A lawn sign to Stop Line 3

One of MN350’s primary campaigns is to Stop Line 3, a massive tar sands oil pipeline. This pipeline, similar to the Keystone XL and DAPL, would carry dirty crude oil for miles across Minnesota land and water. The current Line 3 pipeline is 34 inches in diameter and stretches 330 miles. The new Line 3 project expands the pipeline to 36 inches and 337 miles of distance, more than doubling the amount of oil (750,000 barrels per day) transported through the pipeline. With the expansion and “replacement” of Line 3, the results have many negative environmental, economic, and social implications.

Line 3 has many projected environmental and climate consequences. With extraction, handling, and transportation of crude oil, more than 220 million tons of CO₂ per year will be emitted into the atmosphere. The pipeline is projected to emit 10 billion tons of CO₂ total, which is 1.59% of the world’s carbon budget. Line 3 crosses over more than 200 bodies of water in Minnesota, including the Mississippi, twice — primary water sources for communities all around the state. With a high chance of oil spillage, water security becomes a pressing concern. Line 3 would also proliferate habitat and biodiversity loss of natural wetlands and forests, Native plant and animal species, soil nutrition and microscopic organisms, and more. Here in Minnesota, the U.S., and the world, a climate emergency persists. Water, air, and nature that surrounds you cannot be undervalued or denied; we simply are a part of nature, not apart. By opposing Line 3, you are concerned for the natural resources that are essential to life and humanity’s well-being.

The financial consequences of Line 3 are significant. The Line 3 route has a greater loss of overall economic yield compared to three other Enbridge routes and impacts the greatest amount of acreage and yields. Industries like agriculture, forestry, and housing would be significantly impacted by the construction and transportation of oil. On average, Line 3 would cost $6.2 million per mile, totaling approximately $2.1 billion. In addition, the pipeline’s annual energy use would total 533 million kilowatt-hours, which would cost an additional $47.1 million per year. By opposing Line 3, you are fiscally responsible, and you refuse to have your tax dollars spent on a project that is economically impractical.

Other primary concerns with Line 3 revolve around deepening the social crisis that is associated with the climate crisis. Vulnerable communities (Indigenous peoples, communities of color, migrant communities, the LGBTQIA+ community, deindustrialized communities, depopulated rural communities, the poor, low-income workers, womxn, the elderly, the unhoused, people with disabilities, and youth) are all at higher risk with fossil fuel projects like Line 3. Many of these communities are disproportionately affected by impacting their economic, environmental, and social stability and lifestyle. Enbridge’s proposal for Line 3 directly violates treaties of the Dakota and Anishinaabe people, along with ignoring and disregarding the voices of local communities and their concerns. By opposing Line 3, you stand in solidarity with these communities and strive for a just and equitable future where people are placed above profit.

In case you didn’t know before, you now are aware of the facts and implications of Line 3. So, you may say, “I want to show my support for MN350 and stop Line 3. But I don’t know how!” Or you say, “Line 3 should be stopped, and I want to show my solidarity with the movement.”

Here. Is. Your. Chance.

In our fight to stop Line 3, activism in all forms is crucial. Right now, you can demonstrate your activism and opposition to Line 3, as well as fossil fuel companies, by requesting a #StopLine3 lawn sign. Fossil fuel companies like Enbridge continue to introduce projects that perpetuate the climate, social, and economic crises within Minnesota and the global community. Let this lawn sign represent your concern and motivation to transition to a cleaner, renewable, and equitable society intolerant of fossil fuels and associated corporations.

For your accessibility and convenience, once you order a lawn sign (which includes a free-will donation option), our unique and wonderful volunteer team, interns, and staff will coordinate to deliver or ship the sign to your residence in Minnesota.  Join MN350 in demonstrating that, even in quarantine, we can come together as a community for an important cause.

Order a lawn sign. And find more information here regarding Line 3.

Peace.

Jack Pieper is a Wisconsin-raised, Minnesota-at-heart activist who was a Pipeline Resistance Team intern for the summer of 2020. Jack is a senior, Environmental Studies major at the College of Saint Benedict | Saint John’s University in Collegeville, Minnesota. Jack is passionate for climate and social justice, artivism, and iced coffee.