Dakota Pipeline The Obama administration shocked the oil industry last week, pulling the plug on a major oil pipeline from the Bakken that had become a flashpoint between a pipeline company on the one hand, and a growing coalition of Native American tribes and environmentalists on the other. Everyone was anxiously waiting a Friday ruling from a U.S. federal judge, who was weighing a request from the Standing Rock Sioux Tribe to stop construction on the Dakota Access Pipeline, a $3.8 billion 1,168-mile oil pipeline that would run from North Dakota to Iowa and Illinois. The pipeline would threaten sacred lands and drinking water resources for the tribe. Dakota Access exploded into a national controversy in recent weeks, as protests against the project swelled and violence broke out after protesters were attacked by dogs. Environmentalists have been keen on turning the Dakota Access Pipeline into a rerun of the […]