought it was interesting chairman archambault talked about the importance of considering investors in the pipeline. I thought it was important also to look at the investment kelcy warren that and his company has been making in politics over the years. He has donated millions of dollars to politics at both the federal and state levels. And much of that money has gone to republican politicians. During this election cycle, as was mentioned, he donated at least 500,000 to rick perrys campaign. Since the primary, he is donated at least 100,000 hours to organizations that support donald trump. At the state level, he has been a big supporter of Governor Greg Abbott of texas and last year, added appointed warren to the texas park and wildlife commission. At the same time that kelcy is making Campaign Contributions from Energy Transfer partners also making pac contributions. Yet this synergistic thing between the company and politics. Energy transfer partners has invested about 300,000, what we know so far, this election cycle. About 300,000 to federal candidates and that primarily is house and senate candidates. The company is also making investments in state politics. About 100,000 this election cycle so far. One of the things i thought was interesting in my research is in recent years, really starting last year, the company has begun investing in politics in the dakotas. We have seen at least 10,000 going to political organizations in both north dakota and south dakota, and that has gone primarily to state house and state Senate Republican organizations. Amy now talk k about his s roln the folk music scene in texas and around the country. Talk about the Cherokee Creek is it festival, his record label, recording company. Warren007, the year that rose to coceo and cochairman of the company, that was a watershed year for him and a lot of his activities. That was also the year he founded music road records, his independent record label in austin. He also founded a charity that year called cherokee crossroads. Festival he then founded that actually funds the charity. That is how that works, the Cherokee Creek Music Festival raises the funds that then goes to cherokee crossroads. That primarily funds childrens causes and also local service organizations. Amy so it is called Cherokee Creek and you heard me asking german archambault how it is all of these native american words and yet we see what is happening to native americans who are facing off against the building of the Dakota Access pipeline, being met with pepper spray, type dogs, attack dogs, rubber bullets. Yes, that is true. I believe the name comes from the community he has a ranch near called cherokee, texas. And the significance of Jackson Browne when it comes to kelcy warrens music tastes . Well, kelcy warren himself as a guitar player and Jackson Browne is really one of his musical idols. They have a close relationship, i guess you as they come is not happybrowne with what is happening now. Amy in december 2013, Kelsi Worrell to record label music road records released the album looking into you a tribute to Jackson Browne. It was a passion project spearheaded by kelsi worrrrell himself, a longtime fan ofof brownes. Warren is quoted as saying i dont know of anyone that admires jackson more than me. We really had fun with this and im very proud of the final product. It brings to a two industry that tends tos that it out of me. Jackson browne is now one of 13 musical artist who signed on to a letter to kelcy warren vowing to no longer play in his cherokee Music Festival or participate in music road records recordings. In a Statement Released to Indian Country tododay Media Network come a Jackson Browne also pledged to donate the money he has received and will receive from the album to tribes opposing the pipeline. Jackson browne writes i did not know anything about kelcy warrens other businesses, production of this all the way forward. I did not know anything about kelcy warrens other bubusiness as the prproduction f this album went forward. Although as a music publisher there is no legal way to deny permission to a Record Company to cover a song that has been previously published, i could have dissuaded the artists from appearing on this record had i known. Browne goes on to say i do not play for oil interests. I do not play for companies who defile nature, or companies who attack demonstrators with trained attack dogs and pepper spray. I certainly would not have allowed my songs to be recorded by a Record Company whose owners other business does what Energy Transfer partners is allegedly doing threatening the water supply and the sacred sites of Indigenous People. The words of Jackson Browne. Other musicians speaking out against the pipeline include Emily Saliers and amy ray, that are known as indigo girls, who are confronting kelcy warren and help stop the pipeline. Were going to go to break. When we come back, the indigo girls are with us in studio. Were going to play at our break Jackson Browne. Jackson browne is just announcing he is going to be playing on the Standing Rock reservation just as the indigo girls did. You will be playing at the prairie knights casino on the reservation. I think it is november 27, thanksgivingof weekend. The concert organizers say the event will bring awareness to the fight against the pipeline and help the spirits of the resistance camp. The event is open to the public. Nd kicks off among this performing will be bonnie raitt. [music break] amy which side by Jackson Browne. In one of his statements, tax and browne said, i intend to support Public Resistance the Dakota Access have fun as much uote a set ofyio mine, which side. That is Jackson Browne. