Independent news from the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance

Inuit villagers’ court victory blocks seismic tests in Arctic waters

Opponents of the Dakota Access Pipeline gather Nov. 1, 2023, in Bismarck ahead of a public meeting on an environmental impact statement. The Standing Rock Sioux Tribe opposes the pipeline, citing concerns for its water supply. (Kyle Martin/For the North Dakota Monitor)

Need to change energy consumption

While reading “Inuit villages block seismic tests in Arctic waters” [News, Nov. 3], I questioned how international corporations gained the right to go into different countries around the world testing and probably negatively impacting natural environments in the globally rabid search for natural processes.

Unfortunately, one of the things that keeps our society functioning is our frightening destruction at the hands of the world’s population. Do the terms “Exxon Valdez” and “BP oil spill” ring any bells?

We are responsible for these horrible natural disasters; we consume oil at an absolutely horrifying rate. If we did not guzzle oil then perhaps the world’s remaining natural sanctuaries would not be in danger of being chewed up and spat out once they are drained of oil.

We, as a population, give these global corporations the right to dig around looking for the source of our addiction, rather than us trying to wean ourselves off it.

Meghan Guinn, Kenmore


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Jodi Rave Spotted Bear

Jodi Rave Spotted Bear is the founder and director of the Indigenous Media Freedom Alliance, a 501-C-3 nonprofit organization with offices in Bismarck, N.D. and the Fort Berthold Reservation. Jodi spent 15 years reporting for the mainstream press. She's been awarded prestigious Nieman and John S. Knight journalism fellowships at Harvard and Stanford, respectively. She also an MIT Knight Science Journalism Project fellow. Her writing is featured in "The Authentic Voice: The Best Reporting on Race and Ethnicity," published by Columbia University Press. Jodi currently serves as a Society of Professional Journalists at-large board member, an SPJ Foundation board member, and she chairs the SPJ Freedom of Information Committee. Jodi has won top journalism awards from mainstream and Native press organizations. She earned her journalism degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.