Obama to address 560 Native American leaders amid high tensions over oil pipeline on Sioux land

[G_j]

http://www.businessinsider.com/obama-to-address-560-native-american-leaders-amid-high-tensions-over-oil-pipeline-on-sioux-land-2016-9

WASHINGTON (Reuters) - President Barack Obama will convene his eighth and final Tribal Nations Conference on Monday and Tuesday, assembling leaders of more than 560 Native American tribes to discuss the environment and a range of other issues, even as one of the largest Native American protests in decades continues in North Dakota.

Thousands of Native Americans, along with environmentalists, are encamped on the North Dakota prairie to demonstrate against a $3.7 billion oil pipeline they say threatens the water supply and sacred sites of the Standing Rock Sioux.

Tribal leaders will be eager to hear at the conference from Obama. It was not clear if he would directly address the 1,100-mile (1,886-km) Dakota Access pipeline, being developed by Energy Transfer Partners LP <ETP.N>. He is scheduled to speak at the conference near the White House on Monday afternoon.

He has not publicly commented on the pipeline since the Justice Department, Interior Department and the U.S. Army made a surprise move on Sept. 9 to temporarily block construction of the pipeline. At that time, the administration called for "a serious discussion" about how the tribes are consulted by the government in decisions on major infrastructure projects.

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[bigtree]

1. k&r

[womanofthehills]

2. Great!!

We need to hear from him.

[malaise]

3. K & R

Good news