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the e war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen many musicians, including Emily Saliers and amy ray, better known as indigo girls, are confronting kelcy warren and help stop the pipeline. In addition to owning the pipeline, warren owns a small music label and is the founder and driving force behind the Cherokee Creek Music Festival in texas. Amy the indigo girls began speaking out after september 3 when democracy now filmed security guards working for the Dakota Access Pipeline Company attacking native americans. It showed guards unleashing dogs and using pepper spray and feature people with fight injuries and a dog with blood dripping from its nose and mouth. Courts these people are threatening us with these dogs. That woman over there, she was charging them. Amy the dog has blood in its nose and mouth. And she is Still Standing here threatening amy why are you letting her dog go after protesters . Amy in addition to raising awareness and funds for the land and water protectors at Standing Rock, the indigo girls are organizing musicians to challenge kelcy warren directly, ththe ceo of Energy Transferer partners. Emily saliers and amy ray penned a letter to kelcy warren, which was cosigned by Jackson Browne, shawn colvin, joan osborne, and others. It read, in part we realize the bucolic setting of your festival and the image it projects is in direct conflict with the Dakota Access pipeline. This pipeline violates the Standing Rock sioux nations treaty rights, endangers the vital missouri river, and continues the trajectory of genocide against native peoples. The letter concluded in order to stay true to our music and respect the native nations that are united against the Dakota Access pipeline, we will no longer play your festival or participate in music road records recordings. That is what they wrote. Well, the indigo girls, Emily Saliers and amy ray, join us now in our new york studio. Welcome both to democracy now emily, talk about what happened. When you played a Cherokee Creek Music Festival in texas, what it was like, and when you realize the force behind Cherokee Creek was the same one behind me to could access pipeline. When we first played Cherokee Creek Music Festival, it was like any other sort of laid back bucolic setting and we had no idea who owned the festival or what his associations were. We were for dissipating in a record tribute for jackson, did a song on the record. If the record have been named label label have a named oil pipeline, we may have known. We have been fighting the pipeline in conjunction with a group we helped start with Winona Laduke. This group is called on of the earth. We have been fighting these pipelines that are proposed to traverse through native American Land and threaten ecosystems. Were stringent about the Dakota Access pipeline. We actually got a note on our Facebook Page from some and out there who said, do you know who this guy Kelsi Worrell is who owns the Cherokee Creek music fest . We had not known as association, like jackson said, we never really knew. Once we found out, we mean started talking about what can we do to rectify the situation completeresence is the antithesis of what we stand for as artists and as allies for native communities. Nermeen so what did you do . We decided to write a letter to mr. Warren and decided to put a word out to all of the artists who participated in the record tribute to jackson or the Cherokee Creek Music Festival. We sent out this letter. We gathered signatures from artists who stood in solidarity with us and ask mr. Warren to reconsider the pipeline, to not build this pipeline, and to think about native rights and to think about how music and artists and what we all stand for is completely in contrast to what this pipeline is going to do which desecrates the environment and runs across native treaty rights, and these people are protectors of water and land, and theres nothing in it for them except what they want to do for all of us and for the good of nature and respect their sacred burial sites. So artists like me and amy and jackson all of those who sign on to the letter were w writing s s about we opposed the treatment of human beings and land and water in the manner in which mr. Warrens company acts. That is how we got signatures. Then we posted it. Amy amy ray, have you spoken to kelcy warren . No. We would love to speak to kelcy. He is a music fafanatic. I feel like we really felt like this is a guy who really loves music. If we could just get through to him on that level and show him the disconnect between all of the music that he loves and what his company is doing, that maybe maybe were being idealistic, but maybe it would get through to him in some way. We did get a letter directly to him. Rather than email. We have a connection to his assistant who put it on his ask. We have not heard from him. There were many more signers on the letter that went to him. They did not necessarily want to be public about their signatures, so theres probably five or six more people that sign on to that letter as well what we have done is we posted it on a website called the bluegrass situation who is also reaching out and having people email and call him and the label and just starting more of a movement with other musicians to just get in touch and just pressure. Pressure from the music community. I think this is an important lesson for us as well. When you play these festivals or play events or benefits, to know where the money is coming from. We have always prided ourselves on kind of knowing that, and we missed this one completely. It was a good lesson. You are in the middle of texas, playing a wellfunded show nermeen tell us more about the Music Festival. It is amazing. Its a weekend of camping. It is a family setting. It is on a creek. All of the money goes to childrens charities. There are these great artists. The environment is amazing. You would never Even Associated with anything negative ever. People jamming and hippies and families. All of the money goes to childrens groups. The last thing you would think was, this is a guy funding all of these republican c candidates and working against everything we work for. Amy talk about honor the earth specifically. You u both cofouounded it with Winona Laduke, and what this organization is. Earlystarted it in 1990s. We went to an earth day show in boston and Winona Laduke spoke. We freaked out over her speaking. Youre like, oh, man, this is how we want to do our and our mental work. Environmental work. Her speak and we were like, that is a whole new way to see it. We sat down with her that day and started scheming. We started honor the earth along with the indigenous Womens Network and seven generation fund. We had a board that was completely nader. The idea was to be an Umbrella Organization that funds people already doing great work. Some of the people do great environmental work. We just gathered money, do benefits, build a bridge