Indigenous peoples and all those who live directly off the land in a traditional style are among those most affected and first affected by climate change and environmental injustices. Pipelines are the most cost-effective way to transport large amounts of fossil fuels across long distances. However, pipelines are notoriously unreliable and inevitably leak, causing ecological disaster. This is always terrible, but more so when the water and land the oil leaks into is the source of life for a community. Water tainted by fossil fuels is undrinkable by humans and animals, fish and plants die when given such water, and when a native tribe’s sole water source is the location of such a common disaster all their resources are destroyed. The only way to prevent a pipeline from leaking oil is to not transport oil through it. Pipelines are far from the only environmental issue threatening the lives and livelihoods of native communities. Climate change, deforestation, and urban sprawl all negatively impact indigenous tribes.
