Rivers of Oil

Oil. It’s in your tires, your makeup, your kids’ toys, your gas tank. And the pipelines that get it to you have become the focus of growing protests, from Keystone XL to Dakota Access. On Rivers of Oil from Minnesota Public Radio News, we’ll look at those pipelines buried beneath our feet, how they’ve come to the forefront of an epic tug of war between reliance and risk, and how we all have a role to play in this story.

Episodes

5: The decision

July 9, 2018 • 23 min

The Line 3 project has gotten approval from Minnesota regulators. But the fight over this oil pipeline is far from over.

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4: The rallying cry

June 26, 2018 • 29 min

In the early 2000s, the Keystone XL oil pipeline became one of the most powerful symbols in the fight against climate change. And since then, it's not just local landowners fighting pipelines in their backyards anymore. It's environmental groups, Native Americans tribes, farmers and ranchers, and a crucial addition to the alliance -- climate change activists. But how did it begin?

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3: The spark that ignited fires

June 25, 2018 • 29 min

Pipelines have become a potent issue for Native American and indigenous people, who are fighting them across North America. Part of the fight is over culture and identity. But it also involves a messy history of land and treaties, and a long, complicated relationship with the U.S. government.

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2: The largest inland spill

June 19, 2018 • 25 min

This story isn't just about the risks of transporting huge amounts of oil through pipelines. It's also about the reward that oil provides.

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1: Pipes

June 18, 2018 • 24 min

Pipelines are everywhere: 2.5 million miles of them form a web under our feet, our rivers and our roads. They're at the forefront of an epic tug of war between our reliance on oil and the risk that oil poses to the future of our world.

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Coming soon: Rivers of Oil, an MPR News podcast

June 10, 2018 • 1 min

All over the country, people are moving to camps in the woods, climbing trees, chaining themselves to bulldozers, all in the name of stopping an oil pipeline. What's going on? Why is there suddenly a dramatic conflict around pipelines? And is it really even about pipelines at all?

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