Students Against Pipeline Aggression (SAPA)

SAPA is a student organization recently formed at the University of South Dakota in response to the proposed Keystone XL Pipeline.

This pipeline will have a negative impact on land, community, homes, people, and wildlife in South Dakota and throughout the Midwest. Tar Sands Oil is one of the dirtiest fuels on Earth. Massive spills from similar pipelines in the Yellowstone River and Kalamazoo River have already seen a negative effect on their local ecology and health concerns for residents. The pipeline is expected to cross over 1,700 water sources. This includes important water sources like the Missouri River and the Ogallala Aquifer. The first Keystone pipeline was only expected to leak once ever 7 years, when in fact it leaked 7 times in the first year.

When the pipeline inevitably leaks, the impacts could be disastrous for the Midwestern states. Building this pipeline is a risk out nation should take, because the majority of this oil will be exported overseas having little to no impact the price of gas in the United States.

Building the Keystone XL Pipeline will have a negative effect on the environment and communities it surrounds. We must heighten awareness of these concerns throughout the nation.