CREDO and Bold are fighting dirty oil pipelines hand in hand

What began with an activist taking on a dirty oil pipeline in deep-red Nebraska has grown into a multi-state coalition of unlikely allies successfully fighting Big Oil interests.

In 2010, Jane Kleeb founded Bold Nebraska in the hopes of transforming the political landscape of a fiercely independent and populist state, and through hyper-local organizing and bringing together diverse communities – including farmers and ranchers, landowners, Native people and tribal leaders, progressive activists, rural and urban voters, and local politicians – to fight for a common goal, she helped to lead a massive grassroots movement resulting in President Obama suspending construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. Now, as president of the Bold Alliance, she is helping organize resistance across multiple rural states to protect our air, water and land from destructive fossil fuel development.

This October, CREDO was honored to welcome Jane to our headquarters for a special conversation about her work with Bold.

Since 2013, CREDO members have voted to donate more than $72,000 to the Bold Alliance, and CREDO Action has been a proud ally in the fight to stop dirty oil pipelines like Keystone XL and Dakota Access. Earlier this year, CREDO joined our allies 350.org, Indigenous Environmental Network and Oil Change International to help Bold launch the the Solar XL campaign, a project to build solar arrays on the proposed route of the Keystone XL pipeline in Nebraska.

During her visit, Jane touched on how her organization’s work building unlikely alliances was a fundamental force behind her organization’s success to prevent the construction of the Keystone XL pipeline. While many across the country believed pipeline construction was a foregone conclusion, Bold and environmental and progressive allies knew the ultimate decisionmaker for suspending the pipeline was President Obama, and the political fight would be centered in Washington.

By rallying two important groups – Native people, who have endured centuries of oppression and racism, and farmers and ranchers – and smart organizing with climate activists and progressive organizations like CREDO and other allies, Bold held a week-long event in the nation’s capital, which allowed Native people and farmers and ranchers to tell their stories of protecting the land and water from this dangerous pipeline. In a touching moment, Jane recounted the time when, after a number of farmers and ranchers spoke about the impact the pipeline could have on their lands, Chief Arvol Looking Horse of the Lakota, Dakota and Nakota Nations stood up to acknowledge the men, and said to them, “Welcome to the tribe,” noting how landowners were finally acknowledging centuries of racism and were now fighting for the sovereign rights of Native people.

You can watch the entire conversation on CREDO’s Facebook page.