In this blog:
- Contact Attorney General Keith Ellison and the MN Department of Commerce, tell them to seek an injunction on Line 3
- Contact Gov. Walz and tell him to get his pandemic priorities straight, stop Line 3’s influx of out-of-state workers
- Frontline Line 3 resistance continues; needs bail funds
- Walz ‘refused to listen to the science,’ Sierra Club says
Call Attorney General Keith Ellison and the Minnesota Dept. of Commerce and tell them to seek an injunction on Line 3
The corporate polluter Enbridge just got one of the last permits it needs to begin construction of the dirty Line 3 tar sands oil pipeline. Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison can help stop this by asking the Minnesota Court of Appeals to halt construction until key lawsuits are resolved.
Construction equipment is already moving into place. Please act now.
Tell MN Attorney General Ellison: #StopLine3 pipeline construction now!
Also contact Grace Arnold, the acting Commissioner of Commerce and ask her to push for an injunction on Line 3 construction. She can be reached at 651-539-1441 or commissioner.commerce@state.mn.us
Currently, the Minnesota Department of Commerce, represented by Attorney General Ellison, three tribes, and environmental advocacy groups are already in court over Line 3. A decision isn’t expected until June, giving Enbridge a lot of time to build the pipeline and damage our waters and wetlands.
Ellison and Commerce need to petition the Court of Appeals for an injunction on construction until the case is resolved.
Minnesotans deserve government agencies that serve and protect us — not big business. We can find a way to win in Minnesota, too, and help build a future that doesn’t need dirty and polluting tar sands oil.
Contact Gov. Walz and tell him to get his pandemic priorities straight — stop Line 3’s influx of out-of-state workers
Gov. Tim Walz seems to have confused and inconsistent priorities in addressing the pandemic. Things look so bad, he just ordered a one-month closing of bars, restaurants, fitness centers as COVID-19 cases surge, the Star Tribune reports.
At the same time, he seems to have no problem with Enbridge beginning construction and the related influx of workers to northern Minnesota. According to Enbridge’s own PR, Line 3 is supposed to create 8,600 new jobs, of which 6,500 are to be local. That means the 2,100 workers are not local, and could bring the virus to our state.
Why the double standard, prioritizing a Canadian company over local residents and businesses?
Call Gov. Walz at 651-201-3400. Tell him for the health and safety of our state he needs to delay Line 3 construction.
Dr. Maggie O’Connor just wrote the Minnesota Public Utilities Commission (PUC) the following:
I’m a retired physician, just spoke with a group of palliative care doctors in training,they are exhausted, the Covid cases they handle – the ones not doing well – are surging. This is NOT THE TIME to open a work camp with 800 people brought in from around the country. There is no way to institute adequate public health measures to prevent massive spread of Covid. Our health care system is starting to stagger in Minneapolis – rural areas like Aiktin have fewer resources.
Please Please Please do not allow this camp to open.
Sincerely,
Maggie O’Connor, M.D.
And here’s one more Walzian contradiction. The Governor supported the Minnesota Department of Commerce’s legal appeal to reverse Line 3’s Certificate of Need. Commerce says Enbridge failed to prove that future oil demand justified building a new pipeline.
So, if the pipeline isn’t needed, why are we taking Line 3’s environmental risks regardless of the pandemic?
It seems Walz’ waffling reflect an effort to make everyone happy while pleasing none. He seems to hope that the courts will stop Line 3 so that he doesn’t have to take a strong and principled stand himself.
Frontline resistance to Line 3 continues; bail funds sought
Giniw, the Indigenous women-led frontline resistance camp to Line 3, staged an action yesterday, where water protectors locked down on pipeline construction equipment.
According to the Stop Line 3 Facebook Page:
In their efforts to protect Enbridge interests, Hubbard County arrested 3 brave water protectors today. All 3 are being held overnight, after risking their safety and freedom to defend our water, our land, our futures. Please share and donate to their bail fund if you’re able: Please follow and support Giniw Collective land defenders.
If construction begins, resistance will escalate.
Walz ‘refused to listen to the science,’ Sierra Club says
Michael Brune, executive director of the Sierra Club, leveled harsh criticism of Gov. Walz in his recent blog: A Tale of Two Governors.
Minnesota governor Tim Walz portrays himself as a fighter for clean air, clean water, and a clean energy future. He even wrote an op-ed promising that “Minnesota will lead on climate change if Washington won’t.” He cultivates a public image as one of the good guys who listens to the science.
Yet last week, he chose to issue a series of key permits for Enbridge’s Line 3 pipeline, which would carry millions of barrels of the world’s dirtiest crude through the pristine lake country of northern Minnesota — producing emissions equivalent to 50 new coal-fired power plants.
And we know he could have done otherwise. He could have shown the leadership and courage demonstrated that same week by his fellow Midwestern governor, Gretchen Whitmer, who revoked Enbridge’s authorization to transport oil through its Line 5 pipeline effective May 2021.
Michael Brune, Sierra Club executive director
Click on the link above for the full blog.
healingmnstories.wordpress.com 