Keystone Pipeline Analysis

In recent years in can be noted that civil disobedience is prominent in American culture. This can be portrayed in the recent events of the Keystone Pipeline activists. Many activists have blamed the government for their problems just as Thoreau did in his essay “Civil Disobedience”. There can be a parallel drawn between these two topics even though they have decades between them. In these times it is still logical to believe that civil disobedience is the right course of action. Activists, wanting to make a change, have called for government reconsideration, health and safety issues, and discrimination on Native Americans. Thoreau believed that rebelling against the government was good as long as it slowed the “machine”. This can be seen in his essay when he states “...I say, break the law. Let your life be a counter friction to stop the machine,” (Thoreau, 946) which can be seen as controversial. However, the Keystone Pipeline activists agreed with Thoreau’s

Another issue among the Keystone pipeline is the health and safety issues that it provides through its existence. Thoreau mentions in his essay that, “If a plant cannot live according to its nature, it dies; and so a man,” (Thoreau, 956) which alludes to the fact that humans will die if they live with harmful effects over the years. The activists of the pipeline have mentioned multiple times to the government that the water supply will be contaminated. This is shown when an article writes, “The proposed pipeline route passes through the Ogallala Aquifer... A spill in this important body of water would contaminate drinking water and lead to serious health concerns and complications,” (All Risk, No Reward) which explains why so many activists are protesting this build. This also shows that the group of disobedient activists is trying to make the government listen to their concerns. In order for the Keystone activists to be heard, they had to protest their concerns through the use of civil