between native and nonnative communities and we do some lobbying work. Winona does work like specifically to stop pipelines out of the tar sands or the Dakota Access pipeline, or on the other side we find really great positive projects like wind power and solar power, infrastructure building in communities that brings of their economic base. It has been aroundnd since 1993 . Yep. It is still going. We do a lot of funding and grantiting in every now and aga, benefits to bring attention to what is going on in Indian Country. Amy amy, would you like to read part of your letter to kelcy warren . Amy did pen this. Bewe have found it to compelling gathering of artists and a Noble Pursuit to help Childrens Charity organizations across the country. Many of us who have play your festival have invested time and energy into the fight for human rights and environmental justice. For some of us, this mission is the moving force in Spiritual Foundation of our Larger Community of musicians. One of the inspirations to play such rich gatherings is the cherokee Music Festival. Sadly, we realize the bucolic setting of your festival and the image it projects is in direct conflict with the proposed Dakota Access pipeline, a project your company Energy Transfer companys is responsible for spearheading. This pipeline violates the Standing Rock sioux nations treaty rights, endangers the vital missouri river, and continues the trajectory of genocide against native peoples. Amy i want to thank you both for being with us. Were going to end with some of yourur own music. We have been speaking with indigo girls Emily Saliers and amy ray, the grgrammy awardwinning indigo girirls du, also environmental and indigenous activists. As we head south to alabama to a pipeline explosion. But first, indigo girls. [music break] amy the indigigo girls performg a concert at Standing Rock. This is democracy now , democracynow. Org, the war and peace report. Im amy goodman with nermeen shaikh. Nermeen in alabama, at least one worker has died and five have been hospitalized after a section ofof the colonial pipele explploded in Shelby County on monday. This is the second shutdown in just as mamany months. The column of fire burning from the punctured pipeline reportedlyly reached 150 feet. Eyewitnesses described thee disaster to abc news. It looked like there was a plplane crash. I have never seen anything like this. Nermeen this comes after the same pipeline leaked nearly 340,000 gallons of gasoline in Central Alabama in september, forcing the line to shut down for 12 days and leading six governors to declare states of emergency as gas prices rose throughout the region. Since the cocompany has reported 2006, 178 spills and other incidents that released a combined 193,000 g glons of hazardous s liquids and caused 9 million in property damage. Amy no democrat on the house enenergy Commerce Committee are seeking investigation of the company. Well, democracy now invited cololonial Pipeline Company to join us on the show but they declined. Were going to birminghgham, alabamama, where were joined by david butler, the cahaba riverkeeper. He has traveled to the site of the Colonial Pipeline company disaster and is monitoring its Environmental Impacts. David welcome to democracy now ,we only have a few minutes. Can you describe what is happening there . Absolutely. First, we want to express our condolences to the worker that passed away and also the workers that are injured. What happened was, they were doing routine work on the pipeline in preparation for the repair they needed to do o on te previous leak site. There was a contact with the pipe and caused an explosion. Nermeen tell us a little bit about the ecosystem of this river. There are reportedly more species of fish in the cahaba river than there is in the whole state of california. Absolutely. It is a tremendously unique ecosystem. The area the pipeline is in is tremendously sensitive. Certainly, our work is centered around p preserving and protectg what is left. Amy david, if you could just talk about what you know about this explosion and the accident that happened a few months ago . Were in the midst of a president ial Election Year and not one reporter in the debate asked about the issue of Climate Change of the presesidential candidates. But what is happening right now . What is this Colonial Pipeline . How long is it . Six governors and the last explosion, declared a state of emergency . It has been one of the disappointing aspects of this story to us is that really the National Media focus has been on the supply issue and not so much the Environmental Impact of incidents like this. Sort of the longterm outlook for having pipelines crisscross all over the country. Amy who is running the Colonial Pipeline company . Who do you hold responsible . What are they saying . We have been in Constant Contact and certainly, there are two issues. There is the issue of, why did it happen . Like everybody else, were looking for answers to explain the previous leak and this one. Then there is the issue of how they responded. It has been really surprising to us they have allowed us complete access. They have been incredibly transparent with us and continue to allow me access to both the river in the area and any information that we want about what theyre doing and how they plan to protect the river. Amy david butler, thank you for being with us cahaba , riverkeeper. Traveled to the site of the Colonial Pipeline company disaster and is monitoring its Environmental Impacts. That does it for our show. We will be doing a five hour special on Election Night from 7 00 eastern time in the evening until midnight. We hope you tune in at democracynow. Org or your station runs as, to in there. Democracy now is looking for feedback from people who appreciate the closed captioning. Email your comments to outreach democracynow. Org or mail them to democracy now p. O. Box 693 new york, new york 10013. [captioning made possible by democracy now ] xu laura i am laura flanders. A little break from the continuous diet of political news to talk about food and what it w will take for nontraditionl farmers to break into the business. A report from cleleveland. In innercity winery and a lesbianled farm selling chicken figures. Is ickyky and incremental. Wewelcome to the program. When people say it cant be do